There is an old adage which states that "there is no substitute for experience", and after more than 15 years in this industry, I have come to realize that there are some practices that work better than others. With this in mind I decided to chronicle those ideas to help guide customers.

In short, this what I think you should be using for best results in your network:

1. Approach:

• Decide what you need done at a high or conceptual level and then let me help you get to that goal. (Taking a hardware or software decision and then trying to integrate it into your environment often requires at least a compromise, if not more billable time to integrate)

• If a goal is defined, commit to the time (and resources) to getting that done. (In most cases, this means making an appointment to get the work done. Waiting for it to get done in "spare time" often has the result of delaying the completion of that goal, sometimes indefinitely)

• Avoid contracts if at all possible, they are almost always far more beneficial to the service provider than to small businesses. (I find this to be true for Microsoft Office, Internet Service Providers, Wireless carriers, Office Phone Systems to name a few. Recurring cost items should be discussed regularly to decide if they are still relevant.)

2. Software:

• Office: If your organization needs to use Microsoft Office, then purchase Office 2016 from Newegg.com. Purchase the minimum suite that has the components you need (Almost always Home and Business). Do  not subscribe to Office 365 it is not cost effective for small business. Also consider other office products like Libre Office & Mozilla Thunderbird or Google's G-Suite, both of which are fully functional for most companies needs and have no cost.

• PDF related software: Adobe Acrobat Pro can be the most expensive single line item on a new PC. If you simply need to view and create basic PDFs, you can use Adobe Acrobat Reader and the built in Windows PDF writer for no cost. You should also consider Acrobat Standard and PDF Xchange as cheaper alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Professional.

• Internet Browser: Use Google Chrome whenever possible, it's generally faster, safer and integrates better with things like Google Workspace. 

• Antivirus Software: The antivirus software built into Windows works as well as any other solution when combined with other safeguards on the network, so don't purchase or renew 3rd party security software.

3. Computer hardware:

• I like the Intel NUC line of products, they have proven to be the most reliable desktop PC hardware period.

• A fast processor is nowhere near as important as a solid state drive (SSD) and enough memory (RAM) in the average office environment. Virtually all users will find plenty of performance from a current Intel Core i3 processor, power users may get some benefit from an Intel Core i5 and in my experience, no small business user needs a Core i7. 

• 8GB or RAM is the minimum I would order, 16GB is becoming common. Anything beyond that has minimal performance benefit for the average user.

• 240-256GB Solid State Drives are more than big enough for the average user.

• I like AMD as a company, but I don't believe systems based on their CPU architecture are as reliable as those based on Intel's CPU architecture.

• The laptop that seems to be the most popular across my client base is the Dell XPS13. Asus, Lenovo and Dell are all good brands, but as stated above, favor more memory and a Solid State Drive over a faster processor.

• Apple make good products but they never integrate as easily as Windows based products into small business networks. In my experience, I do not see any difference in reliability or security but they cost significantly more than a Windows based laptop with equivalent or better performance. 

4. Network hardware:

• Cisco makes the best routers and switches and if your budget allows, they are best option.

• In places where Cisco routers are not a good fit, I have had a lot of success with the higher end Asus Wi-Fi routers. (These routers actually have functionality that in some way is significantly more useful to a small business than the Cisco units)

5. Remote access:

• Arguably the single most requested function I am asked about. I like to use the (free) built in Windows Remote Desktop function over solutions like Log-Me-In, it is more work to setup correctly up front, but once it's configured, is 100% reliable. (In recent years, some additional effort is required to make sure this type of connection is  secure but it still provides the best user experience)

• We recommend using Cisco Duo to secure your remote desktop connections. (Cisco Duo is actually free for companies with less than 10 users)

6. Office Phone System

• If you are starting from scratch or you are looking to move on from an older / outdated system, consider a system based on FreePBX, I have several companies successfully using FreePBX based phone systems and their recurring cost is drastically less than other systems available right now. 

• I have had the most success using the Cisco SPA-525G2 handsets with FreePBX

This page was last updated in January 2023 and I will continue to update it as the market changes. I hope that it proves useful and I welcome any discussion