Chromebook for business

[dee001]

Hello, I have a customer that has a few older windows laptops and a few newer mac books airs but they need a few new systems. The users are in a google suite environment so we have been considering Chromebooks and their users don't use any proprietary software mostly internet, and Gmail. I currently don't own one so this makes it hard to make a recommendation, I been in and out the stores looking at them and I notice most systems are 4GB memory and 32GB hard drives unless I jump up to the 700 + systems. I am debating should I buy one of the cheaper ones just to have on hand if this customer needs me to support the few they are debating on rolling out but they also need me for direction on the few they plan on rolling out. Any suggestions on systems and past experiences with these systems, pros, and cons?

 

[SAFCasper]

The reason most Chromebooks only have 16GB or 32GB is because you are expected to store your files in Google Drive. The whole OS is designed around working in the cloud, not storing anything locally. They are essentially beefed up Android tablets with a keyboard & touch-pad.

I personally would never recommend one for business but if your client truly only need internet and Gmail I guess they would work quite well.

 

[fencepost]

I'll have to give that a whack. I have a customer with a bunch of old Fujitsu convertible tablets that have display problems with Windows 10 and are due for replacement, but literally almost the only thing they do on them is RDP to a hosted EMR and a little web surfing. 90% of the users don't have email, don't access any internal document storage, don't have Office, etc. I was thinking about Chromebooks as an option for them.

 

[mraikes]

...... their users don't use any proprietary software mostly internet, and Gmail. ....

EDIT: That word "mostly" should be the scariest thing in the sentence. Even if every employee spends 98% of their computer time in gmail and on Technibble, that 2% of other stuff that the employer may not be fully aware will cause chaos.

The fastest way to disprove that statement is to actually equip employees, who have previously been accustomed to "real" laptops and Macbooks, with Chromebooks. In my experience many people who buy Chromebooks don't truly understand what they're giving up when they choose that technology. Until they get one in their hands and discover that they can't install the obscure whatever-it-is program that they didn't think of before hand, or simply ignored because "a laptop is a laptop".

I'm not saying there are no use cases for Chromebooks in business. But the primary driver is usually the owner or bean counter when they hear how cheap Chromebooks are. But that grand plan is often followed by disappointment, frustration and finger pointing when it REALLY sinks in that these are not traditional laptops. And no matter how much you yell at your IT guy, Microsoft Access will NOT be installed on so-and-so's "laptop".

My recommendation is that you NOT be the technical advisor that says "Great idea, Chromebooks will work just fine!". Instead be the guy that cautions the decision maker on the loss of flexibility and limitations of Chromebooks compared to Windows laptops or Macbooks. And document your concerns so you can point back at that sage advice when things don't work as smoothly as planned.

 

[goldmercury]

What type of business? I highly suggest against it for most businesses.

 

[nerd2u]

The minute you install chrome books they will get some proprietary line of business application requiring windows and it will be all your fault.

They are ok for end users who do nothing more then access Facebook and email.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[fencepost]

proprietary line of business application requiring windows

Except that a huge number of those systems are being migrated to browser-based apps. The browser-based versions may not have the same capabilities (QBOnline) or may have required subscriptions (QBOnline), but in scenarios where those are mandatory anyway then they can make a lot of sense.

 

[Krynn72]

Except that a huge number of those systems

I don't agree that there's a huge number of them making that move. I think it's more accurate to say that a few huge systems are making the move. It's the obscure and business-niche systems that always cause the issues in my experience, not the behemoths like Quickbooks/Office etc.

The niche software that many businesses rely on is often poorly or sometimes even entirely unsupported. A lot of times the people asking for Chromebooks don't think they have any "special" software besides the big names, only to say "oh I didn't know you meant that mission critical plug-in I never mentioned to you wouldn't work!"

That's going to be the real PITA when changing OS.

I'd recommend doing a full audit of the software they need before moving ahead with any migration. Don't just ask them, search the PCs yourself.

 

[nerd2u]

If you want to go the Chromebook route install one and do a several month trial with a couple users.

Have to remember just because corporate wants something it's always good to get feedback from the end user before undergoing a huge change.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[GTP]

EDIT: That word "mostly" should be the scariest thing in the sentence. Even if every employee spends 98% of their computer time in gmail and on Technibble, that 2% of other stuff that the employer may not be fully aware will cause chaos.

The fastest way to disprove that statement is to actually equip employees, who have previously been accustomed to "real" laptops and Macbooks, with Chromebooks. In my experience many people who buy Chromebooks don't truly understand what they're giving up when they choose that technology. Until they get one in their hands and discover that they can't install the obscure whatever-it-is program that they didn't think of before hand, or simply ignored because "a laptop is a laptop".

I'm not saying there are no use cases for Chromebooks in business. But the primary driver is usually the owner or bean counter when they hear how cheap Chromebooks are. But that grand plan is often followed by disappointment, frustration and finger pointing when it REALLY sinks in that these are not traditional laptops. And no matter how much you yell at your IT guy, Microsoft Access will NOT be installed on so-and-so's "laptop".

My recommendation is that you NOT be the technical advisor that says "Great idea, Chromebooks will work just fine!". Instead be the guy that cautions the decision maker on the loss of flexibility and limitations of Chromebooks compared to Windows laptops or Macbooks. And document your concerns so you can point back at that sage advice when things don't work as smoothly as planned.

This whole statement could also be applied to running Linux on devices. As good as Linux is, it will fail as soon as end user 1 wants to install iTunes etc...

 

[Your PCMD]

@dee001 why? Whats the point?

Get a $350 Chromebook and be locked to the ecosystem. Or, get a $300 WalMart special laptop and drop an SSD in it for the same cost and have free reigns?

 

[fencepost]

The one practice I know of that was doing this is one that was bought out - all the Windows systems (including a bunch of nice ThinkPads) got pulled out and Chromebooks put in. They're using Epic as an EMR/Practice Management system, so it's fully browser-based and hosted in a remote datacenter.

No worries about any Windows malware, even most things that might affect Chrome are going to be leveraging it to infect the system instead, UTM and browser policies to control usage, basically a return to dumb terminals - prettier more graphical dumb terminals, but still terminals.

 

[timeshifter]

Not for business, but my son just started high school and we got him a Chromebook. They use Office 365 but were platform agnostic. Lots of positive feedback on the interwebs about how you can run Office apps (Word, Excel, etc.) in that environment, installed from the Google Play store on newer Chromebooks.

I'm shopping for a new computer for him. Liked the inexpensive, lightweight, long battery life of the Chromebook. BUT, the Office applications have a different feature set than the real Office apps.