THE USED TRUTH

Commodore64

In the beginning, my world started with the Commodore64 computer, hitting the market in August 1982 and being pulled from the shelves in 1994 after selling 30 million units!  Then came my dream come true… the IBM Personal Computer.  I can remember it now, new to the IBM Corporation as a trainee in 1983, with my white starched cotton button down long sleeve dress shirt (and ”IBM Blue” tie) looking at the newly deployed IBM PC perched on my desk.

Original IBM PC XT

Then later came my PC XT with a 10MB Disk Drive!  Oh boy…no more diskettes!  Ring a bell ladies and gentlemen? Well, my years at IBM were filled with unreal amounts of training, studying, and selling under the helm of Lou Gerstner, the then Chairman of IBM and many others. 

But the fact of the matter was IBM could not overcome and beat its biggest competitor!  We constantly lost deals to these guys and it was always because of price… not support, not because of quality, not because the competitors products were faster and not because they had better software than us!  Who was this behemoth competitor?  Ourselves… IBM.  But how could this be? It was IBM systems being purchased, refurbished, and re-marketed by 3rd party companies.

In training, it was ingrained in our heads… “Our biggest competitor is ourselves”.  And it was true!  The fact of the matter was there were companies buying up used System/36, System/38, 4381, and S/390 mainframes from end user companies and reselling them to other customers at a fraction of the price of buying new.  The KICKER was the U.S. Justice Department Consent Decree imposed upon IBM (because the US Government felt IBM was becoming a monopoly) mandating among many things that IBM must ACCEPT their “preowned” systems under an IBM maintenance agreement.  This enabled savvy 3rd party companies to purchase refurbished mid-range and mainframe class IBM systems to run their corporations a fraction of the cost of buying new from IBM.  On top of it all, the US Government decree “guaranteed” IBM must maintain these used systems at their published maintenance rates! WHAT A DEAL! … And Still Is!  Although the Consent Decree has expired, many of the terms still hold true; not only for IBM, but now virtually all computer, storage, networking and peripheral manufacturers. 

This is my beginning and I hope over time to share my wisdom and expertise with you.  There are many Pros and Cons to sourcing, using and eventually selling your refurbished, pre-owned, or used computing equipment. Let me be your guide and … ENJOY THE RIDE!

LET’S RIDE!