Category Archives: Computer Services

The future of IT is in cloud computing, but how do you explain that to the “C” level executives? This model uses two specific business metrics and 5 ways that you can explain the ROI of cloud computing to your boss or to the board:

• IT capacity – storage (GB or TB), CPU cycles (GHz or THz), network bandwidth (Mbs or Gbs), and/or memory capacity (RAM) a measure of performance.

• IT utilization – uptime availability (% available per year) and volume of usage (# of requests) as indicators of activity and usability.

Effective cost/performance ratios and levels of usage activity do not necessarily imply proportional business benefits. They are just indicators of business activity that are not in themselves more valuable than lower operating costs. What is needed instead is a set of business metrics that build on the cloud computing model.

The following are business metrics that can help translate the indicators from the capacity-utilization curve to direct and indirect benefits to business and examples of how a CAPEX is different than an OPEX in cloud computing:

1. The speed and rate of change – Cost reduction and cost of adoption/de-adoption is faster in the cloud. Cloud computing creates additional cost transformation benefits by reducing delays in decision costs by adopting pre-built services and a faster rate of transition to new capabilities. This is a common goal for business improvement programs that are lacking resources and skills and that are time sensitive.

2. Total cost of ownership (TCO) optimization – In cloud computing, users-not just IT-can select, design, configure, and run infrastructure and applications that are best suited for their business needs. Traditionally this has often been strictly in the realm of IT even after projects are handed off to production services, but in cloud computing environments end users are more involved.

3. Rapid, elastic provisioning for dynamic usage – Resources can be scaled up and down to follow business activity as it expands and grows or is redirected. Provisioning time compression can go from weeks to hours. This service management affects end users and business needs as the scope of functionality and services for users evolve and seek new solutions.

4. Increased margin and cost control – Revenue growth and cost control opportunities allow companies to pursue new customers and markets for business growth and service improvement. And because it can scale, IT avoids over-and under-provisioning of IT services to allow for smarter business services. This is enhanced capacity utilization, the ability to add and use hardware on-demand without extra hardware or labor costs.

5. Business process improvement – Cloud computing capabilities can be leveraged through shared services. Users can have access to business capabilities allowing improvement or development of new skills and solutions through cloud sourcing and on demand solutions like Amazon Web Services, Google Apps, IBM Cloud Computing, Microsoft Azure, and HP Cloud Assure.

These five measures define a new set of business metrics that can be used to create a matrix and dashboard of your current and future operational business and IT service needs relating to your cloud computing potential return on investment.

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If you use AVG anti-virus software, which many of our clients do, you may have noticed a new pop-up that looks something like this.  It’s advertising a free upgrade to AVG Anti-Virus Free 2011 or a paid upgrade to AVG Internet Security 2012.  Either one is fine and you can feel free to click the link, which should take you toAVG.com.

The free version protects against:

• Viruses and spyware
• Social networks like Facebook
• Web surfing and searching
• Losing your identity online

We’re currently recommending Microsoft Security Essentials to our clients.

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As you may remember, even in 2011, I’m still installing XP for clients, but just so you’re aware, support for XP ends in August, 2014.

According to Microsoft Support Lifecycle, support for Windows XP will end on August 4, 2014. Most companies still on Windows XP are skipping Windows Vistafor Windows 7, which will probably still be the dominant operating system choice for businesses in 2014. If you haven’t started testing your programs for Windows 7 compatibility, now is the time. Worst-case scenario is that you’ll have to run your XP apps within a virtualized XP PC on your desktop, but that is a pain and can take up extra system resources. Windows 7 comes with a compatibility checker that runs on install, but that’s probably not the best time to test.

How much does Windows 7 cost?

At Amazon.com, Windows 7 ranges from $266.22 for Ultimate to $174.99 for Home Premium:

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I’ve been trying to install XP Professional on a Dell XPS 300 that originally came with XP Media Center Edition. It has a SATA hard drive that requires a driver before Windows Setup will recognize the hard drive. This requires using a program like nLite to create a ‘slipstreamed’ version of XP.

Each iteration of this process involves copying the source files from the original CD, adding the drivers for the SATA drive, and then building and burning a new CD or DVD to try. I’ve done this 3 times so far and am on my 4th attempt. I’m pretty close to just buying Vista or Windows 7 to put on this machine in order to get it to join to a domain (Windows XP Media Center doesn’t join domains by default).

[Update 1/1/2011: I ended up just swapping out the SATA drive with an IDE drive and moved forward. It's like breaking down and using tables when you can't get CSS to work (which I haven't had to do in a while).]

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Indianapolis, the Crossroads of America, is home to the Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Pacers. It’s also an area where Watershawl technician, Erich Stauffer, has spent a lot of time in helping clients with their computer needs, which is why Watershawl serves the greater Indianapolis area with Mobile Phone Support & PC Repair Services for Android™ & Windows®. From high rises on the circle to businesses in Park 100, Erich has helped small businesses with their computer needs all over the city.

Watershawl offers both on-site and off-site computer services for home and small business users in and around Indianapolis. We are available by appointment for on-site labor, which is charged at $100/hr. We may pick up your computer or mobile device if it is decided to continue with off-site service, which are billed at a flat-rate.

A lot of the time we can fix your problem on-site, but if it requires more time or specialized tools, sometimes it’s more cost effective for us to take your computer to work on off-site and then return it. Usually this process takes no more than 48 hours, but situations vary.

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Tipton, Indiana, home of the Tipton County Pork Festival and the southern boundary of the Miami Indian Reservation, is also home to Technology Consulting firm, Watershawl, and Watershawl Mobile Phone Support & PC Repair Services for Android™ & Windows®. From this location, Watershawl service technicians are able to quickly reach Carmel, Kokomo, Fishers, Noblesville, and Westfield, but we also serve Plainfield, Brownsburg, Pendleton, Indianapolis, and Greenwood areas.

Watershawl offers both on-site and off-site computer services for home and small business users in Tipton County. We currently have one Technician, Erich Stauffer, who is available by appointment. On-site labor is charged at $100/hr regardless of the type of work. For all services the Technician can come to your location at no additional charge to assess the issues and make a recommendation. The Technician will pick up the equipment if it is decided to continue with off-site service. All off-site options are billed using a flat-rate system.

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If you had the opportunity to watch the Tipton County Pork Festival parade on Thursday, you may have recieved a flyer about Watershawl’s services. If so, thanks for visiting our page. We offer several services to help you with technology whether that be your computer or your phone. If you’re wondering what the strange black-and-white box is on the right side of the flyer, it’s called a “Quick Response” or QR code. They are a special type of barcode that can store information like a web address, phone, number, and other information.

Our technician, Erich Stauffer, is a Microsoft Certified Professional and is CompTIA A+ and Network+ certified. This means he has successfully completed programs about advanced Windows XP and Server 2003 settings as well as general hardware and network troubleshooting. He also has over 5 years of experience helping home and business owners with their personal and business needs. Erich is very friendly and professional. Although very tall, he has a soft demeanor and will patiently listen to your problems before he begins to fix them.

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One of our clients wanted all of their staff to have email access through Microsoft Outlook on each PC, but they didn’t have the need for a Microsoft Exchange server.  Instead, we configured their domain to install Google Apps, created email accounts and distribution groups for the staff members, then configured Microsoft Outlook on each staff member’s PC to allow them to have access.

“The difference between Exchange and Google Apps is transparent to the user, ” said Erich Stauffer, Business Consultant at Watershawl, Inc.  “They don’t know and they don’t care – as long as it works.”  And it usually does.  Google Apps sports a 5-nine’s uptime which means they are up 99.999% of the year.  This means they can statistically be down for up to 8 hours a year, but uptime is significantly higher with Google than with your own standalone Exchange server.

However, cloud computing like this is not for every customer.  Some would not be able to keep secure data on remote servers and Microsoft Exchange does offer the ability to keep all email stored locally, but even so, only the email kept internally stays secure.  Once it leaves your organization, unless the email is encrypted, it is prone to eavesdropping.  Another reason for an Exchange server would be for backup’s, but with Outlook, you can download Google Apps mail as a PST, then store the PST as your back-up.

What unique, money-saving technology can Watershawl help you with today?

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