ptCTO - Small Business Systems

Systems Consulting

I can provide advice and guidance about your computing environment.

  • Configuring, operating, and maintaining your systems
  • Computer hardware purchasing
  • Network design and deployment
  • Cost-effective printing
  • Software selection and purchasing
  • Emergency and long-term budgeting
  • Integrating computing into your business planning

Because I do not resell hardware or software, you may be sure that my advice is objective and not based upon any ulterior motive.  If you already have a supplier of systems and software, I will be glad to work with them.

Systems Management & Support

I am willing to manage your infrastructure provided you have the enabling technologies to allow remote support.  I will provide such infrastructure support to clients running contemporary Microsoft server products such as Small Business Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003. If you do not have a server environment already, I can:

  • Recommend a server appropriate to your size and needs
  • Install and configure the server
  • Configure the network
  • Configure user PCs for the served environment
  • Integrate your in-house environment with services provided by your hosting company

Peer networks (those without servers) offer great simplicity of configuration and use if they are small.  At three PCs maintenance costs become obvious and beyond five PCs they can become onerous. The economics argue against supporting larger peer networks and thus I do not offer such services.  I will be glad to help you set them up.

I can also train a trusted member of your staff to perform routine systems management tasks. If you have such a person on your staff, this may prove very cost-effective.

 

 

Microsoft Goes Small

Given that Microsoft started small by developing software for individual personal computers, you'd think it would be a leader in applications for the small business market.  While it has not totally ignored small businesses, its focus for the past 15 years has been on the large enterprise.  And when it talked about "SMB," the acronym for "small and medium business," it really only meant the M part.

That may be changing.  Small Business Server 2003 is an excellent product offering for small companies.  Microsoft now has accounting software designed to compete directly with QuickBooks while integrating with Microsoft Office.  Perhaps Microsoft really intends to separate the "S" from SMB.

All this is long overdue.  Microsoft deserves credit for being the first large company to make the important distinction that very small businesses are different.

Hopefully more suppliers of software and systems for small businesses will do the same.