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Give your IT system a gift

Whatever holiday you celebrate, the season is about here. And while the thought of giving a gift to your IT system may be a bit of a stretch, the ideas that two knowledgeable IT advisers came up with are "gifts" that can be a major plus for the typical small or medium-sized business.

The two are Dave Davenport, CEO of MotherG, an Itasca-based managed IT services provider, and Stephen Caron, owner of Alpha Computer Experience, Oak Brook.

Their ideas are worth a look:

• Decorate the walls. Hang a wireless TV on the wall, and display your top key performance indicators for everyone to see.

List your top performers on the wall. Show your late orders to get focus. Show your current backlog. Pick your top five indicators of excellent performance and put them on the wall.

Do this in every department. Your employees will start paying attention to the details you want them to notice. Davenport

• Network attached storage can provide an off-site backup for your whole business. Buy a unit to put in your home and back up all of the office computers to it.

The process provides protection from loss by fire, theft or encryption (such as the crypto-lock virus). You may want a professional to do the installation; some units will need storage drives added. Caron

• A solid state drive (SSD) can give new life and speed to older systems, improve boot time and extend battery life on laptops. SSDs for desktops usually start around $100; you can have them installed at any PC shop. Caron

• Boost productivity. Three items will make every deskbound worker more productive:

Wireless keyboard and mouse. Workers freed from cables lay out their desks in a more productive fashion.

Wireless headsets. Freed from a phone handset, workers have two hands to work their computer and get the job done faster.

Multiple displays. Stop minimizing applications each time you have to switch. Instead, put each primary application on its own monitor. Most PCs and docking stations have multiple display ports. Put email on one, your main business application on another and have a third (even a fourth) for such applications as Word and Excel. Davenport

• Lighten the load. If you have a traveler who resists the tablet trend, consider replacing the offending laptop with a lighter version. New laptops generally weigh less than two pounds and come with longer battery life, great displays and small chargers.

More importantly, your employee's neck and shoulders will thank you - and the traveler will face easier airport security checks. Davenport

• Recognize that face? Security cameras with built-in facial recognition are targeted primarily at a home audience, but small business security issues are becoming increasingly important. Besides, many small businesses are in the home. Caron

• Upgrade the conference room. Adding one of those wireless wall displays not only will present a cooler, tidier look, but laptops and computers can connect using Bluetooth technology - transforming the conference table from a cable spaghetti mess to a clean workspace. Davenport

© 2017 Kendall Communications Inc. Follow Jim Kendall on LinkedIn and Twitter. Write him at Jim@kendallcom.com. Read Jim's Business Owners' Blog at kendallcom.com.

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