These can be in the hardware such as a different printer or personal computer type, or software as in the operating system, or applications. Personal computers are delivered to HCI with specified standards. Trouble shooting is catered for by a single contact person. Malfunctioning hardware is replaced with a spare machine of the same type, and the repairs are contracted out to an outside firm. If an application difficulty cannot be solved within about five minutes by the info desk, contracted support from outside HCI is sought .
Many problems arise with proprietary or non-standard products.
Such hardware or software is unable to interface with that of other firms. Anaesthetists of the 1950' s and 1960's suffered during a similar situation. Anaesthetic gas and plumbing was supplied by different firms who insisted on using different gauges, colour coding, and different sizes. The plug and play, BIOS standard of Compaq and Phoenix Technologies should allow similar personal computers, operating systems, and peripherals, to be connected simply and may eliminate many of the present headaches of network computing. Nick Beard's column on HCI appears every month in Personal Computer World.