IBM has extended its on-site warranty service cover program to cover all of New Zealand.
The move comes after reseller feedback identified the company's geographic service coverage as a concern.
Gary Elmes, business development manager for IBM Global Services, says, "Our resellers told us that providing on-site cover in the regions would be a big step up for them. They say this is exactly what their customers want and need."
He says the new coverage will apply to commercial desktop PCs and the company's X series servers. The change will have no impact on pricing.
Previously, IBM's on-site coverage was limited to places within 50km of Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch.
"We looked at the numbers, at the profiles of the machines spread around New Zealand and determined where and how often faults arise. The machines are certainly reliable and they have all kinds of resiliency factors built in," Elmes says.
IBM will mainly use its own in-house field service engineers near the main centers and agents in the regions to handle physical servicing.
However, Elmes says that a lot of the company's support process relies on remote diagnostics before an engineer gets anywhere near the site. "Our e-service agent allows online reporting and fault prediction.
"To the best of my knowledge all other vendors have some geographic limitations. Our coverage now reaches everywhere; we could service somebody on Stewart Island." However, he adds, "If a site is too many days walk into the bush, we might have to sit down and have a chat with the customer about it first."