You just got a great deal on a computer from one of the “big box” stores! You got a PC that can rip MP3s, edit your family photos, and play video games! All of this for $400! The problem is that you need it for your club; you need a PC that can run your club management software, financial software, and payroll software. That off-the-shelf special may not have been such a great deal after all. Unfortunately, many people make computer-purchasing decisions on price alone. There are other factors, like quality of components and upgradeability, which should be considered when purchasing a PC for your business. It is important to realize that an investment in technology is an investment in your business.
A Business PC
You wouldn’t try to pull tree stumps with a 1967 Beetle if you had a pickup truck handy. It is important to use the right tool for the job. The same rule applies to your club. There is a clear difference between business class computers and those designed for home use. Consider that your business computer will be heavily used and may be turned on 24 hours a day. A home PC may be on only a few hours a day, with significantly lighter use. As a result, a business class machine requires higher quality motherboards, additional RAM, beefier power supplies, and faster hard disk drives to meet the demands of your club. As anyone who has experienced a system failure can attest, system recovery can be long, painful, and costly. By investing in superior hardware, you are helping to protect one of your most valuable assets: your data. Business class computers also offer much better upgrade paths, effectively extending the life of your computers. Bottom line: they offer better reliability and lower cost of ownership.
Operating System
Just as the appropriate hardware is important, so is your operating system. Microsoft has developed two flavors of its current operating system: one for home, and one for business. Your home PC likely comes with the watereddown home variety. It should come as no surprise that the home version costs less. Your club’s computers should be running an operating system that is designed for business. Windows XP Pro offers more comprehensive security, and superior networking capabilities, among other things, than its cousin in your living room. One of the ways identity thieves operate is by acquiring compromised data from insecure computers. Operating systems that implement better security help keep your sensitive financial and personal information from unauthorized access. If your club uses a computer network, Windows XP Professional allows you to connect natively to more types of networks than XP Home, providing your club extra flexibility. Any business owner can use more flexibility.
UPS
One of the simplest, yet most overlooked, ways to protect your computer is where you plug it in. An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is absolutely essential for every computer in your club. New computers are very sensitive to fluctuations in current. If you have electricity, you are going to have ebbs and surges in current, and sooner or later the lights are going to go out. A UPS provides two distinct levels of protection: first, regulating current and providing protection against potentially dangerous power surges, and second, providing a short period of battery backup time, enough time in most cases, to safely shut your computers down. Here’s a tip for those on a network: plug your network switch or hub into a UPS for an extra level of protection. Adequate power protection not only protects your hardware, but more importantly, protects your data. It costs $75-$100 for a UPS, or over $1500 to recover your club’s computer data. The decision couldn’t be easier to make. And this doesn’t even take into consideration the down time and lost business you would experience.
Backups
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of doing backups. Backups are the single most important thing you can do to protect your technology investment and your business. When was the last time you backed up? Did you check your backup? Are you sure? There is no such thing as too many backups. Backup to a tape drive, backup to a CD burner, backup to a zip drive, backup to a memory stick, backup to all these things if you like, but please back your information up. Again, it is a relatively small investment to ensure that your business stays secure. Lost time is lost money. Almost all backup programs also allow you to run a report confirming that the backup actually worked. This is important to check as well as opening up your backup periodically on another computer to verify its content.
Computers are a part of your business. There is no getting around that. Investing appropriately in technology will not only pay for itself in the long run, but can help your business run more efficiently. Now go and take that $400 computer home and rip some MP3s. Next month: Internet, firewalls, computer viruses, and spyware.
Chris McLean is the Director of Technical Support for Twin Oaks Software. Twin Oaks can be contacted at 860.829.6000, or by email at info@tosd.com, or visit www.tosd.com.
