And finally, let us talk about actually deploying a server because there is some homework to be done when you deploy a new server in your company. And number one, do the math. Okay, figure out what is going to cost you. Are you are going to buy or are you going to lease the server? Are you going to be looking at a new brand new server? Are you going to be looking at possibly a refurbished server? So lined up all the capital expenses of that server purchase, okay? And when you are doing your capital expenditures, think about these things. Once you offer an outlay, what is going to cost you right up front? But then what if things like on going maintenance and service contracts is going to cost me as well. Is it more cost effective to lease or buy the machine? And how much power do you currently have right now? Do you need to spend money upgrading power or are you going to need things like an uninterruptible power supply for this server. Special cabling for this server. What are you going to need to physically secure that server? You are going to need to buy a rack? Or you need to dedicate some space to it.
Make sure that you know that you do have a safe place to put your server, because that is the heartbeat of your IT system, your computer system is that server. The server is the heartbeat. The heart, the lungs of the network. How many employees, you know think about how many employees are actually going to be using this server and that is going to help your system integrator, your barrier, Sales representative kind of help walk you trough the process of purchasing a server. How will devices such as printers, scanners, storage appliances all connect to that server? Keep that in mind. As far as maintenance you know, who is going to be responsible for maintaining servers? Do you have somebody there? An IT person? Do you have an outsource? Do you have somebody you need to call? So figure out who is going to be responsible for that. You know, can anybody in house maybe just take care of the simple routine things like making sure back ups run properly and all that. So make sure of that.
Which part of your business processes can be automated and will change. And what things might change if you have a server? So take that in mind. What kind of effect will server have on your staff? Will you have to train employees how to use this server or how to use the new application is going to be running on the server. How much time and money is going to be needed to implement this server? That is another big area as well.
What data may have to transferred over to this server, to the new applications and what will that cause and what will that entail for you. So you need to know that is going into making that decision when you are trying to deploy that server. And finally, when we are talking about special requirements of your server, as I have said there is never ending list of stuff headed our way. There is --, there is Sarbanes-Oxley, there is the thing about archiving email and the federal rules, civil procedure, all that sort of things. So there is a certain requirements your business have to have with that server is going to require as far as security and compliances, choosing all that so that might be an additional software purchase or hardware purchase or even both.
And then you have to consider how well the new server may work with existing servers and equipment there at your business. Is the software for the new system compatible with everything that you are doing? These are all things that your IT professionals should sit down there and discuss with you so that you make the experience of purchasing your server as pleasant as possible, as productive as possible and in a frugal fashion which you know frugality simply means to get the most value for your money. It does not mean you buy the piece cheapest thing out there. It does not mean if you buy the most expensive, you buy the right equipment to do the job and you do it at a fair and at a reasonable price and that is what you know I am devoted to as your frugal tech making sure that you get the most value for your money.
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