dacs.doc electric

Building a Small Office/Home Office

By John Heckman

WITH THEIR EXPONENTIAL GROWTH, small businesses have even developed their own acronym—SOHO in this context stands not for the artsy area in New York City but for Small Office/Home Office. What you will need to build yours varies widely depending on what type of business you have and what your definition of "small" is. For the purposes of this article, a "small" office will have fewer than 20 employees. What follows are some of the issues you'll need to address before you set up your own SOHO.

What is it going to cost me?

The answer to this question is more complex than it might appear. You no doubt carry all kinds of insurance (health, life, automobile, property, etc.). When people approach me about "saving money" on computer equipment, I always ask them how they feel about insurance. Compaq has been running ads lately with a headline: GIVEN THESE PRICES, WHY GET THE MORE EXPENSIVE CHEAP MACHINE? The point here is that all computer equipment used in an office setting will sooner or later fail. This is especially true of the pieces of the computer that involve moving parts, i.e., the hard drive.

"Cheap" PCs, which are entirely acceptable as home machines, can develop strange quirks when attached to a Network. I learned this the hard way when I bought a Micron and attached it to my network. After about eight hours on the line with technical support, they finally confessed that Micron home PCs were "flaky" when used with 3Com network cards (one of the most reliable on the market). If I had to pay someone for that eight hours, it would have more than wiped out any savings on the "cheap" PC.

So when considering whether to "save money" on a lower-end item, you should also take into account what will happen if that piece of equipment is suddenly unavailable for several days. This is not just a question of repair/replacement costs, but also the effect on your business. For key pieces of equipment, the extra expense is just another form of business insurance. Of course, all the "extra" amounts can add up rapidly, so with each of the elements of a network that are described below, you simply need to make a conscious choice about where you can intelligently cut expenses and where it really isn't worth it.

To server or not to server

One of the first questions you need to decide is whether you need a server-based network. Basically, if you have three or more people using different PCs at the same time, you should get a network server, not just use Windows 95 or some other peer-to-peer networking. A dedicated server brings a number of advantages in terms of data security, centralized ease of administration, use, and backup. It also brings savings of scale in terms of Internet, faxing, and modem connections. Finally, it avoids the performance hit and potential data loss that can happen to a PC on a peer-to-peer network. Yes, it means buying an extra machine, but you will be much better off in the long run. This article assumes you will need a server.

Network operating systems

If you have a network, what software do you want to use? Both Microsoft and Novell make "small-business" versions of their network operating systems geared to companies that have only a single server and fewer than 25 employees. While Microsoft certainly has the mind-share, the issue is not always clear-cut. If you plan to use Microsoft products for your main business applications (Word, Excel, Access), Microsoft Back Office is a good choice. Be aware, however, that Microsoft products are much more hardware-intensive than Novell's. You can run a small business quite adequately on a Novell server with 64Mb memory, but you will probably want to start at 128Mb for an NT server.

A similar relationship exists for other products. The Gartner Group recently did a study showing that the Microsoft e-mail product Exchange (and variants) costs about three times as much per user per year to operate as the Novell e-mail product, GroupWise. And GroupWise is a better product!

But the most important issue with Microsoft Back Office is whether your business uses legacy applications. (Someone has defined a legacy application as one that works). Microsoft NT is notoriously flaky when running DOS or 16-bit legacy applications. So if you depend on one of these products (and many specialty vertical applications for specific businesses fall into this category), double-check, then check again to make sure it will work with NT before going that route. If possible, try to find someone in your line of business who is using the same application, or check with relevant professional associations (many of which have technology committees). You definitely do NOT want to install a nice new NT server and then find out that your key application doesn't work.

How much PC do you need?

Assuming you do have a network, how powerful does the PC have to be? If your business requires that you travel to client sites and make presentations, consider getting a decent laptop and having it do double duty as a workstation. You can expect to pay $1,000 to $1,500 more for a laptop than a desktop PC, but you will appear qualitatively more professional to your prospective clients, and this could make the difference between getting an account and not getting one.

All the major manufacturers (Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Micron) have two lines of PCs: home PCs (the ones you mainly see advertised) and business-oriented PCs. Business PCs tend to come with built-in network connections and less in the way of sound and video systems, yet they cost around $300-$400 more than a home PC. This is one area where "saving money" can actually cost you more, as I found out with my Micron. The reason for this is that business PCs are designed to have more consistent parts, while home PCs sometimes come with virtually all their IRQs used, so trying to add another piece, such as a network card, can be an adventure. If you get away with it, fine. If not, caveat emptor.

Server-related equipment

NETWORK HUB. You will need a network hub to connect the network. You will have the fewest problems if you buy all your network cards and related equipment from the same manufacturer. For example, 3Com makes excellent network hubs and network cards, and you can be sure that they will all work with each other. Especially if your business involves significant amounts of graphics or large databases, you should buy 10/100 PCI cards and hubs. This will allow your network to have optimal performance further into the future.

UPS. You should get Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) at least for the server. If possible you should get a UPS such as the ones that American Power Conversion makes, which connect to your server via a serial port. In event of a power outage that lasts longer than 10 to 15 minutes (the life of the battery), the UPS will shut down your server properly, thus preventing any loss of data. Consider the extra cost as a form of insurance.

BACKUP. Backup is a critical issue. When (not "if") your server goes down, you could experience anything between 48 hours of downtime when no business records are available (Just ask yourself how many times you have called a bank or other institution and been told, "I'm sorry, the computers are down right now.") to total loss of all your data.

Some form of tape backup is probably your best bet. Not only can you automate backups so they occur in the middle of the night, but they allow for easy off-site storage (What if there is a fire in your office?). Travan tape systems are inexpensive, but the tapes can stretch and become unreliable, so they need to be reformatted periodically. DLT backup tape systems are more expensive, but faster and more reliable. If you are willing to invest the time to take proper care of your tape systems, this is one area where you can save some money. Both Seagate (Backup Exec) and Computer Associates (Arcserve) make excellent backup programs, and tape drives are available from a number of manufacturers.

VIRUS CHECKING. You should definitely have some form of antivirus program, especially if you are using MS Word. How you configure it depends on how many documents or files you receive from outside your organization and how much Internet e-mail you receive. You should check with your ISP to see whether they do antivirus checking on your e-mail. The better ones do. You can run your antivirus checker on each PC every time it boots up, or you can get a server version that will check all the files on the server. Symantec (Norton), MacAfee, and Dr. Solomon's are three of the best. For network-based systems, Inoculan from Computer Associates is a good product.

Printing/scanning/faxing

What to do about printers, scanning, and faxing depends on the exact mix of what you do. Some questions to ask yourself are:

When I need to fax things, how often do I need to fax a regular sheet of paper (as opposed to a document from the computer)?
Do I regularly need to scan anything that is not just a flat piece of paper?
Do I need to scan high-resolution images?
What volume (how many pieces of paper) do I print every month?
Do I need to print in color, or just in black and white.

Here are some criteria, depending on the answers to the above questions:

If you mainly do business correspondence, definitely get a laser printer. Inkjets really don't cut it for regular business use.
If you only do a small volume of faxing that is not from a computer, you may want to just get a scanner and dispense with a separate fax machine (You can set up a PC to receive faxes in ways that are more convenient than a fax machine anyway).
If the only thing you ever scan is black-and-white paper (i.e., documents, bills, etc.), you might be happy with a low-end sheet-fed scanner such as the Paper Port Visioneer or the small HP 5s3 scanner. These feed up to about ten sheets at a time. If you need to scan graphics, you will want a flatbed scanner (which takes up more room).
If your needs in the fax/scan/print area are minimal, you might consider the new Hewlett Packard 3100 multifunction machine, which can be used as a printer, fax machine, scanner, and copier. At a street price of about $700, this is a real bargain and is the first multifunction machine that contains a laser printer (as opposed to an inkjet).
If all you need to do is fax from the desktop, consider WinFax Pro. This is the industry leader and can also be set up to function as an answering machine, assuming your PC has voice capabilities.
Depending on your needs, it may be worthwhile to get a laser printer and then a second color deskjet printer for occasional use. I have had very good luck with the Epson 400/600/800 series (the higher numbers indicate faster speeds).

Phone lines and Internet access

Obviously, your phone requirements depend on the size and type of your business. The Internet is another important variable. If you can make do with a 56k modem (which will actually deliver a speed somewhere around 40k, i.e., if your needs are minimal), then a simple modem solution might be adequate. If your needs are greater, and depending on where you live, you might want to investigate an ISDN line and some of the newer services that are just starting to come on line, such as modem cables and ASDL. Then you will need to find a provider that has ISDN access only a local call away and that is still a local call from where the phone company has its ISDN ports. ISDN costs more, but if you need the access, it is worth it. You can also use the second ISDN line for incoming fax calls or a second phone line.

If you have multiple PCs, think about using a program such as iModem or iShare from Artisoft (which also makes Lantastic, a peer-to-peer networking system), which lets multiple users make use of the same modem (iModem) or use the same Internet connection simultaneously (iShare).

Finally, there are a number of small-business telephony units available for around $1,000 or $1,500 that can serve as automated answering machines/voice-mail units without the expense of a PBX.

E-mail

Whichever network system you install is likely to come with an e-mail package (Exchange/Outlook for Microsoft, GroupWise for Novell). Even if you are a small business, there are benefits in company-wide e-mail. It comes with calendar/scheduling modules built in, so that you may not need a separate application. E-mail can be worth it simply by getting rid of the yellow stickies on your monitor and phone messages piling up on your desk. More important, while you may already have an individual e-mail address, you appear much more professional by finding an ISP that will register your company name. Jheckman@kalmon.com is much more professional than Louie2126@aol.com. You can then hook your e-mail system to the Internet just for e-mail. This enables you to leverage the Internet, for example, by providing automatic company or other information to anyone who sends a message to e.g., info@mycompany.com.

CD-ROM Access

It doesn't take very long to get tired of swapping out CD-ROMs or spending ten minutes to find out who was last using the one you happen to need. Put a CD-ROM multichanger on your list. This allows you to load five to seven CDs (or more) attached to the server and enable all users to access them all the time. This is a great time-saver, especially if you use specialized databases on CDs. The Business Phone Disc is one of the most popular ones, and there are many vertical-market CDs for specific industries.

Where and how to buy

As to the "how," even if you feel confident you can assemble all the pieces once you get them, you may want to hire a consultant, even if only for the planning stage, to ensure that all the right questions get asked. In general, you want first to establish what you need to accomplish. Then find the software to do it and finally figure out what hardware you will need. And keep in mind the "90% rule" of computers: It should be fairly easy to get 90% of what you want; it will be difficult (and probably very expensive) to get the last 10%. Figure out what it is you can do without if need be. Many DACS members either run consulting businesses (as I do) or know somebody reliable who can assist them with their particular business needs. Ask around.

Once you have a detailed idea of what you need, you have several options for purchasing equipment and software. The cheapest solution is likely to be a major mail-order supplier, whether for computers (Dell, Gateway, etc.) or software. You can frequently buy from a consultant or VAR (Value Added Reseller), but these typically cannot meet mail-order prices because they do not have the volume. Buying from a VAR may be a good option if you are willing to pay a slight premium and the value-added part is really there.

Building a Small Office/Home Office

*By John Heckman*
WITH THEIR EXPONENTIAL GROWTH, small businesses have even developed their own acronym—SOHO in this context stands not for the artsy area in New York City but for Small Office/Home Office. What you will need to build yours varies widely depending on what type of business you have and what your definition of "small" is. For the purposes of this article, a "small" office will have fewer than 20 employees. What follows are some of the issues you'll need to address before you set up your own SOHO. What is it going to cost me? The answer to this question is more complex than it might appear. You no doubt carry all kinds of insurance (health, life, automobile, property, etc.). When people approach me about "saving money" on computer equipment, I always ask them how they feel about insurance. Compaq has been running ads lately with a headline: GIVEN THESE PRICES, WHY GET THE MORE EXPENSIVE CHEAP MACHINE? The point here is that all computer equipment used in an office setting will sooner or later fail. This is especially true of the pieces of the computer that involve moving parts, i.e., the hard drive. "Cheap" PCs, which are entirely acceptable as home machines, can develop strange quirks when attached to a Network. I learned this the hard way when I bought a Micron and attached it to my network. After about eight hours on the line with technical support, they finally confessed that Micron home PCs were "flaky" when used with 3Com network cards (one of the most reliable on the market). If I had to pay someone for that eight hours, it would have more than wiped out any savings on the "cheap" PC. So when considering whether to "save money" on a lower-end item, you should also take into account what will happen if that piece of equipment is suddenly unavailable for several days. This is not just a question of repair/replacement costs, but also the effect on your business. For key pieces of equipment, the extra expense is just another form of business insurance. Of course, all the "extra" amounts can add up rapidly, so with each of the elements of a network that are described below, you simply need to make a conscious choice about where you can intelligently cut expenses and where it really isn't worth it. To server or not to server One of the first questions you need to decide is whether you need a server-based network. Basically, if you have three or more people using different PCs at the same time, you should get a network server, not just use Windows 95 or some other peer-to-peer networking. A dedicated server brings a number of advantages in terms of data security, centralized ease of administration, use, and backup. It also brings savings of scale in terms of Internet, faxing, and modem connections. Finally, it avoids the performance hit and potential data loss that can happen to a PC on a peer-to-peer network. Yes, it means buying an extra machine, but you will be much better off in the long run. This article assumes you will need a server. Network operating systems If you have a network, what software do you want to use? Both Microsoft and Novell make "small-business" versions of their network operating systems geared to companies that have only a single server and fewer than 25 employees. While Microsoft certainly has the mind-share, the issue is not always clear-cut. If you plan to use Microsoft products for your main business applications (Word, Excel, Access), Microsoft Back Office is a good choice. Be aware, however, that Microsoft products are much more hardware-intensive than Novell's. You can run a small business quite adequately on a Novell server with 64Mb memory, but you will probably want to start at 128Mb for an NT server. A similar relationship exists for other products. The Gartner Group recently did a study showing that the Microsoft e-mail product Exchange (and variants) costs about three times as much per user per year to operate as the Novell e-mail product, GroupWise. And GroupWise is a better product! But the most important issue with Microsoft Back Office is whether your business uses legacy applications. (Someone has defined a legacy application as one that works). Microsoft NT is notoriously flaky when running DOS or 16-bit legacy applications. So if you depend on one of these products (and many specialty vertical applications for specific businesses fall into this category), double-check, then check again to make sure it will work with NT before going that route. If possible, try to find someone in your line of business who is using the same application, or check with relevant professional associations (many of which have technology committees). You definitely do NOT want to install a nice new NT server and then find out that your key application doesn't work. How much PC do you need? Assuming you do have a network, how powerful does the PC have to be? If your business requires that you travel to client sites and make presentations, consider getting a decent laptop and having it do double duty as a workstation. You can expect to pay $1,000 to $1,500 more for a laptop than a desktop PC, but you will appear qualitatively more professional to your prospective clients, and this could make the difference between getting an account and not getting one. All the major manufacturers (Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Micron) have two lines of PCs: home PCs (the ones you mainly see advertised) and business-oriented PCs. Business PCs tend to come with built-in network connections and less in the way of sound and video systems, yet they cost around $300-$400 more than a home PC. This is one area where "saving money" can actually cost you more, as I found out with my Micron. The reason for this is that business PCs are designed to have more consistent parts, while home PCs sometimes come with virtually all their IRQs used, so trying to add another piece, such as a network card, can be an adventure. If you get away with it, fine. If not, caveat emptor. Server-related equipment NETWORK HUB. You will need a network hub to connect the network. You will have the fewest problems if you buy all your network cards and related equipment from the same manufacturer. For example, 3Com makes excellent network hubs and network cards, and you can be sure that they will all work with each other. Especially if your business involves significant amounts of graphics or large databases, you should buy 10/100 PCI cards and hubs. This will allow your network to have optimal performance further into the future. UPS. You should get Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) at least for the server. If possible you should get a UPS such as the ones that American Power Conversion makes, which connect to your server via a serial port. In event of a power outage that lasts longer than 10 to 15 minutes (the life of the battery), the UPS will shut down your server properly, thus preventing any loss of data. Consider the extra cost as a form of insurance. BACKUP. Backup is a critical issue. When (not "if") your server goes down, you could experience anything between 48 hours of downtime when no business records are available (Just ask yourself how many times you have called a bank or other institution and been told, "I'm sorry, the computers are down right now.") to total loss of all your data. Some form of tape backup is probably your best bet. Not only can you automate backups so they occur in the middle of the night, but they allow for easy off-site storage (What if there is a fire in your office?). Travan tape systems are inexpensive, but the tapes can stretch and become unreliable, so they need to be reformatted periodically. DLT backup tape systems are more expensive, but faster and more reliable. If you are willing to invest the time to take proper care of your tape systems, this is one area where you can save some money. Both Seagate (Backup Exec) and Computer Associates (Arcserve) make excellent backup programs, and tape drives are available from a number of manufacturers. VIRUS CHECKING. You should definitely have some form of antivirus program, especially if you are using MS Word. How you configure it depends on how many documents or files you receive from outside your organization and how much Internet e-mail you receive. You should check with your ISP to see whether they do antivirus checking on your e-mail. The better ones do. You can run your antivirus checker on each PC every time it boots up, or you can get a server version that will check all the files on the server. Symantec (Norton), MacAfee, and Dr. Solomon's are three of the best. For network-based systems, Inoculan from Computer Associates is a good product. Printing/scanning/faxing What to do about printers, scanning, and faxing depends on the exact mix of what you do. Some questions to ask yourself are: When I need to fax things, how often do I need to fax a regular sheet of paper (as opposed to a document from the computer)? Do I regularly need to scan anything that is not just a flat piece of paper? Do I need to scan high-resolution images? What volume (how many pieces of paper) do I print every month? Do I need to print in color, or just in black and white. Here are some criteria, depending on the answers to the above questions: If you mainly do business correspondence, definitely get a laser printer. Inkjets really don't cut it for regular business use. If you only do a small volume of faxing that is not from a computer, you may want to just get a scanner and dispense with a separate fax machine (You can set up a PC to receive faxes in ways that are more convenient than a fax machine anyway). If the only thing you ever scan is black-and-white paper (i.e., documents, bills, etc.), you might be happy with a low-end sheet-fed scanner such as the Paper Port Visioneer or the small HP 5s3 scanner. These feed up to about ten sheets at a time. If you need to scan graphics, you will want a flatbed scanner (which takes up more room). If your needs in the fax/scan/print area are minimal, you might consider the new Hewlett Packard 3100 multifunction machine, which can be used as a printer, fax machine, scanner, and copier. At a street price of about $700, this is a real bargain and is the first multifunction machine that contains a laser printer (as opposed to an inkjet). If all you need to do is fax from the desktop, consider WinFax Pro. This is the industry leader and can also be set up to function as an answering machine, assuming your PC has voice capabilities. Depending on your needs, it may be worthwhile to get a laser printer and then a second color deskjet printer for occasional use. I have had very good luck with the Epson 400/600/800 series (the higher numbers indicate faster speeds). Phone lines and Internet access Obviously, your phone requirements depend on the size and type of your business. The Internet is another important variable. If you can make do with a 56k modem (which will actually deliver a speed somewhere around 40k, i.e., if your needs are minimal), then a simple modem solution might be adequate. If your needs are greater, and depending on where you live, you might want to investigate an ISDN line and some of the newer services that are just starting to come on line, such as modem cables and ASDL. Then you will need to find a provider that has ISDN access only a local call away and that is still a local call from where the phone company has its ISDN ports. ISDN costs more, but if you need the access, it is worth it. You can also use the second ISDN line for incoming fax calls or a second phone line. If you have multiple PCs, think about using a program such as iModem or iShare from Artisoft (which also makes Lantastic, a peer-to-peer networking system), which lets multiple users make use of the same modem (iModem) or use the same Internet connection simultaneously (iShare). Finally, there are a number of small-business telephony units available for around $1,000 or $1,500 that can serve as automated answering machines/voice-mail units without the expense of a PBX. E-mail Whichever network system you install is likely to come with an e-mail package (Exchange/Outlook for Microsoft, GroupWise for Novell). Even if you are a small business, there are benefits in company-wide e-mail. It comes with calendar/scheduling modules built in, so that you may not need a separate application. E-mail can be worth it simply by getting rid of the yellow stickies on your monitor and phone messages piling up on your desk. More important, while you may already have an individual e-mail address, you appear much more professional by finding an ISP that will register your company name. Jheckman@kalmon.com is much more professional than Louie2126@aol.com. You can then hook your e-mail system to the Internet just for e-mail. This enables you to leverage the Internet, for example, by providing automatic company or other information to anyone who sends a message to e.g., info@mycompany.com. CD-ROM Access It doesn't take very long to get tired of swapping out CD-ROMs or spending ten minutes to find out who was last using the one you happen to need. Put a CD-ROM multichanger on your list. This allows you to load five to seven CDs (or more) attached to the server and enable all users to access them all the time. This is a great time-saver, especially if you use specialized databases on CDs. The Business Phone Disc is one of the most popular ones, and there are many vertical-market CDs for specific industries. Where and how to buy As to the "how," even if you feel confident you can assemble all the pieces once you get them, you may want to hire a consultant, even if only for the planning stage, to ensure that all the right questions get asked. In general, you want first to establish what you need to accomplish. Then find the software to do it and finally figure out what hardware you will need. And keep in mind the "90% rule" of computers: It should be fairly easy to get 90% of what you want; it will be difficult (and probably very expensive) to get the last 10%. Figure out what it is you can do without if need be. Many DACS members either run consulting businesses (as I do) or know somebody reliable who can assist them with their particular business needs. Ask around. Once you have a detailed idea of what you need, you have several options for purchasing equipment and software. The cheapest solution is likely to be a major mail-order supplier, whether for computers (Dell, Gateway, etc.) or software. You can frequently buy from a consultant or VAR (Value Added Reseller), but these typically cannot meet mail-order prices because they do not have the volume. Buying from a VAR may be a good option if you are willing to pay a slight premium and the value-added part is really there.

JOHN HECKMAN is president of Heckman Consulting, which specializes in business automation issues for law firms and other small businesses. John can be reached at 203 831-0442 or jheckman@kalmon.com.