We are here to help

Tekgia is a company with a philosophy.

This philosophy is one of help. We are here to help.

One way we do this is to save you money on your purchases of computers, software, and licenses.

But another, more important, way is to help you make the right decision so that what you buy is right for you.

We do this in two ways. And both ways are based on information.

What happened to the Information in IT?

You would think that as IT stands for Information Technology and given that computers are such technological marvels, that the sales people in the IT industry would either know the information or would have easy access to information on computers, software and licenses.

So that when it came to buying computers, software or licenses, you would simply contact them and they would correctly and quickly tell you what you needed to know. And based upon that correct information, you would be able to make buying decisions that would be right for you.

But is that true?

The challenge of contacting someone

Well, some resellers are hard to contact. You hunt their site for a phone number. Maybe you will find it buried deep, maybe you won't find it at all (which seems to me to be a bad sign; I get the impression that a company that won't talk to its customers has something to hide).

Information depends upon knowledge

Most resellers, though, will have an email address for your questions. But the answers can be disappointing. One large UK reseller was unable to answer the question whether a laptop they sold came with Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional, stating that one should contact the manufacturer to find out.

Sometimes the replies can be amusing. But on a more serious note, what if the advice you get cost you money? Lots of it?

Maybe you end up buying the wrong software.

Or more subtly, the software is right for you, but your use of it or the way you buy it violates the software license. It is very easily done.

If Microsoft audits your organisation they will look for such things.

Software licenses - misunderstood yet sold by many

Why would violating the license be so important?

Well, it all boils down to the fact that Microsoft and other software vendors do not sell software. They sell licenses. And these licenses grant the user the right to use the software - as long as doing so is within the terms of the license.

When you install the software, you will be asked whether you accept the terms of the license. Only if you click on the Yes button will you be able to complete the installation. Clicking on the No button will terminate the installation.

Software licenses are the foundation of the software industry. So the most important part when buying and using software is the software license.

But few sales people know that. Even fewer know enough about licenses to give you good advice.

And so for many resellers, this subject of licenses is a major headache. They just do not understand them.

And so there is a lot of confusion, muddled thinking, and lack of knowledge in today's IT marketplace. To underline this, let me make this point. Manchester is a huge, bustling city. It has four universities and a population of around 2.5million.

As you'd expect, it is filled with shops and stores selling computers and software. Yet, according to Microsoft's records, there is only a dozen or so resellers, including Tekgia, in Manchester that are authorised by Microsoft to sell their educational software and licenses.

Putting information back into IT

So our philosophy is to provide you with good information.

Our first method of providing information is our website. Many sites simply provide a list of products and prices linked to some marketing blurb from the manufacturer. We have been guilty of this ourselves.

But it is a lazy, unfriendly approach. So we are redesigning our site so that it gives you useful information on the products. In some cases, there are many pages on just one product, covering different aspects of it. We hope this gives you a better understanding of what you will be buying.

Our second method is our quotations. The information in our website is general. With our quotations we can provide information that is specific to your needs. We have been in the IT business for many years and we draw on that experience to give you information that is upfront and communicates clearly.

We take care in our quotations to explain your options, so that you may make an informed decision.

You will find our quotations give you your options in plain English and avoid jargon whenever possible.

And at the end of our quotations we give a phone number so that you can phone us with any questions you have. Remember, we are here to help.

What happens if you ask us something we don't know?

Let's face it, we don't know everything.

We take care to make sure we have many sources of information. Take Microsoft for example. We have product information in documents and from Microsoft emails. We also have information on Microsoft products from their many websites, some of which the public can access, some of which they can't.

Furthermore, for those scenarios where the product information available isn't up to the mark, we contact Microsoft's UK Licensing Team to find out or get confirmation. This diagram helps illustrate the point.

Similarly with Symantec and the other software vendors. We will take the time to find out.

What we do not do, is ask someone in the trade in the hope that they will know.

In other words, we go to the correct source.