The Ekaru Gazette   Vol 2-1. April 2002

Welcome to this month's issue! Our mission is to provide technology information you can use in your small business. In this issue we'll cover new services and other news from Ekaru, a technology spotlight on buying versus upgrading PCs, and a great recipe (which has nothing to do with technology)!

New Ekaru Service!
Computers, Printers, and more… By popular demand!
Many of our customers have asked us if they can buy computer equipment directly from Ekaru to save the time and effort required to find the right solution. Ekaru has recently signed a deal with a major computer equipment distributor to bring our customers all the top-brand, latest equipment at competitive prices. Customers can also manage their cash-flow by electing to lease instead of purchase.

• Have an expert select the right machines for you
• Plan a budget and schedule procurement to match needs
• Have confidence that equipment will be compatible with existing infrastructure
• We coordinate delivery for you
• Option to purchase or lease equipment
• We'll set up everything for you and transfer files as necessary.

Our mission is to provide a complete "one-stop-shopping" solution to all our customers!

Ekaru in the News!
Bill Kazman of Ekaru was featured on AM Magazine with Lindsy Parker on WBNW Boston Financial Talk Radio, Monday March 18. Bill appeared with Bonnie Cameron, Executive Director of the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce, and Nancy Michaels, author of "Off the Wall Marketing Ideas". Introduced as the "odd couple", Bill and Nancy talked about the importance of integrating marketing strategies with core business and technology infrastructure.

On Thursday March 21 Bill and Nancy presented a business breakfast seminar: "Information Technology and Marketing Strategies for Challenging Times" Sponsored by the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce and the Concord Chamber of Commerce. Topics covered included: Your Foundation for Growth - How to Get the Infrastructure "Basics" Right; The Power of Software Automation: Focus on strategy, execution, customers, and revenue, and Marketing Strategies. Attendees ranged from a wide range of businesses, including printing, chiropractor, real estate, banking, graphic design, and more.

Bill and Nancy are planning more seminars in the greater Boston area, so stay tuned for a seminar near you! Visit www.impressionimpact.com to learn more about Nancy Michaels and marketing for small businesses.

Bob runs for Office!
Bob Mauceri is running for the office of Selectman in North Reading. The May 7 election is approaching fast! Bob has served the North Reading community for the past 32 years with service to the Finance, School, and Hillview Committees. Visit Bob's campaign web site www.electbob.org for more information!

Technology Spotlight
Should I upgrade my computer or purchase a new one?
This is not an easy question to answer. It depends upon a lot of factors, each of which comes down to dollars and cents.

Age of the computer
Computer technology is advancing at an astonishing pace. In 1965, Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, predicted that integrated circuit density (and hence computer performance) would double every year to 18 months - "Moore's Law". Decades later, to the amazement of many, this trend is holding strong. Because of this rapid pace of technology advancement, it makes little sense to upgrade a computer that is more than three years old. In some instances upgrading a two year old computer may not be cost effective!

Computer Performance
Computer performance is impacted by the speed and power of the microprocessor, the amount of system DRAM, the capacity of the hard drive, and the application software that is required to run on the system. Virus protection software also can impact performance. Applications that handle large amounts of data i.e. images, or large searchable databases require high processor speed, large amounts of DRAM, and significant hard drive capacity.

Microprocessor speed is measured in hz (hertz = cycles per second). In layman's terms this defines the number of calculations the processor can perform in one second. A 200mhz (3 year old) processor can perform 200,000,000 calculations in one second, a 2ghz (common today) processor can perform 2,000,000,000 calculations in one second, a full 10 times faster.

DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is the working memory of the computer. The larger the computer program and the greater the number of simultaneous applications (open windows) running on your computer the more DRAM that is needed. Insufficient DRAM results in poor performance because blocks of data have to be swapped back and forth between the DRAM and computer hard drive.

The hard drive is the main storage device on your computer. It stores the operating system, applications software and your data. A three year old computer is likely to have a 4gbyte (4,000,000,000) drive, where a byte (8 bits) of data can represent a single character or number, and in most cases the drive is almost completely full. Today, it is not uncommon for a hard drive capacity to be 40gbytes (40,000,000,000), a full 10 times greater capacity.

Operating Systems
It is not unusual to find a range of operating systems in a business network. In chronological order the most common are Win95, Win98, Win98 ver2, WinNT, WinME, Win2000 and WinXP. Supporting a broad mix of operating systems is not practical because their subtle differences require a broad range of technical knowledge.

Migration to the latest operating system can be a double edge sword. Newer operating systems have more capability, tend to be more reliable, and have better security. However, they require more system resources (i.e. processor speed), amount of DRAM, and hard drive space. Additionally, older applications may not run on the latest operating system.

Application Software
In addition to Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and Access) most businesses rely on some specialized application software specific to their business. These specialized applications tend to be more costly, require vendor maintenance support, and may not run on the latest operating systems. Additionally, newer applications may not run on the older operating systems. If upgrading and/or purchasing new computers, careful attention should be paid to the system requirements of specialized application software.

Decision Making
As a rule of thumb, computer upgrades should be aimed at extending useful life for a minimum of one year. The simplest and most cost effective upgrades are adding DRAM and addition of a second hard drive. Neither of these are labor intensive because they do not require the reloading of operating systems and application software. The typical cost of DRAM and hard drive upgrade is between $100 & $250.

The upgrading of an operating system is more complex and labor intensive because it involves installing new drivers on the computer and may require installing updated application software. The typical cost of upgrading an operating system is between $250 & $500.

The upgrading of application software can lead to a degradation of computer performance because upgraded software generally requires more computer resources to operate. You should always check with your applications software supplier to determine their recommended hardware configuration. Application software upgrade costs are sometimes included in the vendor's maintenance contract. It is recommended that you contact your application software vendor to determine the cost of upgrade.

A new computer in today's market can be purchased for $1,000 with sufficient processor speed, DRAM, and hard drive to run most available applications efficiently with a high degree of reliability. In determining the cost of a new computer, one must also include the cost of application software licenses, labor to install the application software, and configuring the system on your business network. In some cases, these costs can exceed the cost of purchasing the computer hardware.

Planning
A computer migration plan should be established that takes into consideration current problems, obsolescence, and future needs. Every business should adapt a computer purchase plan. Be sure to pick a hardware supplier that warrants their product and will be in business to support the product over its useful life. Major hardware suppliers such as Dell & Compaq provide three year on-site warranties in addition to their web based automated support network.

When possible, the plan should be aimed at replacing tired computers on a rotation so as to spread the cost uniformly over time. The oldest and slowest computers should be retired, and lower performing equipment moved to areas where application loads are the lightest.

The costs of software licensing should be included in the plan. When retiring a computer, application software licenses can be transferred to the new hardware. In some cases this may require contacting the software vendor to re-register the software

Additionally, security, virus protection, and backup should be high on the list when creating your computer migration plan.

The rapid pace of technology advancement makes it challenging to keep your business competitive with up-to-date equipment. But with a little knowledge and planning, you can stretch your budget and optimize your PC productivity.

Amaretto Cheesecake Recipe
In most of our Newsletters, we like to include a recipe. What does this have to do with computers and networks? Absolutely nothing, but these recipes taste great! If you didn't get your favorite desert for Easter, try this!

Ingredients:

• 5 Oreo cookies (broken)
• 1 cup blanched whole almonds
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 8ozs. Pkgs cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup amaretto
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• extra whipping cream and almonds for top