Large Firms Spend Cash On Their Systems Requirements For A Purpose

Written by Jon Izzard Tuesday, 31 May 2011 07:07

I've used so much time recently working on SEO that I had almost forgotten about the IT support part of my interests. That was until I went to a factory the other day that was operating PC's for it's office management that was so old, they were having trouble with the software they had lately installed which could not summon up enough processing power to be able to work properly and was crashing the machine it was loaded on.

I've used so much time recently working on SEO that I had almost forgotten about the IT support part of my interests. That was until I went to a factory the other day that was operating PC's for it's office management that was so old, they were having trouble with the software they had lately installed which could not summon up enough processing power to be able to work properly and was crashing the machine it was loaded on.

The memory on the PC's had 320MB maximum and the hard drive was down to its remaining 80MB of free space. They had had to update since they were being sent files from critical partners that were beyond the realms of their old software to open, software they'd had been using for more than ten years. So they bought the modern MS Office suite that they somehow got to install but wound up swallowing all the machine resources when it loaded. It was not really an IT support issue at all as there was not a lot I could do, however I was able to thrown some software at it which got to clean up and defrag the hard drive (big improvement) and free up some memory but that was only going to be useful on condition as they didn't close the machine down or try running anything else.

I finished giving them the news that after shelling plenty of money on the software modernisation, they now were required to spend more either buying or leasing new computers as well and I have said that I will go back later and help get that installed for them and reload the software they require as well as look to see what else they could benefit from. It is a nice IT support gig to get, particularly as I could advise that they didn't need to buy the updated PCs at all and that they can do a lease deal with most of the manufacturers which would also mean that they would get regular updates, as well as in-house. (The owner had looked quite glum when I said he needed to change all his computers and laptops, but was rather more chipper when I left, which always makes a chap feel good).

This is not the first occasion that I've have come across this problem. Where you have manufacturing firms in the Black Country, you find lots of highly skilled and brilliant professionals in the engineering field but they do not often have someone who knows too much about their computer requirements and they continue on with the systems they have that have succeeded for so long, frequently with no proper IT support in place whatever. Everything works so they have no thought to keep up to date until the time comes and it's all too late and they need to suddenly spend cash they had not anticipated.

I would urge small business owners and managers to investigate hard at their admin system needs frequently, or get someone in who can examine what they have, and ensure that they are up to speed. It need not have to be cutting edge kit, or a big cost, but firms nowadays have to share considerably more data with their partners, suppliers and customers. The big boys frequently spend money on IT upgrades, IT support and SEO and have allowances in their budgets for it There is a reason why they do and smaller companies need to acknowledge that reason and act appropriately.

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