Gerry Blackwell

For many small companies, email is the lifeblood of their business, yet too few protect it adequately against disaster. Not only is email their primary mode of communication, it’s also often a de facto document management system, a searchable repository of vital business data. But on-premise email servers can fail, data can become corrupted, power […]

Market research firms predict that small businesses in the U.S. will start buying computers, peripherals and network gear again this year. While this might be good news for small business technology vendors, there are others who believe there are valid reasons to hold off on IT hardware spending. Small businesses are still gun shy, and […]

Are you thinking about migrating to Windows 7? It’s not hard, but due diligence and good planning are paramount for a successful migration. You need to follow best practices, which includes tapping into Microsoft’s readily available — mostly free — tools and resources. To start you off on the right path, our top seven tips […]

Now the premiere showcase for new business technology as well as consumer products, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES ) takes place every year in Las Vegas. The event recently drew thousands of tech hounds to gawk at the latest toys and tools from 2,500 vendors displaying more than 20,000 new products. While HD and 3D […]

Online collaboration tools that let you work with far-flung co-workers and clients have moved into the mainstream of small business computing in the last few years. And while most small business owners understand why they should be using Web, audio and video conferencing, document sharing, white boarding, etc., many need help choosing which tools to […]

The Motorola Droid (Click for larger image). Do you remember what it was like to run a business before the Internet, before mobile phones and before you could carry your business in your pocket?  In this mobile era, those days seem positively quaint. Of course it helps to have the right tool for the right […]

HP Compaq 500B Microtower (Click for larger image). Desktop PCs may not be as sexy as laptops and netbooks, but for employees who only ever work at a computer in the office, desktops are still the best choice. Why? Despite plummeting prices for laptops, prices on desktop models range between $200 and $800 and offer […]

Quality legal advice and services are expensive. But for small companies trying to navigate the minefields of setting up and running a business — especially for the first time — not getting legal advice can end up being even more expensive. What does a cash-strapped small business have in the way of alternatives? One solution: […]

Mention video conferencing to most small business owners and they’ll no doubt think of slow, choppy playback and echoed, garbled sound. But Vidyo claims its Web-based product produces affordable, high-definition desktop video conferencing. Is this simply too good to be true? Gerry Blackwell at VoIPPlanet.com puts the claim to the test. High-definition desktop video conferencing […]

If you want to get serious about backing up your data, and small businesses should, Iomega’s new StorCenter ix4-200d, a four-drive network attached storage (NAS) server, is certainly a serious piece of backup equipment. The ix4-200d comes with big business features — backup software from storage giant EMC (Iomega’s parent company), RAID configuration, Gigabit Ethernet, […]

Now that Windows 7, the much-heralded upgrade to Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system, is here, should you make the switch? We can think of as many reasons to do it as not. With an apologetic nod to Letterman, here are our top seven reasons, pro and con. Why You Should Upgrade to Windows 7 7. […]

Shock-resistant portable USB 2.0 hard drives are not a new idea. Last year Iomega introduced the eGo BlackBelt, which we reviewed. But SimpleTech, an Hitachi company, has added new wrinkles with the Hitachi SimpleTough product. SimpleTough, about the size and weight of BlackBelt and other portable drives, comes in three capacities: 250GB, 320GB and 500GB […]