On-Going Management and Support of Your
Windows-based Computers
While the computer is one of the most important tools
available to businesses, industry experts have concluded that
only a small fraction of the processing capabilities of these
devices are actually used by small business owners. This
percentage goes up dratmatically in larger businesses because
most have internal IT departments that are responsibile for
ensuring that computers perform at their peak efficiency at all
time.
SBCMS
provides the 24x7 management and support for
computer hardware, operating
systems, business applications, and networking components. These
services range from an initial review of each installed
computer, to scheduled preventative maintenance to services. In
most instances, these services are identical to those performed
by the internal IT staffs of large corporations.
Preventative
maintenance in combination with memory, hard disk, video adapter,
and power supply upgrades can extend
the production lifecycle of most of your computers from three to
five years beyond the industry norm of five years.
The first step in the SBCMS review
process is to systematically
document the hardware configuration and all software
installed on each of your existing computer systems. We use advanced
SBCMS process management applications based upon Microsoft
Office VISIO and Access to perform the review process. The
output of this process
is a baseline document that includes a detail
inventory of the hardware, software, and networking components
installed in each of your desktop and laptop computers.
(It is important to note that you may keep this baseline
document, even if you choose not to subscribe to our SPM
services.) This
review process also includes verifying
that each of your computers has a genuine Windows operating
system, and either the original setup media, or an easily
accessible copy of the setup media.
The baseline documents created during the SBCMS review process
can be used to monitor and evaluate the affect of all
future changes made to your computer systems.
Step Two: The SBCMS Configuration and Optimization Process
Before we assume day-to-day responsibility for the management and
support of your computer systems, we perform a SBCMS
configuration and optimization process. The purpose of this process is to ensure that your computer hardware, operating
systems, and networks are capable of
supporting your company’s current business requirements.
This process includes:
-
Deleting
all non-essential software from each computer, and disabling
non-essential services and/or processes. (As part of this step,
we also apply any missing service packs or missing security
updates; and systematically scan each computer for viruses, worms,
spyware, rootkits, and other malicious software.)
-
Ensuring
that the remaining software along with the hardware and
networking components in each computer is configured and
optimized to support your business requirements. If
hardware, operating system, and/or networking upgrades are
required, we provide you with a detail list of these upgrades.
-
Using Visio and Access to create a baseline document
of your complete computer and network infrastructure.
This baseline document will be used to determined
when (or if) unauthorized software or hardware changes are
made to any of your computer systems.
A new
SBCMS baseline will be
created each quarter and the retired SBCMS baseline will be
archived to ensure that there is always a
chronological snapshot of all
hardware, operating systems, and networking changes to each of
your computers.
-
- Special Note Regarding Hardware Upgrades:
-
Hardware
upgrade recommendations will only include memory, hard
disk, video adapters, and power supplies. If the
processor and/or the motherboard are inadequate to
support new operating systems such as Windows 7, and
office systems products such as Office Systems 2010, we will recommend
that a new computer be purchased, and that the out-dated
and/or under-powered
computer either be used for a less critical business
function or donated to a local charitable
organization.
Step Three: Scheduled Preventative
Maintenance (SPM)
Scheduled
preventative maintenance is perform once each month, and
include:
-
Reviewing application and system event logs for errors.
-
comparing services, processes, and installed software
to the previous SPM report
summary.
-
backing-up Email folder, Internet favorites, and My
Documents folder.
-
downloading and installing service packs and security
updates.
-
scanning the computer registry for errors.
-
scanning all hard disk drives for viruses, worms,
spyware, and other malicious threats,
-
defragmenting all hard disks.
-
Vacuuming inside of case including case fans, power
supply fans, and ancillary cooling fans. (This will be done once
every three months.)
As a
byproduct of this process, you will always have an accurate
snapshot of your operational environment. This snapshot can be
used for a variety of purposes ranging from:
- identifing computer
users who frequently violate company PC use policies, to;
- identifying critical IT components
that must be recovered in case of a natural or man-made
disaster.
SBCMS Costs*
-
Free SBCMS review. (This
is normally a one time charge of
$34.99/computer but for a limited time, we will perform this
initial review at no charge.)
-
A one-time charge of $34.99/hr.− for configuring and
optimizing all of the computers installed at your facility.
-
$34.99/hr.− for any required computer hardware, operating system, and
network upgrades..
-
$24.99/quarter.
‒
for each computer covered by our Scheduled Preventative Maintenance
(SPM) services.
-
Free technical support for all computers covered by
SPM
agreement.
*These prices are subject to change
without notice.
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