Windows & Desktop Support - Business Guide 

Anyone can go into K-mart and walk out with a $699 desktop or PC these days. So what is the difference between that and say a $2000 business desktop.

Correct setup for your business systems, performance, features, and to a lesser extent quality.

Ultimately you can save a few dollars up front and get a “cheap” windows desktop and try installing and configuring things yourself but when you weigh up the risks of failed hardware, and long periods of low productivity, coupled with shorter effective lives for your desktop PC's and servers, it makes sense to choose a system that is reliable and built for business.

When you buy from a large chain store, you are provided with a brown cardboard box and a CD or two. You are required to unpack and setup the desktop yourself. In a home environment this is not too bad because its fairly straight forward and easy to get the internet and email up and running. You will rarely require desktop support fro a home PC.

For a business however, its quite a different story, specific programs have to be setup a certain way otherwise they will not work. You may never get it setup properly. Again in a home environment having a PC not running quite right is no big deal, in a business environment this could be chewing through hours of productivity per month that could be put to other uses.

Desktop support can be expensive, if the PC is not setup correctly from the beginning, then it will be a continued source of frustration and will also have a high total cost of ownership (TCO)

Getting a decent, fresh install of the operating system is essential to the good running of a Windows desktop, a business computer should come packed only with the absolute essentials to the running of your business. With many of the chain stores that sell I.T related equipment, the reason they get it so cheap is because they put what can only be referred to as paid advertising on the machines they sell. Many of these programs are insidious and the only way to remove is to format and reinstall.

Most desktop computers that are purchased without seeking professional advice ultimately are not suitable for the task they have been purchased for. A Sony Vao with Vista home basic installed is not an appropriate business tool!

The truth is they can be upgraded, however we have never ever seen a cost effective or performance effective solution that would have us recommend upgrading a PC versus outright PC replacement.

We recommend steering away from cheapy upgrades. In our extensive experience we have found that Ironically its the people with the least experience in computers who attempt this path and in many cases attempt it themselves. This cannot be overstated enough, is a recipe an expensive lesson.

The cost for windows support of older operating systems is expensive, many desktop support consultants would never have worked on an OS like Windows 95 or Windows NT.

The cost to maintain, much like a car is higher as it gets older, it takes longer to boot, it harder to work on, and is likely to break more often.

Replace a desktop PC every 3 years.

There are many good salesmen out there and most will try and do the right thing by you.

That being said, they are salesmen, and their job is to sell, not inform. In places like Harvey Norman and Radio Rentals, they are often school leavers in their first job and or have very limited understanding of the technology they are selling. They say yes to the questions they don't understand in the hope that it will all just work out in the end, not out of greed for commission, but because they don't want to look foolish in front of you.

If you are buying a notebook for your children's homework etc, then I see nothing wrong with buying at these sorts of places.

If you run a business, even a one or two computer setup and you are not well versed in computers, I would strongly urge that you seek professional advice. Talk to the owner of your local computer store.

Really though, you need to establish a relationship with a professional I.T organisation that will help steer you in the right direction. Running a business without this sort of support can be difficult.