10 Essential IT Products for Small Businesses
When providing IT support to small businesses, questions such as the following often arise:
What can we do to improve a customer’s existing setup?
How will implementing new hardware/services provide obvious benefits to a customer?
How can IT changes save you time and money?
It is possible that you are asking yourself these questions about your own business, if so, I hope that the following information is useful to you.
In this article, I will discuss ten products/services that I believe all small businesses can benefit from and the product that I would recommend for each category.
server operating system
This is the one product that I would recommend to all small businesses. The benefits of centralized management of network and security services mean more time can be spent concentrating on your business instead of trying to manage an office full of standalone computers. Since this article is aimed at small businesses, I should mention that Microsoft Small Business Server makes the server technologies used by larger organizations available to small businesses at an affordable price. These include Exchange, Sharepoint, Update Services, and many other tools.
firewall
A firewall provides protection for your business against web threats. Modern firewalls can also provide additional features such as web content filtering, Gateway Antivirus, and VPN connectivity. For any company that values its data, a firewall is a good investment. It allows you to protect your network and data from outside attacks and gives you peace of mind knowing that your systems are protected.
External spam filtering
There are billions of spam messages sent every day; This is a problem that most small businesses face. You should look at the amount of time you and your employees spend each day sorting and removing spam, when you add up the amount of time over a year and the cost of this time to your business, it quickly becomes apparent that a large amount You can save time and money through effective spam filtering. I have seen situations where a good antispam service can save employees hours of work per day, allowing them to spend more time doing productive work and ultimately benefiting the company.
Client Operating system
You already have an operating system, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this! However, you may be using a home edition of XP Vista or an outdated operating system (needs to update). I’ve included this in my top ten list, as I often come across people using peer-to-peer networks with makeshift XP home machines. These are a waste of time in terms of manageability and the ongoing effort required to support them individually. The best solution is to go for XP Pro or Vista Business/Ultimate, this will give you better security and sharing options, but will also allow you to join a domain when upgrading to a server. If you already have a server, you should already be using one of these products. If not, now is the time to consider the benefits of switching!
backup solution
No business should be without a backup solution! That’s right, EVERYONE should have a backup of their valuable data. Imagine what would happen if your office caught fire and all your data was destroyed, how would you manage? I often see people backing up to an external device but then leaving it connected to the PC, this is obviously not good if there is a fire! Backups must be regular and performed off-site, either through automated means or by physically moving the backup media off-site to a secure location. The amount of time and effort saved by having a good backup could be the difference between a rebuild and business failure.
anti virus software
Just like spam, viruses are a problem that affects all computer users, choosing the right antivirus product means you’re getting the best protection for your money and minimizing the performance impact software has on your PC. It’s very common to find people with PCs with reasonable specifications being bogged down by their antivirus software. Trading this for a product with a smaller system footprint provides performance benefits, as well as increased protection if you select the right one.
office room
Open Office is an excellent free office application and I would recommend it to anyone who can get by with the full functionality of MS Office. However, I think Microsoft office is worth the cost of Outlook alone, especially when connected to an exchange server. The interplay between the office suite and collaboration features means that it should be an essential purchase for all small businesses. Yo
server hardware
Choosing the right server hardware is important to protect your data and your network infrastructure. This will be where your primary data will be stored and used to set up and maintain your network. You need to consider redundancy, such as RAID, in case a drive fails, and also consider your server’s performance requirements. If you need to run resource-intensive applications, you’ll want to consider a higher-spec server than someone who just wants to do simple file sharing.
UPS
When buying a server, you should always get a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to back it up. The UPS will protect your server from power spikes and in the event of a power outage, it can keep your server online. The other advantage of a UPS is that it can be configured to shut down your server cleanly when the UPS is low on battery, this can help protect your server from the damage that a sudden power outage can cause.
network printer
The most stable way to implement a printer in a business environment is to use a suitable network printer. I have come across many companies using one printer per PC or sharing a USB connected printer from one of the computers, moving them to a truly network connected printer provides ease of management as well as higher availability. Eliminates reliance on a single user PC and eliminates the need for a business to have multiple USB-connected printers. Then they only have to buy one type of cartridge/toner to maintain the printer, reducing running costs. Recommended product: HP2600n