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Top 10 Benefits to Get a Windows Small Business Server 2011

1. Get an affordable and easy-to-use solution
2. Simplified and automatic back-up for business data
3. Access business information and resources from almost anywhere, anytime
4. Increase business capacity via the cloud
5. Centralize data storage
6. Run line-of-business applications
7. Keep your network healthy and up-to-date
8. Simplify IT management
9. Get powerful technologies designed and priced for small business
10. Get the flexibility and scalability you need

Do I need a server for my small office?
Here are some of the questions that you may have in mind before getting a server for your office. Hope this helps in your decision making.

Question: Peer-to-peer is good enough for us.
The Truth: We can assess your current infrastructure to find out whether you might benefit from moving to a server. For example, you might be able to:
• Reduce business risk through better data protection systems, including automatic backup and restore covering your entire network.
• Enhance productivity through easy and secure remote access to applications and data.
• Save money through sharing resources more efficiently.

Question: It’s too expensive.
The Truth: Windows SBS 2011 provides you with full versions of enterprise-class server software–a comprehensive, integrated server solution for your business–at a significant discount than when purchasing the components separately. Plus, it provides a flexible platform that can grow with your business, saving you money in the long run.

Question: A server is too complex for our business.
The Truth: Actually, most businesses with more than a handful of employees find that a server-based system is much simpler to administer than a peer-to-peer network. Both editions have simplified setup, deployment, migration and daily management, reducing IT costs and complexities and total cost of ownership.

Question: We rely on line-of-business applications that won’t work with a standardized solution like Windows SBS Standard.
The Truth: Windows SBS Standard with Premium add-on offers a powerful, integrated platform for line-of-business applications by including Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard for small businesses that can be flexibly deployed on a separate hardware server, if so required by your applications.

Windows® Small Business Server 2011

Designed and priced for small businesses, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Standard deliver enterprise-class technologies for data backup and restore, e-mail, remote access, collaboration, file and printer sharing, internal Web sites, and support for mobile devices–in one affordable and easy-to-use solution.

Small businesses are unique, and so are the two editions of SBS 2011.

Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

Ideal as a first server for small businesses with up to 25 users, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials provides an integrated solution to help protect data, organize and access business information from virtually anywhere, support the line-of-business applications, and quickly connect to online services and cloud-based applications.

Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard

Ideal for small businesses with up to 75 users, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard delivers powerful technologies in an all-in-one solution. Windows SBS 2011 helps protect business information from loss and makes businesses more productive by providing features for e-mail, collaboration, Internet connectivity, internal Web sites, remote access, and file and printer sharing.

Competitive Overview

Windows SBS 2011 has several direct competitors in the market today including ClearOS, Lotus, and Apple. While SBS 2011 has the highest price point, followed closely by Lotus, Apple and ClearOS respectively, customers also receive many additional and higher quality features. With SBS 2011 Standard, customers get the newest releases of all the SBS 2011 Standard technology components including Windows Server 2008 R2 technologies, Exchange Server 2010 SP1, SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Windows Software Update Services.

Additionally, since most small businesses do not have any in-house IT assistance, it is important for server products to have easy access to customer support. SBS 2011 customers will have access to core product documentation, Web documentation, free-based phone support, and community resources over the internet. ClearOS, Lotus, and Apple do not offer as much customer support.

Questions for you:

1. You bought 5 new laptops for your office. Your IT guy asks you for the names to be given for the machines.
2. Your staff is on leave and you need to access his computer to retrieve some data. Is it right for you to ask your staff for password?
3. You decided to throw away your old PC. What are the measures to take to ensure data is not being leaked out?
4. How do you ensure there’s business continuity when there’s a fire in your building?

Here are some quick best practices to the above questions.

1. Do not use your staff name as the computer name or default names given by Microsoft. It’s hard to keep track of your assets when your machines are growing in numbers. Keep a proper naming convention format for computers. Example, ABCPC01, ABCNB01, etc.. where ABC denotes your company name, PC denotes desktop, NB denotes Notebook.
2. If you store your office data centrally, you will not have this problem. For urgent requests, you should ask your staff’s permission for password first, and suggest password to be changed when he comes back.
3. All removable media to be removed and internal drives are to be destroyed or removed first.
4. If you do regular backup and off site retention, your information assets are safeguard.

If you do not practice any of the above, it’s time to look into IT Security and Standard Policy.

The purpose of Infocomm Technology (IT) Security and Standard Policy is to maintain the quality of your organization information assets. These policies and standards preserve and protect organization information assets from intentional or unintentional acts or natural events which may result in their unauthorized disclosure, modification, destruction or usage.

The Policy provides the basic framework for establishing and implementing adequate IT security given the mission of the organization and the use of Infocomm Technology (IT) by its employees, contractors, customers and suppliers. 

The Standards provide the high level requirements for implementing the IT security policies, the basis for audit compliance and the basis for security self-assessment by Information Systems (IS) management.  They help to minimize the probability that IS management will overlook any of the security practices and to promote consistent and co-ordinated practices.

Without baseline policy and standards, systems and procedures actually implemented could undermine even the most carefully designed security features provided by hardware and software products.

Note: A free copy of IT Security & Standard Policy will be given away when you sign up for our corporate platinum maintenance plan.

Any office that has internet access will have this basic IT setup that comprises of an ADSL modem router with wireless, and a switch to connect to multiple computers. You as a boss or department head, may start to observe your office internet becomes sluggish at times. You got no idea what is the cause of it and what is the usage of the internet. You are wondering if your staffs are using the internet for work or play. The last thing you want to discover is that there is a peer to peer program running or virus intrusion through the web.

A good network security appliance such as Fortigate consolidates your security infrastructure and simplifies your management requirements, lowering your costs and reducing the workload of your IT staff. You just need to add this appliance between your modem and switch, and it will solve your problem and give you a peace of mind. Network security appliance usually combines enterprise-class firewall, web monitoring, intrusion prevention, antivirus, web filtering, antispam, application control, endpoint Network Access Control (NAC) and many more!

After the deployment of the network security appliance, it gives you a summary of your office internet usage which is broken down by streaming video & music, instant messaging , peer to peer applications, individual staff usage identified by computer IP address and etc. Thereafter, you can decide to filter web or applications accordingly so as to stay in line with your office security policy.