Alternative Vendors: UPS
"We deal with the top Fortune 500 companies of the world, and their sensitivity to battery backup is to the highest degree," he said. "In my opinion, Liebert is second to none in those three areas." Where service is concerned, Lichenstein points to a customer whose UPS unit developed a problem and needed a quick fix. "We called our Liebert service rep, and they had the part there in an hour and a half, as they promised," he said. "At the end of the day everyone was happy."
He says all companies talk the talk, but it comes down to the customer's assessment of the product based on the recommendation of the reseller. While he notes everyone puts their own spin on the product, after 30 years in the business Lichenstein puts the most stock in his self-described old school mentality. "We let the units speak for themselves," he said. "Let them make the decision based on pure performance."
Philip Cardone, consulting purchasing manager at KDSA Consulting, North Andover, Mass., feels that same dedication to CyberPower Systems and MGE. When serving clients throughout the New England area, most of them small businesses, Cardone says the quality of MGE products and the customer-to-vendor relationship play major roles. He says he uses MGE for high-end systems while offering CyberPower UPS products for lower-end systems. With both vendors, service support has been top-notch, he said. "MGE was able to show me a really nice product, and I was immediately given a rep that I can call," he said. "I have not used their support yet, though, because every time we put a product in, it works."