* Getting more work with less pain from technology
A new year begets a new attitude and a new commitment to get more for your technology dollar. Let me share three guidelines I keep in mind when approaching every technology project.
First of all, you want to minimize your “stupid penalties” whenever possible. Our family knows when you do something stupid, you pay the price. Often it’s a minor stupid penalty, like getting a ticket for running a red light. You may think that’s a major stupid penalty, but I consider running a red light and have an accident a major stupid penalty.
You know weird things happen to your equipment even when people aren’t involved. The first work day of 2007, my main computer system was dead. Apparently it celebrated New Years Eve much more than I, and the power supply was hung over. A trip to the store, $60 for a new power supply, and a few minutes with a screwdriver and all was well. Not really a stupid penalty involved, to my way of thinking. But if the power supply in a Web server dies, especially one bringing in revenue, delays cost money. Avoiding a stupid penalty in that case means having a spare power supply on the shelf or using a server with a dual power supply. Having a monitoring system of some kind to send an e-mail when a server goes down also minimizes the stupid penalty.
Most major stupid penalties for small businesses involve lost data and the lack of proper backup procedures. Sometimes dying power supplies go out in a blaze of glory and send power surges through your computer. In those rare cases, the hard disk often gets fried. Hard disks are cheap to replace today, but data is expensive. If important files die with your hard disk and your backup isn’t current and usable, you will pay a stiff stupid penalty.
Second, use the right tools for the job. The phrase “right tools” can mean many things, but I lean toward the simple approach: the right tools are the least complicated and least expensive tools that work.
Let the job determine the tool. If you need to dig one hole to plant a bush in your backyard, a shovel is the right tool. If you need to dig a thousand holes to replant your Christmas tree farm, a more expensive powered hole digger makes sense.
The tools of modern business include software, lots of software. Some companies have no real tools beyond computers and software (think of your accountant). As Microsoft prepares to bury us with Vista and Office 2007 propaganda, the pressure to upgrade your tools will increase daily. Will upgrading your software be the right tool for your business?
I believe Microsoft Office is the SUV of personal software applications. It can do everything and handle any personal productivity job. But is that what your company needs on the desk of every employee? I live in Texas, and SUVs abound as company cars. If a company car needs to carry six people and drag a horse trailer, an SUV makes sense. If a company car carries one accountant and his or her laptop, a SUV is overkill.
The same goes for office software. Your employees who make complicated documents with tables and footnotes need a powerful word processor like Word. But how many of your employees do that regularly? In presentations I made last fall, I asked the audiences how many people made such documents. Every time, about 10% raised a hand. If that ratio fits your company, put inexpensive or free office software on four of five computers. I’ve been using OpenOffice 2.0, the free Open Source Software, for six months with no problem. I bet four of five employees in your company can do the same.
Finally, rename the personal computer. The term meant something two decades ago when a “personal” computer replaced a terminal connected to a mainframe. Today the term gives employees the idea the computer on their desk is their property rather than a tool belonging to the company.
Do employees with company cars get to choose every detail? Is the company SUV pulling a horse trailer modified with special colors, new hardware, and a spoiler just because the driver thinks the car is a personal car? No, the term is “company car” and the term for the computer on the desk should be company, not personal, computer.
Reducing hardware and software modifications to computers will save you support time and frustration. It’s nice that you let people download their own screensaver, but if they download it from Trojans ‘R Us, you have a company wide security problem.
Big companies invest in expensive network management applications to stop employees from changing the computer on the desk, and you should too. Let them personalize their physical desktop with pictures and music players and games, but keep their computer desktop clean and filled with only the right tools for the job.
