Session II

Phone Systems & IT Maintenance

8:40a – 9:40a

Presented By:

Darrell Rodgers

Emerald Data Networks, Inc.

Moore’s Law – The number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits doubles every two years.

Why do we care?◦ Physical Space

◦ Power Consumption

◦ Cooling Needs

◦ Price

Research

Implementation

Maintenance

Retirement

What are the business factors to consider?◦ Financial, Operational, External – features, functions

What are the different kinds of maintenance?◦ Physical

◦ Hardware Replacement

◦ Software Updates

◦ System Management

◦ Backup

◦ Monitoring

Securing◦ Wiring◦ Physical Access

Contact◦ Static◦ Dusting / Vacuuming

Environmental◦ Heating ◦ Cooling

Risk vs Cost is determining factor here.

Important thing to consider is time cost variable. How much do you lose every hour the system is unusable? (Consider good will)

All hardware manufacturers and most vendors offer some kind of hardware replacement option.

Software updates continually correct problems with the system and add additional features and functions.

Most major systems release updates about once a month. Updating less than quarterly will put you substantially behind.

Some systems will almost never require updates to function to your specifications.

Have certified support at your fingertips, but don’t pay for what you don’t need.

The important items are response, experience, expertise.

This is of primary importance: knowing who to contact when you have an issue is paramount. A good decision here can save you from failure in all other areas.

50% of SMB businesses that experience a data disaster close with six weeks, another 40% close within six months; only 10% survive.

Focus on your critical data, that’s the key.

Have both an onsite and an offsite backup and update them regularly according to your risk tolerance.

Keep a written plan of how you backup and how you restore your system.

Only consider it for critical systems where down time means lost revenue in one form or another

Some systems may require it for regulatory or legal reasons. Financial, Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing all have regulatory issues around monitoring.

Do a thorough Inventory. If you know what you have, you can get the right help if you need it, faster.

Have a written plan. Knowing what you’ve planned to do for different items will get you to a resolution faster.

Make sure you know what you have and how you’re using it.

Inventory should include:◦ Purchase date

◦ Make & Model numbers

◦ Physical Location

◦ Access info like ip address and login credentials

Even a bad plan is better than no plan at all.◦ Any plan provides structure, boundaries and

direction.

◦ It’s always a starting point for the next plan and allows you to compare and contrast.

◦ It will help professionals more quickly assess your situation if you need help.

Keep a business plan handy for making decisions (Are you expanding, contracting, treading water?)

Most decisions you make are tactical, keep a long term strategic outlook and your maintenance costs will go down

Major IT vendors with online education and resources for non-profits◦ Cisco◦ HP◦ 3COM◦ Microsoft◦ Sun◦ D-Link◦ Netgear◦ Apple◦ The Accidental Techie – McNamara ◦ www.nonprofitexpert.com

Infrastructure – Cisco, HP, D-Link, Netgear, Juniper

Servers – HP, IBM, Dell, Apple

Desktops / Laptops – HP, Lenovo, Dell, Apple

Security – Cisco, HP, Sonicwall, Watchguard, Juniper, D-Link, Netgear

Desktop Operating – Microsoft, Apple, Sun, IBM

Security – Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro

Network Operating – Microsoft, Sun, Apple, IBM

Applications – Sage, Quicken, Microsoft, Apple, Sun

VOIP vs PBX systems

Cell phones, pagers and PDA’s

SIP Services or Session Initiation Protocol

Dates to know for your location

Major Providers for SMB are – 3com/HP, Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, Digium

Many traditional PBX providers have hybrid systems that aren’t really VOIP

If you have a VOIP system, you follow the same maintenance procedures for your phone system as you do for your IT systems.

VOIP systems out sold PBX systems starting in 2003 and the gap is just getting bigger. Traditional phone systems are disappearing.

These devices should not need much updating, their relatively short life spans make them useful for their entire life cycle most times.

Cell phone life span is now about 20 months.

You should always try to package your cell phones, pagers and PDA devices with your telephone system services for extra savings.

Standardizing on a single service provider will also lessen your maintenance burden.

This is the latest and greatest technology for end users; only early adopters should apply.

The phone companies have been using it since the 10-10-321 days of the late 90’s.

It is not a mature technology and there are still not standards for it, so it’s hit or miss most times, but it is getting better.

Your contract end dates for your internet, telephone and cell phone services.

You should contact your internet & telephone service providers four months before your end date to start negotiating. For the best results, use a broker.

New service takes 45 to 60 days and existing contracts always require 30 days written notice to cancel.

Session II

Phone Systems & IT Maintenance

8:40a – 9:40a

Presented By:

Darrell Rodgers

Emerald Data Networks, Inc.