Allow vs. Help

Regarding the correct usage of object infinitive complements with the verbs allow and help, there exists a whole bunch of discussions all over the internet. We stick to the following simplified logic in Veeam technical documentation:

• The form allow to <do something> does not exist — use allow <somebody> to <do something>.
• Use help <somebody> <do something> whenever possible — it implies that you are helping someone throughout the entire process.

The form help <somebody> to <do something> actually exists, but it implies that you are only helping someone get started and are not providing them with guidance every step of the way, which is not the case of technical documentation.

Examples

1. To allow the script to run inside the guest OS of a processed VM, it is required that you have Microsoft PowerShell 3.0, .Net Framework 4.0 and SQL Server 2008 (or later) installed on each VM for which you enable this step.
2. You must also configure a firewall rule on the ESXi hosts to allow Veeam Backup & Replication to interact with the IO Visor.
3. Failover and failback operations help you ensure that your business will function even if a disaster strikes your production site.
4. This dashboard can help you detect configuration inefficiencies in your data protection infrastructure.