Like almost everyone else I know, I spend an inordinate amount of time talking about cool, new sexy gadgets. Yet, when I think about how I spend my day and how I get things done, I realize that most of it is spent with a laptop—a business laptop to be more precise. It's time to face facts: The Apple iPhone and iPad, Motorola Droid X, and HTC EVO 4G are all exciting, but they're not business devices. MacBooks can work for business, and the enterprising worker might be able to convince his boss that the Alienware M11x is a perfect business laptop, but the reality is that businesses tend to choose more pedestrian-looking (and affordable) fare for their business laptops. Think Dell Vostro 3300 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 and you get the idea. In talking with system manufacturers, I've learned that there are six crucial elements every business laptop must have, and none of them have to do with good looks or entertaining, time-wasting apps.
1. Stability of Image
Businesses—large and small—need to manage desktops and laptops in the most efficient way possible. When they buy a laptop vgp-bps9/s battery, they need to understand it fully from the get-go—and then not think about it again. That is to say that every laptop of the same make, model, and configuration they buy from a manufacturer has to stay that way a good long while. How come? Companies won't want their IT resources to waste time trying to understand why, for example, a graphics driver has changed. These matters because something like a new video driver can conflict with the office's standardized security software. All of the pre-installed software should remain consistent. There should be no surprises like unwanted bloatware or apps that the business needs going missing. The OS version needs to be the same, too.
It's clear that companies often take an image they have lying around and pour that into your brand new laptop, which is fine, if nothing has changed in the laptop. If something like a critical piece of hardware has changed, that old image could mean disaster for the new system.
2. Life Cycle: Longer than 18 to 24 months
This is connected to the first aspect. That image and the laptop battery configuration can't radically change in half a year. Docking stations and power supplies should work on all systems bought within the last two years. Moreover, companies expect a make and model to live on for at least a year—if only for budgetary considerations. Realistically, companies can expect the price of a business laptop battery vgp-bps9/s to stay static for six months and drop over the next 12. If businesses follow design and development trends in their laptop purchases, they'll quickly lose control of their system budgets.
3. Security
For businesses, laptop security is a multi-layered affair. There is, naturally, security software. A company will standardize on either a multi-license or enterprise-level package, one they can update over the network or with a USB key (for smaller firms). However, businesses also need more security, such as fingerprint or smartcard readers married to a Trusted Platform Module, which is, essentially, motherboard-based security. The level of OS will also dictate some of the security options. If a business goes with a standard OS, it may lack built-in encryption. Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate can encrypt an entire hard drive with a feature called BitLocker (this will only work if a laptop already has TPM). Why is that important? Far too many business laptops sony vgp-bps9/s are lost in the backs of cabs, on planes, and in airport security lines. If the finder (or thief) pulls the hard drive from the system, it will be impossible to read. Even inside the system, the encrypted hard drive's data should be impenetrable. No business wants the finder to start perusing company secrets. An encrypted drive is, at least, one level of protection.
