To Network or Not to Network: Part II

suffered through local area

network installations that left

them with severe technology and

financial hangovers.

Early network

products promised much more than

they delivered. In many cases, the

software that executives depended

on to run a business performed

poorly, if at all, in a networked

environment. Often, too, heavy

usage would bring a network to its

knees. Times have changed--and if

you are stuck with an old,

inefficient network or other

antediluvian computer solutions,

it's almost certainly time for you

to change.

Productivity is essential to

survival. A comprehensive network

solution can be the key to

delivering the productivity you

need. Today's bottom line:

Networking your company's

computers almost always makes

sense--in almost any size company.

Even if you have been burned by

yesterday's overpromised and

underdelivered solutions, it's

time to take another look.

Building Better Fences Faster

Arc-Tech Fencing Systems has been

building fences for residential

and commercial customers for 17

years. With an administrative

staff of three and a small army of

installers, they have become the

second-largest fence company in

Fort Myers. Judy Bassett, who,

with her husband, owns and

operates Arc-Tech, suffered

network nightmares from an

ill-begotten installation of

Novell NetWare Lite in 1991.

Constant computer crashes and

sky-high service bills ($900 in

the worst week) forced Judy to

unplug the network in 1993.

Clearly neither the network nor

her service provider were ready

for prime time. For four years,

everyone resorted to carrying

floppy disks back and forth in

order to share data.

Finally, this year a computer and

operating system upgrade seemed

inevitable. An evaluation of their

needs by Genesis Computer

indicated that a second try at

networking made sense--after all,

they had all the wiring in place.

But their existing Windows 3.1

environment did not support

networking. Happily, with only

three PCs, Windows 95 was

perfectly adequate for their

needs. Not only did Windows 95

support networking, but also its

more intuitive look and feel made

everyone more productive.

The installation was

straightforward. Since wiring was

already in place, it was necessary

only to install Windows 95 on

upgraded computers and to

configure it for networking.

For

the first time, the entire

administrative team had access to

work files. All project

information could be accessed from

any of the three PCs in the

office.

Arc-Tech achieved a critical

multiplier effect by using the

network to leverage the power of

the Fence Program software from

Software Design. This package

enabled an astonishing

productivity increase; a

complicated commercial quote took

fifteen minutes instead of a full

day. With the addition of shared

files, productivity increased even

more. Today, Arc-Tech has tripled

its productivity by combining a

local area network and a powerful,

networkable fence application.

Networking is More than Swapping

Business Cards for PR Firm

Gravina Smith Public Relations had

flourished for many years with

only rudimentary automation.

The

firm boasts an impressive and

stable client roster, including

Bonita Bay Properties, Southwest

Florida International Airport and

Alico Inc. Any technology deficit

was more than balanced by the hard

work of the Gravina Smith team.

Laurel Smith laughingly concedes

that neither she nor her partner

risked being mistaken for computer

nerds. Their eight-person

operation chugged along until late

1996 with MS-DOS PCs and an old

version of Word Perfect. It wasn't

unusual to have a half-dozen

versions of a document on six

different floppy disks.

In the end, it was their

hard-working administrative staff

who nudged them into a networked

environment. It was clear at the

administrative level that

sneaker-net and antique computers

made for less than optimal

efficiency. Once sold by their

staff, Gravina and Smith made the

necessary investment in technology

and in training to ensure avoid

any networking disasters.

A cautiously staged networking

transition managed by Computer

Rescue Squad and many hours of

software training by Scott

Schwartz were critical components

of the technology upgrade. The

entire team thus made a successful

transition from an old stand-alone

environment to a completely

connected system over a period of

several months.

Out went the old war-horse DOS PCs

and the battle-scarred copies of

Word Perfect. In came Windows 95

and Microsoft Office on the

desktop and Windows NT on a

dedicated server. Improved

efficiency, morale and security

have been the direct result of the

network installation, the new

Pentium PCs, and the move to 1990s

software.

Because the change in computing

environments was dramatic, the

company wisely allocated plenty of

time for training and plenty of

time to manage the transition--even

keeping the old computers like

training wheels next to the new

Windows 95 barn burners. It was

only after the administrative team

had developed expertise on the new

computers and software that the

network itself was brought online.

Of course, now that the

organization is networking inside

the office, Gravina and Smith can

get a lot more networking done

outside the office.

Novell Network Brings The Vines

into the '90s

The Vines Country Club has long

had limited networking and country

club-specific software. But

state-of-the-art technology

from 1988 was shop-worn and

relatively ineffective by 1996,

when controller Chris Miller came

onboard. The sad truth about

computers is that yesterday's

leading edge is passe today.

Moreover, now that the Vines is

just 100 homes short of build-out,

its computer systems must support

many more diners and golfers than

it did in 1988.

The existing hardware and software

combination no longer worked well.

In fact, current demands on the

system so crippled its operation

that formerly automated procedures

had to be done by hand. The

inevitable result was waste and

inefficiency. In addition, a

number of key executives were not

a part of the network and could

not easily access the

information necessary to work at

peak efficiency. The only solution

was a complete overhaul of the

network, the computers and the

software.

As Miller says, "It's

essential to keep up with

technology."

The major system upgrades have

just been completed in first two

weeks of September with dramatic

results. Among the key elements of

change: Old Novell network

software was replaced with the

latest version; ancient network

cards were swapped out for new

Ethernet cards; old PCs, including

some 286s (boat anchor material,

for sure) gave way to Pentium

machines; and ancient software,

including a version of Lotus 123,

so old it has keyboard command