This post will be fairly brief, just a list of the products and services that I use and implement for customers. Everyone has favorite brands, and reasons for them. As I’ve worked in the small office environment for a long time, these are the brands that I have found reliable and deliver the best price/performance in a business office.
If you’d ask me what I recommend for your small business or church office, below are my answers. (I get no compensation for mentioning any of them.)
| PRODUCT / SERVICE | | |
|---|---|---|
| Backup | | ComputAssist, iDrive |
| | | ComputAssist for business, iDrive for home. But most important, some kind of backup & recovery solution for everywhere. This is the most important thing you can do for your digital life. If you don’t have a tested recovery solution, drop what you’re doing and fix that now! |
| Desktop operating system | | Mac OS X, Windows 10 |
| | | Consider Mac OS X if you are not tied to a Windows-only line-of-business app. |
| Server OS | | Devuan Linux |
| | | Free & free, stable, reliable, cross-platform, efficient, secure. |
| PC | | Dell, Lenovo, Intel NUC |
| | | Small-form-factor PCs are great for almost eveyone, energy-saving and quiet. Dell has the Micro, Lenovo has the Tiny, Intel has the NUC. All highly recommended. |
| Laptop | | MacBook Pro, Thinkpad T |
| | | As with PCs, switch to Mac unless you have a business application that only runs on Windows. Those of you who know me say, “What, no Linux?” Nope, not for everyday end users. It’s great, it’s all I use for myself, but the marketplace has trained users to expect one desktop environment, one control panel, one file manager, etc. (whether it’s Windows or Mac.) The diverse world that is Linux presents so many choices it’s baffling. |
| Small office server | | Synology Diskstation |
| | | Phenomenal small servers that can do so much more than serve files. Backups, VPN, camera surveillance, web apps and virtual machines are all in their bag of tricks. |
| Printer | | Brother |
| | | All printers have their bad days. I’ve had fewer with Brother than most. Brother is also the most cross-platform, work-with-anyone brand I have found. And they don’t disable your printer if you use third-party cartridges. |
| Router | | Untangle z4 hardware |
| | | A feature-complete router/firewall/threat management system that’s still fairly easy to use, owing to their very good browser interface. They have a free or subscription based model. Both are good, but go with the subscription for business. |
| Workstation/laptop drive | | Samsung SSD |
| | | For me they are a no-brainer. Good performance, reliability and price package. Need an SSD? OK, what size Samsung would you like? |
| Office suite | | LibreOffice |
| | | A Free and free, open-source office suite that can do what you are likely to need in a small business. Does it match MS Office feature-for-feature? No, but give it a trial and see if you miss anything. The one missing piece is an Outlook replacement. But I encourage you to quit desktop Outlook and start using a browser for email anyway. |
| Web browser | | Firefox |
| | | This web browser is the only one that is open-source and supported by a non-profit company. Mozilla’s mission is to deliver a secure, free, open-source browser without monetizing you by collecting your private data. |
| Search | | Duckduckgo |
| | | DDG is “the search engine that doesn’t track you.” They retain no history of your web searches. They don’t sell your data to advertisers. It’s been their mission from the beginning. |
| Web site framework | | WordPress |
| | | There was a time when WordPress was bug-ridden and insecure, and no self-respecting web author would use it. Welcome to now, where WP is mature, powerful yet easy to use, and in use by dabblers and professionals alike. There are so many templates and plugins to add to its framework, and it can save you so much time, you’d need a specific reason to use something else. |
| Inexpensive cell phone plan | | PureTalk |
| | | I discovered this MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) a number of years ago. Like many today, they offer simple no-frills plans for a great value. Get all the minutes and gigs you need at a huge discount from the big name providers. |
| Inexpensive home phone service | | VoIP.ms |
| | | I saved this for last, because to take advantage of it you’ll need to do a little studying. VoIP.ms provides the phone-over-internet service, and you provide the digital handset or adapter for your home. They have all the tutorials you need to get set up, and will port your number in for free. I average less than $5 a month for home phone using their services. |
I hope this list is helpful to you. I’ve saved you a bunch of research, and you won’t go wrong with any of these options.