Computers: the 'weak link'? How do businesses reduce the maintenance costs and eliminate the hidden costs of their computer networks?

• Author: Coryell, Bryce

Do you feel like your computers don't work as well as they should? Are they a weak link in your employees getting their work done on time and correctly? This is the truth for many small businesses.

In today's small-business environment, it's very easy for the computers to become a hassle even though they are becoming more critical to your employees' productivity every year. The basic problem is this: computer maintenance gets put off or never happens due to other urgent priorities that arise, and over time the performance and reliability of your computers and network decay. This costs you money every day as your employees are wasting time dealing with slow computers, and it also puts you at business risk for loss of data should a computer or server fail.

The cause of the problem has to do with the nature of running a small business. It's not worth hiring a full-time IT employee to maintain your computers and it's tough to forecast growth so your computer network grows ad-hoc and without any planning.

Fortunately, there are some basic things that a manager or business owner with rudimentary technology skills can do to ensure that their computers are not an impediment to getting valuable work done. The tasks required are different based upon the size and nature of your organization. These recommendations are designed to help you get and keep control of your company's technology direction with minimal effort.

BUY SMART

The first step to reducing your maintenance costs is to maintain the same thing. Part of the reason Southwest Airlines makes money every year is because it only uses one type of airplane in its entire fleet. You can do the same with your computers.

If you're using Windows, buy all of your computers from the same manufacturer and most importantly with the same software. Most manufacturers have a business line of computers as well as a consumer line. You should purchase only the business line, as they will come with only the software that a business needs and should be of higher quality. A good selection would be a Dell Optiplex or a HP Compaq 7000 series with Windows XP Pro (don't buy XP Home if you have more than a few computers), a version of Microsoft Office and antivirus. When you order your first computer, keep a copy of the configuration and revisit it when you need another. UPS doesn't use the same brown vans for every delivery without a reason; they do it because it's easier to keep its fleet running if it's made up of...