Can I Really Run My Small Office On Macs? One Company's Example

In researching for this article, I couldn't decide on how to organize the content at first. Should I write based on the type of person using Macs (student, IT professional, road warrior, etc.)? Or should I present the reader with a product-centric focus? Finally I realized that the best way is to write from my experience and tell you what my company has done.

My Small Office.I run a small business with two other partners. Our business plan hatched a couple of years after Apple launched the white iBook (aka iceBook). By that time, a partner and I have become complete Mac converts after owning iBooks and using Mac OS X and were convinced that Apple once again is onto something insanely great. We decided to start a business to help all the local Mac users, newbies and old-timers alike.

Our first company computers were a used PowerMac G4 and three iBooks. Now we operate on a PowerMac dual-G4, MacBooks, several external FireWire/USB drives, and various lab/test systems (an old iBook G3, PowerBook G4, and a Mac mini G4).

Small Office Software. In the beginning, we stuck with AppleWorks as our “Office” suite. That worked well when our customers were Mac users. However, many times our customers are in a mixed Windows and Mac environment, and document exchange between AppleWorks and Microsoft Office sometimes became an issue. Later on we purchased Office for Mac in order to exchange files with our customers more efficiently and seamlessly. However, we also run NeoOffice, an open source Office-compatible suite, or Google Docs, and may very well hold off on spending money on Office upgrades in the future.

We also use Keynote for catchy presentations (paired with FrontRow and Apple Remote for greater effect) and Pages for some newsletters and published materials.

The accounting software we use is Intuit QuickBooks Pro. It's a popular accounting application with a long history backed by a company known for making financial management software. QuickBooks Pro comes in both Windows and Mac versions, and the datafile is compatible between the two operating systems with some caveats.

Even as a small company, I would recommend looking into a customer relationship management (CRM) software to create more value for your leads. You may have heard of CRM from the big players like Oracle (bought out competitor Siebel), Microsoft, and SAP. Their CRM packages are often priced beyond the reach of a small office, not to mention the additional consulting and implementation costs associated with their offerings. Now, thanks to open source, there's SugarCRM for the rest of us. We run SugarCRM on our PowerMac Web server set up for remote, intranet access.

Email. Our company email system is hosted by a third party and has POP/IMAP enabled for email client access. Apple Mail is a good client to use which is included in Mac OS X. These days you may wish to just use the Web browser to read emails as many hosting companies offer Webmail access, but keep in mind that doing so relies on Internet access as needed (emails are not stored locally).

Recently we have switched to the open source Zimbra Collaboration Suite to provide better groupware capabilities. Zimbra is a Microsoft Exchange compatible package that runs mainly on Linux. It allows users to share calendars and contacts, and because it is compatible with Exchange you can sync it with ActiveSync-enabled mobile devices. We have no problems getting push email for our T-Mobile Dash (Windows Mobile 6) and Nokia E61 (S60v3) smartphones.

Remote Access. Since each of us work from home, remote access to company servers is important. Each Mac is loaded with Apple Remote Desktop and each PC with VNC so that a system administrator can connect to a computer to troubleshoot and perform administrative tasks. Luckily, the latest Apple Remote Desktop is also VNC-compatible, therefore just getting the Apple software is enough to serve the whole enterprise.

Another aspect for remote access is for it to be secure. We have set up virtual private networking (VPN) in order to access company systems securely. Our VPN server is simply the PowerMac running Mac OS X Server.

We also setup VPN and VNC services for some of our customers so that we may perform remote troubleshooting, saving everyone time and money.

Networking. We use the love Apple's AirPort wireless stations, starting with the “snow” AirPort Base Station. Now I have AirPort Extreme in my home office. Once you have tried wireless networking, you will never go back to cables. Setting up any AirPort base station is literally “plug and play.” You can have wireless connectivity in 10 minutes or less as the AirPort Utility guides you step by step to wireless bliss.

Of course, since Apple follows the existing wireless networking standards (802.11a/b/g/n), you can also set up your office with non-Apple wireless routers or access points. They will work just as good, but you will miss out on the elegant and user-friendly AirPort software.

But Windows Is Here To Stay. Macs can definitely handle all your small office needs, but what if have that obscure, proprietary piece of office software that'll run only on Windows. Well, under Apple CEO Steve Jobs' direction, all recent Macs are now running the same Intel CPU as PCs, which means these days the main difference between a Mac and PC is the operating system (or software).

Apple itself has enabled the dual-boot feature by releasing Boot Camp (Public Beta version). This means using Boot Camp you can select to either start your computer up in Mac OS X or Windows.

Another option is using virtual machines, enabling you to run Windows (or other Intel-based operating systems such as Linux) within Mac OS X. Check out products from Parallels and VMWare.

CodeWeavers' CrossOver Mac allows you to run certain Windows applications without having Windows. Users are urged to check its software compatibility charts.

Eugene Liu is a co-founder and partner of Jambo Consulting, an Atlanta-based IT consulting firm specializing in Mac-centric solutions for medium and small businesses. The first Apple product he owned was the Newton MessagePad 130, and he still has the MP2100.

DIG DEEPER

Apple Small Business Homepage

Microsoft Mactopia, Google Docs, NeoOffice, Apple Pages & Keynote

Intuit QuickBooks Pro

SugarCRM

Zimbra Collaboration Suite

Apple Remote Desktop, VNC

Apple AirPort Homepage

Apple Boot Camp Homepage,

Parallels Desktop for Mac,

VMWare Fusion,

CodeWeavers CrossOver Mac

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Your Comments:

Here's an article on HT run your business with Macs using only web apps:

http://2aday.wordpress.com/2007/05/25/how-to.../

 jbelkin
 08/01/2007  at  01:30 PM

Great link, J. We will try to cover this stuff more in the future!

 Chris K
 08/01/2007  at  01:42 PM

Hi there. I'd say you can run a small office on almost any platform these days. Personally, I prefer macs But I use google for mail, cal, documents, RSS etc, via firefox. I'd use the likes of xero.com for accounting (I think there are US equivilents), Adium for IM, VNC for remote access, anything from 37signals.com (basecamp, backpac, hirise) for CRM et al, etc.

It all integrates SO well with the mac

 Nic Wise
 08/01/2007  at  09:28 PM

You really can run your small office on Macs. Lots of good links in the Dig Deeper section. The free NeoOffice works well as a Microsoft Office replacement.

 Neil Anderson
 08/02/2007  at  06:29 PM

Any recommendations on ways my new MacBook 13 can help me keep track of billable hours? Not a lawyer--self-employed consultant with several clients I work for sequentially during every day but for different times each. At the moment I make tedious Word text lists for each client, writing it down at the end of each day (to the best of my memory) but there has to be a better way. No? Thanks for all advice.

 Joanne
 01/06/2009  at  02:21 PM

Joanne, there is a lot of competition in this space. You just need to do a few searches. For billing, I sent my wife to FreshBooks which she loves. There may be a tracking component there too.

 Chris Kerins
 01/06/2009  at  04:03 PM

Neil Anderson, there is an app that I am using called Billings by http://www.marketcircle.com. It is great for keeping track of your work done on a certain project. It has a clock with a start and stop button that resides in your menu bar at the top of your screen. It will keep track of time, expenses, and other items you may use on a project or job. When you are done, Billings will generate a invoice in a PDF format to send to your client. There are multiple templates to choose from for the look of your invoice.

 Ted Lamb
 01/13/2009  at  10:24 AM