Which IT brands we work with, and when we pick which
Being able to supply a brand is not the same as knowing when to use it. This is the full list of what we deliver, install and manage, grouped by the problem it solves rather than by the logo on the box.
ITproposal delivers and manages hardware from Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Acer and Fujitsu for workplaces; Cisco, Juniper, Ubiquiti, NETGEAR and Fortinet for networks and security; Yealink, Poly, Sennheiser, Samsung and Epson for meeting rooms; Zebra for scanning; Synology, Veeam, Datto and Schneider Electric for storage, backup and power.
On the software side we work with Microsoft 365 and Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, VMware, Nutanix and Proxmox, plus Okta, Palo Alto Networks, Trend Micro, Bitdefender and Cloudflare for security, and Splunk, Grafana, Atlassian, TeamViewer and Zoom in day-to-day operations.
We are deliberately not tied to one manufacturer. The choice follows the site, the existing estate and what you already have people trained on.
Why we are not a one-brand shop
A supplier who only sells one manufacturer will always find a reason why that manufacturer fits. We would rather keep the choice open, because the right answer genuinely differs per site. A distribution centre with steel racking and moving stock needs different access points than an accountancy office on two floors. A shop with four tills does not need the same firewall as a head office with two hundred staff and a compliance obligation.
So the list below is broad on purpose. What matters is not how many logos we can show, but that for every category we can explain in one sentence when we reach for which one, and that we are willing to say when the brand you already have is fine as it is.
Workplaces: Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Acer and Fujitsu
For laptops, desktops, monitors and docking stations the business ranges of the big five are close together on quality. The difference sits in service contracts, availability and how easy the estate is to keep uniform over three or four years.
| Brand | Where we use it | Typical ranges |
|---|---|---|
| Dell | Standard office estates and workstations, where next business day on site matters | Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision, UltraSharp |
| HP | Mixed estates and anywhere printing and scanning sit in the same contract | EliteBook, ProBook, Z workstations, LaserJet |
| Lenovo | Heavy users and people on the road, plus docking-heavy hot desking | ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, ThinkVision |
| ASUS | Smaller sites and branches where budget per seat is the constraint | ExpertBook, ProArt, business monitors |
| Acer | Volume rollouts and secondary devices such as shared floor laptops | TravelMate, Veriton |
| Fujitsu | Document-driven work and back office scanning | Esprimo, Celsius, fi-series scanners |
We buy, rent out, stage and dispose of these devices as one service. That is covered on our hardware sales and rental page and, for the whole life of a device, under IT lifecycle.
Network and security: Cisco, Juniper, Ubiquiti, NETGEAR and Fortinet
Networking is where brand choice has the longest tail, because whatever goes in has to be manageable for years by whoever is on call at two in the morning.
- Cisco for switching, routing and cloud-managed sites, including Meraki where a branch needs to be managed remotely without a local engineer.
- Juniper for larger campus and datacentre switching, and where Mist-style wireless assurance is on the wish list.
- Ubiquiti for smaller multi-site estates that want one controller and predictable licensing rather than per-device subscriptions.
- NETGEAR for straightforward switching and access points at branch level, plus network storage in small sites.
- Fortinet for firewalls, secure switching and site-to-site VPN, particularly where one console over all locations is the point.
Design, installation and management of all of this sits under managed network.
Wi-Fi measurement: Ekahau
Ekahau is measuring equipment and planning software, not a network brand. We use it to survey a building before anything is bought and again after installation to prove the coverage is actually there. That is the difference between a heatmap based on a floor plan and one based on a walk through the building with a meter in hand.
The full method is described under Wi-Fi analysis.
Meeting rooms and AV: Yealink, Poly, Sennheiser, Samsung and Epson
A meeting room fails on the part nobody owns, which is usually the sound. We deliver the room as one thing: display, audio, microphones, cabling and the network behind it.
- Yealink for desk phones, headsets, conference audio and full room systems.
- Poly for conference cameras, speakerphones and headsets, particularly in mixed rooms.
- Sennheiser for ceiling microphones and rooms where the audio has to work without anyone thinking about it.
- Samsung for monitors, large-format displays and signage.
- Epson for projection, plus printers and scanners elsewhere in the building.
- Cisco for room systems where the rest of the estate is already Cisco-managed.
See AV and meeting rooms for how we hand a room over.
Scanning and shop floor: Zebra
Zebra covers barcode scanners, mobile computers and label printers. In a warehouse or a store these are the devices that stop the work when they drop off the network, which is why they are part of the network design rather than an afterthought. Most of that work runs through retail IT and transport and logistics.
Storage, backup and power: Synology, Veeam, Datto and Schneider Electric
Continuity is where we are least willing to improvise. Backup without a tested restore is a folder, not a plan.
- Veeam for backup and replication across virtual, physical and cloud workloads, including immutable copies.
- Synology for network storage and backup appliances at site level.
- Datto for business continuity appliances where a fast local restore matters more than archive depth.
- Schneider Electric for UPS units and rack power distribution, because a clean shutdown is part of the recovery plan.
How we agree and demonstrate recovery times is covered under data and business continuity.
Cloud and platforms: Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, VMware, Nutanix and Proxmox
Most of our clients run Microsoft 365 with Azure alongside it, and that is where the bulk of our platform work sits. But we also manage AWS workloads, Google Cloud projects and on-premises virtualisation.
On the virtualisation side we work with VMware, Nutanix and Proxmox, and on the operating system side with Red Hat, SUSE and Ubuntu. Where containers are involved we work with Docker and Kubernetes. For application landscapes we come across Citrix and SAP regularly, and we take those into account in the design rather than treating them as somebody else’s problem.
Migration and day-to-day operations are described under cloud services.
Security and identity: Okta, Palo Alto Networks, Trend Micro, Bitdefender and Cloudflare
Security is a stack, not a product. Identity, endpoint, network edge and email each need their own answer, and they need to report into one place.
- Okta for identity and single sign-on across applications.
- Palo Alto Networks for next-generation firewalling in larger or more regulated estates.
- Trend Micro and Bitdefender for endpoint and server protection.
- Cloudflare for DNS, DDoS protection and putting public services behind something.
How this is assembled and reported on is covered under cybersecurity.
Day-to-day operations: Splunk, Grafana, Atlassian, TeamViewer and Zoom
The tooling we run our own service on matters to you, because it decides how quickly something is noticed and how visible the work is.
We use Splunk and Grafana for logging, metrics and dashboards, Atlassian for issue tracking and documentation, TeamViewer for remote support and Zoom alongside Microsoft Teams for meetings. What you see of that is monthly reporting you can act on, which is described under service governance.
How we actually choose
Four questions, in this order. What is already there and still supported? What can your own people manage without a course? What does the site physically demand, in terms of racking, interference, power and opening hours? And only then: what does it cost over three years, including support and replacement?
Price is deliberately last. A switch that is cheaper on the quote but cannot be managed remotely costs more the first time somebody has to drive to a branch on a Saturday.
Questions we get about this
The questions that come up most often when we go through this list with a new client.
Do I have to buy hardware through ITproposal?
No. We manage estates we did not supply, and that is a large part of our work. Buying through us is useful when you want one party for purchase, staging, rollout, support and disposal, because that removes the handover between supplier and manager. It is not a condition for anything else we do.
Can you keep working with the brands I already have?
Yes, and in most cases that is the sensible answer. Replacing working equipment because it does not match a preferred brand is expensive and rarely improves anything. We take the existing estate as the starting point and only propose a change where there is a concrete reason: end of support, a gap in coverage, or something that cannot be managed remotely.
What if a brand on this list is not the right fit for us?
Then we say so. This list is what we work with, not a promise that all of it belongs in your building. Part of the advice is telling you which categories you can leave alone this year.
Do you also rent hardware instead of selling it?
Yes. Laptops, headsets, monitors and meeting room equipment can be rented, which is common for projects, temporary staff and events. The rental runs through the same support desk as owned equipment, so the person calling does not need to know which it is.
Where this lands in our work
The services where these brands actually get used.
Want this looked at for your own sites?
Half an hour on a call is usually enough to tell you whether we are the right party for it, and we will say so if we are not.