Why is the IT of small and midsize companies so costly in time wasted and dollars spent? What is the fix?
The IT of small and midsize companies is costly because Microsoft® made the computer user-friendly and fun. Windows® is like a Swiss army knife - self-contained. Little or no need for know-how at first. You learn as you go.
As computers and software have grown in power and complexity, Windows® has absorbed the complexity: networking and servers, databases, domain controllers, Internet, mail, search, A/V, virtualization, cloud, Artificial Intelligence. Each new significant technology developed by a competitor has become a new blade in the Swiss army knife. Old technologies* sit side by side with the new.
So now, the Swiss army knife is big, and you need a lot of IT support to heal the endless series of self-inflicted wounds that go with using a tool that does everything but not necessarily very well.
The Windows® and Azure® universe is big and demanding, and because it is self-contained, it does everything on its own terms. Don’t let it. Why use a “transformer-like” multi-tool when you can use a screw driver or a saw?
In the Linux/Unix world (that powers the web) modularity and competition exist within the Operating System itself.
You may think of Linux distributions** as workshops, each with a workbench (the kernel) and thousands of tools neatly hung and labeled on the wall (the online repository/package manager). Multiple tools and methods can compete for the same job. Each tool is designed by its own team of software developers. The tools are tailor-made or customized for the workshop.
You pick the best tool(s) for the job and you’re all set. This makes for lighter and better systems, and this is perfect for software that everybody uses, irrespective of industry (i.e.: infrastructure software), online and within the perimeter of your network.
Use Microsoft® for what it is good at (as a desktop OS and Office Suite), but wherever “reboot, reinstall or buy more” is not an option, use the best set of dedicated tools for the job and use it for that job only.
When the only tool that can do the job is a Windows® Server, so be it, but dedicate it to that job alone.***
* Networking options, permissions, etc.
** Linux distributions are versions of the Linux OS.
*** More about this here.