Case studies — what real engagements look like.
Five anonymised case studies from recent Singapore engagements. Names removed (NDAs); scope, timeline and outcomes intact. Useful for procurement teams trying to map a prospective Maxicom engagement against their own scope, and for executives trying to calibrate what's realistic on timeline and recovery.
Trading-floor refresh — 220 workstations + 14 servers.
Scope: Bank Trading Floor IT refresh. 220 high-spec workstations (Dell Precision 5820 / 7820, all 2-3 years old, all configured with NVMe boot drives + bulk-storage HDDs), 14 risk-system servers (Dell R740). Multiple data classifications: customer data on workstations, MAS-regulated trading data on servers.
Trigger: Annual refresh cycle, replacement kit already deployed; old kit needed off the floor in 14 days for facilities work.
Discipline applied: NDA executed Day 0. Site survey Day 1 (after-hours). NIST 800-88 Purge on workstations, NIST 800-88 Destroy on servers (drives shred to <2mm). Two-operator + witness on every server. MAS TRM-aware evidence pack including signed inventory reconciliation, destruction certificate, and downstream-disposition log.
Timeline: Day 0 quote → Day 4 SoW → Days 7-9 phased uplift (after-hours) → Days 10-14 destruction → Day 16 evidence pack delivered → Day 17 SGD settlement.
Outcome: S$94,200 SGD settlement. Zero issues at internal audit review. Bank has retained Maxicom for the following year's refresh under a recurring framework arrangement.
Whole-cage decommissioning — 38 racks, 312 servers, 18 storage arrays.
Scope: DC tenant exiting their Jurong East colocation, consolidating into a hyperscaler. Whole 38-rack cage, ~312 servers (mixed HPE / Dell / Lenovo, Gen8-Gen10), 18 storage arrays (NetApp FAS + 2× AFF), rack-mount UPS, networking, KVMs. Hardware mix from 5 generations of capex.
Trigger: Cage lease ending; hyperscaler migration completed; operator demanding empty-cage release within 21 days to avoid carry-over rent.
Discipline applied: Phased decom — 4 days of pickup runs, destruction batches running in parallel. Per-cage U-position tally + photo evidence at empty-cage release. Floor-space release document signed by operator (Equinix-format) on Day 14.
Timeline: Day 0 quote → Day 3 SoW (NDA + DDQ embedded) → Days 5-9 phased pickup → Days 6-19 destruction (batches in parallel with pickup) → Day 14 empty-cage release → Day 21 evidence pack + SGD settlement.
Outcome: S$238,400 SGD settlement (S$172K servers, S$48K storage, S$18K networking). Customer hit operator deadline. Operator accepted the floor-space release format directly.
Carve-out IT separation — pre-deal-close evidence pack.
Scope: Manufacturing MNC divesting its SE-Asia subsidiary. Carve-out separation creates a pool of redundant IT — 67 servers, 4 storage arrays, 180 laptops belonging to teams now joining the buyer entity.
Trigger: Deal close in 6 weeks. Both buyer and seller need audit-ready evidence that data didn't cross between the two during separation.
Discipline applied: NDA-first (mutual). Tight scope — explicit inventory list locked Day 1, no scope creep. Two evidence packs produced: one for seller's deal-close file, one for buyer's first-day audit file. Per-asset destruction certificate with serial-level chain of custody. Photo evidence retained 7 years.
Timeline: Day 0 NDA → Day 2 quote → Day 5 SoW → Days 8-12 uplift → Days 9-18 destruction → Day 21 evidence pack to both parties → Day 22 SGD settlement to seller.
Outcome: S$87,500 SGD settlement to seller. Deal closed on schedule. Buyer's day-one IT audit raised zero findings on the divested-IT boundary.
Going-out-of-business IT recovery — receiver-led.
Scope: SG-incorporated tech firm in receivership. ~800 laptops, 22 servers, networking kit, AI development workstations including 8× NVIDIA A100. Receiver appointed by creditors needs the realisation booked in 14 days for the creditors' meeting.
Trigger: Wind-down. Speed of SGD recovery is the dominant constraint. Asset list partial; condition mixed; some kit removed by departing staff (a known unknown).
Discipline applied: Photo / inventory walk-through Day 1, indicative quote Day 1 evening, confirmed quote Day 3 after partial reconciliation. Single Statement of Work covering buyback + destruction + evidence pack. Settlement direct to the realisation account named by the receiver. Realisation report attachment produced from our standard evidence format.
Timeline: Day 0 first call → Day 1 site walk-through + indicative quote → Day 3 confirmed quote + SoW → Days 5-8 pickup → Days 6-12 destruction → Day 13 evidence pack + SGD settlement.
Outcome: S$211,800 SGD recovery to the realisation account. Receiver met creditors'-meeting deadline. AI hardware (the 8× A100) drove ~40% of the realisation; quoted hourly given market volatility on the day.
12 servers, never deployed — boutique boutique scenario.
Scope: Mid-size MNC ordered 12 Dell PowerEdge R760 servers for a project in February. Project cancelled in April. Servers still in factory shrink-wrap on the loading dock. Procurement asked us if there was a route to recovery short of a vendor return-merchandise process.
Trigger: Cancelled IT project. Kit is brand-new, never powered on, original packaging intact.
Discipline applied: Factory-sealed kit commands premium residuals — typically 50-80% of original purchase price. Quoted within hours. Pickup the same week. No data destruction needed (drives never touched), but Certificate of Non-Use documenting the chain.
Timeline: Day 0 first call → Day 0 quote (4 hours) → Day 2 SoW → Day 5 pickup → Day 7 SGD settlement.
Outcome: S$74,200 SGD recovery (vs original spend ~S$110K). Customer recovered ~67%. We now run a small standing-quote arrangement for their cancelled-project pool.
What recurs.
Common thread: NDA before scope, quote within hours not days, evidence-pack format that drops directly into the customer's audit file, SGD settlement within 5 business days of disposition. The variation is in the trigger — refresh, tenant exit, divestiture, insolvency, cancellation — but the engagement discipline is consistent.
Maxicom Singapore — frequently asked
Why are these anonymised?
NDAs are bidirectional. We don't name customers in marketing without explicit written permission, even when they're publicly proud of having retired their old kit. Several of these customers have given permission for named reference calls — ask us when you DDQ us.
Are these representative or cherry-picked?
Representative — drawn from the recent engagement pool to span scope (small to large), trigger (refresh, exit, M&A, insolvency, cancellation), and sector (bank, DC tenant, manufacturing MNC, tech, MNC HQ). The engagements that didn't go smoothly are the ones we'd talk through in a face-to-face DDQ session.
Can I speak to a reference customer?
Yes — we can introduce you to a named reference for the engagement profile closest to yours, with the customer's agreement. Typically arranged at the DDQ stage, not before.