News/Trends

Service Express Acquires Top Gun Technology to Enhance Mission-Critical Support Services GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., February 12, 2025 — Service Express, a global data center and infrastructure solutions provider, today announced [...]

Top Gun Mobilizes to Assist Clients Impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton Eagan, MN 10/07/24 — In the wake of Hurricane Helene's recent impact, Top Gun is now preparing to [...]

Q4-24 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets As we approach the final quarter of 2024, it's crucial for IT professionals and decision-makers to stay informed about [...]

Evaluating Appliance-Based VTL Solutions for Mainframe Environments Thinking about upgrading your tape backup server for an IBM Mainframe? Upgrading your IBM Mainframe's tape backup server is a significant decision. Whether [...]

Maintenance Decisions that Drive Cost Efficiency and Performance In today's competitive business landscape, cost efficiency remains a top priority for enterprise organizations. Inarguably, the impact of direct savings (OpEx or [...]

Benefits of Managed Infrastructure Services IT teams face unprecedented challenges. From keeping pace with technological advancements to managing rising infrastructure costs and retaining skilled staff, the pressure on IT departments [...]

Retailers Achieving Excellence in Hardware Estate Management with Physical Site Surveys Creating an omnichannel experience has led to a diverse hardware estate that ends up fragmented and difficult to track [...]

A Partner-Driven Strategy in the United Kingdom Top Gun has been a trusted enterprise maintenance services provider in the United States since 2007, specializing in support for high-end systems and [...]

Six Steps to Ensure a Smooth and Cost-Effective Cloud Migration Significant capital and personnel investments reside in corporate data centers. As organizations move applications to the cloud, these assets are [...]

Forced IBM POWER 8 upgrade. Really? Worried about being pushed into an IBM POWER 8 upgrade? Don't be. The urgency to switch to new systems and storage products, as pushed [...]

Top Gun Technology, Inc. Recognized on CRN’s 2024 MSP ELITE 150 List Eagan, Minnesota, February 12, 2024 — Top Gun Technology, Inc. announced today that CRN®, a brand of The [...]

Navigating the NetApp Support Landscape: 5 Crucial Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Third-Party Provider NetApp stands as a recognized leader in data storage solutions, providing businesses with robust and [...]

Understanding Co-Term SupportCo-terming refers to the consolidation of various devices, services, or products into a single support contract. It can also involve combining products with different coverage start dates or varying [...]

Q1-24 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets Navigating the intricate timeline of EOSL (End of Service Life) for your enterprise's IT assets is a critical element [...]

Safeguarding Systems Through Health Checks The surge in corporate reliance on system infrastructure is unmistakable, prompting many organizations to invest in a variety of monitoring and management tools for a [...]

Q3-23 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets Keeping track of your hardware is a task that IT experts often grapple with. One big factor to consider [...]

AI Growth Impacts Enterprise Storage A new wave of solutions, dubbed Generative AI, is quickly moving from concept to implementation. One ripple effect is these applications require enormous amounts of [...]

Top Gun Mobilizes to Assist Clients Impacted by Hurricane Idalia Eagan, MN 8/29/23 -- As Hurricane Idalia looms, potentially becoming the fiercest storm to target Florida's Big Bend region in [...]

Taking A Holistic Approach to Hardware Maintenance Hardware infrastructure forms the backbone of any organization's IT ecosystem. However, many make the mistake of viewing hardware components in isolation when it [...]

Top Gun U.K. Appoints Lee Bailey as its Director Global Leader in Mission Critical Data Centre Maintenance Strengthens Leadership Team [Eagan, 8/15/23] – Top Gun U.K., a leader in mission [...]

Sustainability Initiatives Empower Enterprises to Reduce Datacenter Expenses IT managers have a new criterion driving purchasing decisions. Data center sustainability has become a top management concern. Why? Client interest in [...]

Have You Chosen the Right IT Field Services Partner? The needs of enterprise companies are constantly evolving, and with it, the demands they place on their IT Service Providers are [...]

June 2023 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets Managing enterprise hardware assets is a particular endeavor for IT professionals. Data center equipment's end-of-service life (EOSL) significantly [...]

Get Your On-Premises Infrastructure Ready for Cloud Repatriation The dark lining around cloud services is becoming more pronounced. Recent price hikes as well as challenges in having vendors tailor these [...]

Achieving Excellence in IT Asset Management: A Strategic Approach to Hardware Tracking In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, a robust IT Asset Management (ITAM) strategy isn't just a nice-to-have, it's [...]

Solving 10 Common Challenges of Leveraging Contracted, On-Demand Data Center Technicians The "Great Resignation" and evolving workforce demands have left IT managers grappling with acquiring and retaining skilled technical labor. [...]

The Critical Role of Data Protection In today's digital landscape, data has become an essential asset for organizations, driving innovation, and powering decision-making processes. Consequently, protecting sensitive and confidential information [...]

11 Essential Steps to Consider When Retiring Data Center Server Hardware Organizations managing diverse server environments often encounter challenges when decommissioning server hardware. While software and internal compliance requirements differ [...]

Navigating Data Confidentiality in the Realm of IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) In the landscape of IT asset disposition (ITAD), the significance of data privacy protocols and regulatory compliance cannot be [...]

Q2-23 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network AssetsBy Brian Kjera, Top GunIT professionals responsible for managing hardware assets often monitor the end-of-service life (EOSL) dates of their data [...]

Key Considerations for Those that Choose ‘Self-Maintenance’ of Data Center Hardware Self-maintenance of data center hardware, including systems that are mission critical, has been a practice and choice for IT [...]

Top Gun Promotes Joel Shehadi to EVP, Global Sales March 23, 2023 (Prior Lake, MN): Top Gun is pleased to announce it has promoted Joel Shehadi (previously EVP, Strategic Accounts) [...]

Helpful Insights When Choosing Your TPM Partner By Chris Miller, Top GunThe third-party maintenance (TPM) industry continues to experience market disruption due to the M&A frenzy, leaving behind a wave of [...]

12 Essentials of a Well-Managed Data Center Relocation Physically moving a data center from one location to another can be a very daunting IT project! For those not entirely familiar [...]

Why Your Data Center Hardware Support Provider Must Continually Invest in a Robust R&D Lab By Craig Wilson, Top Gun The amount of investment any TPM (Third Party Maintenance) provider [...]

HP-UX Support Roadmap - Trends & Planning: Check Out the HP-UX “Bathtub Curve” Are you aware of HPE’s evolving support trends for your HP-UX servers? If not, or you’ve only [...]

Q1-23 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets By Brian Kjera, Top Gun Many hardware asset managers or IT operations professionals track data center hardware EOSL dates [...]

December ‘22 EOSL Dates for Your Data Center Servers, Storage & Network Hardware By Brian Kjera, Top Gun IT operations (or ITAM) professionals will often track data center hardware EOSL [...]

November ‘22 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Hardware By Brian Kjera, Top Gun The world’s most efficient IT ops (or ITAM) pros will track enterprise IT [...]

Top Gun Formally Announces Support for the IBM z15-8562 (T02) MainframeNovember 3, 2022 (Prior Lake, MN): Top Gun is pleased to announce it can now support the IBM z15-8562 (T02) mainframe [...]

Insights: OverWatch - Value Creation via Risk Mitigation At Top Gun, we believe that value creation is born from a well-defined partnership between business partners and clients. This partnership is [...]

Q4-22 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets By Brian Kjera, Top Gun Many hardware asset managers or IT operations professionals track data center hardware EOSL dates [...]

Data Center IT Hardware Maintenance RFP Content that Yields Accuracy & Completeness from Your RespondersSourcing and Supply Chain departments, working in collaboration with their internal IT partners and business partners, can [...]

September ‘22 EOSL Dates for Servers, Storage & Network Hardware By Brian Kjera, Top Gun Tracking EOSL dates for your servers, storage and network hardware is essential to managing IT [...]

Don’t Ignore Your Clients’ Need for Legacy IT Infrastructure Support By Chris Miller, Top Gun As an IT solution provider, you’re likely very focused on selling subscription-based cloud, security and [...]

Discover the Value of Outsourced Specialty Support for IBM Z Mainframes & z/OS By Mamie Sheen, Top Gun While most large enterprises have discovered the longevity and importance of mainframes [...]

Top Three Mainframe Security Best Practices You Need to Know By Jamie Owens, Top Gun There have been many high-profile data breaches in recent years, and each has demonstrated the [...]

Reducing Enterprise Data Storage TCO by Purchasing Pre-Owned & by Using Third Party Maintenance (TPM) Managing data storage OpEx costs in today’s unique environment and also getting the best “bang” [...]

Employee Spotlight: Jack Carr Client Development Manager As of August 2022, Jack is one of the newest members of the Top Gun sales and client success team. As a Client [...]

Wi-Fi Connectivity: Know the Structure & Benefits of Outsourced Wireless SurveysWi-Fi connectivity is critical for supporting business operation applications and systems in warehouses, offices, hospitality, campus environments that demand reliability and [...]

August ‘22 EOSL Dates for Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Hardware By Brian Kjera, Top Gun Many ITAM or IT Ops pros track hardware EOSL dates because, with proper use [...]

Excessive M&A Impacts Quality of Service By Brian Kjera, Top Gun While we’ve personally witnessed and have Service Quality horror stories told to us by new clients, there appears to [...]

Clever Supply Chain Strategies for IT Decision Makers – Embracing a Proven Contingency By George Fardy, Top Gun News and media coverage would have us believing that global IT supply [...]

Q3-22 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets By Brian Kjera, Top Gun Many ITAM or IT Ops pros track hardware EOSL dates because, with proper use [...]

Strategically Re-allocate IT Budgets for the Post-Pandemic “Bleisure” Travelers By Therese Williams, Top Gun Whether we welcome it or not, technology continues to blur the boundaries between work and play. [...]

Top Gun is Pleased to Announce Ian Adams has Joined the Company June 8, 2022 (Prior Lake, MN): Top Gun is pleased to welcome Ian Adams as Managing Director of [...]

Modern Trends in Data Storage Hardware: Doing More, with Less By Donna Pizarro, Top Gun Technology has created a world that is constantly evolving to improve productivity by doing more [...]

Q2-22 May EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets By Brian Kjera, Top Gun As you already know, there is data worth tracking and there’s data that [...]

Why You Should Check Under the Hood of Third Party Maintainers By Craig Wilson, Top Gun This article will help you assess the true technical capabilities of a Third Party [...]

Automated Hardware Problem Reporting or “Remote Monitoring” Applications Which is Better for Preventative Enterprise IT Hardware Support? Preventative Hardware Support Services are essential – and expected – in today’s mission [...]

Helpful Q2 EOSL Dates for Your Enterprise Servers, Storage & Network Assets By Brian Kjera, Top Gun It’s April and Spring is Here…or at least very nearby! End-of Service Life [...]

Prevent Unforeseen Risks by Asking “Sharper Questions” of Your TPM/Independent Hardware Maintenance Providers By Therese Williams, Top Gun In recent years, the use of Request for Proposals (RFPs) and Reverse [...]

Best Steps for Transitioning from OEM IT Maintenance to Third Party Maintenance (TPM) By Donna Pizarro, Top Gun It makes great sense to move from OEM hardware maintenance to Third [...]

Technical Bulletin: Apache Software Log4j - Security Vulnerability CVE-2021-44228 Release Date: December 14, 2021 NOTICE: The information in this document, including products and software versions, is current as of the [...]

Welcome Joel Shehadi, Executive Vice President of Strategic Accounts Top Gun is pleased to announce Joel Shehadi as Executive Vice President of Strategic Accounts. With over 20 years of IT [...]

Welcome Johnny Walker, Chief Solutions Officer Top Gun is pleased to announce the appointment of Johnny Walker as Chief Solutions Officer. As a twenty-five year veteran in the IT industry [...]

Welcome Craig Wilson, Vice President of Engineering Top Gun, a global leader in third-party maintenance, announced today that Craig Wilson has joined the company as Vice President of Engineering. In [...]

On behalf of our entire team at Top Gun, I am writing to share with you our plan of operation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our priorities are clear – client/employee [...]

Wondering how to extend the support of your IT Infrastructure? Third-Party Maintenance (TPM) companies provide business leaders with an alternative option. The questions organizations are left dealing with include, which [...]

Back to Basics: How Mainframes Work & Their Future Mainframes carry a stigma of being old technology, but they’re actually more relevant than ever. Today, mainframes are responsible for anything [...]

Results from the Syncsort's State of the Mainframe in 2019 survey showed that IT professionals plan to focus on "mainframe optimization, cost reduction and spending" by "optimizing general processor CPU [...]

Top Gun offers affordable refurbished N-1 IBM zSystems mainframes for IBM Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). ISVs that apply for IBM’s Z Developer Discount offering can pair the program with one [...]

IBM z13 supports the new FICON Express16S channel for improved I/O rates and bandwidth. Top Gun has these features available for 2964 z13 and 2965 z13s Mainframes. 0418 FICON Express16S [...]

Mainframes: Top Gun has z13s and upgrades, all guaranteed eligible for IBM maintenance, please ask to talk to us about your fall projects to ensure you are getting the best deal. EC12/2827, BC12/2828, [...]

Tom Marchant’s article Fighting the Media’s Mainframe Misconception: Proving the z13 is Modern says that mainframes "are simpler to administer, use less power, require less floor space and cooling, and have [...]

Reddy notes that mainframes are a source of revenue growth and innovation and have become an important part of intelligent automation.  He explains their speed, security, HA and new capabilities [...]

Bryan Smith¹s article, "How Mainframes Prevent Data Breaches,  gives an interesting perspective on how using mainframes to process and protect data can keep hackers from having another banner year. Smith says protecting [...]

Top Gun can help maximize your 4th quarter IT budget with our latest IBM and Dell EMC storage offerings. Our enterprise and midrange storage solutions can be customized for your [...]

The Pros and Cons of SAN Architecture and Hardware DevicesIf you’ve spent any time around people who work in IT, there’s a good chance you’ve heard about storage area networks (SANs). [...]