Hardware

We have many customers who use Ibcos to purchase all their IT services and infrastructure, others use us as a software supplier only, and there is a massive range in between these extremes. The choice is entirely with each individual business, Ibcos make every effort to be competitive and offer a range of products that enable us to provide a “one stop shop”. The sections below are a brief outline of these products and services:

Servers

In almost all cases Ibcos supply the servers that form the main infrastructure of the Ibcos Gold Business Management System. By doing this Ibcos have a clear responsibility for the operation and smooth running of the core of the Gold system. There is an increasing reliance on the system and a clear responsibility in the event of a “system down” is the best position. Ibcos work with Gateway, Acer and HP to offer a range of servers to suit the size of your business, the majority of new server installs and upgrades are now with Gateway as the range offers excellent value and quality. All new servers would have some configuration of RAID on the hard drives to provide redundancy if one hard drive fails, the larger servers have more sophisticated RAID arrays to offer the fastest performance and redundancy in the event of disk failure. Back-ups are automated (usually daily) and write to either portable hard drives or tape media. Ibcos strongly recommend the use of UPS systems for all servers: a UPS cleans the incoming power as well as providing fallback power in a power-cut. Ibcos offer a range of fully online UPS systems; ask for a quote. Servers are normally covered by a contract hardware maintenance agreement, in the event of failure an engineer attends to fix the problem within an agreed SLA. If a fix is not possible, within the agreed timeframe, loan equipment is installed to get the Gold system working. This service is available all over the UK and Ireland, the quickest service levels may not be offered in remote areas.

PC's and Notebooks

Ibcos offer a full range of PC’s and Notebooks (Laptops) from Acer and Gateway. All the models offered are business specification machines with either Windows XP Pro or Windows 7 Pro pre-installed. The models are constantly being updated so it is not possible to quote individual specifications. There is always a choice of models/pricing to suit different budgets. We also stock Microsoft Office software so that this can be purchased at OEM prices with the new PC or Notebook. For a fixed fee Ibcos will PDI the unit before shipping, this includes configuring the Windows version that is installed, loading any software bought at the same time (Office and/or TUN), configuring the e-mail software and loading all the appropriate Windows updates. This is very good value and greatly reduces your effort required to upgrade or install new PC’s. Warranty is handled by the respective manufacturer. We would strongly encourage you to consider a warranty upgrade package to include onsite cover; in the event of a failure this is so much easier than “return to base” warranty cover. Gateway PC’s include the 1st 12 months cover onsite as standard. The warranty on Notebooks is always “return to base” but warranty upgrades can be bought to extend the warranty to 3 years and to include accidental damage, these are very popular. Phone us in Poole to discuss any requirements you may have, we’d be pleased to help.

Printers

Ibcos offer a range of HP laser/inkjet printers, dot matrix printers from Epson/OKI/Tally and other specialist label and till printers from Epson/Zebra. Most printers now sold for use with Ibcos Gold are HP laser printers, there is a wide range of black and white or colour models; there are also all-in-one models with the ability to scan/copy/print. Some customers still prefer dot matrix printers, a wide range from small point of sale printers to high-speed system printers for the bigger dealerships. There is an increasing range of specialist label printers, recent developments in Gold have enabled us to offer some Zebra label printers where the customer has the ability to design your own bespoke label sizes and formats. These are increasingly popular for POS stock, shelf edge labelling and for mail order/wholesale parts operations. Whatever your printing needs, from Gold or from other Windows programs, phone us to discuss your requirements.

Other Hardware

The other main type of hardware items we offer are networking equipment, this includes Hubs/switches, Wireless access points, bulk cable, fly leads (all types), network sockets and wall plates, server racks, patch panels and so much more too. Try us for monitors, projectors, thin client (Axel base), cash till drawers, print servers, scanners, back-up media, UPS for servers, label media and ribbons.

Remember, Ibcos could be your "one stop shop" for all your IT needs.