So, as some of you might know, I manage a small/medium tourism business. As well as GM, I’m also the IT Manager (and Safety Manager, Training Manager, Head Barista, Chief Toilet Cleaner, etc etc. You get the idea…)
I know we’ve got some super clever people here, and I know just enough to get myself into trouble. So, in the interests of “why pay an expert to do something, when I can do it myself in 5x the time” I thought I might try to revamp our IT systems… So, I’m seeking advice.
Our setup is pretty simple: cat-6 right through the building, coming to a passive bay and then to a 16 port SMC Switch. That’s hooked to an ASUS DSL-AC55U that provides our Wifi and incoming VDSL. That all seems to work just fine for us, so not looking to change too much there.
Computer-wise, we have four, and looking to add a fifth (laptop). There’s also a small NAS that I have setup as backup destinations for a couple of important databases that live on one of the PCs. The PCs themselves all function pretty much independently, with a tiny bit of file sharing to what I call the “main” computer. Really that’s just for convenience though. Important files live on our MS365 OneDrive/Sharepoint, so those can be accessed from multiple points. Email is through our web provider and works fine (no shared calendars though).
Finally, we get to the point(s): is it worth adding a small server or similar to host a file share, or is that not likely to add any value over OneDrive? What else could I do with a server that I can’t do currently? I did run a headless media server for a few years at home, so I’m vaguely familiar with the concepts and SSH etc.
Then, email: I’d love to have shared calendars (particularly so I can get my work calendar on my phone) - if I shifted my email across to MS365 (presumably I can keep our domain?) then would that add that capability or add any other value?
Anyways, this is mostly a thought exercise at this point, as I sit here in the office on a Saturday, while it’s sunny out and my kids and wife are out having fun lol. Thanks for listening!
So, this is what I do for a living. I work in Enterprise land these days (thousands of users and servers), but I spent a lot of time in SME and non-profit land also.
There are three main paths:
- Self hosted
- Microsoft
Self hosted looks like the cheapest one, but unless you have a person actually doing regular IT, it’s the most expensive. One phishing attack and your files are encrypted/held to ransom. Without IT being there to restore from your regular backups, you are dead in the water. I would not recommend this path if your intent is to set-and-forget.
Microsoft is the benchmark. Everyone knows Office and Outlook, the product is mature and integrates perfectly into Windows, the most popular OS.
Google’s product does pretty much the same stuff, and is easier to manage for a middling IT user. It does some things a bit differently to Microsoft though, and your users may hate the Google browser-based office apps. If they can adapt though, id normally recommend Google for a small business.
Both these will allow you to centrally manage users and files. Both will handle restoring files from backup with no maintenance work from you. Both have video conferencing and calendar/email sharing. Both will let you use your own domain.
Regardless of which you select, I recommend having an MSP on retainer for IT stuff. Just knowing you have IT experts a phone call away is as valuable as insurance. Some of them are cheap to retain and charge by the hour.
I know my rate was 🇦🇺$150/hour when I worked with small businesses 8-10 years ago. No idea what today’s NZ rate is, but that hopefully gives you a ballpark.
Cheers for this, that certainly aligns with other advice (and, if I’m honest, my own thinking, even though I’d love to go down the self hosted route)
I already have a subscription to MS365 (which is used for Word, Excel and OneDrive only) - would that already do what I need, or are there bolt on products to look into?
Will look into support options - we’re rural, so there’s a ”local" guy we use for hardware issues, but could be good to supplement him with an online expert.
Your M365 subscription is a personal one, I assume? The personal plan is just basically Office applications on a SaaS license.
The Business plans are different. They come with more features like exchange, sharepoint, Entra ID authentication to devices. For what you are after, this is what you want - assuming you go the Microsoft path. But yeah, they cost a lot more. It’s 🇦🇺$32.90/user/month (if you pay annually) for the full suite. Not sure whether NZ has different pricing, the site only shows me AUD.
Meanwhile, the Google Workspace starter plan has similar features (if smaller disk quotas) for less than a third of that price (You can upgrade easily if you find the quotas are too stifling for your business. This is why I usually recommend Google for small businesses. Also, Chromebooks are cheap and a doddle to support if you can do all your business inside a browser.
Don’t fall for the trap of getting Google for the first year or so, with the intent of going to Microsoft later. It that’s your intent, swallow the price difference and just get Microsoft from the start. It’ll be cheaper than managing a migration from one to the other down the track.
As for your MSP: they don’t need to be in-person. In fact, I usually supported my clients remotely. Even if I was on an on-site visit for a client, I might have been on the phone/video chat with another client. This is all pre-pandemic. It’s just the nature of that work to be remote most of the time. If you don’t have any actual infrastructure in the office, there is no need to go visit. Particularly if you can handle your own laptop support.
