Computers & Servers

A centralised server - or servers - provides centralised, shared company-wide data and applications. Just as your personnel shouldn’t file company information in the top drawer of their desk, nor should they ferret it away on their hard disk or usb stick.

Centralised Server/Company Filing System

Your central sever provides you with a secure company filing system. Users access the server from individual workstations across the network, whether on- or off-site. The server provides both ease of access and improved security. It provides easier, centralised administration, lowering your total cost of support. Just as with your paper filing systems, you can determine which users can access which files and data on your server. Fish.Net will configure plan, select and configure your centralised server to work the way you r business works.

Computer Hardware

With the spread of equipment prices and features available, how do you choose the right equipment? Fish.Net guide you through the options and help you get the best value for your money. You need quality and reliability, but you seldom need ‘cutting edge’ specifications and performance. Performance gets ever faster, but most users’ demands are not really any greater than they were a few years ago.

External Peripherals – Printers, Scanners etc.

What about all the other items commonly called ‘peripherals’ - the other items you connect to your computer systems? Fish.Net guide you through the features and products available and help you select devices that meet your users’ expectations at an affordable price, and ensure they are located and installed in such a way that they can be accessed and shared at the convenience of your users.

System Growth - Load Distribution

As your business, and therefore the demands on your IT system, grow, then we will help you through the growing pains, identifying additional hardware and software and expanding your system in an affordable way, reusing equipment wherever possible and spreading the load among old and new machines.

Upgrades

Manufacturers will continually push you to upgrade to the ‘next big feature’. We will help you identify when you really need to upgrade, so that it is planned alongside your business and system growth, keeping it affordable and providing real benefits when you need to make use of the latest features.

Data Security

Of course we have to keep your data secure, from prying eyes and from accidental and malicious damage, and should the worst come to the worst we need to help you recover back to a fully operational state as quickly as possible.
We guide you through some of the pitfalls in our safe systems section.
 

Application Software

With a server system in place, your computer applications should now be divided appropriately between your server and your workstations; some tasks will be best performed centrally on the server, others on individual machines. Whatever your application, we’ll help identify the software to meet your needs, and supply, install and support it for you.

Office Applications

A computer without the appropriate software is probably a very effective paperweight.

The first package to be installed on your computer (besides solitaire…), is likely to be an office suite - word processor and spreadsheet, and optionally such tools as presentation, database and publishing software. Microsoft Office suite is probably the most popular and widely recognised office software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc.), but there are many other desktop packages available, which Fish.Net can help you choose, install and use.

In an Internet-connected world the ubiquitous Web browser (eg. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) has now become an essential office application.

There are many other desktop packages which are commonly installed, examples include document tools such as Adobe Acrobat, design tools such as Autocad, DreamWeaver, Fireworks, etc

Fish.Net can help you choose, install and make best use all of these packages and many others.

Email – Server Client

After the computer tasks of central file storage and print sharing, email is probably the most popular business application for a computer. Your server typically splits email tasks between the centralized routing and storage of email, and the reading, writing and filing performed at your workstations using an email client.

There are many email packages available, of which the most commonly recognised are probably Microsoft Exchange mail server and Microsoft Outlook email client. Our experience of installing and supporting Exchange and Outlook is widespread, but there are also many alternative products, both commercial and open source, and we will select the packages that best suits your business.

Accounting

All businesses need some way of keeping track of and managing their finances, and accounting software helps you do this. Your choice of accounting software is usually driven by the preferences and experience of your accountant. We would never claim to be accounting experts as the analysis and manipulation of your numbers is best left between you and your accountant, but we will help you with the installation, configuration and support of your accounting software and will liaise fully with the suppliers of your accounting software.

Industry-Specific Software

Many industries have packages which are developed specifically to address the operational requirements of that industry. Fish.Net will liase with the suppliers of industry-specific software to ensure that it integrates and operates smoothly within your IT system. Examples we’ve been directly involved with so far include skip hire, scaffolding hire, fibre winding, health insurance, training management, personnel time and attendance as well as the more ordinary businesses of accountancy and solicitors.

If nothing is available off the shelf then we can help you implement a custom solution. Read about our software development for more information.

Messaging & Communications

We have already mentioned email as a communications tool, but there are other communications mechanisms available, such as Instant Messaging, and computers are ever more being used for voice and video communications and conferencing. We will guide you through the different communications mechanisms, help protect you from unauthorised communications and integrate your computers and telephony equipment so that it is part of a coherent single installation.

Media

Computer systems are ever more being used to store access and distribute media files. Within a business environment the most common application is the distribution of photographs.

We will help you with the storage and manipulation of media files, and integrate this with your users’ mobile access to media using, for example, PDAs and mobile phones.

Database

When a spreadsheet runs out of steam, and when you want to simultaneously share data between several people, then a database can provide more powerful access to, and analysis of, your data. Databases can run as a stand-alone desktop application, such as Microsoft Access, or for more demanding applications as a client-server application with a centralised SQL server controlling and sharing out the data.

Our software development and web based work means we are particularly able to identify and recommend an appropriate database solution to your business requirements, whether you are buying in a package, implementing it in-house or letting us develop it for you. Our experience of configuring, administering and replicating databases is second to none.

Security & Protection

Your data needs to be protected from both accidental and deliberate damage, and a key part of achieving this is to install additional software. We will help you with understanding the potential problems and selecting the right products; we guide you through some of the pitfalls and options in our safe systems section.

Solutions

Some elements of your equipment are best described as ‘solutions’ - you need to select the appropriate combination of both hardware and software and possibly other external devices. An example would be a backup solution, where we would help you select the right combination of (for example) backup drives or other device and the software to manage and schedule your backups and allow the easy recovery of data when required.

Whatever the end solution may be, Fish.Net will advise, implement and support the right choice for your business circumstances, contact us to see how we can help you.