Up to 2001 Microsoft had a great package for small business, it contained all the goodies that the big enterprise guys use but at a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost. Now every small business server package has gone. You now buy the basic server version without all the bells and whistles which doesn’t make sense. A decent (not a toy, ask me why) file server with Microsoft used to cost around £3K. If you want in house e-mail then Microsoft ask you to add another server with Exchange for another £3K. So double the price for the same functionality you had six months ago, Why? That’s easy.

Microsoft (MS) only want small businesses to buy a single server but for e-mail you can use Exchange on their server for £30 a month. You see the difference? same initial revenue to MS and then an extra £30 a month, that’s at least an extra £1,800 going in to the MS pocket over five years, as they say MS’s duty is to the shareholders not the users or the partners (that’s us).

Now where this falls down is in this area, most small businesses are rural and in small towns in East Anglia. Broadband struggles to get over 2 Mb down and 0.5Mb up whereas London, Brighton can get 50-100 Mb in both directions. So not only does it cost more but the Internet is less efficient making cloud computing a non starter unless you are in the city. Oh, and you have less control and facilities.

The daft part is that where we are concerned it won’t make any difference but MS will lose out. Remember the 3K server, well we can get the same performance out of a Linux server for half the price. Need e-mail? Then we can install IBM PostFix or Mdeamon instead of MS Exchange for a minimal amount.

I like the idea, its marvelous, it means that Dell cant touch us for price and the small IT firms who don’t have the level of expertise like us can’t sell Linux.

So you will have a choice for your new server; come to cmx or spend more with Dell, MS or the enthusiastic hobbyist who thinks he is in the IT business, he sells boxes and has limited knowledge whereas we install cost effective business systems. Just ask anyone who is a cmx client, we can even give you the contact details of a few.

If you want to know more call 01473 231800 or 01206 256459 24/7 and talk to an expert in English