PIRACY, INTEGRITY and ORGANIZATION

As I’m sure you’re aware, software piracy is a big concern for computer programmers.  Some estimates indicate that the people who write software lose over 1 billion dollars each year.  With the exception of Microsoft, those thousands of programmers really need that money to feed their families and continue to develop better programs.

In fact, Microsoft is in the process of changing their licensing procedures to reduce software piracy.  They are phasing in a system that works like this: when you buy a program such as Windows, Office or Word, you can use it only a certain number of times without registering it before it stops working.  Therefore, you have to register the software.  The easiest way to register it is over the Internet; therefore, it will become increasingly essential that every PC have access to the Internet.  (You can also register by phone, fax or email, but that’s more of a hassle.)  Every program has a different serial number, and Microsoft keeps track of that number when you register that program.  Microsoft will prevent someone else from registering a program that you have already registered.  Other software companies are following Microsoft’s lead and will be implementing similar systems.

This leads us to the next topic: integrity.  We have encountered situations on a customer’s PC where a program such as Windows or Office had to be reinstalled, and the customer did not have the correct CD available.  Since we have always wanted to provide the best service possible to our customers, we have sometimes fudged on the software piracy issue and have used our own CDs to reinstall the software.  In addition to our loss of integrity, this has caused problems for the customer later on whenever we or someone else needed the installation CD.

Therefore, we at Clerc Computer Consulting are going on record stating that effective immediately, we will not install or reinstall application software on customer’s PCs using our own CDs.  The customer must provide the appropriate CDs or diskettes.  We can help you purchase replacement CDs or upgrades (if the original versions are no longer available).  The only exception we will make is for the Windows operating system, since every PC has to have Windows.

This leads us to the third topic: organization.  We have seen that in most instances, the customer has legitimately paid for the software but cannot find the correct CDs.  Therefore, we suggest that you take a few minutes right now to inventory the software on your PC and track down the installation CDs.  Then put those CDs (and manuals, if available) in one location. 

Here is the system I use:  I throw away the boxes and jewel cases (after photocopying the serial numbers if necessary), and keep just the CDs and manuals.  Then I bought a CD album from a music store, which has quite a number of pages and holds four CDs per page.  That way I have my entire computer CD collection in one place. 

I know that the more PCs you are responsible for, and the more programs you use, the bigger the job it is to keep this organized.  But the few minutes per PC you spend to organize your software will more than pay for itself by not having to pay for replacements or upgrades just to have the installation CDs available.  Please call us at Clerc Computer Consulting if you have any questions or comments about organizing your software inventory.

FLOOD WATERS AND PCs DON’T MIX

I hope you and your computers survived the recent floods.  There are two points about this disaster that may be relevant to you:

First, if your PC did come in contact with the floodwaters, it probably isn’t working very well by now.  But you don’t have to throw away the entire PC.  (Is that like throwing away the baby with the bath water?)  We can recover the information on the hard disk, even if the hard disk itself was submerged.  This is especially important if you did not have a good backup of the important information on your hard disk.

Which brings up my second point: disaster recovery.  In addition to backing up your important information, you also need to have a disaster recovery plan.  I’m sure you’ve heard about people who couldn’t get into their offices for days or even weeks.  What would happen to your business if you couldn’t access the information you needed for that amount of time? 

I suggest that you plan for that type of scenario.  Do you have everything you need at a different location so you could continue your business if you didn’t have access to your office for two weeks?  We at Clerc Computer Consulting have experience developing disaster plans for all types of businesses, and we can help you develop an inexpensive plan that will save you lots of money the next time you need to use it.

IS YOUR WEB SITE PRODUCING FOR YOU?

Starting with this newsletter, we will be presenting you with services or products that complement our own.  If you are interested in letting our audience know what you have to offer, please contact us at dclerc@clerc.com.  This month we offer web site consulting.

Setting up a web site so that it will draw traffic and effectively promote your business is the most important consideration for your investment in the Internet.  It is a process that requires specialized knowledge about how to market effectively over the Internet.

Computer Productivity Consulting is initiating two new programs to help small businesses understand Internet marketing and to learn to use it to their advantage.

If you have a web site, you can get a free 15-minute “flash” review of your home page of your site.  You will quickly learn whether your site is set up properly to attract attention on the Internet, and get a few tips on what it will take to improve your site.  A more thorough review is also available that covers more pages on your site and more information about what your options are.