Making a 'check' of a busy week for IT companies

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): "It's quite 'entertaining' to read your article on CorelDraw 9.0. Just make sure they send you the check (just kidding:)."

That was the opening of an e-mail I got last week in response to my article on this favorite graphics program of mine. While I know I have to admit that I did not have the chance to dig deeper to find more faults with this already mature product, I would have appreciated it more if the e-mail sender let me have more knowledge of his identity.

He did not tell me much about himself except that he was a graphics designer, that he used Macintosh for his work and that he did not trust CorelDraw. He did not even give me his name, although, of course, I did have his e-mail address.

One thing I believe that every e-mail user should do is identify himself clearly when he for the first time sends a note to someone who may not know him yet. That is just common-sense netiquette.

Anyway, let us just accept that he was really joking when he mentioned the check. After all, the e-mail was written in a quite friendly manner. Besides, last week was quite full with IT- related announcements that I would like to share with you. Incidentally, could this be yet another indication that our economy is already beginning to pick up?

Small Business

The week started on Monday with IBM introducing a program aimed at helping small business with solutions specially designed for them. Small businesses have always been my favorite subject, because I share the conviction that what we need now is small, nimble, fast and flexible businesses. Therefore, any effort to help budding entrepreneurs should be applauded.

For this segment, IBM has an entry-level server, Netfinity 1000, with prices starting at US$1,399, almost the price of a mainstream desktop PC (it does not come with a hard disk). The server can be used by individuals or small companies that want to start computerizing their operations or trying out e-business. Several different software packages for human resource management, e-commerce, collaboration and hotel management are also made available to allow them to get up and running quickly.

On Tuesday, Epson and Metrodata, its distributor for Indonesia, launched quite an ambitious but very welcome one-hour service.

If your Epson printer or scanner refuses to do what you want it to do, you can call their hotline number (it will be advertised in the newspapers) and a technician will come over to fix it.

He should be able to get it working again in less than an hour, because in most cases he will know already what the cause of the problem is based on the information that you have given to the operator at their call center. He will have the necessary replacement parts in his bag. Or, he can give you a loaner and take your broken unit to their service center if it requires an extensive repair work.

The Epson one-hour service, I was informed during the news conference by Agus Hongko Widodo, director of PT Metrodata Distribusi, is the first in the world. The closest thing to it is available in Taiwan, where they offer a four-hour service to Epson printer or scanner owners.

There is no penalty if they fail to meet the one-hour promise. But, still, as the project is a benchmark for Epson, I think Metrodata will do their best to meet their own challenge. If they succeed, I think other leading printer vendors -- HP and Canon, for example -- will have to follow suit.

On Thursday morning, Intel Indonesia invited several IT journalists to their office. A lot of news about exciting new technology was shared with us, including benchmarking tools to assess the performance of a PC. One piece of good news that I was so excited about was the utility that Intel Corp. now provides, which is called Processor ID Utility.

What this small utility does is protect you from unscrupulous PC assemblers who overclock the Pentium processors that they put in the boxes that they sell to you. Overclocking means that the processor is "forced" to run faster than the recommended speed. In the past, this was a common problem. When they leave the foundry, all processors have been validated to run at a maximum speed.

However, by tinkering with the motherboard and changing the bus speed, the processor may run at a higher speed. A Pentium 133 MHz, for instance, was forced to run at the 166 MHz. This practice was continued with Pentium II and Celeron processors, allowing computer stores to cheat unknowing customers and earn extra profit.

Now, when you run the utility, it will tell you the validated speed and the actual speed. If they are not the same, you know that the PC store is trying to rob you of your money. Besides, I have read a report from a third party that overclocking in Pentium III 550, for example, will not result in a Pentium III 600 MHz but a Pentium III 616 MHz, which Intel will not manufacture.

So, if you buy a new Pentium III system, run one of the widely available benchmark utilities to check whether you are really getting what you paid for.

Although in many cases overclocking does not cause any immediate problem, it is not very good for your PC, as the heat caused by higher clock speed may exceed the tolerance level of the processor itself and may cause it to eventually fail. The processor life will be shorter, too.

Moving on to Thursday afternoon, the Management and Computer Science School (STIMIK) Perbanas and Microsoft Indonesia launched a joint one-year project to provide basic computer training for bank workers who have lost their jobs since the collapse of our banking system.

Reports have it that the number of people who have been laid off as the banks were liquidated -- many of which are members of the National Bankers Association, or Perbanas -- has reached 17,000. More will be joining their ranks as the remaining banks consolidate.

Microsoft has pledged US$100,000, free software licenses and support for instructors through its training partners. Hewlett Packard joined the effort by throwing in 21 Brio business PCs and 11 servers. STIMIK Perbanas itself has converted two of its regular classrooms for the training courses, which are expected to have enrollment of 5,000 over the next year.

Why are only laid-off bank employees targeted? Bank tellers, for example, use the computer as a terminal and they do exactly the same type of work everyday. They enter customer's data, print the passbook and that is about it. Now it is an opportunity for them to learn to use productivity tools on the computer, such as MS Word and Excel, for three days for a small fee and get a certificate that may help them land a better job when the economy brightens up. Others who would like to have better knowledge and skills in managing Windows NT-based servers also are offered an opportunity to take courses offered in the project.

What I would like to see actually is more initiatives by big IT vendors to improve the entrepreneurship of Indonesians so that, instead of trying to find a job, they can start their own small businesses and be independent.

Outsourcing is a trend that I believe Indonesians should prepare themselves for, particularly because, as the experience in the U.S. increasingly demonstrates, companies will be more inclined to hire fresh graduates or those with limited flying hours than seasoned professionals. Those with 10 years of work experience should think of jobs like independent consultants rather than getting back on the company payroll.

By the way, folks, now that I have mentioned the activities of these major IT vendors throughout last week in this article, would any of you out there think that I will be receiving four or five checks shortly? Ah, life is too short and too precious for that, isn't it? Only kidding.