“What’s the best way to do email?”

If you already use Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, etc.) you might as well sign up for Office 365 Business Standard at $12.50/mo/user on an annual commitment. Super pro tip: Don’t sign up for Office 365 through GoDaddy, their integration is absolute dogwater and I make quick money decoupling it for people. If the Outlook flavor of emails isn’t your style, aren’t tied down to Microsoft Office apps (Libre Office and Open office only get better over time) then Google Workspace Business Starter at $6/mo/user on an annual commitment. I use both (one with a subdomain, i.e. subdomain.example.com) so I can use Microsoft’s and Google’s cloud ecosystems.

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“How do I set up email?”

Office 365 and Google Workspace provide step-by-step instructions and can even perform the DNS setup on your behalf in some instances. A forewarning though, try to register your website with reputable registrars. This means avoid Network Solutions like the plague since they will nickel and dime you for every possible thing. GoDaddy is at the cusp of being decent enough, but signing up for CloudFlare or Route 53 isn’t bad these days and are far more scaleable, allows quicker propagation times, and are enterprise-tier for barely a difference in cost. To set up your example.com domain with Office 365 or Google Workspace it will ask you to create TXT record(s) to prove that you own the domain first where with your registrar you choose TXT as the record type, paste in the hostnames and values given to you, and set the TTL for something low like 1 hour. After that, for email to work you will need to create a MX record and SPF record, in a similar fashion for ownership, you will choose the record type, paste the values, and set a low TTL. Quick note, SPF records are TXT in case you need to know which type to choose. Once everything is in place and working as intended you can increase the TTLs to something like 1/2 weeks or even 1 month and delete the ownership verification TXT record.

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“How do I choose a computer?”

Stick with Dell, HP, or Lenovo and, this is important, their business series of offerings. For Dell this is XPS, for HP it’s Envy/EliteBook, and for Lenovo ThinkCentre/Thinkpad. So many small and new businesses have a fleet of lower end models which are less reliable, less powerful, and more difficult to perform part replacements for. As for the specs, this varies quite a bit as you could just be someone who needs the internet or a videographer who will churn through a GPU. So here’s some quick considerations for what to pick:

RAM - Make sure it’s at least DDR4, if buying used don’t buy anything with DDR3. 4GB will get you by for light use, 8 GB is standard use for QuickBooks/Office/etc., 16 GB for power users working with many large spreadsheets, accounting software, analysis, etc. software running at once, and 32+ GB for you graphic designers, videographers, etc.

Storage - SSD only, they are so cheap nowadays and Windows as of 10, and apps built for it, kind of assume you have a SSD to be performant. Click on File Explorer -> This PC to see your current usage, I ballpark 256 GB as the minimum but if you don’t have a dedicated storage server/NAS you’ll need something bigger +10-25% to account for data growth as a just in case.

CPU - Scales similar for RAM, modern day Intel i3s / AMD Ryzen 3s go a long way for light usage, my golden standard is an i5 / Ryzen 5, and power users will want an i7 / Ryzen 7. Potentially some of you more computer-intensive folks will want to go with even an i9 / Ryzen 9.

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“How do I backup?”

For your intents and purposes there’s two types of backups you’ll want to be taking simultaneously, system-level and file-level. A system-level backup captures an “image” of your computer, meaning that if Windows goes haywire, you get hacked, or otherwise end up needing to reinstall or use a new computer entirely, you can apply the image and be back where you were exactly, data and apps included. A file-level backup is like it sounds, it only backs up your data but not your apps or other settings. For file-level backups I get good feedback from users using the OneDrive and Google Drive apps on their computers depending on whether they’re on Office 365 (OneDrive) or Google Workspace (Google Drive). For system-level backups, I highly recommend getting a backup drive from Wal-Mart and pay for an actual backup program like Acronis, Macrium, or Veeam (my favorite). At the very least send your system-level backups to your external drive once a week/month and keep them locked in a fireproof safe until needed again. For extra redundancy some services like Acronis and SOS Online will allow you to also keep these system-level backups in the cloud.

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Other quick tips:

• Antivirus isn’t expensive and is your friend. If you’re on Windows 10/11 the built-in Defender goes a long way with minimal setup, but for extra piece of mind clients like to also have Webroot on top or if on Office 365 Defender for Business which is a +$3/mo/computer add-on.
• Get your business on Google Maps! Google’s instructions on claiming your business are simple and just involves you entering yours and your business’ information and receiving a postcard in the mail with a verification code. If you’re still in the process of figuring out a website, being able to at least have a Google Maps listing goes a long way and Google even offers free/low-cost simple website hosting you can use side-by-side.
• Take an inventory and keep it updated. This doesn’t need to be time intensive but do go around with a labelmaker and label your computers, printers, phones, network, etc. even if it’s something simple like PC-1, Phone-1, Comcast Modem and make a corresponding spreadsheet. If you ever need to bring in a consultant/MSP this will make getting pricing information and whatnot quicker.
• If you have payment processing equipment and are subject to PCI DSS (you’d know) get an IT resource to help you, paying us one time a year to check all the technical details can save you tens of thousands of dollars in enforcement fees, still feel bad for a business I helped with after the fact.
• When choosing an IT provider, keep them accountable. You will face discussions for monthly agreements which are worth it for many, but make sure the terms are in your favor in terms of SLA breach remediation and having a fair exit clause. Make sure that even if your provider doesn’t have technical account managers formally that you have a point person you can rely on when all else fails with them.

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My background is 12 years in IT and going with 10 being in a MSP environment and 2 with a FAANG. I currently only provide residential services because of my current FAANG employment but had clients consisting of other MSPs, small businesses (1-60 user), and non-profits. I have worked for two great MSPs and two unsavory ones, both in terms of employee and client treatment. Decided to make this post since I went to a chamber luncheon for once recently and some people had questions for me. I also see these questions pop up time to time on this sub so I figured to collect the common ones in one place. Feel free to chip in fellow IT folks!