Rackable’s Credit Solution: Leasing Datacenters

Rackable Systems today announced a leasing program to provide customers with more options to finance IT equipment purchases. The program is similar to the ones offered by major vendors like IBM, HP and Dell.

The economic crisis in the U.S. has led to a severe contraction in available credit to firms looking to make capital purchases. This has led to steep declines in capital purchases, and is forcing component vendors like Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to pre-announce significant reductions in quarterly sales for the near term.


The Rackable Equipment Leasing program will allow customers to lease datacenter equipment on a per-project basis or longer requirements. Like a car leasing program, equipment can be leased for no money down, just the monthly payments, in certain scenarios.


The program also offers the ability to trade in existing equipment for credit along with equipment disposal and recycling. Rackable will take both its own equipment and that of certain competitors, depending on its value, according to Tony Carrozza, senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing.


Rackable (NASDAQ: RACK) already had a leasing program but not as comprehensive as the one it is launching today. “We felt that given the state of the market, the credit crunch, where most companies seem to be today in saving capital, that it was a very opportune time to launch this effort more fully,” Carrozza told InternetNews.com.


Rackable has chosen Macquarie Equipment Leasing as its financial partner. The two firms already work together to offer leasing but this is an expansion of the relationship. Carrozza said the firm has solid A credit rating from Standard and Poor’s and is in good financial shape. “They have weathered this [crisis] extremely well,” he said.


The program is meant for larger-scale deployments in the seven-figure range. Carrozza said it’s not meant for deals below $100,000. It’s ideally suited for Rackable’s mobile datacenter, the ICE Cube, a container the size of the ones used by tractor trailers.


The program won’t just offer hardware, but a complete package. “It’s great for Rackable to be able to offer a total solution of hardware as well as any services, software, what the customer needs,” he said. “So it is a one-stop shop.”

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