Independent financial services company Merchant West has partnered with Xperien to provide continuous IT lifecycle solutions, a fresh line of alternative funding to reduce the cost of IT assets.

The partnership offers a full end-to-end IT Asset Lifecycle solution from acquisition to financing, management and disposal.

Merchant West will structure a finance deal that reduces total usage cost of any IT asset and now offers finance options that have no impact on existing funding from other financial institutions.

Merchant West head of technology asset finance Monique Watson says by partnering with Xperien, Merchant West’s new and existing customers can now benefit from the use of brand new IT equipment at a subsidised rate below prime.

“In addition to the new equipment finance option, they can now make use of Merchant West’s fresh funding lines to finance Xperien’s continuous IT lifecycle solutions,” she adds.

Gaining insight into and control of a company’s IT assets is critical in today’s technology-driven business environment. In order to manage these IT assets more efficiently, drive down costs, increase productivity and reduce risk, one needs clear and comprehensive visibility into all assets across the business.

“Given the rapid rate at which technology changes and depreciates in real terms, partnering with Xperien allows Merchant West to offer a holistic Asset Lifecycle Product to its clients, from inception right through to the end of the asset’s useful life where clients can further benefit from the end of lifecycle value added services, such as data destruction, reverse IT logistics and disposal,” she explains.

Xperien CEO Wale Arewa comments: “We now offer clients flexibility and peace of mind at the end of an asset lifecycle term through our continuous IT lifecycle solutions. They now have an option to return their assets and finance the new equipment via Merchant West.”

Businesses need a comprehensive, detailed and normalised view of hardware assets across the enterprise, especially at time of asset disposal with this data. Most businesses struggle to manage IT assets effectively because they do not have a clear picture of the assets they have deployed or the assets residual values.

He says through this partnership, Xperien can manage client’s assets and contracts for the duration of the rental agreement. “Lack of visibility also increases risk as IT departments may not always detect unauthorised software, creating an exposure to serious security breaches. “More importantly, hardware that contains proprietary data may have disappeared without the knowledge of the IT staff.”

Redundant IT assets can now be used as a ‘Trade-in’, allowing companies to reduce their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). At the same time, they can purchase and finance Certified Refurbished Systems (CRS) that cost up to 75% less than new machines.

“Offering our clients a convenient, cost effective solution to procure, manage and refresh their IT Infrastructure is key to customer retention,” Watson adds.