Small Business Ideas
Light up keyboards for business laptops
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Small Business, Laptops submitted by derricktwo
Jun 24
I'm fortunate enough to have made it in this industry without really knowing how to type. I can type fairly fast, but I have to look at the keys while I'm doing so. I highly doubt I am the only person that needs to do this. I noticed that the Alienware notebooks have an option to add a light up keyboard. I think this would a great feature to have on Dells business class laptops. This would allow people to work in bed without needing to turn on the lights, or during night flights for a business trip.
420
Ubuntu on all models where it works
Linux, Operating Systems, Small Business submitted by jonsmirl
08/01/07 **IN PROGRESS**
I'm still throwing away copies of Windows. Recently I have ordered some Dimension 9200s from Small Business. All of these machines are running Ubuntu today without problem. They're being used to replace some PE400SCs that are starting to die. A 2GB quad core for $649 was too good a deal to pass up. It makes a great small server.
Please offer Ubuntu as a choice on all configurations where it works. I would have still paid $649 for the box and you could have kept the money you're sending to Microsoft.
We continue to explore different Linux opportunities on our systems. Check out daniel_j's comment below.
11410
Buy Motorola's handset division (its a steal right now)
Broadband and Mobility, Dell, Small Business submitted by jervis961
Jul 10
Dell is always looking for new opportunities to expand its offerings and become a one stop shopping spot for business and government. The one thing Dell has been lacking is cell phones.
Recently Motorola's handset division has fallen upon hard times and they are looking to get rid of it. Just last year an analyst valued the division at $8 BILLION but now the same analyst has said that Motorola would be lucky to fetch $500 million. Another Analyst has gone as far as to say Motorola may need to pay a company to take the division off its hands.
Strike while the price is low Dell and scoop up Motorola's handset division. You already have the guy who knows how to run it and with Dell's resources you could easily make a killing in the long run.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/10/anaylst-says-motorola-would-be-lucky-to-ge...
110
Low profile, solid state servers
Servers and Storage, Small Business, Simplify IT submitted by arbitraryconstant
Jul 6
We've had great success with lower profile servers internally and with clients. Some examples of OEMs that sell these machines:
http://www.soekris.com/
http://www.portwell.com/
There's a few key attributes that define these sorts of machines, and give them their advantages over more conventional entry servers, if an entry server doesn't cost much more:
-Cheap SSDs as the default storage (typically compact flash). If there's not much I/O, these are less of a maintenance headache than RAID. Hard drives are handy if they're optional.
-Lower overall system power. These machines use embedded or mobile CPUs for the most part, and this also leads to fewer fans (or none). This makes the system quiet, allows it to be deployed in poorly ventilated areas, reduces power usage in a rack, etc.
-Serial console in addition to VGA, since a display and keyboard aren't always convenient if the machine is in a closet somewhere (Linux can handle this). Many organizations are used to dealing with serial consoles on their switches, so this isn't that big a deal.
We've used systems like this as file servers, various things that don't virtualize well like busy DNS servers, firewalls, etc. The power available in lower power platforms has even expanded to the point where Windows servers aren't even a problem.
The big problem with Soekris and Portwell and OEMs like them are that they really leave you to your own resources in a lot of ways. The documentation is highly technical but doesn't cover OS support, and they don't offer fast turnaround support contracts or supported OSes and software. Ultimately this is worthwhile if you're using more than a few of the machines, but an OEM like Dell would be welcome because the support would be much better for shops too small to do the homework necessary to do support in-house.
130
Give all N models the same hardware customization options as the identical non-N options
Dell, Dell Web Site, Desktops, Dimension products, Inspiron products, Linux, Small Business, XPS products, Desktops and Laptops, Laptops submitted by laptoplinux
9:52am
Why is it that the hardware customization options on N models are not identical to the non-N models. For example, the Inspiron 530 and the 530N. The 530 has an option for a wireless internet card. The 530N does not. There are other discrepancies between what is offered on the 530 and what is no offered on the 530N. These are the exact same machines. Same case. Same processor options. Same memory options. Same hard drive options. Yet somethings are left out of the 530N. Why is it this way? Why can they be just as easily on the 530N as well? Don't they come of the same or similar enough assembly line?
30
Make Dell Ubuntu PCs available to businesses and non-profits
Linux, Sales Strategies, Small Business submitted by wyleyr
06/20/07 **UNDER REVIEW**
Dell is apparently not yet willing to sell Ubuntu-based PCs to business users, non-profits, or other organizations larger than a "home office." See this Ubuntu forum thread for more:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=478975
If Dell is serious about offering "choice" to consumers -- the main reason that they're offering up Ubuntu -- they ought to offer it to all their customers, including commercial and non-profit organizations.
Perhaps the greatest barrier here is that these other customers often require different support contracts than home users. It wouldn't be necessary to offer the same support options to organizations that purchase Ubuntu PCs as are offered to home users, or to organizations that purchase Windows PCs. (Perhaps Dell doesn't need to offer any support at all, except for hardware; as long as Canonical can support these organizations.) But they ought to at least have the option of buying the boxes, even if they have to get support in a different way.
7390
Let Home customers know it's OK to buy from the Business section and vice versa.
Advertising and Marketing, Sales Strategies, Small Business submitted by jmxz
May 7
From a conversation with Dell's robert_p, under a different Idea it seems that "Home" customers are welcome to buy from Dell's "Small & Medium Business" section, and Dell's "small and/or medium business" customers are welcome to buy from Dell's "Home & Home Office" section.
This is very useful since often computers in the "Small Business" section may be more appropriate for home use (the Latitude's light weight and reliability make it a great college computer); and often computers in the "Home" section may be more appropriate for office use (where the better graphics options in Home are valuable for graphical visualization). It's also useful because an identically-spec'd system may be cheaper the Home Section one week, and then be cheaper in the Small Business section the next.
I think many Dell Business and Home customers are missing out on the best deals and failing to find machines that meet their needs because the home user's are afraid of falsely claiming to be a business and because the business customers are afraid of falsely claiming to by buying systems for personal use.
So a few ideas:
1. Assuming robert_p's right in saying Home Customers are welcome to buy from Small Business - add links to the Home product pages saying "If you don't see what you need here, check out Dell's Small Business section. You're welcome to buy those for Home use too".
2. Assuming robert_p's right in saying Small Business are welcome to buy from the Home section - add links to the Small Business product pages saying "If you don't see what you need here, check out Dell's Home section. You're welcome to buy those for Business Use too".
3. Extrapolating - if it's also OK for Home an Small Biz customers to buy from Dell's "Large Business" and "Government, Education, Healthcare & Life Sciences" section, add those links too.
4. Make a price comparison engine that compares the prices of an identically spec'd system from each of Dell's sections so I don't have to manually dig through all of your painful to navigate website sections to compare Home vs Small Business myself.
710
Ditch the Home/Small Business/Enterprise trichotomy
Sales Strategies, Small Business, Laptops submitted by majid
02/17/07
What products I am interested in do not correlate with myself or my company size. It used to be that high-end thin-and-light laptops would not be available in the Home segment, only the Enterprise segment. I'm sorry, just because I am a small-business owner or a home user does not mean I am ready to settle for inferior options deemed "good enough" by the powers that be.
This whole notion of three segments is a relic of a company-centric rather than customer centric marketing culture.
4003
Extra AC Adapter for business notebooks
Small Business submitted by doxigrafix
12/02/07
I noticed that on the Home/Home Office side, one can order an extra AC power cord with a laptop. Why isn't this option available for a small business user? I just ordered a Vostro and really could use a second adapter! I carry the doggone thing back and forth and I'd like to have one power cord for home and the other for work. It sure would be handy!
230
Consolidate Accounts and Services
Service and Support, Small Business submitted by diogenes
02/16/07
As a long time "partner direct" participant, small business owner, and tech-support provider, it would be nice to be able to contact Dell - whether it be for my small business, concerning my line of credit, to get a quote on a new laptop, or order a part for a customer - and actually have my website experience and time speaking with any of the many customer service representatives reflect all of my dealings with the company. (I don't know who is handling Dell Credit/Dell Financial Services/Department of Zero Customer Knowledge, but it's quite obvious that it's not Dell.)
Hewlett-Packard is so bad at this we don't even tell customers we're HP resellers anymore. Don't even get me started on the Microsoft Partner Program. If Dell could master this, the evangelism from small re-sellers/service providers like us would go through the roof.
86
Vostro 1000-1700 Ubuntu Systems
Linux, Small Business, Vostro products submitted by tekhawk
07/18/07 **NOT NOW**
the Vostro 1000-1700 line looks like a perfect fit to the ubuntu/linux os show your support in getting ubuntu office computers and hopfully these will be good options as low cost school computers to for students with ok graphics power and performance
990
Preloaded corporate image
Servers and Storage, Small Business, Simplify IT submitted by jmuzic1
02/19/07
When I worked as a lowly help desk lackey, I always dreaded the usual provisioning of a new computer for an employee. I always thought it would be a great idea if Dell would allow customers (mostly corporate customers in this case) upload a system image to the Dell website which would be used in provisioning new systems under specific buying accounts. Instead of loading the hard drive full of stuff that will just be erased by the company, allow Dell to provision the hard drive with a customer-supplied base image that would allow a computer to immediately be placed on a new employee's desk after being unwrapped.
198
Preconfigured supercomputer (Dell is a top-4 supercomputer vendor)
Dell, Servers and Storage, Small Business submitted by jmxz
03/16/07
Looking at the list of top-500 supercomputer vendors:
http://www.top500.org/static/lists/xml/TOP500_200611_all.xml
I see that by any metric, Dell is one of the top 3 or 4 vendors.
Please make this expertise more accessible to commercial customers by selling a pre-installed/pre-configured supercomputer that combines the best of the 17 systems Dell has on these lists -- including the OS pre-installed and configured - all the cables I need to connect them - the power & cooling requirements - etc. Even if noone buys that exact machine from your web site - that info will be an excellent starting point for anyone wanting to build a supercomputer out of Dells. This could bring supercomputers down to the point where even small business could manage one.
Oh, and I have to note:
Of the supercomputers on that list where Dell is the vendor *EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS RUNNING LINUX*. Makes it look pretty silly that you keep saying you recommend Vista but when you deliver serious systems you use Linux every time.
100
Another update on your Linux progess
Inspiron products, Linux, Small Business submitted by jmxz
04/09/07
I've been checking IdeaStorm and http://direct2dell.com/ daily waiting for information on your progress on Linux laptops - especially a higher-end home or small-business laptop.
I notice that on http://direct2dell.com/ you've given many updates on some of the other idea storm ideas (Vista driver issues; and resuming XP shipments) -- but no updates for quite some time on your Linux Laptop progress.
I'm ready to buy a new laptop now - and the only OS's I'm considering are MacOS and Linux.
If you can say your Linux Inspirons for Home or Small Business will be coming in a couple weeks I'd be happy to wait for you because I've been happy with Dells in the past (both desktops long ago and Linux servers recently).
100
Ralph Nader sent Michael Dell good ideas in 1998. Time to reconsider some of these ideas.
Dell, Small Business submitted by jmxz
04/19/07
Ralph Nader send Michael Dell an Open Letter in 1998 with many good ideas.
I realize some of his ideas are dupes of other ideastorm ideas; but some aren't and he writes better and explains the ideas better than many of us. Dell should dig up this old email from their archives and reconsider those
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.os.linux/browse_thread/thread/236d153726c4... Ralph Nader
P.O. Box 19312, Washington, DC 20036
R...@essential.org
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
http://www.cptech.org | 202.387.8030 |...@cptech.org
March 9, 1998
Michael Dell
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Dell Computer Corporation
One Dell Way
Round Rock, TX 78682
Fax 512 728 8366
Dear Mr. Dell:
We are writing to make a simple request -- offer your customers choices. Give them the option of buying a PC computer without Microsoft Windows. Continue to offer customers the pportunity to buy a PC with MS Windows pre-installed, but don’t make this mandatory. Don’t make this the only way that a customer can buy a personal computer.
Today there exist several alternative operating systems, and there are customers who are willing to try and who want to try alternatives.
As you know, there are many benefits to the consumer when the OEM ships a computer with an OS already installed. Among other things, the consumer expects that the hardware will be a feasible configuration for the OS. The ease of initial setup is also an important consideration
for many customers.
We ask that you offer the option of at least some alternative to the Windows OS. Alternatives do exist which should be available to consumers. For example, there is clearly a growing interest in the Linux platform. It is our understanding that major OEMs have rejected requests to offer PCs pre-loaded with Linux, even by mail order. This is a very large barrier for this increasingly popular alternative. There are other alternatives as well. Soon the highly reviewed BeOS will debut for the Intel platform. Other OS alternatives are or will be available for this hardware platform, including Caldera’s Open Dos/Spider technology or Apple’s Rhapsody.
Yet another alternative to consider are dual boot machines, that would run Window plus another OS. This is becoming far more appealing as computers ship with large disk drives. With a dual boot option, which works with off the shelf software, consumers could experiment, and have the best of both worlds.
There is much talk about consumers having chosen Microsoft’s OS, but if consumers can only buy computers with Windows pre-installed, competition clearly suffers.
We believe consumers would benefit from more OS competition. Many of the alternatives to Windows are far more open systems, are far more fault tolerant, and require less hardware resources. The rise of the Internet has created an environment whereby consumers can easily exchange information using standard Internet protocols and standards, such as ftp, Internet email or HTML. The increasing use of Java makes cross platform program development easier. These developments in technology make alternative OSs more attractive to consumers, since data is less a prisoner to a legacy OS. While Microsoft has been accused of trying to destroy the Internet’s system of open standards, and Java’s cross platform nature, this hasn’t occurred yet. With more competition in the PC OS market, the entire Internet system, which is based upon interoperability, is more likely to grow and prosper.
Please let us know your firm’s plans to offer consumers a choice for an OS.
Sincerely,
/s/ Ralph Nader
/s/ James Love Some context for the letter is also given in the linked article: - Nader and CPT wrote the OEMs after learning that Dell
and other OEMs were reluctant to offer a Linux client
PC on the grounds that it would harm the OEM's relationship
with Microsoft.
210
A Dell Linux Timeline - The Countdown Begins <strike>today</strike> in 1992.
Dell, Linux, Small Business submitted by jmxz
04/20/07
For those newer to Linux, here's a timeline of Dell's involvement with Linux.
The Idea for IdeaStorm is that Dell should support Linux as well as it had in the past (before the Mar 2002 event)
I consider this document a work-in-progress and any additions are welcome.
PLEASE Find more links and post them in the comments and I'll add them to the timeline.
- Feb 1992 · Linux runs fine (except for swapping) on a Dell 235D (25Mhz 386).
- Mar 1992 · Dell employees help vote for the creation of comp.os.linux
- Aug 1992 · Dell employees active on the Linux-Activists mailing lists.
- Oct 1994 · Dell employees help thier customers run Linux on Notebooks with a footnote that"In this isolated instance these are indeed the opinions of my employer"
- Jun 1995 · Dell tests Linux on Notebooks and notes to potential customers "OS/2 Warp is supported. Linux isn't officially supported but unofficially, it works fine. I've been using these machines for over a year... I'm on the notebook design team at Dell.".
- Mar 1998 · Ralph Nader sends a letter to Michael Dell requesting pre-installed Linux "after learning that Dell and other OEMs were reluctant to offer a Linux client PC on the grounds that it would harm the OEM's relationship with Microsoft."
- Feb 2000 · CNN reports "Red Hat Linux 6.1 is now available on the Dell Inspiron 7500.... The Linux-enabled laptops will cost no more than their Windows 98 counterparts, according to a spokesperson for Dell....With the availability of Linux on its laptops, Dell is leading the pack in the deployment of Linux, ...I think Dell has set themselves as the innovator here,...With their basic business model, they don't have to build 10,000 Linux machines and then worry about getting orders."
- Apr 2000 · Michael Dell says "I think Linux on the desktop has a fair shot over the next couple of years"
- Jun 2000 · Michael Dell responds to "if I log on to your Web site and order a laptop running Linux, will you ship it to me", Dell: "Absolutely. Not only can you order a laptop, but you can order at least one configuration of every single product we sell, and we would encourage you to. We are one of the leading providers of Linux-based systems, and I believe that's a rapidly growing part of the market."
- Aug 2000 · Michael Dell says "Dell is now the No. 2 provider of Linux-based systems worldwide and the first major manufacturer to offer Linux across its full product line"
- Aug 2000 · Michael Dell says "configurations of all Dell products are now designed, tested and certified for Linux. Our factories can now customize each system -- from PCs to servers -- with Linux. "
- Mar 2002 · Media reports that Microsoft killed Dell Linux.
- Jul 2002 · Dell's support channels still provide excellent support on pre-installed Linux Dell Notebooks.
- Jan 2003 · Michael Dell says "We continue to offer Linux on the desktop and there is nothing else to say,"
- Sep 2004 · Near impossible to buy a Dell Linux desktop (they apparently stopped pre-installing though the website suggested they did).
- Sep 2005 · Dell introduced a notebook with pre-installed Linux for the French market.
- Jan 2007 · Dell introduced a notebook with pre-installed Linux in China.
- Mar 2007 · Dell writes "Dell has heard you and we will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and Precision workstation line. Our first step in this effort is offering Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems. We will provide an update in the coming weeks that includes detailed information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available. The countdown begins today."
Yes, it's focused a bit heavily on notebooks now - because that's what I'm in the market for - but if your interest is in a different area, feel free to add more links in the comments. After I verify your link I'll add it to the main posting.
280
Bring back Windows 2000, NT. Government customers are still buying Win2K - why can't I get it from Dell.
Software, Small Business submitted by jmxz
05/10/07
Many of your customers are satisfied with the software infrastructure they have, and don't want forced changes to their infrastructure. Some of those are even running older versions like 2000 or NT.
Government customers are still buying Windows 2000 for their infrastructure today.
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/66448< a great testament to your hardware that your machines from the 90s are still running fine today (my Dimension XPS R350 from '98 runs just fine) . But when these machines eventually need replacement it's a pain that all the software will have to be migrated to some OS and will probably need lots of work getting it to work again on the new OS - whether it be Vista or Linux+Wine.
Microsoft is still helping their customers dependent on the old infrastructure::
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q128465 "Windows NT 3.51 Workstation and Server U.S. Service Pack 5
Service Pack 5 is available as a single self-extracting archive file for Intel (x86), MIPS, ALPHA, and Power PC-based computers.
Last Review : November 1, 2006" If even Microsoft realizes it's important to continue helping customers with infrastructure dependent on these older OS's; Dell should realize this too and could help its customers by continuing to ship the OS's upon which many company's operations still depend. Dell's an important enough customer to Microsoft, if Dell asks for it Microsoft should sell it to them. If Microsoft says you don't need it and to sell Vista instead, point out to them that they're still helping customers with that infrastructure - and it's only fair that you can too. If your business still has Win2000 or WinNT systems, vote this up to avoid forced upgrades. Bring back Win2000, NT, and ME (just kidding on that one) so I never need to learn what software's incompatible with Vista.
-110
Why can't we get a server with Datacenter Edition?
Operating Systems, Servers and Storage, Small Business submitted by winoffice
06/04/07
Dell currently allows us to get the following Windows Server 2003 operating systems on servers:
- Web Edition
- Standard Edition
- Small Business
- Enterprise Edition
But what about Datacenter Edition? It is the most powerful version available, and many business would like to get it. Many people, as far as I know, say things like this: "If you have a large business/enterprise with extremely mission-critical applications or have services which have to be available 24/7, then Datacenter is for you." But Dell, unfortunately, offers no servers with Datacenter, while its greatest competitors in the server world, HP/Compaq and IBM, seem to offer it. Offering servers with Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, may help in bringing Dell back to number 1, and many people would almost certainly at the least consider Dell for this reason. Not necessarily to get the best OS, but (since it requires 8 processors and can use up to 32) it still would act extremely fast. By the way, a Web page on Microsoft's Web site (the URL for it is http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/datacenter/unlimitedvirtualization...) says that Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition R2 can now run on as little as 2 processors. Therefore, since Dell currently offers servers with as much 2 (and even 4, actually) processors, Dell has no excuse for not offering the Datacenter Edition.
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