BACKGROUND

There are only a few reasons business in the US spends billions of dollars on technology. These can all be reduced down to:

• Have the capability of creating or doing something/anything that could not be created or done before
• Reduce the cost of doing business, or be more profitable

Unfortunately, all too often the investment in technology results in very little of the first, and even less of the second.

Before I address the few simple things that can be done to reverse this situation, have a seat as I tell you a story.


THE STORY OF THE HORSE FENCE

On our little slice of heaven we have a few animals (ok, seven horses, three alpaca, four dogs, and three cats). Our backyard is surrounded by a 30 year old block pillar and wooden fence. The wood has become so rotted that the dogs constantly break through (which is why we no longer have any of our ducks), and the horses do the same (which is why we no longer have vegetation). So it’s time to tear it down and replace it with a horse fence.

Our very competent welder estimates $1,000 in materials and $1,000 in labor to tear down and haul away the old fence, then put up the horse fence. Given the economic environment, I want to save as much money as possible. I also figure that I’ve got a good education, reasonable intelligence, strong back, motivation, and a free weekend - why give the welder $1,000 when I can do the job myself. It will look and function just as well, and how difficult can the job be? It’s just making some holes, putting up some poles, and filling in with concrete.

I’ll tell you just how difficult it was.

1. Tear down the old fence. Oh, wait - have to keep the dogs and horses out of each others territory. So purchase $200 in temporary fencing and put that up. Now we can can tear down the old fence.

2. Tear down the old fence part 2. Now that I have approximately 5 tons of concrete and block pillars in the middle of my pasture, pay $500 to have it broken down and hauled away.

3. Drill the post holes. Run to The Home Depot to rent a post hole digger - the biggest, baddest one they have - because I want to cut this earth like it was butter. The Home Depot guy says I should be able to do 18 holes in under 2 hours. Just $100.

Six hours later I have 12 holes done, and feel like I’ve just gone a few rounds with a very unhappy bull. In addition, on one of the holes I hit the trifecta! In one sweep I was able to cut through our 220v line feeding the barn and RV pad, our telephone line, and the main irrigation water feed to the pasture. I figure it will take around $150 for the electrician, $150 for the plumber, and I can repair the telephone line.

4. Return the post hole digger. In an almost catatonic state from exhaustion I jump in the truck for a quick trip to the hardware store. Forgetting that I put a long nose pliers in my back pocket (under normal circumstances I would never put a tool in my back pocket - violation of safety guidelines), the pliers poke out of the pocket to leave an eight inch tear in my new custom leather seat. Ok, another $400 for a new seat.

5. Back at the ranch with new tools, ready to set posts. I never imagined just how heavy 60 pound sacks of concrete would feel like after lugging what seems like hundreds of them!

6. Finsh the job. Hey, the end result is almost as good as if the welder did the work! Very proud of myself. Now let’s take an accounting of real costs:
$300 for tools and rentals
$200 for temporary fencing
$500 to break up and haul pillars
$150 for electrician
$150 for plumber
$400 for new seat leather
= $1,700 in my costs in order to save $1,000 in labor. Add in 2 days of very heavy labor when I could have been riding my horse. What a deal!

Cindy and I spent the better part of Sunday laughing hysterically at the silliness of it all. That is, in between back spasms.


AND THE POINT IS....

Ever since mid-2008 I’ve seen an ever increasing income stream from fixing the problems induced by DIY computer support. More and more businesses are attempting to manage and maintain their systems using in-house staff (re: the graphic artist who “really knows Macs” ) to keep things running. Or worse, putting off routine maintenance all together.

But the evidence shows such cost-saving strategies result in the opposite effect. Here are a few examples from the past month alone:

• A very bright and talented surgeon sets up his own backup system. His boot drive dies, only to find out his backup software never functioned properly. Cost to recover data off of the dead drive: $2,500.
• A top attorney with 20 years Mac experience configures her MobileMe to synchronize between home Mac, office Mac, and iPhone. During the synchronization, instead of merging data, all of the calendar and address book data on the office Mac is replaced with that from the home Mac. As she has no other records of client contact information or schedule, her office is in disaster mode.
• A nationally recognized magazine publisher allows their graphic artists and designers (all very Mac-savvy) to manage their own systems. As several of their magazines come back from a press check, it is found that many of the fonts have been substituted, resulting in incorrect page breaks and overall poor design look. The cause is font conflicts and corrupted fonts, induced by the users installing their own fonts improperly. Cost to fix three magazines, including staff over time, technical support, and rush charges at the printer: In excess of $10,000.

I have written an article on how to best improve productivity. Allow me to add just one more tip: Do what you do best, surround yourself with others that do what they do best - and allow them to do it!

Sure, changing your own automobile oil every 3,000 miles is an easy 15-minute task. Why go to the dealership to pay $40 having someone else do it? Because if they make a mistake, they fix it. Because they will also check tire pressure and wear. They will check radiator, brake, and transmission fluid levels. They check air filters and lube your joints. They are trained professionals that most likely will notice a very subtle “something wrong” before it becomes a very costly catastrophe.


THE MACXPERTS CHECKLIST

Linked here is our checklist when performing standard maintenance on a Macintosh. Not listed are the hundreds of subtle sounds, sights, and performance nuances that we evaluate every time we touch one of your computers.

Tags: productivity, Total Cost of Ownership