I think there is a lot to be said for having a tech rep in every area of the USA. If you get a computer built by the local vendor who sells a lot of brands, the service, even if you have a contract, is not as good as having a on-site service contract with the people that built your computer.
The negatives are that they charge you more. The positive is that someone will show up at your site quick and they know your box inside and out. They will not say "hummm...let's see - I don't know that model very well - what happens if I stick my screwdriver here..".
I had a DEC and did not like the charges I got for service but the DEC tech always fixed the box on the site and quick. I have PC clones and the techs are not as good. Slow to show up and they do not have spare boards, etc. There are too many brands and too many cards for them to be up to date on everything.
Bottom line - big business likes to sign a contract and know that they do not have to worry about hardware. They are willing to pay extra. IBM is the only game in town doing that. Now CPQ/DEC will be able to do it as well.
How quick CPQ will rebound depends on management. It was a good sign this last week to see all kinds of aggressive ads and offers from CPQ to clear their stock. The management is not sitting still. I will bet that as soon as the ink is dry on the merger there will be a equally aggressive consolidation of the two businesses.
As far as stock goes, I like to buy good quality stock and sit on it rather than buy-sell-buy-sell. You can drop CPQ for DELL now but if DELL profits are hit, as people claim they will be, you will have to sell DELL at loss and buy back into CPQ which will be recovering, etc., etc. |
