Business Systems Support

88 posts

Great News For Small Business – Free Security Software

If your small business has ten or less computers, you can now install Microsoft Security Essentials for free.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

I’ve used Microsoft Security Essentials for some time now and have had good success with it. A ten computer license for ESET Smart Security costs $509.90 for one year. Microsoft just handed you enough money to purchase a new desktop computer every year. Sounds like a great offer to me.

How No IT Assets Square With A QuickBooks Server

Business Systems Support QuickBooks

I’ve read some very interesting articles recently. all driven by the information technology changes detailed by Gartner’s Predictions For 2010 and beyond. Typically, Gartner directs it’s information to the corporate sector, but without a doubt, corporate information technology trends either filter down to small and medium sized business or result from the influence of nimble and highly competitive SMBs upon corporations.

Gartner predicts “40 percent or more of an organization’s work will be “non-routine,” which is up from 25 percent in 2010” and “growth in the number of organizations that create groups specifically charged with detecting divergent emerging patterns, evaluating those patterns, developing various scenarios for how the disruption might play out and proposing to senior executives new ways of exploiting (or protecting the organization from) the changes to which they are now more sensitive.”

I see a similar parallel to what I used to call systems driven exception management where only transactions or processes outside of well planned and configured norms require investigation and resolution in the day to day business flow. Highly structured in policy, system driven exceptions define day to day “non-routine” business activity and should never be confused with human driven exceptions, as the later is subject to manipulation and under or over statement.

Over time, “non-routine” business activity patterns emerge that if not dealt with by managers or “groups” of managers can negatively impact business. For example, one of those patterns can often be related to customer attrition that can lead to lost sales and lower margin. Increase in “non-routine” business activity is most certainly a reflection of our less than routing economic times.

So how does all of this translate to QuickBooks processes and QuickBooks infrastructure?

The Small and Medium Business sector and SMB Decision Makers need less technology complexity. Over the next several years, the SMB marketplace will push for that end result. That realistically translates into no data closets with servers, no on site infrastructure management and no IT employees as well as reasonable software licensing fees and reduced costs, all while embracing only the latest business information tools that produce turn-on-a-dime responsiveness and improved productivity.

If you’ve read my article, QuickBooks Server Remote Applications On A Shoe String, you know that I’ve made the case for a QuickBooks server device that reduces cost and complexity for a small business, a solution that you can actually build yourself. Taken one step further, one can deploy this solution, not on a physical computer, but on a virtual Windows computer in the cloud, affording SMB folks the luxury of geographically distributed work environments and improved productivity. This represents a clear migration path for SMBs with on site servers.

This cloud QuickBooks environment coupled with cloud based business intelligence, customer relationship and business organization tools can achieve the turn-on-a-dime responsiveness necessary for small and medium business success all within reasonable price points. As change occurs in your business, I would urge you to think about the bigger picture and migrate your business processes to the cloud. If you need help, contact me. Otherwise, please tell me what you think about Gartner’s Predictions

Frustrated With Outlook Meetings

Business Systems Support Google Apps

I participated in an interesting poll today about the proverbial back and forth with trying to schedule a meeting in Outlook. I’ve tempered my response with the slow performance of Outlook 2010, probably a good topic for another day. Anyway, here’s the current poll from Linkedin. (Login Warning)

I’m moving more and more to the Google Apps web interface and will probably be ditching Outlook pretty soon unless I can find a new compelling reason to stay with it.

Do you have any new compelling reasons?

QuickBooks Server Remote Applications On A Shoe String

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Business Systems Support QuickBooks

They say one picture’s worth a thousand words. Check out this screen shot of my QuickBooks Remote Application Server, a QuickBooks multi user terminal server on a shoe string. You can plainly see three users’ remote desktop QuickBooks Multi User sessions and an administrator desktop session simultaneously working on an XP Pro based terminal server. This stuff’s so much fun.

The key to all this fun is a product called Thinstuff, a remarkable tool that changes an XP computer into a multi user terminal server computer. The cost can be as little as $99 for a three user license. Thinstuff uses several license models to help companies save on expense. Try it out by downloading a trial from their product purchase page.

I know you will be as impressed as I am. Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server Lite and XP Pro saves me a substantial amount of money over Microsoft Server 2008 Standard Terminal Server or utilizing a hosted QuickBooks solution that averages around $50 per user per month. If you need control or have requirements for faxing, label printers, bar coding or other unusual things, this is the way to go.

To gain access from the Internet, port forward remote desktop through the local firewall to the QuickBooks server or avoid any tricky firewall configurations at all by adding another level of security with LogMeIn Hamachi. Install it on the server and any of your remote users including your CPA.

I’m still amazed at the number of times people inquire about purchasing a new XP Pro computer. I see no reason not to buy an XP Pro computer. I use XP Pro commercial desktop computers to build the Holy Grail of QuickBooks setups, QuickBooks Remote Application Servers, multi user terminal servers. I also use them to build QuickBooks Dedicated Production Servers, the standard QuickBooks multi user client-server deployment that I detail in my book.

The Dell summary worksheet details my computer specs for a new QuickBooks server, a great deal considering it has 2gb memory, 3 year on site service and 3 year anti virus software. As a mater of fact, I will use this computer as a multi session terminal server designed for both local access and remote access from a CPA’s office. The entire project costs typically come in under $1000 plus the QuickBooks license.

If you need a new XP Pro computer, all the major players still sell Windows 7 Pro downgrades to XP Pro. It just takes a bit of effort to configure and purchase them. I continually need a steady supply of XP Pro computers for small businesses. If you want to save a good bit of money, try searching Amazon for off lease desktop or refurbished desktop. Check the specs carefully for memory, hard drive size, dvd burner and the operating system to get a great deal.

$44,000 for using an EMR

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Business Systems Support EMR Medical

You get $44,000 for using an EMR. Practice Fusion’s EMR is entirely free. Do the math. It doesn’t get any better than this. But free doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s free. Practice Fusion requires a solid local network with robust Internet connectivity contingent upon your office size and number of simultaneous Practice Fusion sessions. Your computing resources need to remain secure, protected both at the workstation and at the Internet gateway. Your deployment will pay massive dividends if you engage the services of a seasoned Practice Fusion consultant and a seasoned technology pro. Again, please do the math, then enjoy.

Preaching Backup Again

Backup Business Systems Support

WD My Book World Drive The Western Digital My Book World Edition 4 TB (2 x 2 TB) Network Attached Storage Drive is WD’s latest device to add a remarkable amount of storage capacity to your local network.

Although the design squarely hits the home network sweet spot, it would be a great economical addition to a small office network to aggregate both computer backups and shared files to one office device. It even comes with all of the backup software.

Check out this video. Western Digital specs read:

Automatic and continuous backup for all the computers on your network

Centralize all your family’s digital content

Best-in-class performance cutting-edge technologies to deliver high performance read and write speeds ideal for the most demanding users.

Built-in media server for streaming music, photos and movies to any DLNA certified multimedia device such as Playstation 3, Xbox 360, wireless digital picture frames, and connected audio receivers. DLNA 1.5 & UPnP certified.

iTunes server support to centralize your music collection and stream to a Mac or Windows PC using iTunes software.

This drive even sports remote access to your files. It needs to find it’s way to your office.

Beware Of Twitter User Name Identity Theft

Business Systems Support Cyber Security

Strangest thing happened to me the other night while I reviewed Google alerts that watch my name, company name and social networking user names. I like to keep an eye out for strange happenings so I’m not blind sided by something. The Google alert for my Twitter username picked up one of my tweets.

I thought that strange so I investigated. Upon clicking the link, I was directed to this Twitter site:

Looks like my Twitter page, but it’s not. After I reviewed the tweets, I decided to delete a couple then tried to logon to my Twitter account. Suddenly, IE security kicked in, alerting me to the account information phishing scam.

Seems that someone‘s after unsuspecting Twitter users. So, time for all of you IE users to update your web browsers to the latest versions. I’m glad I did.

Business Systems Support

Virtual Machines Are Not Free

Business Systems Support Planning

Alex Bakman, founder and CEO of VKernel writes an excellent paper on evaluating costs of virtual machines titled, “Virtual Machines Are Not Free”. You can read the report at Vkernel’s site.

I never fail to be amazed at the notion some business owners ferverently hold to, that one copy of software entitles one to install it as many times one wants to, totally in violation of the software’s licensing. I’ve witnesed multiple server instances as well as multiple desktops installed under one license within a business that I would normally think would have a high level of integrity.

The trick to virtualization lies in ones ability to “fit more VMs per physical server, fit more VMs per physical server, correctly size storage and memory and CPU for each VM”. VKernel sells the tools to get the job done.

That’s right, the tools are not free

No evaluation of virtualization gains any validity without truthfully considering software’s real licensing costs, correct sizing for the composite number of virtual machines initially deployed within a high performance metric and projected scaling of the virtual environment within a selected time frame.

Yes, it takes more math than just figuring out how big a hard drive you might need in five years and whether or not you can get away with using one Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 license for twenty virtual servers.

Virtual QuickBooks Multi User Into The Cloud

Business Systems Support Planning QuickBooks

Extending our understanding of routine software tools such as QuickBooks Multi User sets the stage for us to profit from new technologies. Most of us know the QuickBooks icon well. Our common frame of reference allows us to explore over-used, over-hyped technology terms like virtual computing, virtualization, cloud computing, cloud services and the cloud, in a way that guides us to a solid business decision.

In an article I wrote for my business, the last server you will ever need may very well be the server that contains your QuickBooks multi user application. I’ll show you one way that QuickBooks might be moved into the Cloud, explaining the terminology as we go. Consider this pathway as evolving from one configuration to the next logical step and so on. Chances are, your QuickBooks environment may reflect one on the steps along the path. Also consider that the entire point of this exercise, to replace the high cost of local infrastructure with the low cost of cloud resources motivates our journey down this path.

You may not be using QuickBooks in your business, but you probably understand that networked QuickBooks multi user requires networked server or desktop resources to share company files with other computers that have QuickBooks installed on them. Larger QuickBooks environments can have as many as thirty users. So you may have something like this illustration with PC1 hosting QuickBooks company files for PC2 through however many computers you have QuickBooks installed on.

Now, consider the very next step. Suppose you’ve reached the point in your business that you have more than a few users, you also have some automation going on with QuickBooks, you’ve purchased my “Build Your Own QuickBooks Production Server” book and you’ve replaced PC1 with a QuickBooks server. You now have the classic QuickBooks client/server environment that the majority of businesses find themselves inextricably bound to. That may sound negative, but it’s predicated on a business decision. Perhaps the classic QuickBooks client/server environment returns the best benefit for your investment.

Or, perhaps you require several servers, one for QuickBooks, one for your Goldmine CRM system and one for your email system. Enter virtual computing and virtualization, a popular “new” systems concept that’s been around for many, many years. I explored the costs of virtualization in a previous post.

Essentially, virtualization uses massive physical resources to create virtual resources. In other words, use one server to create three virtual servers. Then, instead of using three physical servers for your QuickBooks, Goldmine and email, you can use one physical server, much like this illustration.

The point of my previous post focuses on cost and how very difficult it becomes to make a business case for virtual computing and virtualization. But if you can make the business case, then by all means, utilize virtualization in your business, which brings us to the next step in our journey down this path.

Consider for a moment that your new massive physical server, now the most mission critical physical device in your inventory of business tools requires a more stable physical environment in which to operate and your employees desperately need remote access to QuickBooks, Goldmine and email from home and at customer locations.

Your choices require you to make software changes and place your hardware into a data center environment, either in your present offices or a datacenter. You’ve now entered a world of remote services utilizing Internet communications resources to access QuickBooks, Goldmine and email.

You own the server and other hardware as well as the hardware life cycle that dictates periodic replacement. You pay the monthly datacenter charges and equipment notes. You’re responsible to your employees, customers and vendors for uptime and service quality, even though you may have hired several IT people to keep things running. You know the costs and you’ve carefully considered ROI. You continue to pay for your computing resources 24/7 whether your employees, customers and vendors utilize them or not.

So, I want to introduce a new notion. Cloud computing covers a lot of ground, but the primary distinction rests with money. It’s a pay as you go program and has much in common with time shared computing introduced in the 1960s. You pay for only the computing resources that you use, and you can scale up or down as needed. “The very concept of cloud computing, and of cloud services, has been a long time in the making” but the name’s not important, the concept is. Yes, it’s datacenter and Internet based computing, using terminal services, web applications and Internet communications, but so is your own datacenter focused, virtualized computing environment.

So let’s unwind a bit. Some new ROI calculations comparing your own datacenter focused, virtualized computing environment and a Cloud computing environment are in order. Focus on the primary distinction of Cloud computing, paying for only the computing resources that you use, and scalability as needed.

Consider the three simple business necessities from the examples I’ve used above; accounting, CRM and email. Although your situation differs from my example, the logic aligns. QuickBooks alternatives exist, anywhere from utilizing RackSpace Windows Server instances to various QuickBooks hosted solutions certified by Intuit. CRM from 37signals continually receives rave reviews and easily replaces Goldmine. Email lives anywhere from an Amazon server instance or a cheap BlueHost web hosting account to a hosted Exchange Server account from Intermedia.

Research your own alternatives. You could save a boat load of money, returning it straight to the bottom line.

Virtualization Cost For Small To Medium Businesses

Business Systems Support Peachtree QuickBooks

Advertising builds expectations that lead to sales pipelines loaded with prospects armed with the seeds of anticipated pricing. Virtualization rapidly rose to the top of technical must-haves for businesses looking to upgrade their computing infrastructure.

Recently, Dell promoted it’s virtualization with an interesting ad. I don’t often get such a clear opportunity to demonstrate the costs that small to medium businesses can potentially incur from typical virtualization scenarios.

I probably don’t need to remind you that this ad does not include software licensing, conversion and maintenance costs. In a typical twenty-five user office scenario, software might include Microsoft Exchange Server for email, Microsoft SQL Server for the LOB database back end, Microsoft Terminal Services application delivery services for LOB software, fax services for network fax capability, a Goldmine or Act server for CRM, file services for document management, services to extend security software to each computer and services for Peachtree or QuickBooks Multi User accounting software.

Virtualizing all of these services and software components would not only require hardware in excess of the $25,999 package, but the software costs would push this project well beyond the $150,000.00 range, not to mention IT costs incurred to deploy and maintain your virtualized environment. I can easily see over $5000 per month in amortized and recurring costs, a large price to pay for a small business to move current infrastructure into a virtualized environment.

From a technical perspective, I love to do this stuff. And, your environment will look more uniform, take up less rack space, will be more recoverable and will perform well, all good reasons to leverage virtualization. However, there is a better way, one I will explore with you in my next post.