RAM | Reseller Advocate Magazine: Issue 57

By Chris Angelini

We all have those days where everything seems to be going wrong and the workday can't end soon enough. They usually fall on a Monday, oddly enough, and are accompanied by associates observing as much, highlighted by thoughtful little quips such as "bad things happen in threes, so you still have one to go!" I've learned to accept those days, write them off, and move on.

What really bothers me is when I go into a small business, answer questions, fix odd issues, and leave thinking my company just secured a long-term customer. Sure enough, the phone rings a month later and the same SMB asks for my help with a more sizeable project—call it a server upgrade or switch replacement. Once again, I knock it out of the park in a reasonable amount of time, am able to invoice for less than my estimate, and have reaffirmed, in my own mind, that the customer is happy.

Weeks pass and then months. I never hear from the business, chalking it all up to attrition. But I can't deny that something caused them to stop calling and facing up to the reason why is often worse for me than having a plain old bad day. Then again, I've been on both sides of the fence, losing customers for no apparent reason and picking them up after another reseller fumbled. So when I have the chance to forge a new relationship with an SMB willing to talk, I take note of where the VAR before me failed.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not), most of the complaints I get are nit-picky. And I firmly believe that by proactively tending to a handful of easily addressable issues, most resellers and consultants should be able to keep their customers happy even if a server hard drive fails or a network printer drops offline. Solve the daily annoyances of technology and you're more likely to end up on speed dial as the go-to for larger problems.

Complaint #1:
What's With the Noise?

I'll have to submit a guilty plea here. On more than one occasion, I've procured hardware for a customer expecting one thing and wound up delivering something else. I try to stick with familiar hardware I've worked with in the past, but as any reseller knows, it's impossible to have the scoop on every server, workstation, switch, router, and rack out there. For example, I recently helped a customer—the owner of a pest control company making his first venture into networked computing—install a Linksys switch he had picked up at Best Buy. He was a little nervous, understandably, since all of his information was previously kept on a simple laptop running Windows XP, Quicken, and some specialized inventory software. The workstations had been purchased from a tier-one before I got involved, along with a laser printer he envisioned connected to one machine and shared with the others. Unfamiliar with Internet sharing, he fully expected that only one box with a wireless card would enjoy connectivity from his broadband router one building over.

The installation went excellently. I popped the news that his printer would connect directly to the switch through Ethernet and be available to any system all of the time. Also, XP's ICS feature could turn that one wireless connection into a respectably fast link to his entire office. And then I turned on the switch to make it all happen. Sure enough, everything functioned as planned, but I couldn't ignore the obnoxious buzz from the switch. After checking the small fan to make sure it wasn't rubbing on a wire, I suggested he take the switch back and get another. Today, I'm not sure if he ever did, because while the engagement went well, I left him listening to that pesky little switch and he didn't call back. Now I make it a point to keep track of the components that run quietly and the ones I wouldn't want in my own office. If a customer asks about rackmount servers and I know they don't have a room dedicated to housing an IT infrastructure, I steer them clear until space dictates otherwise. Networking equipment generally isn't a problem. When it is, there's not much to do other than replace the offending piece. Fortunately, VARs have much more control over their whitebox offerings.

As a general rule, noise negatively impacts productivity and increases the stress levels of employees. Whereas buzz from the HVAC and ringing phones can't be helped, there's really no reason brand new computers should be generating noise, especially in the face of nearly silent tier-one boxes your customers may have passed over in order to buy yours. Case fans, power supplies, and processor heatsinks are a few of the most grievous offenders, often designed more to save money than cut back on acoustics.

Most chassis include fans—a pair of 80mm coolers or maybe even a slower 120mm unit. Unfortunately, they're usually not of the highest quality, designed to simply push air more than anything. The easiest way to cut back on case noise is to swap those stock units out in favor of more thoroughly engineered fans. SilenX is a notable favorite due to its emphasis on airflow to noise ratios. An 80mm case fan pushing 24 cubic feet per minute of air only generates 11 dBA, for example. That's the sound level of a good recording studio. Step to a 120mm blower moving 46 cfm and you get the same acoustic performance.

Complaint #2:
My Systems Have Started Crashing

I love that technology centers on science. No matter what the problem, I can always troubleshoot my way out systematically. And yet, I've heard it all, from "it only does this when you leave" to "I swear this thing is haunted" and everything in between. One of the most common complaints I get is that a PC, which once ran fine, is now crashing intermittently without any other sign of trouble. There are many directions you can go with a call like that, but malicious software and overheating top the charts for me.

A well-maintained office has anti-virus software on each machine, along with updated definitions and regularly scheduled scans. But many of your small business customers don't run well-maintained offices and even those that do still manage to contract the occasional malady, be it from spyware or the latest undocumented bug. I had one customer call to say one of his systems stopped opening media files—as in none of the extensions were registered. Group policies hadn't been previously configured and so someone was able to download and install (inadvertently, surely) some form of malware that was fiddling with Windows XP. Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool made quick work of the problem and we moved on.

But for as many times as I've found unwanted software on a workstation, I've probably encountered twice as many physically troubled machines. Nobody denies that heat plays havoc with stability. However, the general consensus seems to be if a system began life running flawlessly, it'll continue to do so indefinitely. The reality is that in as little as three or four months, an otherwise healthy PC can ingest enough dust to clog ventilation grills, heatsink fins, and fan blades. Even a little bit of dirt is enough to reduce cooling efficiency, which is why one of my first suggestions to customers comfortable working under the hood is to check for dust build-up and spray sullied spots with compressed air. For those that aren't, I keep a can of Dust Off in my service bag.

Resellers who make it a force of habit to perform such preventative maintenances while they're on a job should effectively prevent many of those panicked calls and scale up on billable hours.

Complaint #3:
Ugh, What a Mess!

While I've never had a customer phone my office asking for cleaning help, I get the notion from a lot of SMBs that they think technology is inherently messy. For every server added, they cope with 10 more cables. Upsell battery backup, external drives, dual displays, workgroup printers—the clutter multiplies on itself and gets in everyone's way. Worst of all, your customer isn't likely to call two weeks after you've deployed SBS 2003 on a new server with a message that messy cabling is getting under everyone's skin. Instead, it'll annoy them silently until someone else comes along with a solution.

Utilize smart cable management practices from the outset and you'll circumvent any suggestions of sloppiness and impress small businesses customers accustomed to less professional VAR support. Start inside your whiteboxes and apply the same principles to desks, wiring cabinets, and server racks.

A PC with power wiring pulled to the side, IDE cables intelligently routed, and fan leads hidden from view not only looks great, but it also benefits from optimal airflow and consequently lower ambient temperatures. Use tie wraps to consolidate spare power supply connectors and minimize slack from longer SATA cables. Cable clamps, which usually run less than $.50 a piece, help route stray wires out of sight. You can also buy cable sleeving kits from companies such as Vantec that completely envelop larger 24-wire ATX leads, PCI Express power plugs, and smaller 4-pin connectors. Tie wraps and heat-shrink tubing are usually included as nice finishing touches.

Belkin helps address organization outside the chassis with an entire family of cable management panels and bars. Most of its offerings are optimized for rackmount applications, so they measure 19" across. The F4D320 panel is one such product, consisting of five cable-channeling D-rings occupying two rack slots. The F4D352 Strain Relief Bar similarly aids in cable organization, plus it keeps cables from tugging down on their connectors, preventing potentially damaging strain to the physical interface.

Consolidate cabling whenever possible using tools such as KVM switches. Especially in server environments, there's no real need to run multiple mice, monitors, and keyboards. A simple 1U rack-mountable unit such as APC's Multi-Platform Analog KVM should do the trick nicely, driving up to eight servers through a single set of I/O. Add an all-in-one control center like Addlogix's 17" KVM Station, a 1U drawer with integrated 17" LCD, touchpad, and keyboard to cut back further on snaking cables.

As a final organizational hint, think about buying different colored cables and using the same wiring strategy at every site. For example, I have more than one customer in a multi-storey office. The incoming Internet connection is on one floor while the servers are on another, and of course the workstations are scattered all around. Some of the businesses tag the ends of each CAT5e cable to identify source and destination. Others neglect to even go that far. But I like the notion of using one color—blue, let's say—between the wall and router, red between the router and SBS 2003 server, yellow from the server to switch, and grey to each desktop client. At least that way, when workstations are added or servers taken offline for service, you can be darn sure that something critical isn't being disconnected.

Complaint #4:
So…Much…Tech

A small business might start with one computer. Growth necessitates a second. Then an assistant is needed and a third machine is brought in, as well. Storage is consolidated onto a server and so forth and so on. Before they know it, your customers are surrounded by a lot of tech that can easily get overwhelming. My customers never ask me to get rid of it all, but they do occasionally ask how I might make better use of limited office real estate.

I continue to favor pedestal-based boxes for businesses with only one or two servers. They don't add infrastructure complications and are generally quieter than rack-mounted machines. But even small businesses sometimes have big business computing needs. Rather than dropping a full- or even half-sized rack into an office with three or four servers, I'm much more inclined to go with Rackmount Solutions' Portable Table Top Server Rack. Available in 3U, 6U, 9U, 12U, and 15U form factors, you should have little trouble right-sizing with space in mind.

Another way to minimize the visual impact of technology at work is to start using small form factors. One of my architect customers had six people in a single office plugging away at CAD. That many machines, along with as many 21" CRT monitors, consumed most of the room and forced him to run the air conditioning nine hours a day. I hadn't ever outfitted an entire business with small form factor systems, but I suggested it might help deemphasize the technology in his office. We started with the three oldest machines and added 19" LCDs. He called less than a month later to replace the remaining towers and CRT displays. Thanks to a little creative positioning and deep desks, we were able to hide each chassis behind the LCD monitors, freeing up space for those large architectural printouts.

You're the Advocate

Though you make margin on sales and bill your customers for service calls, they also trust you to help make the best, far-sighted decisions for their organization. Sometimes they'll let you know when they're not happy, and other times they'll keep you in the dark. Thus, it pays to solve the problems many small businesses encounter but may never openly discuss in an inquisitive and proactive manner. Cutting back on noise, regularly maintaining hardware and software, organizing clutter, and remembering that most customers don't want to look at big piles of hardware all day are my top four foci. I must be doing something right, too, because the complaint box is empty, and I actually receive an occasional compliment, seldom as those are in the consulting and reseller businesses.