Cutting Costs for Small Business Technology needs

4 Tactics For Controlling Small Business Technology Costs

By Nick Pegley

A few simple steps can help you make the most of your expenditures throughout the lifecycle of the technology. Servers, desktops, software, networking equipment and peripherals add up, but you do need them to keep your business running.
Follow these steps to make cost-effective decisions.
1. Weigh Financing Options: Aside from purchasing, financing and leasing are viable options for a small business. Consider a combination of the three when going through the buying process. Installing and configuring the technology could also be financed and bundled into regular payments. Does the company you're buying from provide "new and authorized by the manufacturer" sales? After you've got the equipment up and running, this could enable your company to get updates or enhancements directly from the manufacturer--and dealing with problems will be much simpler.
2. Warranty Wisely: Anticipate growth and business changes and decide whether or not the technology you are selecting today can carry you through these changes. Take into account the time that it will be considered useful for your business. To protect yourself when financing or leasing, align the term of the agreement with the warranty period. That way you'll have protection direct from the manufacturer during the period of time you intend to own it.
3. Consider Total Cost: Prepare and budget for other costs to support your technology. For example, toner cartridges typically cost the owner or a laser printer two to three times the initial cost of the printer. Consider a program such as a Managed Print Service to include these costs in the monthly price. Typically this will lower the total lifetime cost.
4. Plan for Disposing of the Equipment: Considering your company's strategy around technology disposal or recycling at the front end. There are basically 3 ways to properly dispose of technology at the end of the useful life:

1. Sell the equipment
2. Donate the technology to a school, non-profit, etc.
3. Formal Disposition - Certified companies will assure your computers or other hardware and software will be properly disposed of, including recycling and reuse of components.

Another benefit: Your data is destroyed and made unrecoverable by professionals rather than relying on inexperienced staffers. The total cost of ownership of technology includes more than the upfront price tag. Consider the total lifecycle costs of IT for your business, plan ahead and you'll make sure you're maximizing your investment.
About the Author:
Nick Pegley is a marketing expert with All Covered: Technology Services Partner for Small Business, providing network consulting and IT services in 20 major U.S. metro areas.

Find More Tips & Advice in the Manta Technology Center.


REPOSTED BY HOME PC CREW, INC OF HICKORY NC JUNE 1, 2010.

Startup of the Day - IP-Tech - Microsoft Startup of the Day

Quoted from http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/Blogs/Microspark-BizSpark-Startup-of-the-Day/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=187:

Startup of the Day - IP-Tech - Microsoft Startup of the Day

4/27/2010 Startup of the Day - IP-Tech The BizSpark startup of the day is IP-Tech, based in Tunisia. You will find below an interview with Fateh Bel Hadj Ali, CEO and Co-Founder of IP-Tech. All the best to them and congrats for being the startup of the day!   Website: www.iptech-offshore.com. Interview with Fateh Bel Hadj Ali, CEO and Co-Founder of IP-Tech Tell us who you are and your role in the company: Fateh Bel Hadj Ali, CEO and co-founder. IP-Tech’s vision statement is mainly providing high quality, reliable and globally-recognized offshore ITO services. Therefore, my role is a mix of a three missions: Talent management, corporate organization and customer satisfaction assurance. What did you do before creating your company? I joined IBM just after graduating from Tunisia Polytechnic School. Two years later, I moved to Paris – France, where I worked as an IT Specialist for three years. After that, I have been providing consulting services for five years to top asset management corporations (Société Générale AM and BNP Paribas AM) to better manage their offshore IT teams. How do you feel being the most promising ‘Startup of the Day’ per Microsoft BizSpark? It’s actually a very pleasant surprise. It’s also amazing since it comes just few days after being elected by Microsoft as Tunisia’s best startup during Microsoft BizSpark Camp opening ceremony. It's also a great recognition of the huge efforts of IP-Tech’s engineers. They are working very hard to achieve technical challenges and to be up to date with latest Microsoft technologies. What is your company’s mission? As stated above, IP-Tech is meant to be a high quality and reliable offshore software provider. Our engineers are defining everyday complex software architectures and implementing market standards into our customers’ information systems. We are aiming to be the privileged offshore/nearshore destination for software producers and consulting firms looking for highly qualified and result oriented professionals. How did you get the idea for your company? After working for several years in the French software industry and developing multiple skills related to distributed software development teams, I have found it appropriate to consider my own IT outsourcing company in Tunisia and remotely export consulting to European firms. I had several and long discussions that time with Mohamed OUEDERNI, a friend and a school mate at the Polytechnic School who also moved to Paris and followed a software R&D path. We shared the same ambition to build a technological center that exports advanced software development to quality-concerned companies. M. OUEDERNI is currently my partner and IP-Tech’s CTO. Tell us about your funding history. Are you currently looking for funding? If so, how much? IP-Tech is completely self-funded until this point. Its business model relies on durable partnerships and healthy growth. Therefore, no funding schemes are currently in sight. How many employees do you have? How many developers? IP-Tech has currently 29 full time employees, 25 among them are developers. Are you hiring? If yes, what are you hiring and where? Yes, we are hiring experienced and less experienced software developers of different backgrounds to work on our Tunis-based offices. Which platform are you building on? Why? The platform on which we develop depend most of the cases on our customers’ existing components. But when it comes to define a Microsoft-based new architecture, we definitely recommend the Microsoft Application Platform. It allows our customers to streamline their IT and business processes and to optimize their infrastructure. Where do you see opportunities today in the Software/internet area? I got through IP-Tech the opportunity to work with companies of different sizes, their IT infrastructures and visions are very different. Therefore, a significant opportunity is to scale-up and down business solutions to make products that fit companies of different sizes. This could be a valuable cross-selling offer. What do you think about the BizSpark Program? Along with different other Microsoft resources, BizSpark Program incredibly fosters excellence at IP-Tech. It allows our technology specialists to have access to all required software and tools to boost their skills and be up to date with Microsoft’s latest innovations. Do you have any advice for young Software entrepreneurs? I think that any young Software entrepreneur must persevere and always try to find distinctive factors. It’s very important also to build a highly skilled team when targeting business growth. Who’s your role model? Actually I do not have a specific model. During my professional, and more generally human experience, I have known people of exceptional qualities. I also saw a lot of practices with which I disagreed. So I’m always trying to make my own path and to avoid others’ mistakes. My mistakes will by themselves contribute in the success of others. What’s the ONE THING you would like readers to take away from this interview? IP-Tech is a young company which is proud of its staff: They are ambitious, able to overcome all the technical challenges they face and to fulfill IP-Tech customers’ satisfaction. Posted

Saving Energy to Save the World, by adjusting on computer's settings at a time, Home PC Crew of Hickory NC

Many businesses already know about energy-efficient laptop computers that can help extend battery life. But new hardware and software technologies are available for desktop PCs, too, helping to trim power consumption at office.

Many businesses today are looking for simple ways to go green -- whether it’s to help the environment or to save a few bucks, or a bit of both -- but they aren’t likely thinking about PC power management.
In fact, desktop PCs and monitors use up to 13 percent of all power consumed in office environments, and that number could be much higher when you factor in connected peripherals such as printers, copiers, and external hard drives. And you thought your lights and air conditioner were the culprits.
The good news is there are a few things a small or mid-sized business can do in order to cut down on energy consumption at the office, specifically relating to computers and monitors. Here are steps experts suggest that a business can take to better manage PC power usage.
Turn it off
The single biggest thing a company can do to lower power consumption is to turn the computer off when not in use, such as at night.
“This might sound like a no-brainer, but the reality is the vast majority of business PCs run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year,” says Steve Kleynhans, vice president of the client platforms group at Gartner, a Stamford, Conn.-based IT research firm.
“Companies are more concerned, and probably rightly so, about security and reliability than they are about saving some power -- they want to ensure those machines are up and waiting to have latest security fix -- but leaving them on all the time is extremely wasteful,” continues Kleynhans. “But there are technologies to get around this today.”
Specifically, there are popular software tools provided by the likes of Verdiem and 1E Software Solutions, and innovative hardware including Intel’s award-winning vPro technology.
“Traditionally, PCs are left on at night so your IT person can patch them without interrupting your work,” explains Josh Hilliker, Intel architect and community manager for Intel vPro technology. “The beauty of vPro is you can now shut them down and wake them up, patch them and then shut them back down again -- remotely -- and you can set how and when you want to deploy this,” he explains.
Hilliker knows a few things about power management. He used to work for the Pacific Gas & Electric Company before joining Intel 14 years ago.
“Employing these solutions that let you power down PCs at night can cut your power consumption down by two-thirds,” confirms Kleynhans, “which is huge.”
The cost savings can add up, too. “You might not think you’re saving much, such as $10 a month per machine, but that’s more than a hundred dollars per year, and if you have a thousand machines in your organization, someone will notice.” “Cost savings aside,” adds Kleynhans, “it’s just the right thing to do.”
Those hungry monitors, too
If you’re not going to power down your PCs at night, at the very least make sure monitors are turned off when not in use. During working hours, have the monitors go into sleep mode when the PC has been left idle for a couple of minutes.
“Definitely get rid of screen savers -- they should be called ‘screen power wasters’ -- such as those with fancy 3-D effects, flying toasters, or photo slideshows,” advises Kleynhans. “You don’t need them with LCD monitors since they don’t suffer from [phosphor] burn-in compared to older CRT monitors.”
Another good idea is to buy monitors that have been certified by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Star rating program. The program rates devices based on the amount of energy they consume.
Another tip is to unplug other PC peripherals when not in use, such as printers and external drives, and power them down at night, too. Meanwhile, wired mice and keyboard use up less power than wireless ones.
Love those laptops
If you’re willing to make the switch, changing what kind of computer your employees use can make a serious difference in your business' energy consumption. “Switching from desktops to laptops is a great move,” says Kleynhans.
By the time you include the tower and monitor, a midrange desktop consumes about 130 watts of power, while a high-end machine, perhaps used for editing or animation, might consume up to 500 watts of power.

Compare this to “even the most power hungry” laptop computer, which consumes about 85 to 95 watts of power at most, explains Kleynhans. “Laptops were designed out of the box to be energy efficient,” he says.

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Go wide and get green with the 19" NEC AccuSync AS191WM, an wide screen LCD desktop monitor that enhances your desktop computing with eco-friendly benefits. This value-driven model touts features such as ECO Mode to extend the life of the display, 48% less… Go wide and get green with the 19" NEC AccuSync AS191WM, an wide screen LCD desktop monitor that enhances your desktop computing with eco-friendly benefits. This value-driven model touts features such as ECO Mode to extend the life of the display, 48% less energy consumption than its predecessors, Intelligent Power Manager and compact packaging. These advantages, combined with an ergonomic design and a high-contrast screen, make this model ideal for small-to-medium-sized business environments.Wide-format screen increases productivity by expanding your working area to view multiple application windows. Ambix dual-input technology allows for digital/analog compatibility with upgraded video cards and software as well as connection to two systems. Rapid Response technology delivers virtually uninterrupted, undistorted viewing of high-speed, full-motion video. Energy efficiency is optimized as a result of the display's "green" technology. ECO Mode function helps save power, reduce heat and extend the life of the display by allowing the user to dim/reduce the brightness. Intelligent Power Manager (IPM) system provides innovative power-saving methods by shifting to a lower power consumption level or automatically powering down when the monitor is on but not in use. Carbon footprint meter helps track and calculate the reduction of green gas emissions.




Home PC Crew of Hickory NC, Your place to do your part in the only place we have in the entire universe to live..........Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Comfort Technology Brings Lifetime Homes, Assistive Living

Repost of blog from "Automated Home"

by Home PC Crew, Inc of Hickory NC

See our location in Google Maps...

Much of our digital lifestyle is about convenience and entertainment, but there's a more serious role for Home Automation technologies too. Life expectancy continues to climb and older people can start to become less independent. Enter Comfort from Cytech, a comprehensive home security and domotics system that can be employed to help keep seniors safe in their homes for longer.Lifetime Homes – Sustainable Homes - Features of home automation systems such as the Comfort Intelligent Home System from Cytech Europe, can make a major input to the Lifetime Homes Standard* as well as to Assisted Living* and the home building industry’s targets for Sustainable Homes in line with the new mandatory regulations*.

Benefits offered by the Comfort System include - Interactive Voice Menu that can operate in any of nine languages allows Comfort to be controlled from any remote or home telephone. The real time status of the lights and appliances can be announced so you can check before switching anything on or off.

Reminder Messages and Voice Announcements Triggered by Events: Comfort can be set to play back recorded reminder messages on talking keypads or the telephone to remind the user to take medicine, for example, as a wake-up call, or to warn if any motion is detected in the home.

Comfort KP04 talking keypad - Dial Out to Alert Carers: Comfort dials out to carers or family members if there is no activity in the home for a longer than usual period of time. The carer can talk to the person in the house via any of the keypads. An emergency button on the keypad can force a dial out to the carer or family member.

Conditional Logic Programming; Comfort’s extensive Logic Programming capabilities allow conditions to be tested up in order to determine the actions to be taken; for example, after dark, and the doorbell is pressed, switch on outside lights and play an announcement or greeting message on the door station, and announce on the keypad that a visitor is at the door.

Intercom: Comfort’s talking keypads communicate with other keypads around the home and with the door station.

Home Security: the range of Comfort door stations including those with a camera let the person at home speak with the visitor and also see them before opening the door. The door can be opened via any phone or keypad in the house. If no-one is home the call can be diverted to the home-owners mobile phone.

DS02 vandal-proof door station with camera - Heating, Lighting, Appliances, Curtains, Blinds can all be monitored and controlled by Comfort to help with energy-saving, home security and convenience. Greater home energy efficiency can be achieved with daylight controls, occupancy sensors and more accurate control of the heating system.

A Comfort Case Study

Client Review of Home PC Crew 4/28/2010

Mark went above and beyond my expectations. Not only did he provide me with an excellent used PC, but he fixed my Dell laptop. Both were reasonably priced and the service was fast. I look forward to his help with SEO and ad words for my two websites.


Lloyd Davis
Davis Insurance Group, llc
Mountain Crest Hunting Supply

http://www.davisinsurancegroup.net