Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

Acquiring Technology

David Grenda, Founder, Grenda Computer Consulting

This entry will be the first in a series where I will address the steps necessary to ensure you implement the right technology solution to solve your business problems. I address these same steps of proper technology acquisition in every project I undertake for a client. They apply whether the project is installing a simple network printer, or the development of a major software system.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, business owners today are caught in the unenviable position of having to integrate technology deeply into their businesses. Add to this the unfamiliar territory, trust in vendor issues and expense, and it’s an ulcer. If you adhere carefully to the steps I will discuss and make sure your project team does the same, you will get the right solution for the problem and not be surprised along the way.

The first step in this process does not involve the technology aspect at all. Yet it is perhaps the most important of all the steps. You must take some time to properly define the business problem or issue you intend to address with the technology project. There are several aspects to this step to consider.

To illustrate what we’re getting into, let’s take a simple issue statement and I will list the questions I ask myself as a technology provider when a client says “we need another printer”. Laser or ink jet? Network or stand-alone? Black and white or color? Duplex printing? What will be printed mostly? Forms, text or pictures? Is cost a serious factor? Warranty issues? Paper types/trays? Ongoing supply costs? Duty cycle? Software compatibility issues? Need other features like scanning? Etc etc.

Of course I don’t barrage my client with these considerations, but I also don’t want them trying to answer these in the printer aisle at the store. Not to over complicate a simple printer purchase, but you can see that even a simple project in information technology can require some planning.

Next time I’ll show you how to make sure your business requirements are defined to suit an IT project!

www.grenda.com

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Safe Surfing

David Grenda, Founder, Grenda Computer Consulting

We all hear a lot in the news about safe internet surfing. It’s fairly obvious advice about staying away from unsafe places and not handing out personal information. Over the last year or so, I’ve seen a real trend toward another unsafe internet surfing practice that is causing a lot of problems for computer networks.

Internet surfing has always been a cat and mouse game between the people who put forth malicious software to infect your computer and the good folks who try to protect us from it. There are a variety of products on the market to help protect your computer from viruses, mal-ware, spy-ware, and a host of other unfriendly “wares”. Unfortunately, a software program that you inadvertently “invite” down onto your computer is often accepted by the protection software as legitimate. Tricking the user is the new tactic employed to get the problem software past your protection.

Recently there was an email circulating about an “E-Greeting” that a friend has sent to you. Clicking on the link in the email loads your system with a software program that can cause a significant performance problem for your network. The perpetrators are getting more creative at getting their software onto your hard drive.

The best advice is to simply be careful when you surf the internet or open emails. If you are not sure about something, don’t click it or open it. If it looks legitimate, take a 2^nd look at it to be sure. Hold your mouse over an internet link without clicking the link. A message will appear showing the true destination for the link. If they don’t match, don’t click it.

I see many problems with poor performance stemming from computers getting loaded with mal-ware from careless internet surfing. Sometimes it’s bad enough to require a reloading of operating system.

Related Topics: Computers, Marketing    2 Comments