My View on Making Technology Simple (and thus usable)

I was referred to a new client last week. A retail business with two stores about 5 miles apart from each other. Their problem, at least from my point of view, was that the technology was not simple. As I have found and will always stand firmly on the statement that no one is to blame and yet everyone is.

Especially now, in a time when budgets are ‘tight’ and the need to squeeze more productivity out of each dollar spent on our employees. Technology was created to help businesses get more done. It was not created to do this without maintenance, upgrading and training.

My case in point  today is that the new client’s server was taken over by a hacker who is using it as a file repository when people can be directed to down illicit content from. The hacker setup some very nasty protections to keep the business owner’s technical consultant from easily removing the unwanted processes. The server was configured in such a way as to put up barriers to resolving this problem. Why? It usually points to a client with a small or unrealistic budget. (which is not their fault)

This all started out with a custom made server being used for the business owner. I for one have a lot of respect for anyone that can build a server for use at a business. My problem arises when the licenses become invalid, because the company did not keep up with his volume licensing agreements. Then take into consideration why the custom built server was used in the beginning… it was cheaper than one from DELL, Fujitsu, IBM or HP. The reason why it was cheaper is because the custom built server did not use the same quality parts that were used by the corporation built ones. Nothing inside the computer is standard, where the corporate built ones, everything is. You can easily get additional memory for a DELL whether from DELL or Crucial.com 5 years after you originally purchased the computer, where it is very unlikely that you will be able to purchase parts for the custom made server due to the fact that the manufacturer of the parts either went out of business, was bought out by someone else, or just didn’t have sufficient parts made or kept in stock to be available when you needed it 5 years later.

So now they have to purchase a new server, or stick with the problems that you are operating under. So now, did the IT provider drop the ball when it came to setting up this network? I never judge anyone on the work they have done. I never point fingers at anyone because it never resolves the immediate problem at hand which is getting the business back in business.

I, like most IT Professionals, will 9 out of 10 times create proposals that include only new equipment from corporate manufacturers. I use best practices during the creation of these proposals and continue to use them thru the purchase, implementation and follow-up maintenance  of their computer networks.

What are ‘Best Practices’?

Simply said, quality computers, servers and network equipment; sufficient UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supplies) for all computer equipment, internet security/anti-virus solutions for all computers and servers, a backup solution that includes sufficient number of tapes, that are taken off-site, and stored safely, and that said backups are restored from time to time to ensure that the backups are good and not corrupt; security measures that meet their needs; and instructing the user-base in how to use everything correctly.

Lastly but most importantly, talking with the users, managers and owners at length to find out what they really want and need their networks to do and to be able to do in the future. Planning, Planning, Planning!

Please post your comments, concerns and questions.

Rich Schierer

Make My Technology Simple

Selden, NY

800.918.7390

rich@makemytechnologysimple.com

Windows 7 Tips > Changing the Way a Program Starts

A cool new feature of Windows 7 (at least in this blogger’s mind) is a new way of configuring how a program starts.

Click on the Start Button, then left click the program that you want to work with. From the new resulting drop down menu you will see the following choices amongst others:

Pin to Task Bar
Pin to Start Menu

I like to keep my desktop as free of icons as possible, so I like to put my most used programs on the Task Bar.

To ‘Pin’ anything to the Task Bar, you must first make sure that it is ‘unlocked’. To do this, right click the task bar and make sure that the task bar is ‘unlocked’. If it says ‘task bar locked’, then left click it once and it was become unlocked.

By clicking ‘Pin to Task Bar’ the application sends a copy of itself to the Task Bar. Now instead of clicking Start>All programs>Program folder>program you can just single click the icon on the task bar.

If you have any questions about Windows 7, or any technology questions, please feel free to post it here and I will do the best I can to answer it.

A great Friday the 13th!

I attended the ExecuLeaders breakfast #39 this morning at Carlyle on the Green at the Bethpage State Park. Rich Kruse put together another great event. Met some very interesting people at the table that I facilitated at. Monique Zorn from Zorn’s Catering, James Fleming from First New YorkTitle Agency, Harry Jacobs of DJJ Technologies were just a few of the business owners that I spoke with. I look forward to networking with them further to see if we can help each other out with any leads or ideas.

Another smiling face at the breakfast was my friend and salesperson for the NY Islanders, Hank Jaroslawski. He is my main contact for all things Islanders. Helped me to find just the right jerseys for me and my daughter.

After the breakfast, I headed over to Charlie Razenson’s Unique Impressions shop to talk with him about getting some monogrammed shirts for my business and then as always catching up on the Islanders with him. Charlie is very involved with the Islanders and does a lot of work for them, so he is constantly talking with them, attends a ton of events, some as a member of the Islanders Business Club, of which I became a member of a few months ago. He was very gracious in giving me an autographed photo of one of my Islander favorites, Tim Jackman #28. That man gets on the ice and things happened!

Then after that I was back at the office, adding the people I met at the breakfast to my database and getting ready to contact them to set up appointments for next week.

Friday the 13th was a good day for this ‘Guy’. Hope it was for you too!