Microsoft extends the XP deadline

Microsoft has recently announced that they are extending the date that
system builders can continue to build systems on the XP platform,
Microsoft extends OEM deadline Microsoft Press Release.
What this means is, if you were looking to add desktops or laptops to your business, you are safe to do it on an XP platform anytime for at least the next six months. Another option is to buy a computer with a Business grade version of Vista. Microsoft will then allow you to reinstall XP on the computer. This allows you to have an XP machine for now, with a free upgrade to VISTA if and when you need an office wide upgrade.

I will leave it to smarter analysts than me to determine if this is because Microsoft is listening to its customers by extending XP, or if VISTA is not selling as well as Microsoft wants. All I know is businesses continue to grow and need to extend their capabilities on a stable platform. This new notice is good news to clients that need to add computing power, but are worried about an office on multiple platforms. XP is a solid platform for running most business applications. Grow your business without worrying about your technology.

Good Luck!!

Corporate IT tries to expand their small business market

Two new recent developments in corporate IT that I have found
interesting:

1. Microsoft announced at its annual partners conference in Denver last week that it plans to get into the hosted services business. This means that soon, the mother ship in Redmond WA will be able to host your website, your email, a SharePoint site, or even Microsoft office.

2. Dell's announcement of its Vostro line of computers targeting the small business community. In addition to the lack of crapware, or trialware as they call it, they offer support services and PC checkups remotely for small non server based networks.

A few of my observations:

1. The big boys continue to try and muscle into the $35B small business market. They recognize the huge growth area this represents, and want their slice of the pie.

2. The losers here will most likely be the regional support and hosting companies. Companies that are too small to carry the power of a national brand, but too large to offer the personalized service smaller local companies can offer.

3. The winners will be IT service providers that can leverage their partnerships with these corporations to make clients feel they are getting the best of both worlds. The power of a national brand, but the dedicated service from a dedicated company they know and trust.

4. What small business customers want is to speak to a person they know and trust. Like any market it's all about relationships. How much of a relationship can a small business owner develop with Dell or Microsoft?

The next 12 months will be a very interesting time in the small business technology industry. Vista will define itself as either the great upgrade to XP, or the reincarnation of ME. New server products and collaboration software will continue to improve collaboration and make the world a smaller place. It is really an exciting time to be in this industry.

Hope your having a great summer!!

Microsoft Error Reports

We're all familiar with them. Those annoying pop-ups from Microsoft telling us our application has become unresponsive. Right after we are done cursing Bill Gates with four letter words that would make a sailor blush, we get another pop-up asking us ever so kindly if we would like to share our troubles with Microsoft. Maybe they can help? "Yea right. Haven't you created enough trouble for me already?" Well I stand converted. Last week I was getting one of those bizarre errors over and over. It was causing my whole system to become unstable. After restoring the system, uninstalling a few recently downloaded applications, and scouring several message boards, I decided to give Microsoft a try. I "sent" the error report. Lo and behold, I was rewarded with a link to a Microsoft page directing me to download a hotfix. After installing the patch, presto, my system returned to normal. The lesson learned is; go ahead and send that error report, what do you have to lose.

Templates can be a lifesaver

At the end of the day, I suffer from many of the same challenges as many of you. Many of us are business owners. All of us never seem to have enough hours in the day. We are constantly confronted with too many tasks and not enough hours in the day to deal with them. There are so many documents, spreadsheets, and flyers that must be created. It seems to never end. It’s a challenge to create statements, legal documents and marketing materials from scratch. When your confronted with needing to get something delivered under the gun, often your creative energy is not flowing at 1am. To help me deal with these challenges, I have turned to the power of templates. Templates give me the option of developing high quality documents in a fraction of the time. I am a technology expert, not a finance expert, marketing expert, or a legal expert. Templates help me look professional. As a small business owner, my budget is tight. I can’t afford to hire all these experts to develop my documents. Templates help me look like I do. As recently as today I found a template for a time tracking database. With a few adjustments I now have a solid time tracking database tool to help me manage the billable time for my growing workforce and my clients. I have used templates for marketing flyers, invoices, agreement letters and database tools. They have been a lifesaver for me.

Microsoft has come a long way in providing these templates. They have a wealth of templates for the office, home, or for school. There is quite a catalog to support any of the office applications. Just got to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx and run a search for whatever it is you need. I’m sure you will find these templates the time saving life saver that I have.

Good Luck!!

Thoughts on Vista

One of the most common questions I have been getting recently is “What do you think about Vista?”. To be completely honest, I tried to update one of my laptops, but that proved to be time consuming, and futile. I have dabbled with a few demo versions, and previewed the small set of clients that have bought new machines with it pre-installed. So from personal experience, I don’t have any strong thoughts yet pro OR con.

What I do understand from over 17 years of technology experience is how these major upgrades are adapted. I also try to keep up with the readings of other professionals who are MUCH better writers than I am, and whose job it is to compare and contrast these technology changes. One article in PC Magazine really nailed it for me. John Dvorak wrote a very pragmatic commentary on the overall adaption of major upgrades like this entitled “The Consensus on Vista”. I certainly agreed with his take that it is probably not a good idea to upgrade an existing PC to Vista (As I discovered first hand). It is still going to take many months for the other hardware and software manufacturers to get their drivers and interfaces up to speed and the coming hard disk upgrades Dvorak mentions make it worthwhile to wait out this initial surge. For the small business community especially, I would not advocate using Vista until Service Pack 1 is rolled out and the new hard disks are more widely available. Otherwise you may be looking at spending precious upgrade dollars twice.

If you’re in desperate need of an upgrade now, I suggest striking while the iron is hot. Get your hands on a remaining XP machine. You’ll end up with a great processor, upgraded memory, and possible a Vista grade video card. Most of the manufacturers are phasing out their XP stock, and you may have to push the sales staff to hunt down an XP version. If you wait much longer you may be forced to go with Vista. Another option is the used computer market. In addition to eBay, there are many local companies that deal in used but solid performing computers. Many of these companies deal in recycled business computers. They are in great shape, with probably a few scratches on the case. If it buys you another 18- 24 months before needing a brand new system, then it’s worth it in my opinion. I recently bought one for my mom, and saved $500 off of a similar new system price.

In the long run, I’m sure we will all be saying how great Vista was and laughing about how we used to put up with XP, but for now patience is the key.

Sometimes taking the backup is not enough

For those that are still not backing up your data on a regular basis, your day of reckoning will come.   One day, when you least expect it, your system will crash and you will lose those important files, family pictures, or worse yet, your entire business. 

 

Now that the customary scare tactics have been applied, this message is actually for those that do take diligent backups.  This is a warning and an example that it is not enough to turn on your backup and leave it.    It’s not enough to set up your backups, walk away and assume that when your system does go down you can easily restore files from your last backup. 

 

I recently worked with someone that learned a valuable lesson from that very assumption.  In this case, the data was backed up from a laptop to an external hard drive.  Backups were taken frequently, and when the laptop crashed one day, the system was restored from what was assumed a to be a recent backup.  After several hours of confusion and research, it turned out the backups had not been successful for several months.  When the data was restored, six months of data was lost.  Oops would be an understatement…

 

The lesson here is even though you set up your backups, that is not enough.  You need to follow up periodically to make sure those backups are in working order.  Considering there are many backup tools and methods, the easiest method is to check the backup device periodically.  Look at the files you are backing up.  Are all the files there?  Do they reflect the most recent time you backed up?  If not, then your backups are not working.  Check your software, your logs, or contact an IT professional to get it corrected before the day comes when you have to depend on it.

Vista - 1, Dogtail - 0

In yesterday's mail I received my upgrade for Vista.  It was timed perfectly with the rest of the Vista launch.  I sat down last night to upgrade a test laptop.  My intention is to "test drive" a copy first before upgrading my day to day laptop.  I followed all the prompts to confirm the laptop (older but still in great condition) would be capable of running the new platform.  I downloaded the recommended scan tool, which was a maze in itself sending me to multiple downloads, and confirmed my laptop was ready.  After a two hour upgrade process (yes, two hours) I was done.  I must say at this point I was rather excited to check out this heralded new upgrade.  Unfortunately, as soon as I booted up I was notified that my network drivers were not supported.  The problem with network drivers is you can not access the internet.  If you can not access the internet, then it is difficult to find and download the new drivers you need...

 

The lesson for us all is that as the new computers roll out, you may be tempted to upgrade your existing machine.  If you do, be prepared for a worst case scenario.  Make sure you have an up to date backup, as well as easy access to any existing hardware and XP install CD's in case you need to roll back and reinstall.  Also prepare yourself that it may be an adventure over several hours.

 

I'm sure I'll resolve my issues and be moving soon, but like anything else, it pays to plan and "Be Prepared" (yes I was a Boy Scout in a previous life).

 

Have a great day!!!