It is an understatement to say that 2020 has been a year filled with unknowns. So, it’s not surprising that many organizations are holding off on planned IT upgrades, waiting to see what the future holds before they expend significant capital on a data center refresh.

Companies do, however, need ongoing support for their data center infrastructure. For those that had previously planned to replace equipment when the original warranty expired, some form of extended support will be necessary.

Business and IT leaders can choose between extended support contracts from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or third-party maintenance (TPM) providers — each of which has its own unique benefits.

Often, when I’m working with clients on their digital signage deployments, they seem to lose interest a bit after we’ve discussed the hardware and I’ve moved on to professional services. Perhaps because digital displays share superficial similarities with the televisions and computer monitors we all have in our homes, many business leaders assume that their staff can handle the installation, configuration and management of these solutions on their own.

But, as a quick web search for the phrase “video wall collapse” will reveal, there’s plenty that can go wrong.