How to Tell if Your Endpoint Provider has Hidden Costs!

While you probably know that there are some good endpoint providers out there for VDI & Cloud environments, what you may not know is that some of these endpoint providers, even Thin & Zero Client vendors, have hidden costs. Here are you some ideas on what to look out for before, or perhaps even after, making purchases and committing to contractual agreements.

Charging for Itemized Features: From hardware to firmware to endpoint management, it's important to watch out for hidden costs related to itemization. For device purchases, do all of the hardware features come with the price of the unit? Does the Centralized Management Software come at no-cost? No subscription? For endpoint firmware - are the support or upgrade costs split out, or at additional fees? Are there some things like these they're not telling you?

Charging related to Hardware Maintenance: Hard to imagine but, some endpoint providers may plan to start charging for hardware maintenance from the very beginning, on day one, of purchase - instead of including annual maintenance at no charge for up to several years. These types of hidden charges are something that some endpoint providers may not want to bring out in the open as they should. It's recommended that you ask!

Charging for Software Management & Licenses: They may not tell you up front, so please be aware that some providers charge for their endpoint management software – whether in or out of the Cloud – and may have hidden add-on costs. You don’t want to get caught up with a limited number of licenses and users, when there are endpoint providers out there who will charge you absolutely nothing at all for any of it!

Charging related to Product Guarantees: What some endpoint providers might not want you to know is that they’re not going to send you a replacement device while you’re shipping back your device for repair or even return. Certainly, there should be no charging related to this, but “Advanced Return Warranties