Desktop Computer Repair Tips For Every SMB

Did you know that the average small business employee loses approximately one work week per year because they work on an out-of-date PC?  Recent research conducted by Intel found this to be the case.

Here are some other interesting facts the study noted: 

• Repairing an “old” PC (older than 4 years), costs 1.3 times more than repairing a PC that’s younger than 4 years
• Employees who use PCs older than 4 years lose 21 more hours per year due to maintenance and security issues
• 8% of small businesses in the US (the largest percentage of all countries surveyed) use PCs older than 5 years – compared to just 5% worldwide and 1% in India

So obviously maintenance is a big problem.  But, it’s a problem that’s not always easily solved.  Most businesses may already have a tight profit margin, so buying new equipment isn’t necessarily an option.

What can you do about this computer hardware repair dilemma?

Here are some ideas:

1. Keep only “young” PC’s – So, we started with the obvious one.  If your budget allows for it, replace all PCs 4 years old and older.  You will spend a little money now, but save more over time.

2. Keep those PCs humming along longer – You’re used to pushing everything in your small business to its limit, so do the same with your PCs.  If you’ve had them for a couple years and they’re slowing down a little, purchasing 2-4 GB of memory is a great option.  You’re not paying much in return for the performance boost you get, and you’ll get more out of them until for a couple of years.

3. Use virtualization as much as you can – As your PCs age, try running images out to the desktops. This will allow you to use them more efficiently until they get to the 4-year mark. The benefit is the time savings you will get from performing computer repairs because you’re not relying on the PC’s resources exclusively.

4. Consider using a PC configuration management tool – You’ll have to decide which one will work best for your business, but Gartner claims these tools reduce costs by a whopping $87 per year per user!

5. Do as much as you can do automatically  – Rather than having someone visit your business to  perform a repair on-site, or having you employ the staff do the repair in-house, have as much computer hardware repair as possible performed dynamically.  Patches or new drivers that need to be updated, can and should run remotely, preferably after business hours.

6. Pro-active monitoring – These monitoring tools, when you have someone experienced using them, will catch problems BEFORE they happen. Test each hard drive (and your other hardware) instead of waiting for a server hard drive to crash and then dealing with all the resulting issues. This will give you some time to quietly replace faulty hardware before it fails.

Time & Material Repair

Time and Material repair costs can be astronomical but if you follow these tips, you’ll minimize the need to have a professional on site repair and hopefully get your company to a healthier, more stable place.

Citations:

• Intel Research

Robert A. Martin is the President of Great Lakes Computer Bob has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Akron.  He joined the company in 1995 and has held multiple positions including Large Account Sales, Sales Manager, VP of Operations, and now serves as President.  Although he oversees all operations, Bob's primary focus is in the areas of sales development, strategic direction, government sales and large account management.   Bob lives in Avon, Ohio, is married and the father of two, and is an avid outdoorsman. Bob is the author of Great Lakes Tips on Tech Blog