Charity Computer Set-Up Advice

[Saner]

Hopefully some great minds can help here!

Recently started at a new small charity and one of the jobs is to update the IT side of things.

Currently we have 6/7 i3 laptops (Asus / Acer) all with group licence Windows 7 Pro so they can connect to a sever (HP Proliant ML110) which holds majority of historical files (each laptop is mapped to the network drives) (dropbox is used for other file storage).

There are temperamental hardwired connections (into a linksys switch) for each laptop so we mostly use the wifi. Printed is hardwired over network too.

So, the laptops are slow. Filing all over the place and a serious clean out needed. Being a charity we can get discounts on new Microsoft Software but don't really have the money to do much more (hardware / advice).

We wanted to wipe all the laptops, but can't find the group licence details. Any advice on how best to set up this small network?

We would like to be able to use the laptops outside of the office, and only a couple require specific software, just word processing. Calendar is Google and mail is through just host - perhaps move this to Gmail - or Office 365?

Ditch the server and go windows 10? just use server as a hardrive?

Any ideas and input appreciated.

 

[Jay_A]

Hi mate, the best idea is to list the requirements of;

1. how you plan to work (remotely, on-site?)
2. Who needs access to what data and where
3. The amount of data (MBs or GB's)

This will help design a suitable solution that fits your needs. Depending on the above, Windows 10 with Office 365 and Dropbox Business Edition may just be sufficient without the need for a dedicated server.

Also take in to account information security requirements;
1. What type of data are you handling on laptops? (if confidential, ensure laptops are encrypted - Microsoft Bitlocker is good)
2. Passwords are complex
3. Data is backed up (even when using dropbox, I backup to an external drive)

Happy to help with any advice.

 

[Saner]

Star!

1. 8 members of part-time staff, we have one day where everyone is in, bout most would benefit from being able to work remotely (some of the services we offer are 100% off-site)
2. We have two members of staff that use specialist software, but this may be able to run off a USB. Therefore all the laptops are needed for are to access files, emails, word process (some excel as well). At the moment each person has there own laptop but this isn't really necessary. The charity produces 4 very different initiatives, but the staff all dip in and out of all of them, so access to everything wherever we are would be good. There is one member of staff that is always 100% on-site, admin, doesn't need to take her laptop anywhere actually.
3. 550mb on Dropbox atm 80GB on server (But I have a feeling majority of this is ancient junk, I haven't used any files from there!)

Data on laptops can be personal, but it is not saved on them.

We were considering ditciing teh server and using it as a back-up for any cloud thing. If that is how it works, lol.

 

[Jay_A]

An Office 365 subscription might be useful here.

https://products.office.com/en-gb/business/get-latest-office-365-for-your-business-with-2016?&omkt=en-GB&WT.mc_id=PS_Google_O365SMB_office 365 plans&WT.srch=1

The Business Premium package gives you (£7.80 per month per user);

• Business-class email with 50 GB mailbox
• Desktop version of Office 2016: Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Web version of Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• One license covers 5 phones, 5 tablets, & 5 PCs or Macs per user
• 1 TB file storage & sharing
• HD video conferencing with Skype for Business*
• 24/7 Phone & web support for critical issues

Also upgrade each PC to Windows 10 Pro and encrypt the hard drives with Bitlocker (protects your data in the event a laptop is lost or stolen). Might need to upgrade the hard drives on the laptops, depending how big they are, to ensure you have room for all the data.

Archive off the old data you don't need, see what you have left and you may be able to put it all in to OneDrive (Microsoft's Dropbox, which you get 1TB of with Office 365). Looks like you can all share data that way then.

I would then just backup that data to an external drive (also encrypted) once a week or so and keep offsite somewhere.

 

[Saner]

@Jay_A , that is excellent. Was looking at https://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/nonprofits/products/ as it was free, but Microsoft do what you mentioned above for (https://products.office.com/en-gb/nonprofit/office-365-nonprofit-plans-and-pricing) £1.30 for NFP's

Whats the benefit of 10 Pro over normal? not sure if Pro is available for charities.

 

[Jay_A]

@Jay_A , that is excellent. Was looking at https://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/nonprofits/products/ as it was free, but Microsoft do what you mentioned above for (https://products.office.com/en-gb/nonprofit/office-365-nonprofit-plans-and-pricing) £1.30 for NFP's

Whats the benefit of 10 Pro over normal? not sure if Pro is available for charities.

Pro upwards supports Bitlocker, but the laptop hardware must have a "TPM" chip for the hardware encryption to work (sorry forgot that).

The home edition also does basic encryption, so that could be worth looking in to. Apologies, I've not tinkered with Windows 10 to know it inside and out, but would recommend it for performance, reliability and security.

Also not used the Google alternatives, so can't comment sadly.