Desktop drags you under
Increase productivity and cut power costs with a few strategic upgrades.
Bet you didn't know the pc on your desk is eating company profits on the sly. Just ask your help desk folks. As new employees are hired, they tend to get the latest technology, the current versions of operating systems, and the newest iterations of applications.
Over time, this adds up to a support nightmareâ€"and a sinkhole for money. When Carolyn Strandberg started working as the office manager of Phoenix law firm Peshkin Kotalik & Burghart, she was appalled at the state of the firm's computing equipment. "The components were nonstandard, and everything required custom configuration by the outside technician we were using," Strandberg says. "At one point, we had a series of problems with the equipment, and for a couple months, he was here two to three times a week."
Not only were repair and maintenance bills on a steady climb, but lawyers were losing billable hours for downtime. "We needed to have the equipment up and running at least six days a week," Strandberg says.
A new technician helped Strandberg (pictured) find a solution. First they replaced the hodgepodge of PCs with systems from Dell Computer. Then they outfitted the machines with the same operating systems and software and added a small-business server.
Now, says Strandberg, "The configuration issues that used to plague us are at a minimum, the reliability of our equipment has improved tenfold, and we hardly ever need to call in the technician."
Even partial upgrades can pump up productivity. Ziff Davis Smart Business Labs found that frequently replacing peripherals such as displays and video cards can increase the speed of a PC and thereby the productivity of the employee using it. Our testers found that a business user with a monitor at 1,024-by-768 resolution who upgrades to an 8MB video card from a 4MB card running at 800-by-600 resolution will save 110.2 hours per year.
Likewise, conserving energy can help you slash costs. Start by replacing your CRT monitors. Energy-friendly flat-panel displays use a fraction of the electricity. A 15-inch Energy Star flat panel display sips 25 watts of power, compared with 90 watts for a 17-inch CRT. Because LCDs use less power, they produce less heat, so it costs less to cool an office with lots of monitors. "We estimate that installing flat-panel displays saves 34 percent in power consumption, and then an additional 20 percent on cooling costs," says Chris Connery, product line manager for LCD monitors at NEC-Mitsubishi Electronics Display.
In California, where electricity costs hover around 25 cents per kilowatt hour, the savings with an LCD monitor are even more dramatic and help offset the initial investment in a flat-panel display, which costs three to four times more than a CRT. A study by NEC-Mitsubishi shows that its CRT monitors cost about $40.94 per year in power use, while their LCDs cost about $11.50. Plus, LCDs have a higher resale value than CRTs, which are usually worthless after a year or two.
You can also cut costs simply by buying equipment that's more energy efficient. According to Energy Star, a company with 1,000 typical computers and monitors spends $39,012 a year to keep them running. With Energy Star-labeled equipment, the cost is $17,361. Likewise, 100 laser printers and high-speed copiers that meet Energy Star qualifications save another $2,500 per year on energy costs.
