Of course, if there are five hundred people dipping into a data base, a mini or mainframe would be the ticket.
Also, even Bigelow warns against bringing networks into companies in which people won’t be willing to keep their electronic files in order.
He recalls one office in which “people had been using electronic typewriters and they’d switched to micros recently and were careless about where they put their disks. They even left magnetized scissors and paper clips on them.
“People didn’t trust each other’s diskettes—or diskette habits. And on a network you can’t be sloppy. You could destroy everything if management hasn’t set up the system well. Even on some good networks people can wreak havoc on each other’s files by overcrowding disks with information. There can even be network saboteurs.
“You can’t network unless people act as a team and care about their colleagues’ records. If a company’s isn’t like that, it might be better off with a strong data-processing department to police everyone. Or they might just use micros not connected to each other—so that people will crash only their own disks.
“They might network only after they’ve successfully run employees through a training program to promote good work habits.”
In General, Do You Know What You Want To Do—With People and Equipment?
You’re really planning your office, not just shopping for a connection between computers.
All kinds of questions pop up—for instance:
1. How extensive do you want your network’s file-sharing capabilities to be? Translation: “How important is it for people to share their paperwork electronically?”