HP Whitepaper2
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THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVANTAGE WHITE PAPER SERIES Desktop Computer Applications for the Small and Medium Business The right combination of PC hardware and software can increase the size of a small business’s footprint INSIDE: ■ Productivity and the modern business office ■ Supporting employees with the right mix of technologies ■ Securing PCs from hackers, viruses and spam By Alan Zeichick, Principal Analyst, Camden Associates THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVANTAGE WHITE PAPER SERIES Desktop Computer Applications for the Small and Medium Business Introduction n the two decades since the personal computer became an essential piece of office equipment, its outward appearance has stayed the Isame—but under the covers, its components and applications have changed dramatically. The desktop PC of the early 1980s was little more than a glorified typewriter/calculator. Today's desktop computers deliver sophisticated pro- paper will discuss the most compelling of today’s desktop ductivity tools that enable their users to communicate, col- computer applications for small businesses and offer guid- laborate and ease the burdens of research, purchasing, ance on choosing the best desktop technologies for accounting and many other business-critical activities. This specific PC applications. Part I: Productivity in the Office A typical small or medium business puts desktop person- ■ Resources that enable the screen, keyboard, mouse, al computers to work in a variety of functions that most display, sound card and printer to function and permit office workers perform: communication and collaboration, programs to interact with each other (so, for example, transaction processing, the creative arts, financial man- data from a spreadsheet can be copied into a word agement, data management and information technology. processor). Other PC-based functions are more specialized: A mar- ■ The user interface, which allows the user to run spe- keter may create sales brochures, while the office manager cific programs and interact with them. uses a database to track assets and the Internet to purchase ■ Tools for connecting to and surfing the Internet, send- supplies, and the company president updates cost/revenue ing and receiving e-mail, viewing pictures, managing spreadsheets. The business computer consultant, mean- scanners and digital cameras, and so on. while, writes software and manages the company's IT assets using more specialized tools. The operating system is typically included in the price of a new computer and Software Fundamentals is preinstalled by the system vendor. All business desktop computers are well-suited to performing a wide Business productivity software. range of activities; most differences HP Workstation The most-common business pro- are in the software installed on the xw8200 ductivity software, Microsoft PC. Let's look at the most-common Office 2003, is a suite of integrat- types of software. ed applications offered in several versions and is also generally pur- The operating system. chased along with the new com- Fundamental to every personal puter. All versions of Microsoft Office computer is its operating system, which in most business include Microsoft Word, a word processor, used to cre- settings these days is usually Microsoft® Windows® XP ate and view documents; Excel, a spreadsheet, used to Professional. The operating system instructs the model financials, perform calculations and store tabulat- machine’s electronics to act like a computer. It provides: ed data; and Outlook, an advanced messaging program 2 The Small Business Advantage THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVANTAGE WHITE PAPER SERIES Desktop Computer Applications for the Small and Medium Business that provides e-mail, address book, calendar and other Customer and Sales Management personal information management features. Many small businesses engage in sales and need to main- Many business owners also choose versions of the tain lists of current customers, former customers, Microsoft Office suite that include PowerPoint, a pro- prospects, dealers and many other people. While a partic- gram for creating and viewing multimedia presentations ular employee's own contacts might be maintained in a for sales or marketing; FrontPage, which can help design notebook, spreadsheet or business-card file, a company's Web sites; and Access, a powerful database for storing customer list is one of its best assets, and it needs be treat- and retrieving business information such as asset lists, ed with the appropriate care. This includes being able to: inventories and price sheets. ■ Secure the data against loss or unauthorized access ■ Share the data among multiple employees Together, the combined functionality of Windows XP ■ Leverage the data to generate mailing lists, customized Professional and the personal productivity applications letters, management reports and financial analysis ■ Perform more sophisticated functions, such as being Maintaining a company's complete able to interact with an accounting system directly, produce commission reports and support electronic list of customers and prospects, along commerce over the Internet. with the complex … data required to Maintaining a company's complete list of customers and prospects, along with the complex transaction history, service those customers properly is demographic and other data required to service those cus- beyond the scope of even an excellent tomers properly is beyond the scope of even an excellent personal contact manager like Microsoft Outlook, men- personal contact manager like tioned earlier. For this kind of deeper functionality, one turns to customer relationship management (CRM) applications. Microsoft Outlook …. For this kind of There are many CRM offerings for small business, ranging from Microsoft CRM to SaleLogix.com, to the deeper functionality, one turns to cus- Web-based SalesForce.com. Most businesses are well-served by these sorts of gener- tomer relationship management ic CRM applications, which can be tailored to their particu- (CRM) applications. lar needs. Many market segments, however, have special- ized needs—for example, specific demographic information in Microsoft Office can provide most of the software and communications methods. These businesses will want functions needed by business owners and employees. In to opt for customized practice-management programs, particular, they offer the core tools needed for communi- such as those for doctors, dentists and lawyers. A consult- cations and collaboration, through e-mail, instant mes- ant can help businesses choose the best CRM application saging, browsing the Web and contact management. for its size, customers and business activities. They also enable creation and sharing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other data through Digital Graphics print, e-mail and the Internet. The first personal computers introduced a revolution in For some businesses, the combination of Windows XP creativity. With the proper software and an ordinary desk- Professional and Microsoft Office may be sufficient, but top PC, small businesses can develop sophisticated mar- many companies need additional software applications. keting materials, brochures, sales presentations, These may address the requirements of a particular job advanced graphics and more, using the built-in functions function (such as customer service representative, found in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. But that's only graphic artist or bookkeeper) or build in industry-special- the beginning. Graphics arts and related professionals, ized functionality (for instance, medical or retail sales). such as designers, architects and photographers, can Several categories of desktop PC applications that also use more-powerful desktop computers, called work- serve special needs are worth a closer look: stations, to enhance the quality of their work and increase 3 The Small Business Advantage THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVANTAGE WHITE PAPER SERIES Desktop Computer Applications for the Small and Medium Business their productivity. (The hardware that distinguishes work- Studio, PTC's Pro/Engineer and Bentley Systems' stations will be discussed later in this paper.) MicroStation. In addition, other tools are available for Several leading applications from Adobe® are specialized applications. designed for fine artists and photographers. Adobe Illustrator is the tool of choice for creating line-oriented Web and Software Development logos, graphics, charts and figures. Adobe Photoshop®, Many small and midsize businesses today leverage the as its name implies, excels at processing digital photo- Internet to improve their communications with the outside graphs, scanned images, and other artwork. Adobe world, setting up Web sites to present their products to ImageReady is a top tool for preparing graphs, charts, customers and prospects in an online catalog, and to per- photographs and other images for use on Web sites. form e-commerce transactions for selling goods and serv- ices through a online storefront. In fact, many businesses Desktop publishing. Brochures, magazines, fliers, today are focused almost entirely on doing business on posters, printed newsletters and other page-oriented the Internet. While some of those businesses use consult- materials are the domain of desktop publishing. Leading ants and service providers to develop their Internet pres- applications in the desktop-publishing domain are ence, others perform the Web programming themselves. Quark's QuarkXPress, Adobe's InDesign and PageMaker, and Microsoft