Segments
Our company operates in three segments that clearly focus our services into easy-to-understand categories for our target customers:
A. Data Security & Compliance
We provide data security and regulatory compliance services for end-of-life business-computing Information Technology (IT) assets. We offer a variety of solutions to companies whose business computing technologies (desktops, laptops, printers, servers and enterprise storage systems) have come to the end of their life cycle. These services include:
- Data erasure to Department of Defense standards for hard drives
- Asset Auditing/Life Cycle Management, which allows customers to minimize their overall IT expenditure and maximize their return on investment.
- IT asset remarketing for IT assets with market value
- Environmental compliance (proper recycling or safe disposal) for IT assets
These services can be custom tailored to meet our customer's needs and implemented at QSGI facilities or at one client location or at multiple client-site locations, through the use of one of our client-site solutions including our mobile audit and erasure truck and our client suitcase server.
B. Data Center Hardware
We are a leading reseller of refurbished enterprise-class hardware and associated peripheral products to companies around the world. We remarket refurbished IBM mainframe processors, IBM midrange processors and associated peripheral products including tape and disk products and connectivity products.
C. Data Center Maintenance
We provide hardware maintenance services for enterprise-class hardware and associated peripheral products and Data Center consulting to companies throughout the United States.
Across all three segments, we purchase excess, used, off-lease and refurbished hardware from a variety of sources including Fortune 1000 companies, as well as leasing and finance companies.
Data Security & Compliance Segment:
We are a "best practice" provider of data security and regulatory compliance services for end-of-life business-computing IT assets. We offer a variety of services on a global basis to help companies with these assets to ensure compliance with federal and state mandates regulating the donation or disposal of such assets.
The primary services that we offer are:
Data security and regulatory compliance services:
- Auditing and Detagging
- Erasing of Hard Drive
- Department of Defense standard 3x up to 99X hard drive data erasure with no human intervention
- Automated process that generates a self validated digital certificate of erasure
- Tape and Hard Drive Degaussing
- for failed or older storage media, QSGI uses (on-site at a client location or in our QSGI facility) a DoD grade degaussing machine to permanently destroy the storage media.
- Regulatory Compliance Certification and Indemnification
- QSGI, through its data security processes, indemnifies our clients for all assets we process. This is to ensure our clients exceed all federal, state and local regulatory compliance statutes
- Real Time Extranet Reporting
- All reporting of assets (processed on-site at a client's location or in our QSGI facility) is performed online. Clients have access to each asset processed and can track the progress from pick up to final audit and erasure
- Remarketing and Revenue Sharing Program
- Remarketing services to reduce or eliminate fees associated with hard drive data erasure and auditing
- EPA Compliant Recycling
- All assets that need to be recycled are done via EPA approved partners
Reverse Logistics:
- Pack and ship service
- Full logistics management
Client-Site Audit & Erasure Solutions:
- Eliminating any risk even a single data breach that arises during transport from a client's company's facilities is why QSGI's full suite of services described above, can be provided directly at the client's facilities. QSGI provides all on-site services tailored to the client's specific needs any where in the world regardless of the amount of equipment to be processed. QSGI's current client-site Data Security & Compliance offerings include:
- High Volume Solution- Mobile Audit & Erasure Vehicle Solution-All assets that need to be recycled are done via EPA approved partners
- Mid Volume Solution- Transportable On-Site Server Solution (OSS)
- Low Volume & Multiple/Remote Site Solution- Web-Based Or Wan-Deployed Disk Drive Erasure Solution as well as QSGI's eraseyourharddrive.com
-Our data security and destruction services help companies achieve regulatory compliance with federal legislation including:
- Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act - Requires companies which engage in financial activities such as insurance companies, banks, brokerage firms, etc. to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information and protect against anticipated threats or hazards to information.
- Health Insurers Portability & Accounting Act of 1996 (HIPAA) - Requires healthcare companies to ensure the confidentially of all protected health information and protect against anticipated threats or hazards to information.
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Requires all publicly traded companies to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures. Requires companies to track the complete life cycle of all IT assets for seven years.
- FTC FACT Act - Requires companies to protect consumers against unauthorized access to credit report information "in connection with the disposal" of computer and other records by erasure of hard drives.
- Environmental Compliance - requires that the recycling of computers and related products be managed in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment.
In summary, our services are designed to help our clients to:
- reduce the burdens of liability associated with regulatory compliance of IT assets.
- reduce the overall expense of achieving regulatory compliance.
- reduce the total cost of ownership for IT hardware.
- permit IT professionals to focus on rapid changes in technology, service their internal clients and make sure their IT infrastructure
is proactively helping their company maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace.
The market is highly fragmented with critical legislation driving the demand. There is no other technology services company offering similar IT "life cycle" services ranging from PCs to Mainframes.
In addition, the Data Security and Compliance segment re-sells a wide range of used and refurbished computer products, including servers, laptop and desktop computers, monitors, PC processors, CD/DVD disk drives, modems, printers and memory.
Our Data Security & Compliance group has technical facilities in New Jersey, and sales, marketing and business development offices in New York, New Hampshire, Florida and one foreign country.
Data Center Hardware Segment:
We are a reseller of refurbished enterprise-class hardware and associated peripheral products to companies around the world. Our strength comes from a significant presence in worldwide markets as the leading provider of refurbished mainframes and associated peripherals. More importantly, in this hardware niche, there are no other significant competitors.
The enterprise-class products that we market include:
- IBM mainframe products
- IBM midrange products (AS/400 and RS/6000)
- IBM/OEM tape storage
- IBM/OEM disk storage
- Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) products
- EMC products
- Connectivity products, controllers and mainframe printers
Very few resellers of enterprise-class hardware are able to offer data center managers refurbished mainframe products as well as technical expertise across all hardware categories found in the typical data center.
Because enterprise-class hardware is designed and manufactured to be reliable spanning several years, an alternative - such as QSGI - to choosing "new" hardware offers significant savings to our target audience.
Businesses that have already made purchasing decisions and saved money in the secondary market understand that there is often a fine line between "latest" technology and "current" technology. IBM, for example, recently introduced the z90 mainframe. This new hardware is able to perform a variety of functions that make it unique and attractive for "early adopters" and those that believe that having the "latest" is best. Others understand, however, that technology that is only one year old can easily meet their data center requirements - that year-old technology is still "current" for their purposes. Yet, the key difference is that those who choose "current" technology (as opposed to "latest") do not absorb the initial depreciation and may pay only a fraction of the price of "new" technology.
Currently, IBM is the only manufacturer of mainframes in the world marketplace. This gives IBM the luxury of having no competition for new mainframes. The lack of competition for new mainframes creates a unique opportunity for us to sell used mainframes to customers needing to control capital budgets for IT hardware.
Technology that is introduced by IBM is often available in the used marketplace as early as 9-12 months after being introduced as a result of companies merging data centers, upgrading to the latest technology, filing bankruptcy or when hardware goes off lease. In many instances, the hardware is shipped to our offices in Eagan, Minnesota, where it is tested, refurbished and typically upgraded.
The key to our success is rooted in the information we glean through our retail efforts and our wholesale efforts. QSGI is typically involved in greater than 80 percent of all refurbished mainframe bids in the United States. To source enterprise-class hardware, our wholesale efforts are aware of nearly all mainframes that are - or about to become - available in the world. Access to this database of clients allows us to cross-market our other services that we offer.
Our Data Center Hardware group has its technical facilities in Minnesota along with sales and marketing. In addition, it has technical and sales offices in Connecticut, Illinois and Indiana.
Data Center Maintenance Segment:
We provide hardware maintenance services on enterprise-class hardware and associated peripheral products to companies around the United States. Either as a separate service from the hardware sale or sold as a service along with a sale of hardware, our maintenance programs are a source of significant savings and reliability for clients.
Products we maintain include:
- IBM mainframe products
- IBM midrange products
- IBM/OEM tape storage
- IBM/OEM disk storage
- Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) products
- EMC products
- Connectivity products and controllers
Our competitive advantages that make our services valuable for our corporate end-users as well as leasing companies needing to manage "off-lease" enterprise-class hardware include:
- our technical expertise.
- our ready access to a strategic inventory of critical back-up parts.
- our reduced pricing as compared to our competitors.
- our greater expertise on multiple platforms including the heart of the data center, "the Mainframe."
All training and back-up parts management for Data Center Maintenance is located in Minnesota. In addition, we have technical coverage and sales offices in 20 other states including Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington DC, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
