Size is Important So, you have purchased your PC's, printers, servers, and all the other paraphernalia that goes with running a business on a network. At the moment, you have 150 PC's and a lot of users that are doing an awful lot of work on your network. What arrangements do you have to support these people? Growing Up It doesn't matter how good the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) helpdesk is, there is always going to need someone on the ground to run around swapping hardware, installing software, and to do basic fault analysis. This person is usually the nephew of the MD who has a PC at home and boasts the fact that he does all his own upgrades. Beware of these youngsters who boast a little knowledge. They are usually okay when it comes to a small network, but as your system grows, then specialist knowledge will be required to ensure your system is kept in tip-top condition. Like a Balloon There comes a point where your system is getting bigger and bigger. More and more people are coming on-line, and they are demanding laptops, palmtops, personal bubble jets, ISDN, and all sorts of other strange and wonderful devices. The point at which you decide to install a managed support resource for your organisation is totally undefined. As the MD's nephew starts to drown under the strain is usually a good starting point. Once he cracks, then your users tempers will shorten. HELP!! 150 users, 170 PC's, 50 printers, 10 servers, and a partridge in a pear tree. This is the layout of your companies network. How do you go about controlling the growth of this part of your internal structure? The answer is simple: you need to consider building up an IT department. Start off with a simple support desk. Maybe a supervisor and a couple of engineers, and make sure that all concerned are qualified in IT, or have experience in the relevant areas. Do not be tempted by people who claim to have a PC at home. They might be okay as gophers, but I would not let them loose on any Windows 2000 domain as administrators. Once these people are installed, then you can go about developing your IT strategy and system policies. Healthy? As the support department settles down, they will be able to concentrate on the condition of the system. Maybe users are complaining about slow email or internet access. This could be an indicator of a bad network layout. Get a company in to do a health check on your system. The new support department will decide on the way forward for the infrastructure based on this report. New Order After a while, it will become obvious to the support department that there is a lot of cost involved in obtaining an OEM support agreement for any new PC. Modern hardware is very reliable and it appears that the weakest link is the mechanical parts (fans, disk drives, etc) so another vague point is reached. That is when the question is raised about the validity of the OEM support. Usually, the OEM agreement will be a next working day on PC's and laptops, with 4 hour cover on servers. I would always advocate obtaining 4 hour OEM cover for your servers. These units are critical to the survival of your business data and are usually more technical to service than the average desktop PC. Agreement I was involved with a contact a while ago to perform desktop management to about 500 users. Each time a PC was ordered, a support pack was also obtained. I decided to take on the repair of any faulty unit that is out of the first year warranty. The costs saved was massive, approximately £50,000 in the first year alone. I worked on the idea that if any part should fail after the first year, will be supplied by my company and invoiced at cost to the customer. As I obtained the parts trade (as I was not an end user) this reduced the cost of repair even further. I was even able to repair PC's and printers that were 5 years old. DIY Using this analogy, you can see that there can be massive savings when doing the repairs yourself. There are many benefits to this such as a quick turnaround and cost effectiveness. But any repair performed has to be done carefully and professionally, otherwise you will be repairing the PC time and time again. Safety, Safety, Safety These are the three things you have to be aware of when setting up an in-house repair facility. After all, PC's are electrical items and are powered from the electrical mains supply. Anyone who is being considered to perform the repair job should have a good track record of such a position. You will have to put aside a suitably sized office where the engineers can set up new PC's and work on broken hardware in a safe and secure environment. Considerations when selecting an office are: - Location Try to have it on the ground floor, near to a loading bay or main entrance. This will make moving hardware around easier. - Size Make sure there is enough room for all engineers, plus a couple of other people. You will also have to have room for storage of new hardware, surplus kit, and spares. - Desks Each person will need their own desk to do paperwork and to have a personal space to do other work on. - Workbench The central point of the workshop, which must be large enough and strong enough to hold a number of PC's, and to allow the seating of a couple of people. If possible, have a workbench for each engineer. - Test Area A second workbench should be made available where new kit can be built and repaired kit put on soak test. - Anti Static Both the workbench and the test bench must be either covered with an anti-static mat, or be of the professional workbench type that usually comes with full anti static protection. There should be a wrist strap for all engineers (plus spares as they go missing easier than sock in a washing machine), and an anti static mat in front of all workbenches. If possible, the entire workshop should have an anti static carpet. This is a vital area and should not be skimped on. You only have to save one processor, and it has paid for itself. - Power Adequate power should be made available above the workbench to allow a number of units to be powered up at the same time. WARNING! Make sure the ring main you use is not too loaded as putting a large number of screens on test at the same time could pop the breaker and cause embarrassment (yes, I have had it happen). - LAN As you will be testing network devices, install a separate network hub or switch to allow the workshop to be isolated from the production network for testing purposes. It will also allow a large number of devices to be connected and removed at the engineers will, rather than waiting for the network department to do it. - Telephones All engineers should be equipped with cordless (or DECT) phones so they can make calls to the OEM for extra assistance from the desk-side, and so that they can be contacted anywhere in the building when they are away from the workshop. - Telephones (again) There should be a couple of standard telephone ports in the workshop so that modem devices can be tested. Most big companies have digital phones systems that do not have the ability to connect modems to them. - Security The door should be a solid door and be kept locked when the engineers are not in the workshop. This is to not only protect the small spares such as RAM and processors from being stolen, but when hardware is on test with the top off, you do not want anyone tipping their coffee into it, or even worse, ending up filling out a death report when someone has put their hand across the mains input to a PC. - Tools Provide a high quality tool kit for each engineer, plus an extra one for the workshop. The engineer kits can be smaller than the workshop one, and all these can be obtained from RS Components at a reasonable price. Do not skimp on the toolkit as I get fed up of seeing PC's that have had their screws removed by the wrong screwdriver. Not only does it look untidy, but it makes the screws difficult to remove. Spare Part at a Wedding? Once you have your internal helpdesk and workshop, you can look to improving the support you give to your users. Have a number of spare PC's lying around that you can swap out at a moments notice to get the user up and running again. This process takes but a few minutes, and if the user involved is a Java contractor being paid £100 per hour, it makes sense. OEM Cover You can now look to reducing the level of cover you have on your PC's. My strategy in the past has been to have the first year with a return to factory cover, then have no cover after that. Any PC requiring repair after that will have a parts only charge attached to them. In simple terms, if you have 1000 PC's, and 10% have a hard drive failure over 3 years, it would have cost you £10,000 to repair them. Otherwise, it would have cost you £250,000 to have an OEM agreement for all your hardware. A considerable saving in the long run. In, Out, Shake it All About Outsourcing is one of the business buzz-words at the moment. This is where a particular function within your organisation is given over to an outside organisation for a fixed fee per year. Nowhere in any IT department is this done more frequently that in the area of desktop management. There are no hard and fast rules to dictate whether or not you go for an in-house solution, or outsource it to a dedicated IT company. Some of the deciding factors are: - Cost Outsourcing is expensive, and you are unable to reclaim VAT back on any outsource contract. - Value for Money Most outsource companies will provide spare parts as part of the contract. This means that if you use high quality units, then the cost for an outsourcing contract could be cheaper than if you use cheaper hybrid systems. - Accountability This is one of the best factors of using an outsource company. You can have written into the contract that they will pay you if they fail to deliver on SLA (Service Level Agreement). - Training Usually, the outsource company will already have the in-house skills to provide you with first class support. Any additional training will be swallowed by the outsource, as long as they are aware of any future plans. Don't try and outsource your desktop environment then a week later drop on them that you need to have BMC Patrol installed. Insider Information If you decide to keep your support in-house, be aware that this department will need to be included in the management structure. If you are an IT based company, then it makes sense to have support internally, but if you are a large legal profession, then you will have to invest in training, have cover for holidays, and have the budget to carry it off. However, using in-house people can pay dividend especially if you are trying to promote a culture of staff movement, which appears to be popular these days. And Finally.... In-house, outsource, different OEM support contracts, it is all a minefield. What I have tried to do is show that there is more to supporting PC's than just applying a service pack or installing the latest release of Office. PC's are expensive and should be treated with care, so their future should be part of your business strategy. After all, who is going to be made responsible when the CEO's secretary calls you and says her PC has just gone off in the middle of a presentation that is needed in 10 minutes.

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