As a professional systems engineer, you are not the target market for Microsoft’s Small Business Server 2008. Or are you?
Small Businesses represent a huge part of the overall economy. What’s more, most independent computer professionals have a large number of small business owners as their clients. But, then, does it make sense to use a product specifically designed to help small businesses have the benefits of the Windows Server architecture without the aid of a professional IT consultant such as yourself? In a word, yes.
Small Business IT Issues
As any independent computer contractor knows, the IT issues facing small business owners vary from the important, complex architecture of the overall environment, to the insignificant detail of giving a user permissions to use the color printer. This is where SBS 2008 comes into play.
While a small business IT support engineer can theoretically charge a fee for every interaction, the reality is that most IS professionals don’t charge their clients for every phone call and service, unless that client becomes a burden. So, while it may seem counter-intuitive to use Small Business Server 2008 with your small business clients, it may actually free up more of your time for billable projects that demand a bigger part of your attention.
Consider a hypothetical company called XJP Excavation. XJP has close to 30 employees, but only 10 of them may actually be interacting with a company computer or the company network at a given time. The rest are out at job sites performing the actual excavation work. You are their computer support person and over the years you have installed the infrastructure to handle their needs ranging from email, to file servers, to data backup, to billing software, and client management, as well as some industry specific programs which produce job specific calculations and reports. Supporting all of the necessary systems requires Windows Server, Exchange, and SQL Servers, but with just a handful of users, they hardly push the systems very far. But, those systems are critical to the success of XJP. So, you have setup a robust architecture using the standard Windows Server, Active Directory, Exchange Server and SQL Server that meets all of their needs. That, and monthly on-site visits with weekly phone check-ins keep XJP’s IT systems running smoothly virtually all of the time.
But, on this particular day, things are not running smoothly. It’s Tuesday and you are in an important meeting with another client, and your phone is set to silent. Meanwhile, across town at XJP, things are going crazy. A long shot client bid just came in on the fax server. XJP has a great shot at a big new account, but the client wants to see some more data. XJP has all the data, but the guy who usually handles this sort of thing is overseeing an important morning project and pulling the data together needs to happen now.
Unfortunately, the second senior engineer’s account doesn’t have the permissions necessary to access the data. On top of that, the temporary agency found not one, but two great people this morning and is sending them over to help with that huge backlog. While you discussed the fact that XJP would be hiring a temp this week and have already setup a temporary account for them, you didn’t plan on two temps, so another account needs to be created and it is critical that the account is given the proper permissions. While every company’s data is sensitive, some of XJP’s data is also secret and confidential for security purposes. Oh, and just because in IT when it rains it pours, the senior government contracting officer accidentally deleted several important emails and documents because he thought he had copied them somewhere else. In other words, XJP needs their IT guy now.
Small Business Server 2008 and Professional Computer Support
As an IT consultant, adding a user is a no-brainer. You know without even looking what the repercussions are when adding a user to a group. You understand Active Directory and how it works, but, for non-IT people, this can quickly get confusing. Just looking at the Administrative Tools menu can make them nervous, and then there is all that terminology they don’t understand like, “domain,” “resource,” “profile,” and so on. That is why you have given up on trying to walk people through it on the phone, and administer everything remotely. But this morning that isn’t an option, and even when it is, it can take up a large chunk of your time that could be better spent elsewhere. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way for the small business itself to take care of some of this “easier” stuff?
XJP Excavation is exactly the type of business that SBS 2008 is designed for. While the various engineers don’t sit at a computer all day, their ability to send and receive email, collaborate on bids and projects, and get important job site data is what allows them to function. And, when it comes to jobs involving explosives, those systems can literally be a matter of life and death.
Microsoft positions the SBS product line as something that small business can use without the help of an IT professional. This is true in some cases, but the fact is that most small businesses with more than a couple of employees will still want a professional who can handle the “tough stuff.” But on a morning like today, the guy who is “pretty good” with computers could be adding the new users and taking care of the permissions problem by using the much more friendly SBS 2008 wizards.
Which of Your Small Business Clients Is SBS 2008 For?
For some small businesses, even SBS is too much. A company with just three or four employees who all have equal access to files and other resources won’t benefit much from SBS. Look for companies where there are layers of responsibility. For these clients, permissions and access begin to become important, and with any growth, will only become more so. For them, SBS is a perfect way to implement the proper security and user management without the overkill of full server products.
Another key to look for is the need for an in-house email system. The bundling of Exchange Server with SBS is one of the main things that make the cost “worth it” for small businesses. If a business is still fine with using web based email clients or POP3 accounts from their domain host, then maybe SBS 2008 isn’t right for them.
On the other end of the spectrum are small businesses that are just too big for SBS. While SBS 2008 is for truly small businesses with its 75 simultaneous connections limit, Essential Business Server supports up to 300 connections. Keep in mind that these connections included users and devices, so a realistic limit from a numbers perspective is to start looking at the full server product lines as the users number climbs close to 100. However, in reality, it seems that few businesses choose to move product lines as much as they choose to hire their own dedicated IT support. Either way, you’ll be looking for alternate solutions.
Keep an eye on SBS 2008 and get a feel for what it does well. This will help you not only serve your clients well, but also potentially provide a lower price point without sacrificing your own profitability. Either way, Small Business Server 2008 is a great tool to have in your arsenal.