Windows95 may be easy to use and install, but Compaq Computer Corp has employed Oldbury, West Midlands-based Network Si Ltd to upgrade the 450 personal computers at its UK manufacturing site. Network support company Network Si, formerly the computer arm of ACT Group Plc (CI No 2,642), set up a Windows95 upgrade and support division, which it launched in August, to offer hardware upgrading, software installation and ongoing support to companies wishing to move to Microsoft Corp’s new operating system. Group marketing manager, Neil Sibson, said upgrading a whole company to Windows95 requires considerable planning, management, training and support, and Network Si’s expertise was in the deployment of software. Compaq is one of its first major customers, and Network Si has been on site in the company’s administration block in Renfrewshire, Scotland, since August. Compaq is standardising on 16Mb memory, 630Mb disks and 80486 chips running at 66Mhz with Ethernet boards in all its computers. Network Si upgrades 10 personal computers each day, while their 10 users go off for training, and expects to complete the first 450 upgrades by the end of October. Compaq will then decide when to upgrade the machines in its other divisions. It is, naturally, supplying its own hardware for the upgrades and is also training its own staff. However, Network Si offers a basic upgrade package to the average personal computer user, including hardware upgrades to 8Mb memory and 545Mb disk, installation of Windows95, training and one year’s on-site and telephone support for around ú500 per machine. Asked whether 8Mb memory was sufficient to run Windows95 and its applications, the company said it was down to individual budgets and usage requirements and it looked at each case individually. Rick Smith, who is managing the new division for Network Si, said it had taken off very quickly and in its first four weeks had issued quotations to the value of ú1m, which he believed would convert into orders. The company has also formed an alliance with Professional Support Centre Ltd, one of five Microsoft support partners (CI No 2,666) , for joint offering of an extended support facility of one year, from the 90 days available free to purchasers of Windows95.
