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Are Netbooks Enough for Your Business?

Marc Saltzman — 2009-07-31T12:50:58-05:00

Portable and affordable, the trendy "netbook" is all the rage among computer makers and the consumers snatching them up in droves -- so much, in fact, this young category is estimated to make up more than 20 percent of the entire laptop category by next year.

But are these tiny Wi-Fi-enabled netbooks -- designed primarily for Web surfing, e-mail, and word processing -- ideal for running your business? What's lost or gained in the transition?

If you recognize the limitations of these scaled-down PCs, a netbook might be all you and your staff need to remain productive on the go, experts say.

Price and size matter

"A netbook is just a laptop whose pivotal axis is price," says Michael Gartenberg, vice president at Interpret LLC, a market research firm based in London, New York, and Los Angeles. "Basically you need to ask yourself if the netbook has enough horsepower to manage your business, and if so, you can save some money." However, if you or your staff need to run memory-intensive programs or require larger screens or a full-size keyboard, you might want to steer clear of this category, he says.

The lack of an optical drive might be an issue for some, Gartenberg adds, but an inexpensive external drive -- that can be shared among employees to install software -- might be all that's required. "Beyond that, many computer users today simply don't need a DVD drive," he says.

Steve Hilton, vice president for enterprise and small and mid-sized business research at the Boston-based Yankee Group, says along with a relatively inexpensive price tag, netbooks offer two other advantages for mobile workers: "They are fairly easy to replace if lost or damaged -- in fact most suppliers can easily ship an exact duplicate very quickly. Plus, an IT department tends to like [netbooks] as they're easy to manage since they have very few applications resident on the device."

Cloud computing

Netbooks might carry few applications because many small and mid-sized businesses are moving towards "cloud computing," which allows online employees to securely access programs and files on a remote server, as opposed to physically carrying sensitive data on the road. This trend is on the rise thanks to ubiquitous Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. In addition, more devices are available -- such as netbooks and smartphones -- with limited local memory. Much of the software is Web-based, too, therefore not requiring one particular operating system over another.

"Applications in the cloud are not loaded on a netbook because applications are processing and hard-disk hogs," explains Hilton. "Netbooks are light on both processing and hard-disk space, which is one of the reasons why they're priced fairly inexpensively, so in order to get the value from a netbook, applications in the cloud are essential."

Looked at another way, "a Prius and a Boxster have different purposes," continues Hilton, comparing netbooks with automobiles. "If you need a car that sips gasoline, drives your family of four to the mall, and keeps your auto insurance premiums low, your choice is obvious."

Gartenberg, however, cautions those who rely too heavily on remote applications for business. "The problem with the cloud is that it's not always available," he says. "There is this notion that everything will be delivered via browser, but it's more of a coexistence [with locally stored programs]. One solution isn't killing the other."

And they're getting better

Just two years ago, a netbook might be limited by a Linux operating system, a petite 7-inch display, and just 4GB of Flash (SSD) memory. Fast-forward to today, however, and there is far more selection, including a Windows o/s, bigger screens (up to 12-inches), a near full-size QWERTY keyboard, a minimum 160GB hard drive and better processors, such as Intel Atom chips.

As far as security goes, Gartenberg says you must treat netbooks like a laptop. "You want to be cautious about what information is on the netbook," he says, "ensure everything is password-protected, and despite its small size, try to remember not to leave it at a coffee shop or in a taxicab."

Five Tips to Make Your Hardware Last Longer

Minda Zetlin — 2009-04-24T13:44:50-05:00

With credit tight and profits down, “I need a new computer,” are the last words you want to hear from your employees. But chances are, you hear them all too often. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average lifespan of a personal computer is only 2.4 years.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. “Most computers are discarded when their hardware is perfectly good,” says J.J. Schoch, vice president of marketing, iolo technologies, publisher of the popular PC tune-up software System Mechanic.

Why do so many mechanically perfect computers get replaced? For one thing, it may be difficult to distinguish between hardware and software problems. If a computer is slow, glitchy, prone to crashing, and takes forever to load applications, its user is likely to demand a new one.

And some software problems are so bad they’re not worth fixing. “If a computer is badly infected with malware or has other severe security-related problems, fixing it may not be practical,” explains Ed Correia, CEO of managed service provider Sagacent Technologies. Yes, you could clean it off, but if it’s going to take 20 hours of expert IT time to do it, it might more cost-effective to buy another one.

With that in mind, here are 5 tips for getting the longest use from personal computers lives by protecting both their hardware and software:

Keep the computer free of unneeded applications. Unused or obsolete applications leave bits of code behind that can clog up your computer, eating up RAM and slowing everything down. Besides being a software problem, too much leftover code can also lead to hardware failure, by causing your hard drive to spin more than it needs to, thus wearing it down. “Your hard drive can wind up looking like Swiss cheese,” Correia says. One way to get rid of unneeded code is to use tune-up software, but Windows also has a disk cleanup feature. Make sure the system tray and registry are also free of unneeded applications.
Keep images of your computers. The operating system, configuration, and applications on a computer can be stored as a space-saving image, which makes it easy and quick for IT staff to restore them. Being able to re-image a computer solves the it’ll-take-so-long-to-restore-we-might-as-well-buy-a-new-one problem. And support staff can often re-image over the Internet, without even touching the computer. “Our standard procedure is, if someone’s having a problem and it takes more than an hour to fix, then we simply re-image,” Correia says.
Maximize memory. “One inexpensive way to extend the life of desktop computers is to upgrade to the maximum amount of RAM possible, so the operating system does not have to use memory on the hard disk,” says Matthew Chang, president of the online coupon website eCoupons.com. Here again, the idea is to cut back on excess use of the hard drive, which fills in whenever RAM is overloaded. Adding memory will improve users’ experience, too, since RAM is much faster than disk.
Minimize dust. Heat is anathema to computer components, so when their insides fill with dust, it traps heat, causing fans to work overtime, and wear out more quickly. So don’t set a computer directly on the floor, where it will act as a stationary vacuum cleaner -- even a few inches’ elevation will help. And don’t allow smoking or incense use around the computer either, since smoke will fill it with dust fast. “I’ve heard of computer motherboards frying because there was a layer of dust on them keeping the heat in,” Schoch says. You can’t keep dust from getting in, he adds. “Air has to circulate in a computer to keep it cool, and with air comes dust.” The only remedy, he says, is to open the computer case and blow out the dust periodically.
Hold off on Vista. Microsoft Windows Vista demands much more processing power than its predecessor XP. “It’s much, much more demanding, so we do not recommend installing Vista on existing computers,” Correia says. “Most computers currently in place don’t have the needed processing power.”

While all these steps can help you extend personal computer life, in three to five years, he predicts this will no longer be a concern. “By then, most small businesses will be using virtual desktops running on servers in the back office, and employees will use thin clients (essentially a keyboard, monitor, and browser) to access them. It’ll be an initial investment, but then they won’t have to keep upgrading desktops. They can just keep using them until they physically break.”

The Right Touch: Touch-Screen PCs

Marc Saltzman — 2008-12-18T14:38:05-05:00

Touch-screen technology can be found in all the latest smartphones -- with products such as the Apple iPhone, BlackBerry Storm, HTC Touch Diamond, and Samsung Instinct, to name a few. But whether or not this trend will extend to business computers is subject to opinion, and application.

Certain types of small businesses, for example, might thrive with the help of touch-screen computers. In the food or retail industry, access to a touch-screen to quickly place food orders or view merchandise information provides an intuitive interface for customers and employees alike.

HP has just launched its Touch Smart tx2, a convertible tablet/laptop hybrid with a multi-touch screen technology not unlike the iPhone. Users can pinch, swipe, or draw with a finger or two to write on the display, browse the Web, and control media.

A feel-good interface

On how to decide if touch-screen PCs are right for you and your business, here's what the experts advise.

“Touchscreen PCs are like dirty martinis: they're right for some, not right for others,” begins Steve Hilton, vice president of enterprise and small and mid-sized business research at the Boston-based Yankee Group.

For a small or mid-sized business accounting manager, for example, “a touch-screen PC is probably not so helpful because you spend most of your time on Microsoft Excel or some kind of accounting application,” says Hilton. “But if you're a graphic designer, Web developer, or other creative type, a touch-screen PC can be a cool idea.”

Hilton says Yankee Group has a test panel, a group of executives from small and mid-sized businesses, which tests new technologies for the market research firm. “One group is an online game developer and the designers at that studio simply love the idea of touch-screen computers,” explains Hilton. “So this technology fits a relevant niche in the market.”

"Businesses have shown interest in having touch technology -- this is untapped to date,” says Anneliese Olson, director of worldwide product marketing for business desktops at HP. “There is a need for easy-to-use, customized touch applications in vertical markets… especially designed for use in kiosks, customer-facing compute spaces, education and training, conference rooms, front desk and lobby areas, and even general office use.”

A touchy subject

But not everyone is sold on touch-screen PCs.

“Even though we’re seeing touch devices coming to market and Microsoft supporting touch in the future versions of Windows, at the end of the day a lot of this functionality is more gratuitous than anything else,” believes Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy for the Jupitermedia research group in New York City.

PC operating systems weren’t designed with touch in mind. “Unless you’re CNN that needs touch-screen devices to show information during an election, you’re better off saving the money you’d spend on a touch-screen and buy better smartphones or a better class of machine with more memory or better components,” adds Gartenberg.

“There just isn’t a lot of functionality in touch for most users," he says. "The value of these screens is more in mobile devices than personal computers.”

When One Monitor Isn’t Enough

Michelle V. Rafter — 2008-12-18T14:26:36-05:00

Linda Musgrove never thought about hooking up a second screen to her office computer until the day her tech-savvy husband came home with a new monitor. She decided to have him install the new monitor alongside her old one -- and voila -- a convert was born.

“Once I started using two, I couldn’t go back to one,” says Musgrove, proprietor of TradeShow Teacher, an Aventura, Fla., trade show marketing consultant. “Then he brought another one home and I started using three, and once I was using three he got me another one.”

Today, Musgrove would be lost without her four-monitor arrangement: two standard 20” screens stacked one on top of the other and two 21” widescreens to the left and right. All are from Acer. Musgrove does a lot of graphic design work for her business and multiple monitors allow her to have a document she’s working on up on one, research materials on two others and her Facebook page on the fourth. “I can be working on one thing and while it’s saving I can jump onto something else,” she says. “I have ADD so I need to have a lot of things going on at once, and I really do work faster.”

Musgrove powers her set up from a PC her husband modifiedwithanIntel Core 2 Quad 3 gigahertz processor and 6 gigabytes of RAM. Musgrove’s husband outfitted her computer with two Nvidia GeForce graphics cards, each with two digital video interface (DVI) outputs so there are connectors for each of her four monitors.

Multiple monitor fans

Multiple monitor, or “multi-mon” users as they call themselves, can be found in many information-heavy professions including graphic design, stock trading, software development, IT administration, and publishing.

At one time, Ryan Thompson, owner of an independent IT business in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, at one time used five 19” to 21” standard CRT monitors lined up horizontally. It was a few too many monitors. “I started getting dizzy spells after a few days from turning my head too much,” he says. “I found I really only used the middle three effectively. The others basically devolved into scratch space and log output.” For Thompson, three feels about right, with a middle monitor rotated vertically for document editing. “Having a single monitor would be crippling,” he says.

Like Musgrove, Tom Anderson stumbled onto using multiple monitors accidently. The last time that Anderson Analytics, his Stamford, Conn., boutique market research firm, bought computers he ended up with two extra flat panel monitors. He started using them and was immediately smitten. “It’s so natural,” Anderson says. “Whether you have e-mail up on monitor one and are surfing the Web or typing an e-mail response or other type of document in Word on monitor two, it’s so nice to have both there at a glance.”

And like Musgrove, Anderson eventually upgraded to using more than two. Today he uses three identical 24” widescreen flat panel displays connected to a Dell Studio XPS 435 MT with an Intel Core i7-920 processor and uses a swivel office chair “so I can easily change my angle slightly,” he says.

Anderson’s advice for anyone thinking about adding a screen? “Why wait, splurge, you won’t regret it.”

SIDEBAR: Getting Started with Multiple Monitors

If you’re interested in adding a second monitor to your desktop or laptop computer, here are some resources to get you started:

Official Microsoft how-to guide -- Step-by-step instructions for configuring and using multiple monitors with Windows XP.

Linux user’s multi-monitor wiki -- Instructions for setting up multiple monitors on Linux computers either in clone mode, where each monitor displays the same thing, or in “multihead mode,” where each monitor displays a separate session.

Social Wallpapering -- An online purveyor of background wallpaper with dozens of scenes suited to dual screens.

Utility software -- Multi-monitor utilities include programs such as UltraMon, which sets up a multi-monitor system, and Multi-Mon, which opens a new Windows task bar on a second monitor. Multi-Mon developer MediaChance also sells a heftier pro version that works with XP and Vista.

Graphics expansion modules -- External devices such as Matrox Graphics’DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go connect two or three monitors to a PC or Mac, laptop or desktop computer through the VGA or DVI output.

How to Delete Data before Trashing Old PCs

Bill Pfleging — 2008-10-28T14:35:29-05:00

“Never listen to the guy in the pickup who says he'll take your old equipment away for free,” says Gina Chiarella, COO of e-waste disposal company We Recycle!, Inc. “That's the quickest way for your data to end up on a flea market table.”

Getting rid of old technology can be hazardous, since there's very likely sensitive data still on it. Even if you've erased and reformatted, computer hard drives contain loads of data you don't want to let outside of your firewall – e-mails, contracts, planning documents, employees' personal information, credit cards, and much more reside on these hard drives. Besides identity theft, data loss may leave you or your company liable under federal laws such as HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Graham-Leach-Bliley or under state laws. Criminal penalties include fines and prison terms up to 20 years. Not to mention the civil suits that can result.

As many as 150 million computers are trashed each year, often without having their hard drives erased. According to the U.S. Department of Defense standards, secure deletion requires three complete rewrites on the drive before it's considered clean. But some of the newer forensic data mining technologies could potentially retrieve material that's been treated to even higher levels of erasure. If the wrong people were to gain access to it, they could hurt a business very seriously.

The best way to eliminate data

“Software that overwrites the whole drive, as the DoD recommends, is the best way to eliminate any data left on it,” said Chiarella. “If companies want to dispose of equipment that contains highly sensitive data and they don't trust simply erasing, even when that erasure is considered secure, then they can go all the way and take it to a disposal company that uses a mechanical shredder and have the drives destroyed completely.”

If you intend to reuse or recycle the drive yourself, there is excellent software that will do data erasure securely. Any program used for erasing a hard drive should follow the DoD's clearing and sanitizing standard. A couple of the best are Darik's Boot and Nuke, a free open source application, or Eraser, also free, from Irish software maker Heidi, Ltd. Beginning with Mac OS 10.3, Apple enhanced its security by introducing the Secure Empty Trash feature, which follows the DoD standards, and overwrites data seven times. If that's not secure enough for you, then download the free program Permanent Eraser from Edenwaith Software, which overwrites your data 35 times.

Disposing of hardware

The problems of e-waste are even more complicated than just data security – the EPA estimates that over 220 million tons of old computers and other tech hardware are trashed yearly in the United States. E-waste contains high amounts of dangerous chemicals like mercury, cadmium, lead, and other toxins and carcinogens, and is often illegally exported to other countries where the material may not be disposed of properly. With too little oversight and regulation, much of this toxic waste ends up in places like Nigeria and China, where local populations now have high incidences of birth defects, infant death, cancer, and other illnesses. So what can a small or mid-sized business do when it needs to eliminate old equipment responsibly?

“We recommend organizations deal with a licensed vendor to dispose of their technology,” said Robert Johnson, executive director of the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), an international trade association for companies providing information destruction services. “A company interested in the quality and security of its data destruction needs to personally inspect the facilities of any disposal firm before dealing with them. Ask about how they manage their own business, and most importantly find out specifically how they dispose of the e-waste.”

“When getting rid of tech equipment,” said Chiarella, small and mid-sized businesses "should also look at the website of the manufacturers of their equipment to see if they offer a 'take back' program for old equipment. OEMs do very good due-diligence to carefully and completely dispose these dangerous materials.”

Sony, Apple, HP, Dell, and Lenovo, as well some other companies, all have programs to take back their products and recycle the materials -- but just for safety, make sure you pull the hard drive for secure erasing or destruction. Check the company websites to find out if this is an option for your equipment. Also check with the Electronics Take Back Coalition for more information on companies offering this service. But while doing the right thing ecologically, make sure it's done securely and carefully. Dealing securely with the disposal of your equipment and data destruction is something you can't afford to scrimp on.

“Cutting corners,” said Chiarella, “is never a good idea with data security. The fee that is associated with managing data destruction is far less than your cost of exposure of that data.”

More Efficient Computing

Andrea Peiro — 2008-08-27T15:04:40-05:00

How many times have you felt that your computers, printers, or Internet connection are actually making you lose more time than they help you save? How often do you stare at your screen and wait for something to happen, or for a webpage to load? Small businesses just cannot afford losing time: time is everybody’s most valuable asset, but for small businesses it also is the most critical element of success.

What can you do to make your computing more efficient, reduce your idle time, and have more of it for what really matters?

Keep you computer up to date

Software programs keep becoming better, easier to use, and more capable, although they impose growing demands on your computer resources. If you use an older computer with newer software, the strain imposed may slow down your system significantly, making your software update not worth the investment. Specifically, modern operating systems and applications demand large amounts of RAM. Be generous with your RAM purchase: look for a minimum of 4GB, but preferably 6GB or more.

The unused space on your hard disk drive (HDD) is actually used by the operating system to write temporary information and it is paramount that you always keep at least 20 percent of the total HDD capacity available for that, or you’ll experience a reduction in performance. If you’re running out of disk space, buy a new, larger HDD and have your vendor transfer all your data from the older disk.

Additional factors such as HDD fragmentation and disk errors also can be substantial causes for slowdown. This article on Microsoft's website can help you address the issues.

If your computer is just getting too old to keep up, don’t waste time. Buy a new one – and you're better off making it a laptop. The newest generation of powerful, energy saving, and multimedia friendly laptops are a more practical choice for business than desktops because of their wonderful flexibility of use.

Speed up your Internet access

Most small businesses spend a great deal of time online. Waiting for pages to load is not the best way to spend it. The latest generation of online services and software come with quite heavy data traffic demands, taxing your Internet connection. Make sure your Internet service provider (ISP) is making available the best possible connection and that your service contract is up to date, offering the most bandwidth (speed) you can afford. If you have not reviewed the terms of your ISP contract in a while you may want to do it soon, since due to the competitive nature of the market, better deals keep becoming available with more performance at lower cost.

If you do not know how fast your internet connection is, here is a resource you can use to run a free speed test. Anything shy of 500 kilobits per second (Kbps) should be considered too slow. If you have more than three users concurrently sharing the connection, the minimum should be 1,000 Kbps.

Optimize your local area network

More and more small businesses utilize a local area network (LAN) within their office to share printers, scanners, data storage devices, back up resources, Internet access, and software applications. If your LAN connection is slow, the data traffic within your company is impaired. The current mainstream standard for wired LAN connectivity is 100 megabits per second (Mbps). You should have all your computers and network devices -- such as routers, switches, and wireless access points -- compliant with that standard. The presence of older devices (e.g. 10 Mbps standard) can impair the performance of the entire network.

If you do not have a LAN and decide to deploy one, look for 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) standard devices, capable of transferring data ten times faster than the previous generation.

If you are using a wireless LAN and feel that the performance is not as great, make sure that both your access point and your computer wireless network cards are all at least compliant with the “g” standard offering 54 Mbps of bandwidth. Older “b” standard equipment should be replaced because of its low performance and security concerns.

If you’re deploying a new WLAN now, look for the "n” standard, backward compatible with all previous standards, but twice as fast as “g” and with increased range of coverage.

Finally, if you utilize servers, keep them on the network via a wired connection rather than wireless: more reliable and better performing.

Hibernate, plug in, and use shortcuts

Instead of turning your computer off when you do not need it, enable the “hibernate” mode and it will resume much faster when you will need it again.

Keep your laptop plugged into the wall outlet when possible. Many portable computers move into a slower performance mode when unplugged, to save battery charge.

Learn keyboard shortcuts for your most used applications, such as Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste and Ctrl+X to cut in any Microsoft Windows-based software. All software programs have keyboard shortcuts for the most common tasks, and they may save you a great deal of time.

Time is your most precious resource. Don’t trade the success of your business for the few dollars needed to take action on these recommendations.

Andrea Peiro is a recognized authority, author, analyst and speaker on high-tech marketing and use of information technology in small and mid-sized businesses. He has been frequently interviewed and featured in such media outlets as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Inc. You can reach him at us.andreap@gmail.com.

Steps to Better PC Power Management

Marc Saltzman — 2008-07-28T16:42:19-05:00

Many businesses today are looking for simple ways to go green -- whether it’s to help the environment or to save a few bucks, or a bit of both -- but they aren’t likely thinking about PC power management.

In fact, desktop PCs and monitors use up to 13 percent of all power consumed in office environments, and that number could be much higher when you factor in connected peripherals such as printers, copiers, and external hard drives. And you thought your lights and air conditioner were the culprits.

The good news is there are a few things a small or mid-sized business can do in order to cut down on energy consumption at the office, specifically relating to computers and monitors. Here are steps experts suggest that a business can take to better manage PC power usage.

Turn it off

The single biggest thing a company can do to lower power consumption is to turn the computer off when not in use, such as at night.

“This might sound like a no-brainer, but the reality is the vast majority of business PCs run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year,” says Steve Kleynhans, vice president of the client platforms group at Gartner, a Stamford, Conn.-based IT research firm.

“Companies are more concerned, and probably rightly so, about security and reliability than they are about saving some power -- they want to ensure those machines are up and waiting to have latest security fix -- but leaving them on all the time is extremely wasteful,” continues Kleynhans. “But there are technologies to get around this today.”

Specifically, there are popular software tools provided by the likes of Verdiem and 1E Software Solutions, and innovative hardware including Intel’s award-winning vPro technology.

“Traditionally, PCs are left on at night so your IT person can patch them without interrupting your work,” explains Josh Hilliker, Intel architect and community manager for Intel vPro technology. “The beauty of vPro is you can now shut them down and wake them up, patch them and then shut them back down again -- remotely -- and you can set how and when you want to deploy this,” he explains.

Hilliker knows a few things about power management. He used to work for the Pacific Gas & Electric Company before joining Intel 14 years ago.

“Employing these solutions that let you power down PCs at night can cut your power consumption down by two-thirds,” confirms Kleynhans, “which is huge.”

The cost savings can add up, too. “You might not think you’re saving much, such as $10 a month per machine, but that’s more than a hundred dollars per year, and if you have a thousand machines in your organization, someone will notice.” “Cost savings aside,” adds Kleynhans, “it’s just the right thing to do.”

Those hungry monitors, too

If you’re not going to power down your PCs at night, at the very least make sure monitors are turned off when not in use. During working hours, have the monitors go into sleep mode when the PC has been left idle for a couple of minutes.

“Definitely get rid of screen savers -- they should be called ‘screen power wasters’ -- such as those with fancy 3-D effects, flying toasters, or photo slideshows,” advises Kleynhans. “You don’t need them with LCD monitors since they don’t suffer from [phosphor] burn-in compared to older CRT monitors.”

Another good idea is to buy monitors that have been certified by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Star rating program. The program rates devices based on the amount of energy they consume.

Another tip is to unplug other PC peripherals when not in use, such as printers and external drives, and power them down at night, too. Meanwhile, wired mice and keyboard use up less power than wireless ones.

Love those laptops

If you’re willing to make the switch, changing what kind of computer your employees use can make a serious difference in your business' energy consumption. “Switching from desktops to laptops is a great move,” says Kleynhans.

By the time you include the tower and monitor, a midrange desktop consumes about 130 watts of power, while a high-end machine, perhaps used for editing or animation, might consume up to 500 watts of power.

Compare this to “even the most power hungry” laptop computer, which consumes about 85 to 95 watts of power at most, explains Kleynhans. “Laptops were designed out of the box to be energy efficient,” he says.

How to Make the Switch to Mac

Renee Oricchio — 2008-06-25T10:12:00-05:00

They aren’t exactly fleeing like lemmings, but it’s safe to say many business users are less than thrilled with Microsoft’s latest operating system, Vista. While nine out of 10 computers in the world are PC’s running on Windows, the latest numbers show a steady trickle of users abandoning Microsoft-based PCs in favor of either Apple’s Macintosh or a Linux-based PC.

“Last week, I got the blue screen of death again and I swear that it’s the last time I’m reinstalling Windows. I expect it will take about three years, but I’m converting my office over to Macs,” says Reuben Swartz, founder and president of Mimiran, a software company that specializes in pricing analytics based in Austin, Texas.

In a Net Applications survey released in June, Macs hit a record 7.8 percent of the total operating system market share, up 5.69 percent in just one month. At the same time Microsoft has hit an all time low dropping a half of a percent to 91.17 percent. This may not seem like a big deal given Microsoft’s continued overwhelming dominance. But consider this: just five years ago Microsoft held just under 98 percent of the operating system market share, while Apple’s Macintosh bumped along at a measly 1.43 percent according to OneStat.com.

How feasible to make the transition

The question is, for small business owners like Swartz, just how feasible is it to make such a huge transition in technology and what steps would a company take in implementing such a commitment?

“Apple’s backend systems aren’t anywhere near Microsoft, so large businesses won’t be going to Macs anytime soon. But smaller businesses don’t have that problem. I haven’t had a lot of customers converting over, but I’ve had some. All of them were businesses with ten computers or less,” says Josh Kaplan, president of Rescuecom, a nationwide IT consulting firm based in Syracuse, N.Y.

Kaplan offers the following tips to get the ball rolling:

Take an inventory of all the applications currently in use. Make a list of which ones are compatible with both Windows and Macs. In all likelihood, businesses will need to pay for an additional operating system license to run Windows on top of the Mac O/S. “It’s more expensive. But, you can have the best of both worlds. Companies that do a lot of file sharing are most likely to have conflicts,” says Kaplan.
Plan on an incremental roll-out. Most companies don’t have the luxury, or the capital, to convert their entire system over at once. More likely a switch over to Macs will come incrementally, as Swartz is planning to do replacing the twelve PCs in his office with Macs one at a time as they need to be retired. “In terms of the network, there’s no problem with a mixed environment,” says Kaplan.
Computers first, servers last. Integrating Macs on a Windows-based backend isn’t difficult. The same is not true the other way around. Kaplan warns his clients to change over to Mac servers last, switching over PC’s and laptops first.
Budget heavy duty IT support in the beginning. There will be glitches. That’s the one thing you can always count on when dealing with any kind of technology. Businesses planning on making a commitment to such a transition need to also make a commitment to not only additional IT support, but IT support that’s harder to find. It’s going to require support that is trained in both the Microsoft and Mac environment.
Plan on a learning curve. Given that nine out of 10 computers in the world currently run on Windows, it stands to reason nine out of 10 employees are trained accordingly. “To switch over because you hear Macs are easier may be true. But if your staff is used to a Windows world, they still have to relearn everything," Kaplan says. "The Mac will be counter intuitive for awhile. It’s something you’re likely going to deal with every time you make a new hire, as well.”
Factor in maintenance and replacement parts. In addition to the added expense of more specialized IT help, hardware is going to cost more as well. “Warranty wise, parts are easier and faster to replace on a PC. With Apple products, only Apple can fix its own products,” Kaplan says.

Weighing the pros and cons

Capital costs, retraining, a lengthy rollout process, possible compatibility issues -- it’s easy to see why nine out of 10 users are still sticking with Microsoft. Making the switch is clearly a big commitment and, perhaps, just too intimidating for most companies.

However, the computing landscape is undergoing dramatic changes these days that some would say is setting up a perfect storm of factors to ease those anxieties over switching platforms.

The move towards Web-based computing. Less work is happening on the desktop and more of it’s happening online. “Most of our core business applications run on the cloud,” says Swartz. Cloud computing is a euphemism for running applications off of a patchwork network of up to thousands of computers and servers on the Internet.
Apple is going after business users. Historically, Apple has settled for its niche customer base of consumers and mostly creative types in the business world; like graphic designers, for example. However now emboldened with a Windows version that runs on Mac and this summer’s release of the latest version of the iPhone that touts compatibility with Microsoft Exchange and Office and tools for IT departments to use their own custom applications, Apple has made it clear that it means to do a better job of accommodating business users.
Windows Vista is a flop. Microsoft would argue this point. But as of June 2008 and 18 months after its release, two separate surveys of IT decision-makers, one put out by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and the other by Computer Economics, both show that most companies ranging from small companies to the enterprise level have still not adopted Vista and have no plans to do so in 2008. “I loaded it on one of my desktops and just wasn’t impressed. Still, I offered it to my other employees who might want to upgrade. No one wanted it. I don’t know why I keep having to buy these faster and faster computers that just run slower and slower,” says Swartz.

Of course, there is a third option out there: Linux-based operating systems. But that’s a story for another day and one sending a chill down the spines of both Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Five Features No New Laptop Should Be Without

Marc Saltzman — 2008-06-25T10:07:26-05:00

Seasoned computer users know the most important laptop features boil down to processor, system memory, battery life, and monitor size -- but consider these the essential “basics” that are just as relevant today as they were a decade ago.

Since then, however, we’ve had a number of new technologies crop up, such as dual- and quad-core CPUs, wide-area networking (WAN) connectivity, solid state drives and security-related tools. Here’s a look at a few of the newer features available if there’s a need and a budget.

Multicore processors

Why limit yourself to one engine under the hood of your car when you can have two or four? This is a way to think about dual- and quad-core technology, giving your laptop a serious boost in performance.

Powered by chipmakers Intel and AMD, many laptops today include a dual-core processor, which speeds up your applications and makes multitasking smoother, while high-end laptops have quad-core processors for serious PC video editors, animators, and gamers.

The good news is that you need not break the bank to afford one as dual-core CPU-based laptops start at $549.

Solid state drives

Rather than a traditional hard drive to store all of your PC’s data, laptops with “solid state drives” (SSDs) use Flash memory -- similar to what holds your digital camera’s photos or iPod nano’s music -- which offers a number of advantages to the mobile computer user. Solid state-based laptops are smaller, lighter, more energy efficient, run faster, and are less susceptible to damage because there are no moving parts.

“In many vertical markets, rugged-ization and durability are very important, with features like shock mounted [hard disk drives] or SDDs, crumple zones in the notebook in case of accidental drops, and spill-proof keyboards,” says David Daoud, an analyst with IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based technology research firm.

Not everyone is sold on SSDs, however. Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at the New York-based Jupiter Research firm, says small businesses watching their budget might be turned off at the relatively high costs of SSDs compared to traditional hard drives. “While battery life is improved, you’ll definitely pay a premium for not a lot of disk space, plus the claims about [increased] performance are not proven,” says Gartenberg. “The best bang for your buck is still is magnetic [hard disk] storage.”

Integrated cell connections

Rather than hunting for a Wi-Fi hotspot, your laptop can log online anywhere you can get cell phone reception -- even while on a moving train or in the back of a cab. A new trend is for laptop makers to include integrated GSM/GPRS connectivity, giving you access to a wireless carrier while on the go. Some even include support for high-speed “3G” connections, offering broadband-like wireless speeds.

“Integrated WAN and GPS are interesting new features in laptops,” agrees Gartenberg. But he cautions “you need to decide if you’re willing to make an investment in a carrier, which is not unlike a cell phone commitment.”

“In the wireless world, we also expect Qualcomm’s Gobo chip to find a great deal of interest, among those who travel a lot and travel across regions with different wireless broadband standards,” adds Daoud.

Side view screens

Many laptops today include a 2.5-inch colour liquid crystal display (LCD) on the opposite side of your screen -- just as your flip phone might have a smaller screen on the outside (mainly to show who’s calling). Some Windows Vista-based laptops include an extra “SideShow” screen so you can quickly read downloaded emails, notes or calendar appointments -- all without having to turn on the PC.

Gartenberg agrees a “mini environment in which you can rapidly boot up to look at a calendar or access a Web browser” is appealing, though SideShow hasn’t caught on just yet: “It remains as a promise more than a fulfillment at this point.”

Security improvements, too

Integrated fingerprint readers are a reliable biometrics-based technology that ensures only the laptop user can access data on the drives -- an important consideration given the potentially sensitive corporate data carried under the arm while traveling.

Further, traditional locks, from the likes of Kensington, can serve as a visible deterrent to a would-be thief; a steel cable is connected to a small security slot on the laptop, usually at the side or back, before tethered to a large or heavy object, such as a desk at an airport lounge.

A mobile businessperson may also install clever software, such as Lojack (from $39.99 a year), that will stealthily contact the security center with its whereabouts the moment the stolen laptop is connected to the Internet.

But for all of these newer laptop features, however, Gartenberg believes one of the most important is still battery life. “Today, it’s possible to have your laptop last more than 10 hours on single charge -- you don’t want to fight for a plug at the airport or your local Starbucks. “At the end of the details these are the details that boost productivity,” he says.

Tech to Take Printing Jobs In-House

Todd Wasserman — 2008-05-26T09:33:35-05:00

It’s not unusual to see a small business outsourcing this or that these days, but when it comes to printing, the trend is going the other way.

Call it “in-sourcing” if you will, but the fact is that over the past couple of years, small and mid-sized businesses that formerly contracted with print shops are now doing much of that work in-house.

Credit a competitive environment, which has driven down prices not only for printers, but for printing itself. Charlie Vidal, senior manager of printer product marketing for Ricoh, remembers that seven or eight years ago, you couldn’t buy a color laser printer for less than $5,000. Today, you can get one for $399 or less.

Cost of printing per page

Of course, as anyone who has looked closely at the market knows, the price of a printer is a deceptive measure of the total cost of ownership. Prices for those ink cartridges can add up.

That’s why you’re more likely to hear a printer vendor quoting a per-page price. Such prices for color printing average seven or eight cents a page and the range goes up to about 12 cents, says Larry Jamieson, director-hard copy advisory services for Lyra Research, of Newton, Mass. That compares to around 49 cents a page for a print shop, though prices can go as low as 39, he said.

While a standard measure is hard to come by, Jamieson said it’s safe to assume that each employee will generate 200 pages per month.

That figure can fluctuate wildly depending on what type of work a firm does. Some businesses are much more print-heavy than others. But those that do the math usually find they come out ahead, especially if their projects aren’t too involved. “The difficulty is, people who don’t have much print expertise may not be able to produce as nice a document as they would with an outside designer,” Jamieson says.

Driving printing back in-house

Nevertheless, for those who find they can do their jobs in-house, plenty of vendors are beating the drum for their printing systems. And the pitch these days is often as much about affordability as it is about image quality. Hewlett-Packard, for instance, is driving home the point that using its printers will shave about 50 percent off contracting with a print shop.

HP’s boast is driven by research from InfoTrends, of Weymouth, Mass., showing that printing 5,000 color pages on an HP Color Jet 2600 was 56 percent cheaper than using a retail printer. “As the capability of printing systems has gone up, many more businesses are starting to print in-house,” Karl Schwenkmeyer, vice president of marketing for inkjet systems at HP. “What’s changed is that the quality of our output rivals or exceeds that of a professional printer.”

For his part, Jan Six never seriously considered using a print shop. “It’s not only the printing costs you have to worry about, but the gas and time to get back and forth,” says Six, who runs a drug-testing firm called Sixcess with his wife in Lancaster Calif. Six uses an HP Officejet Pro 7650 printer, which pumps out about 1,000-1,500 pages a month, mostly company statements and brochures.