Why Should You Choose Chrome Hardware

Awesome computer hardware paired with an equally awesome operating system is a match made in heaven for anyone who’s working. It secures speed and efficiency in accomplishing tasks in workplaces. Personally, I found my match made in heaven with Chrome Hardware and Chrome OS. The two are a great combination of convenience, especially in my case, as a business owner. 

It takes a lot of things to ponder upon when choosing the right hardware and OS for your organisation. Sure, we want the best tools for our team members. However, that doesn’t mean purchasing what’s hot in the market or what’s trendy online right away. Determining and purchasing the right hardware and OS for everyone in your business requires a thorough evaluation and study. 

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Transcript

Considering rolling out chrome enterprise support and hardware for your business, and you’re unsure of where to start? In this blog, I’m going to take you through the process of how you can evaluate Chrome for your business. We’re going to offer Chrome enterprise support or where we may help with your process in migrating to Google. The purpose of this blog is to share with you a proof of concept methodology. This is for you to properly evaluate considering rolling out Google Chrome to your organization. 

Now, if you’re already a Google workspace user, and you’re using the Google ecosystem, well, this is a great move for you. And it’s going to slip right into the processes that you’ve got already, in terms of the ecosystem that you’re using for your productivity tools. If you’re in the Microsoft ecosystem, and you’re considering making a move to Google, well, this might be part of the puzzle to say, what is the hardware like? And what might the experience be like? Either way, I’m going to take you through a framework that’s going to be really helpful here.

Chrome Hardware: Proof of Concept

Why is it important to have a proof of concept? Why would we try before we buy? Well, just like trying a new car, you want to take it for a bit of a test drive first, and actually see how it feels, see what it drives, like on the road, see what the fuel economy is like, and, get a feel of a sense of what it would be like to be in a new reality. 

Now, a proof of concept is effectively doing the same thing. And what I love about Chrome Hardware and trying out a new operating system is it’s a very tangible experience, you get to actually try it out yourself and see how it works. And I know from the 1000s of people that we’ve helped adopt chrome and adapt to the Google workspace ecosystem, that Chrome is pretty darn exciting once you get it. Now, what does it take to get it with the chrome operating system?

What does it take to understand the Chrome Hardware and OS?

Well, it’s a little bit like Google docs for the first time, you may be wondering where all the buttons are, and wondering how to find your way. And after a while, you might have a few grumbles about not having every single button that you had in Microsoft Word. But then all of the googly little features kind of pop in and show you the magic of what can be done when things are approached differently with a cloud-first mentality. Chrome integration is like having managed IT systems, security solutions, and cloud storage providers all in one partner.

Chrome OS updates

Now Google automatically updates their operating system with a major update every six weeks that’s delivered automatically down to all of the Chrome devices. Now, not only that, it automatically updates in the background. And so all it requires is a 10-second restart to install any updates because it’s installed in the background. Unlike Mac or Windows PCs, which can take up to an hour, every time there’s a major operating system upgrade.

Cloud Service and Storage Providers

Some of the other great features of Google Chrome are the ability to have all of your files automatically synchronized to the cloud. Although you can still work offline, if you want to, you can immediately work with all of your Google files, right online and locally on the device as well. 

But let’s get back to talking about the proof of concept. If you’re considering using Chrome and you’re interested in Chrome devices, how might you actually approach that as a technology team or as a leadership team in your business?

Purpose of Purchasing Chrome Hardware and OS

Why might we consider moving to Chrome? Are we looking to save costs? Chrome devices are typically much cheaper than their counterparts in Windows and PC World. Are we looking to perhaps reduce the amount of time that we spend organizing and supporting the devices that we have? Are we looking for more flexible options for our leasing for us to potentially not tie up so much capital in leasing, and look for different devices which have different lengths of life? Whatever the reason you’re interested in Chrome, the first place for you to start is to actually outline some user profiles.

Identifying User Profiles

User profiles are basically looking at the different people in your business and identifying what their needs are.

• What are the needs of an executive?
• And what are the needs of a frontline worker who’s working in customer service?
• What are the needs of the marketing department?
• What are the needs of a middle manager? Now, Do they need access to documents? Do they need access to video conferencing? Will they need to do graphic design with a particular program?
• What are all the apps that they’re going to need to use on their day?
• And this is just a matter of going to each one of those people and developing a profile of exactly what their needs are?
• Are they someone who needs to be mobile? Are they in and out of the office? Or are they primarily working from one space in one disk space? 

Work Ecosystems in the Pandemic

Now in the current paradigm, we are in a global pandemic, and many people are working at home or from geographically dispersed locations. Do you have the flexibility with your devices that are going to meet the needs of each one of the user profiles? Now, many organizations have gone to the trouble of going laptops as a primary device and plugging them into external monitors. But for someone who’s going to spend 90% to 95% of their time, in one location, is that really appropriate if you’ve got the additional overhead of less bang for your buck with the power that you get on a laptop, or actually the device that you receive?

These are all questions that need to be asked for each different user profile. And you’ll get a bit of an idea of what the requirements will be for the hardware, which is the next decision for you to make.

Chrome Hardware Suitability

There are some situations where a Chrome Device might not be suitable for the person or the particular user role. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that a chrome rollout or switching to Google across your business is a bad idea.

This is not about “Chrome is the only way” type a message that I’m trying to share with you. This is what is the best way and what are the best devices. We believe Chrome hardware is compelling. This is because of their low cost and amazing functionality. Not to mention their ability to seamlessly integrate with the rest of the Google workspace ecosystem. This includes easy to use policies, right from the administration panel, which are automatically applied across your machines. And they’re automatically updating every time they connect to the internet.

Does your organisation have a whole department of people who are not a good fit for Chrome OS? Don’t let that stop the whole business in its tracks. Don’t allow one excuse to stop the whole of an organization from moving forward with progress. 

Chrome Enterprise Support and Testing

Now once you’ve got all the user profiles organized, you then want to start testing. Start giving some people some laptops and getting their honest feedback. Ask them “hey, how did this go for you?” “Try it out for a week, give us some feedback, see how it goes”. Maybe have your team write down everything that was easier to do everything that was harder to do. And you know whether or not they felt that this was a change that would be worthwhile for them. Bring back any of that feedback to a business IT consultant. You can then use that to develop an action plan. Create a strategy about what is the best way to roll and implement your chrome OS into your teams. 

ROI Calculation for Chrome Enterprise Support and Hardware

Finally, calculating the total cost of investment. Calculate the return on investment for the whole implementation of Chrome OS across your business. This is the final step in evaluating whether or not this proof of concept is a good idea for you. And some of the things that you can think about are: what are your support costs? What are your hardware refresh costs? What is the cost of devices? And what is your ability to access devices when you need to ramp up new team members? How can you implement policies? What is the administration overhead time that might be saved with moving to something like Chrome OS?

Discuss Chrome Enterprise Support with Experts

If you’re interested in an audit of your current chrome policies; if you’re considering Chrome OS for your business and thinking about getting help with considering a user trial; or maybe you want an expert to tell you where chrome may be a good fit; I recommend you consider having a chat to our team through our audit link. 

Onsite Helper, managed service provider, is an Australia-based company that specialises in managed IT services, cloud-based services, security solutions, Google Workspace migration, and so much more. We believe that our years of experience helping several companies through managed IT support services providing Google Workspace support allows us to help you properly as well.