A Season for Saving

Opinion: Solution providers can learn from what CompuCom Systems did for LifeGift.

Its the season for giving. And, of course, along with giving goes a fair amount of spending, as those crossing people off their Christmas gift lists know. For LifeGift Organ Donation Center, in Houston, the season for giving is year-round. The organization is in the business of transforming tragedies into new leases on life by facilitating the transfer of organs to people in need. After Hurricane Rita in 2005, LifeGift realized its backup and recovery plans were woefully inadequate, so it called on CompuCom Systems, a solution provider in Dallas, to come up with a better plan. LifeGift got ready to spend some serious money, but CompuCom had other ideas. By combining LifeGifts existing technology with new applications and an outsourcing arrangement, CompuCom trimmed nearly $140,000 from the organizations project budget. Click here to read the case study detailing how CompuCom helped LifeGift save money and keep its systems running. The benefits of technology to any organization hinge on the delicate balance of spending versus saving. A new application or piece of equipment requires spending, and, as we all know, budgets can get pretty sizable depending on the project. The expectation is that the efficiencies achieved will outweigh the cost. And that is the "value" that everyone in the channel likes to talk about these days. In many cases, it is little more than an abstraction, but solution providers such as CompuCom prove that it doesnt have to be so. By concretely delivering value to LifeGift, CompuCom earned the position of trusted IT adviser to the organization. CompuCom showed how it could save LifeGift money on staffing by taking over IT tasks at the organization, thereby gaining a long-term client. In that sense, the gift CompuCom gave LifeGift will keep giving back for years to come. There is a lesson in this case for any solution provider that is paying attention. Pedro Pereira is editor of eWEEK Strategic Partner and contributing editor to The Channel Insider. He can be reached at ppereira@ziffdavis.com. Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis on servers, switches and networking protocols for the enterprise and small businesses.