Helping small and medium businesses understand technology
{ Monthly Archives }
I’m going to stay with the backup theme for another week, and look at some of the problems businesses face once they’ve already decided what sort of backup device they’re going to use. Specifically, now that you have a backup, does it work? This is a question that many companies never ask themselves, or their tech support provider, and it’s a critical mistake.
Here’s why.
If you’ve never had a system failure, count yourself lucky. Most business people have some tale of a colleague or co-worker who had their computer crash, only to realize too late that the last backup was done during the Bill Clinton administration.
And if you’re reviewing your own company’s backup strategy, then you’re probably encountering a litany of different types of information on ways to back up your data. Let’s look at the most common ones shall we? Because it’s almost guaranteed that a backup will save your bacon one day.
In a somewhat loose way staying within the theme of operating systems, we’re next going to look at the different types of software licenses that are available. This item is of particular importance for small and medium businesses because it offers a glimpse into something that has mainly been within the purview of larger companies - Open Licensing.
Generally speaking there are 3 different types of software licenses: Retail, OEM, and Open Licenses, sometimes called Usage Licenses or Value Licenses. The differences between them are sometimes significant, but the important part is that using the correct license type can save your business money, measured sometimes in the thousands of dollars.
In this last of a series of articles on XP vs. Vista, we’re going to discuss the idea of new software features and who they’re really aimed at.
While much maligned, Vista does have some features that can be a benefit to many people and organizations. But knowing who’s being targeted by those features will help you decide if it’s really worth buying into the marketing hyperbole.