Note: I'm reposting this with some edits since I realized that the first post might have been misunderstood. We're looking for problem statements only, not fully-documented case studies with problem statement and solution.
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SmallNetBuilder and our advertising partner NetShelter are participating in a Microsoft-sponsored program aimed at getting IT professionals to become better acquainted with Microsoft's business-focused products and services. (Yes, SNB is being compensated for our participation.)
The program will include a website (to launch shortly) where people will be able to submit real business-oriented problems and get advice and help from SmallNetBuilder, other IT-focused sites in the NetShelter network and Microsoft tech experts. Although Microsoft is sponsoring the site, the problems do not have to be Microsoft-related in any way.
To get things rolling, however, we're looking for a few business-oriented IT problem statements. Here's an example so that you can see what we're after: (This has been edited, but is a real example.)
Title: How can I provide an ounce of prevention when I can't get to a client's laptops?
Submitted by: Tony Moraros, owner, TonyTheComputerGuy.com, San Mateo, CA
The Background: I own a small IT consulting and services company, with several local, small businesses as my clients. One of them is an eight-employee branch office of a PR firm in San Francisco.
The Challenge: Everyone at the PR firm uses laptops. These are PR folks, and they live on their computers. When they're in the office, they're working on the laptops. When they're out of the office, they have the laptops with them. If you take their computer away, they're dead in the water.
So the thing I'm wrestling with is, how do I maintain their laptops if I have at most minimal access to their systems? The client suffers because the only time I can work on the computer is when the computers aren't working. The only time I can maintain their system is when it fails, which isn't really in their best interest either.
Can anyone point me to procedures, processes, or tools that would make it less disruptive, let alone possible, for me to obtain access to these systems to monitor and maintain them? I actually have a trial version of one remote management tool from a company called Kaseya But it's so heavy duty I don't think I have enough knowledge to use it properly.
What you get out of it should be real, detailed advice from business IT experts, including folks from among Microsoft's top tech experts.
So if you're interested, please send your submission directly to 360IT@netshelter.net. Or if you'd rather, you can PM me and I'll forward it on.
Thanks.
============================
SmallNetBuilder and our advertising partner NetShelter are participating in a Microsoft-sponsored program aimed at getting IT professionals to become better acquainted with Microsoft's business-focused products and services. (Yes, SNB is being compensated for our participation.)
The program will include a website (to launch shortly) where people will be able to submit real business-oriented problems and get advice and help from SmallNetBuilder, other IT-focused sites in the NetShelter network and Microsoft tech experts. Although Microsoft is sponsoring the site, the problems do not have to be Microsoft-related in any way.
To get things rolling, however, we're looking for a few business-oriented IT problem statements. Here's an example so that you can see what we're after: (This has been edited, but is a real example.)
- Problem Statement Example -
Title: How can I provide an ounce of prevention when I can't get to a client's laptops?
Submitted by: Tony Moraros, owner, TonyTheComputerGuy.com, San Mateo, CA
The Background: I own a small IT consulting and services company, with several local, small businesses as my clients. One of them is an eight-employee branch office of a PR firm in San Francisco.
The Challenge: Everyone at the PR firm uses laptops. These are PR folks, and they live on their computers. When they're in the office, they're working on the laptops. When they're out of the office, they have the laptops with them. If you take their computer away, they're dead in the water.
So the thing I'm wrestling with is, how do I maintain their laptops if I have at most minimal access to their systems? The client suffers because the only time I can work on the computer is when the computers aren't working. The only time I can maintain their system is when it fails, which isn't really in their best interest either.
Can anyone point me to procedures, processes, or tools that would make it less disruptive, let alone possible, for me to obtain access to these systems to monitor and maintain them? I actually have a trial version of one remote management tool from a company called Kaseya But it's so heavy duty I don't think I have enough knowledge to use it properly.
- Problem Statement Example end -
Ideally, we'd like people to identify themselves. But we can also accommodate some degree of anonymity. The submitter in the case above could have identified himself as "Tony, San Mateo, CA"
What you get out of it should be real, detailed advice from business IT experts, including folks from among Microsoft's top tech experts.
So if you're interested, please send your submission directly to 360IT@netshelter.net. Or if you'd rather, you can PM me and I'll forward it on.
Thanks.