-by Homer Bartlett

Most of our clients, at our suggestion, have been avoiding upgrading to Windows Vista. Not because we think it’s awful (we don’t), but because we were waiting for the first big service pack to reduce the number of bugs they would have to deal with, and to give software vendors time to get their software Vista-compatible. Now that Service Pack 1 has been released, we will suggest that some of them start making the transition. Some, however, will be unable to upgrade to Vista until certain business-critical applications are upgraded for Vista compatibility.

If you run an application that hasn’t yet been certified Vista-compatible, you are facing a dilemna: any new or replacement computers you need will have to be purchased by June 30, 2008. After that date you will no longer be able to get computers with XP pre-installed (or even XP CDs in the box so you can downgrade it yourself).

Even some fairly broad-market software companies, like Intuit (makers of QuickBooks), only claim Vista compatibility for some of their products. If you’re replacing computers on a regular cycle (you are replacing them every 3-4 years, right?), you’ll want to plan your computer replacement timing with how long you expect it will take for your business-critical applications to become Vista compatible. For instance, if you expect an upgrade to your company’s CRM software in May 2009, but between now and then 10 computers are due for replacement, you can either postpone their replacement and purchase new computers running Vista after upgrading the CRM software, or replace them early (before June 2008) so you can get XP.

And, though it’s rarely possible to predict with any level of confidence, you may want to consider company growth too. Think you could add 3 employees in the second half of this year? You might want to go ahead and replace 3 existing computers early, and save them for potential new employees later in the year.

If you’re a Ripple client, talk to your PCIO (that’s me (homer@rippleit.com), or Brian Poust (brian@rippleit.com) or Steve Du (steve@rippleit.com)) about your options. Don’t let Vista’s drop dead date sneak up on you!

Update June 13, 2008: Microsoft has relented, a little. They are allowing OEMs to continue shipping computers with certain flavors of XP preinstalled. For Dell that means XP Home will no longer be an option, but there are Vista Business and Vista Ultimate BONUS options. The BONUS means XP Pro is preinstalled and a Vista license is included for a future upgrade (if you wish). If your business relies on software that isn’t Vista compatible, you can take down the metal umbrellas now, the sky isn’t falling after all.

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-by Homer Bartlett

"Can you find us something cheaper?" I hear that a lot from clients when I send them a quote for a  workstation or laptop for one of their employees.

Well sure. Of course we can. But is that really the place to focus efforts on cost saving? I don’t think so, and here’s why.

Amortization
We recommend folks replace their workstations and servers every 3 years, and I have never once had a client tell me they like to replace them more often than that. So over the course of this computer’s life, the "extra" $120 for the faster processor and more RAM is going to cost a little over $3/month, call it four bucks if you are paying interest on a lease. Four bucks a month for things to run faster, smoother, more reliable. Four bucks a month to reduce the "I hate this computer, it sucks" emails from your employees.

Perspective
For most folks, their computer is their single most important tool for conducting their business. A decent  desktop computer for a small business costs about $1,250, not including software. That’s about $35/month. If the office cleaning service (hundreds of dollars per month) doesn’t show up one week, your clients will probably never know. If your coffee service’s trucks all broke down and you didn’t get coffee for two weeks, your employees would be a little sleepy but the job would still get done. Heck, some companies could lose multiple employees (thousands of dollars per month in salaries) and they would actually get more work done.

But if your computer is slow, or unreliable, or breaks on day 366 to remind you that you chose to save $100 by going with the one-year warranty, nothing else matters, because you can’t work. If you can’t work, you can’t get paid. Why would you want anything other than the very best computer money can buy?

Peace of Mind and Happiness
It’s not a perfect correlation, but for most things in life, if you’re willing to pay extra you generally get better stuff. Better design, better reliability, better performance, all of those things come at a price. Computers are no different. If you’re willing to spend the money for faster processors, more RAM, better graphics cards, and a good warranty, your employees are going to have a better computing experience, which is to say a better working experience.

Instead of telling you how much their computer sucks, as an excuse for not getting things done, or snapping at you when you ask if they can take on another task, they’ll be more productive, and with a smile on their face (no guarantee expressed or implied, your mileage may vary, happiness in theoretical scenarios may not match real world happiness, etc.).

Final Thoughts
You know those ads you see for $500 computers that are perfect for your small business? They aren’t. They have processors that are about to be discontinued, as little RAM as possible, small hard drives, an operating system designed for home use, and one year warranties. Even if they work decently out of the box, they will fall down as soon as you start loading software on them, or after a couple of months of software updates. In a year, long before your accountant would like to replace it, you will be looking for a replacement again because it’s so slow, or it’s crashing every 3 hours.

Take the time to analyze the options, and spend the money necessary to get good tools. Your business depends on it!

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