AVOIDING CLASSIC IT MISTAKES IT Consultancy for SME's

Over many years supporting Small-to-Medium Business Enterprises (SME's), Network Doctor has noticed many IT problems go back to early decisions made when the network was set up. This often brings increased support costs, loss of productivity, and eventually capital costs to resolve. With a little bit of forward planning, it is possible to avoid years of frustration and increased running costs.

Common IT Mistakes

Using old or PC's from home on an office network is not a good idea. These machines often have Windows 95/98/ME or XP home edition installed. These are not business operating systems and often cause long term problems and crashing faults. They also have restricted functions that cause interoperability issues with servers. Windows ME in particular has a bad record in running on a network. Microsoft has already withdrawn support for Win95 and dropping support for Windows 98 mid 2003 and NT4 end 2004. We would certainly recommend using a business operating system on your office network from day 1, either Windows2000 or XP pro for client machines and Windows 2003 for the Server.

Network Additions & File Sharing

A typical mistake is to link up a new PC, share data and printers with others as new people join the company. This is what we call a Peer-to-Peer network. This poses numerous issues. The most serious one is security. Your network is open to anyone without sufficient security in place. People can unknowingly or deliberately delete data or change settings and wreck havoc to your company. Server hardware is now affordable. We can get you a good server once you have more than 2 users. We will make sure it is big enough to last for years, and we will install a good backup device and configure a server operating system such as Windows 2003 Server or Small Business Server. We provide support for all Microsoft operating systems.

Network Upgrades and Capacity Issues

It is quite common practice for many companies to simply add more network cabling and hubs to their system to add more capacity to their existing network as new staff join. This usually means running extra cables around the back of desks, around the floor and tacked to the skirting boards, around the doors etc. This quickly becomes a mess causing both support problems and unreliable intermittent network fault. The hubs end up on the floor, under desks where they frequently get kicked and accidentally switched off. We recommend Cat5e cabling is the way to go. Using CAT5e, you can also use it for the phone system. Also we would recommend a switch rather than a hub, you will be surprised how much faster the whole system will be, it won't cost your company a fortune.

Hardware Issues

Another classic mistake is to set up and wire all computer hardware all over the floors and under desks. As companies need more computer equipment, especially servers and backup devices, they go in a spare corner or under a desk, with cables running across the floor, which is not a very good idea at all. We would certainly recommend a rack and rack mount in in a designated place where user user intervention is minimal. We will make sure the rack is big enough for future expansion. There is a cost downside here, manufactures treat rack mounted equipment as a premium product and change extra, but it makes the whole system more reliable and more manageable and it looks a lot more professional.

Internet Access & Internet Connection Sharing

We have occasionally noticed some companies still access the Internet using dial-up modems, or ISDN routers. This is unreliable, frustratingly slow to connect and download files. The first ISDN bill is often a shock as they usually dial on demand, which is chargeable per minute every time a connection is made. Our recommendation would be an installation of an ADSL or DSL line connected via a good Firewall. You can use just a NAT router which will give basic hacker protection but it is very crude and will not give you the flexibility to add services later without being reconfigured. This can be a frustrating process especially if the router was supplied by BT. We will configure a pool for your internet connection so that the entire network can benefit from proper distributed high speed internet access.

Email System

There are basically two systems for getting your email. POP3 (Post Office Protocol) and SMTP. (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) The former is aimed at domestic use where the users mailboxes are on the Internet providers server. This is fine for a a small number of users but become an administration problem especially if your Internet Service Provider (ISP) does not like answering their phones. POP3 messages also download to local PC's, therefore making changes or upgrades, swapping PC's, hot-desking, and switching between desktop-to-laptop quite difficult. Using SMTP on your own server enables you to control your email addresses. Also correctly configured via the Firewall you can be independent of the ISP mail servers, email is then delivered faster and not affected by ISP server problems. We can also set up an email scanner before the mail enters your system.  We would use IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) or Exchange Server because it allows email to be server-based and accessible from a multiple locations. Usind this method, you can have an effective internal messaing, mobile and text messaging system as well as web-based email system wherever you are as long as you have a computer with Internet access.

Virus Protection

Despite security risk and the publicity about virus attacks, we are always coming across systems with no up-to-date anti-virus software. Some people think the package that came free with their system 2 years ago, is doing the job and is usfficient to protect them, not realizing how much risk they are in. Some viruses simply disable the anti-virus definition updates on your system leaving you totally unprotected. We recommend scanning incoming emails before they enter your system, preferably at the Firewall level.  We would install a client-server anti-virus system on your server, with automatic updating. From the central server we will install anti-virus software on all your client PC's as well as those connected at

Backup System and Disaster Recovery

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