A PC refresh can be a major undertaking for any business, and a major opportunity for a VAR that knows how to plan, execute and manage a refresh. One company with a successful track record is MCPc, a Cleveland-based solution provider.

“It takes significant time commitments and staffing levels to effectively execute PC rollouts, and manage ongoing service and maintenance,” says Ira Grossman, group president of personal systems at MCPc.

Grossman says the MCPc approach is built on proven best practices, a collection of lessons learned from hundreds of similar projects and long-standing partnerships with tier-one manufacturers.

1. Begin with a technology assessment
   Grossman says MCPc collaborates with the customer to evaluate the company’s technology needs, create a plan for the refresh project and determine future business objectives
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2. Offer decision support
   “We try to get companies to rely on our industry expertise to clarify the total cost of ownership and identify the best-suited technology to procure,” he says.



3. Provide procurement support
   MCPc taps all its resources to ensure the customer gets the greatest value for its technology investment.



4. Prep systems before installation
   “We strive to limit or eliminate employee downtime by doing system prep before on-site delivery,” says Grossman. Such prep includes base configurations, user personalization, network introduction, asset tagging and data migration.



5. Simplify installation in advance
   MCPc prepares computer systems for rapid deployment by staging and kitting all components as a consolidated shipment. This prep work greatly simplifies installation, he says.



6. Efficient deployment
   “Our goal here is to distribute new technology quickly and efficiently with minimal employee downtime,” Grossman notes.
   


7. Provide end-of-life management
   This is where MCPc delivers those special value-added services that customers really appreciate.
   

“We ensure that company and customer information is kept secure with proper data deconstruction, help the customer to avoid lease-term violation and strive to maximize the value of old technology,” he says.