OEM vs third-party solutions: What procurement needs to know

Does your IT budgeting lean too heavily on the OEM? Third-party upgrades may be the solution

 

Oct 9th, 2025

 

Dr. Carlos Berto, Director of Network Engineering at Axiom

Brian Chang, Technical Writer/Editor

 

It’s no secret that data center costs continue to balloon in today's IT landscape. From increased CapEx on newer hardware to maintenance costs for post warranty support, the OEM premium is far too taxing on the average IT budget. 

Third-party upgrades are the ideal solution for maximizing the ROI on hardware spending. While considered an afterthought in the early days of the data center, third party solutions are now seen as an imperative consideration in today’s world given the excessive prices that the OEM imposes on the customer. 

Third-party solutions can help businesses build and upgrade data centers infrastructures in ways that are more conducive to modern data center infrastructure management. Here's why: 

Third-party solutions saves money for businesses

Global IT spending is on a rapidly increasing trajectory as data center CapEx is projected to hit 7 trillion in the next five years. Much of this spending is dedicated to building data centers for AI/HPC applications, which can be extremely expensive if relying solely on OEM solutions.

In contrast, third-party solutions dramatically cut costs. Businesses can save up to 65% on essential data center components, such as server memory, by going with third-party memory instead of the OEM. 

The OEM also raises costs for post-warranty support in order to goad businesses into initiating unnecessary hardware refreshes. Third-party maintenance is not tied to any particular OEM hardware, however, which means it's less incentivized to raises maintenance costs to push hardware refreshes. TThird-party maintenance platform like Axiom Maintenance Services (AMS) can help businesses reduce OpEx by moving away from expensive OEM maintenance contracts.

Third-party upgrades do not void warranties 

A common misconception is that third-party hardware voids warranties, which can be a deterrent for businesses looking for an alternative to expensive OEM hardware. 

However, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act protects the use of third-party hardware. Under code 15 USC 2302(c), warrantors cannot require that only branded parts be used with the product in order to retain the warranty. This is a “tie-in sales” provision and is considered illegal for the manufacturers to enforce. 

Third-party upgrades are used in a variety of industries worldwide, from automotive to computer hardware and more. In every case, customers are protected by warranty laws as well as the Sherman Antitrust Act. Businesses are able to run OEM and third-party upgrades side-by-side stress-free, without fear of violating warranties, allowing for a healthier, more open data center ecosystem. 

Third-party upgrades are compatible with OEM equivalents 

Another myth is that third-party hardware is not compatible with OEM equipment. In truth, third-party solutions actually solve the vendor lock-in by enabling third-party hardware to operate seamlessly with OEM hardware in the data center.

Generally speaking, OEM and third-party memory can run flawlessly together, as long as the specs and timings are the same and the memory modules are correctly configured in the system. For converged data center systems such as Cisco UCS, Axiom carries a line of UCS approved memory modules that are part of Cisco’s Approved Vendor List (AVL) and matches all the specifications of a UCS memory module, everything from the EEPROM down to the SPD (Serial Presence Detect) coding. For peace of mind for the user, Axiom UCS memory is plug-and-play with zero FRU error codes.

With Axiom's neatly organized and carefully curated database of hardware parts, users can find the correct, OEM-equivalent parts for their system with guaranteed compatibility and high performance. Mix and match memory from different brands without any issues in the data center using Axiom memory solutions. 

Hardware quality is on par with or even exceeds the OEM

There is also a concern with third-party hardware that the quality is inferior to that of the OEM. As is the case with any product, however, hardware quality often comes down to sourcing and quality control in the supply chain. While these factors may vary between hardware providers, Axiom is a well-established solutions provider with over 25 years of experience in the memory solutions market.

Working with vendors from all over the globe, Axiom has carefully vetted its suppliers in the supply chain to ensure the procurement of the highest quality components. Axiom networking, memory, and storage, transceivers and other products are manufactured using tier one component. Each part has been heavily stress tested in applicable enviroments using strict benchmarks. Our hardware parts have been tested by our team of engineers to validate Axiom products, ensuring that our hardware is on par or even surpasses the performance of OEM-equivalent counterparts.

Reliable third-party solution providers like Axiom are backed by an expert quality engineering and support team that carries out extensive testing to ensure that our hardware solutions deliver OEM level performance and compatibility with other major IT brands. 

TAA options are available for third-party upgrades

Many government related industries have requirements for their data centers to adhere to TAA- (Trade Agreements Act) regulations. Axiom parts are sourced from the United States itself or manufactured/substantially altered in an FTA (Federal Trade Agreement) designated country to ensure quality and compliance. 

Axiom provides a signed Certificate of Origin for every TAA-compliant product that we build and conducts internal compliance audits to verify the country of origin data. This process ensures that we can verify the production lineage to ensure that our certifications are never erroneous or fraudulent.

To help guide the customer more effectively, our part number schema AXG helps customers identify which products are TAA-compliant. This helps them avoid any unnecessary fines or bans related to TAA regulations.  

Count on Axiom for third party upgrades

Third-party data center solution providers such as Axiom offer the A's through Z's for data center hardware and maintenance support. With our expert team of engineers and technical support, we are able to help businesses build data center infrastructures for next generation applications and also pinpoint the root causes of any potential problems. Axiom provides solutions, even through customization, to address all data center related issues. 

Contact an Axiom representative today to learn more about our full lineup of cost-effective, OEM-level networking, memory, storage  solutions and more: