Buying computers all over the world

[Prizam]

Yes, the apocalypse has meant getting hold of any computers or laptops is difficult and expensive. To make things a little more complex, I am now hiring staff all over the world and getting them hardware is increasingly difficult. Specifically getting stuff into Mexico and Brazil. Shipped from the USA, they get caught up in customs.

Does anyone here have a solution?

Dell wants me to be a reseller, and even then I can only have a presence in one country per business entity.

GroWrk won't respond, probably due to demand. The same for Firstbase.

Suppliers in the UK or US will ship outside of the country, but hit the same import/export customs issues and delays.


Any ideas?

[Defcon5]

Could you give the employee an allowance to buy their own (with minimum specs etc)

I assume these are professional roles and you are employing responsible people

[Mr Pointy]

Is there a reason why the people you hire can't buy locally & you then reimburse them?

[LeeM135i]

Its either buy the computer locally and reimburse as expenses. They can then install team viewer (or similar) for you to install specific software for your business. Or they travel to the office or you travel to meet them and handover the machine in person. Pre Covid we used option 2 but I realise thats tricky at the moment.

[Prizam]

Lots of reasons.

A lot of them can't afford the new kit

It needs to be remotely built before they can use it (About a day on a crummy internet connection)

New starters would then have a 1 month lead time waiting for new hardware to arrive

We cannot have them work on their own hardware for security reasons.

In countries like Brazil, new hardware is taxed against the person TAX code, so we would need to pay them off an extra amount so they can pay the tax... but that money would be taxable in its self. (Nightmare). If we had a business entity we could tax against in-country it would make things easier.

[ecs0set]

Prizam said:

It needs to be remotely built before they can use it (About a day on a crummy internet connection)

New starters would then have a 1 month lead time waiting for new hardware to arrive

We cannot have them work on their own hardware for security reasons.

Are you sure you need the old-school rebuild PC approach? Windows AutoPilot and Intune can remote install/uninstall things on a pre-built OEM Windows install without having to start from bare metal. Even accounting for the slow internet connection, still seems faster than 1 month lead time.

Or just use the local PC / cheap laptop as a terminal to connect to a managed remote desktop in the cloud.

[jeremyc]

Have you tried Lenovo and/or their resellers? They operate globally with outlets in most regions.

[Prizam]

ecs0set said:

Are you sure you need the old-school rebuild PC approach? Windows AutoPilot and Intune can remote install/uninstall things on a pre-built OEM Windows install without having to start from bare metal. Even accounting for the slow internet connection, still seems faster than 1 month lead time.

Or just use the local PC / cheap laptop as a terminal to connect to a managed remote desktop in the cloud.

I can use Autopilot, though it won't deploy a hardened OS. I have a remote build process scripted out that will work, but still won't solve the problem of getting hardware into the hands of employees.

VDI is an option, but these people have rubbish internet connections... and it wont work well for things like voip.

[Prizam]

jeremyc said:

Have you tried Lenovo and/or their resellers? They operate globally with outlets in most regions.

I like Dell... I cant imagine Lenovo is any better with having a global footprint. It will still hit the same problems.

[Geekman]

I'm based in Mexico and have a business here. Not sure if there's anything I could do to help, but if there is, PM me.

[Prizam]

Geekman said:

I'm based in Mexico and have a business here. Not sure if there's anything I could do to help, but if there is, PM me.

Is it an IT reseller business?

[Geekman]

Prizam said:

Geekman said:

I'm based in Mexico and have a business here. Not sure if there's anything I could do to help, but if there is, PM me.

Is it an IT reseller business?

No, but I regularly sell IT equipment to my clients, and can legally invoice a wide variety of goods and services due to my tax status. Like I said, I have no idea if I'd be any use to you, but I regularly help out UK citizens who conduct business on a small scale over here.

[maffski]

Could you use Apple? They have stores in Brazil and Mexico, you might be able to buy online and your staff pickup locally.