The start of an independent professional activity, whether in the form of a liberal profession without collaborators or in the form of a small company with a few employees, must be based on a solid and evolving technical structure. The choice of IT architecture is one of the few major decisions that the entrepreneur must make. The size of its structure does not necessarily allow the use of external consultants, but the criticality of the issue requires being aware of current major trends. The key element in the decision-making process depends on the business software solutions chosen. Whether you are an architect, lawyer or doctor, whether you are a service company or a farm, the profession is generally supported by IT solutions for small businesses. These solutions can adapt to several architectures or on the contrary have demanding specifications which limit the choice of implementation.
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Which workstation to choose?
Apart from a few specific professions in graphics and a few fans who swear by the Mac, Windows solutions are the almost obvious choice for many reasons: lower prices, range of software and application solutions, diversity of suppliers, availability technical skills, etc. The choice must then be made between landlines (cheaper, more powerful) and laptops. These provide great flexibility in use but often require additional equipment (large screen, keyboard, DVD player, etc.) and are liable to be stolen or lost. The choice of computer power depends on the business software solution chosen and future uses. It is essentially a question of determining the processor, the size of the memory and the disk space knowing that for the great majority of professional applications, the normal powers currently available are largely sufficient.
How to connect to the network (local and Internet)?
The various telecom operators have adapted their offers intended for the general public to professionals. These have been significantly improved in recent years thanks to competition which has increased performance and lowered prices. Like the general public, professionals and very small businesses have access to the Internet through a box. When optical fiber is available, do not hesitate to subscribe to it to secure higher speeds. When the Internet connection is absolutely critical, the main subscription must be combined with an additional 4G backup subscription. On the rare occasions when the optical fiber is down, switching to 4G ensures continuity of access. The probability that there is a failure of the wired network and the wireless network at the same time is negligible.
The connection between the workstations and the box can be established by Wi-Fi but it is recommended when possible to use an Ethernet cable. When the number of workstations to be connected is greater than the number of sockets available on the box, a switch must be used to connect more equipment / cables. As opposed to Wi-Fi which can be more capricious, Ethernet cables ensure the transmission of information without loss. This technical benefit is justified when the constraint of the passage of cables can be overcome.