Better Together?  Better Believe It!
used with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

When I was much younger, I had a 1971 Mustang fastback I nicknamed "Sleek." I loved that car, so much that I hung onto it way past its useful life span. I became my local mechanic's best friend, bringing my treasured wheels in every few months for yet another repair.

I finally wised up and traded it in for a brand new Mustang. As soon as I drove off the dealer's lot, I kicked myself for not having traded up sooner. My new ride was built better and had standard features that weren't even available as options on my previous car. I could count on it to start up on even the coldest Chicago mornings (and trust me, they can be very cold). What's more, it had more acceleration than old Sleek, an important attribute when trying to pass someone on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

So, here's the question for you: Have you hung onto your business software for too long, as I did with Sleek? If you're still running Windows XP or an older version of Windows, it's time to take a good look at the options for upgrading. See what new features, new speed, and new reliability can mean for your workplace.

Let's start with the obvious. Your previous Windows platform has been a loyal and trusty performer. But like Sleek, it's coming to the end of its useful life. I can even tell you the end of support date for Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows 2000: July 13, 2010. Support for Windows Vista RTM ended even sooner - April 13, 2010.

To be sure, Microsoft isn't going to leave you out in the cold. There's an updated Service Pack (SP3) already available for you, but the question is, why not take a look at all the business advantages and great new features Windows 7 has to offer instead of messing around with another service pack?

In fact, let's take it a step further. Why not upgrade to Windows 7 Professional and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008, and really put your business on the fast track? It will help you boost your productivity, increase your security, and enhance your IT flexibility.

Windows 7 Professional and Small Business Server 2008 will help your employees get more done. They'll have new Accelerators to accomplish routine tasks more easily, and they'll find critical information faster using Windows Desktop Search, which combs through both their computer and the server. Perhaps best of all in today's mobile world, your employees will be able to work from almost anywhere. They'll have virtually anytime, anywhere access to business e-mail, contacts, calendar, files—and even business applications—from any Internet connected PC, thanks to the improved Remote Web Workplace. This can make a huge difference in productivity. Just ask Therese Rodda, the owner of the 15-person Friendship Heights Rehabilitation Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Like many small businesses, Friendship Heights had evolved without any real IT infrastructure. The staff shared six desktop computers that were not networked and used a POP3 e-mail service, which required the staff to download their e-mail to a local computer. No one had remote access to the practice management software or access to Web-based e-mail.

"I spent about 40 percent of my time orchestrating the office's administrative duties," says Rodda. Working with Microsoft Small Business Specialist, Rodda found an "all-in-one" server solution based on Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium. It provided all the technologies that Rodda needed in a single, easy-to-use solution, including e-mail and calendaring, remote access, support for mobile devices, Internet connectivity, multiple antivirus engines, enforced network security, shared document libraries and workspaces, and data backup and restore capabilities.

Rodda later added Windows 7 Professional, and praises its productivity features. "With Windows 7, it's easier to get work done because you can have multiple windows open on the screen at one time. Because of improved power management in Windows 7, the Tablet PC uses battery power more efficiently, so the charge lasts longer. I work at different offices, so another nice thing for me is that my default printer automatically changes to match the one installed wherever I'm working. ”You'll also find that Windows 7 Professional plus Small Business Server 2008 help safeguard your work. You'll have built-in features to help protect against malware, spam, and phishing, all working to safeguard your computers from things that go bump in the night. Of course, unwelcomed intrusions from the outside are only half your worries—the protection of your critical business data is perhaps the bigger concern. Using the Encrypting File system, you'll be able to encrypt files and folders that contain sensitive information, such as customers' credit card numbers or employees' Social Security numbers. You also be happy to learn how easily you can restore previous versions of accidentally deleted or changed files. With Advanced Backup, you'll even be able to schedule periodic data backups, thereby saving your data, files, and even the image of your entire system to a network location or a local drive. Finally, you'll rest easier knowing the health status of your PCs and servers, thanks to the ongoing monitoring provided by Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0.

If improved productivity and better security haven't convinced you to upgrade, then consider this: With Windows 7 Professional and Small Business Server 2008, you'll get more IT control and enhanced flexibility. It's hard for a small business to compete against the IT resources of bigger companies, but with this upgrade you'll help level the field. You'll appreciate the enhanced diagnostics and "troubleshooters," which make it much easier to fix common IT problems yourself. What's more, your entire IT environment can become more dependable. With Domain Join, adding PCs to your network becomes much simpler. And thanks to Group Policy Control in Small Business Server 2008, your IT person can more easily manage users and their machines. In fact, your IT person can get a daily view of all your PCs and servers from the Administrative Console feature, enabling proactive attention to potential tech issues, and he or she can view, diagnose, and fix many PC problems from one place using Action Center. It's never been easier for a small business to have IT chops comparable to the big boys.

Epicurean Cutting Surfaces, a 34-employee business in West Duluth, Minnesota, upgraded to Windows Small Business Server 2008, and among the many improvements the new server brought, perhaps none pleases IT manager Lucas Mistelske more than the enhanced reliability. Mistelske can see immediately if anything needs addressing, including patch management on individual machines. "I'm saving 20 minutes a day on just making sure everything is OK," he says. "When something needs attention, I receive alerts by phone or e-mail, so I don't even have to be at the console." The new Windows Small Business Server 2008 management tools and "green-check" reports also help improve system reliability. "The green-check report gives me an instant health view of all our software, including third-party packages," Mistelske says.

Still not sold? Worried about all your critical applications that were designed for Windows XP? Fear not—with Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 Professional, you'll have the flexibility to seamlessly run many older productivity applications. And with Microsoft SQL Server, which is available with Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium, you'll rest easy knowing your line-of-business applications are running on a dependable, dedicated server.

So, now is a great time to maximize the return on your IT investment. I'll bet you'll have the same feeling I did, when I finally traded up for that new car: Why didn't I do this sooner?