Small Business Computing Staff

As cloud computing matures, small business stand to reap the benefit as Web apps offer more IT capabilities and less complexity. They’re also very affordable. Our friends at SMBNation run down the benefits you can find in 10 of the newest cloud apps for business. From project and inventory management, to social media marketing, simplified […]

The phone still ranks as the top business communications tool for any small business, which means it’s monthly cost that isn’t going away any time soon. That doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to reduce the cost, though. And using an IP-based PB phone system is one method to consider. Check out the news on […]

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of your business, email monitoring is a great place to start. You’d be surprised how much untapped information lies in that business communications system, and it’s time to put it to work. Need more convincing? We’ve got nine reasons why email monitoring makes sense for […]

People hate filling out expense reports. That’s just a simple fact. There can be a chunk of money on the table, and still, employees will do just about anything to avoid the pain. According to this article on SMBNation, one study revealed a number of unpleasant tasks that people would gladly do instead of expense […]

In August 2011, Hurricane Irene traveled up the East Coast, delivering high winds and drenching rain from the Carolinas to New York City as predicted. However, no one anticipated that many towns in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Vermont would be flooded for days, jeopardizing the IT systems — and very existence — of […]

Your small business data is priceless.  Your customer records, sales data, employee information and tax history are easily some of the most valuable assets that you own.  And — especially for small businesses — losing that data can be more damaging than losing a building, inventory or raw materials Permanent data loss, whether caused by […]

Just a few years ago, the small business tech catch phrase was Voice over IP (VoIP).  By now VoIP is the standard in telephony.  A Computer Economics study shows that by 2009, nearly 60 percent of organizations had adopted VoIP and more than half are investing in VoIP.  The initial draw for small businesses to make the […]

But over the years the lines have blurred, so from a functional perspective a small business may be just as well-served by a robust contact manager with CRM features as it would be by a born-and-bred CRM platform. CRM Your Way — On-site or in the Cloud? The first thing to consider when examining CRM […]

Open Forum: Protecting Your Online Passwords Christina Warren says it’s just as important for small businesses as it is for consumers to use best practices for ensuring online passwords aren’t compromised – possibly more important. “It’s almost impossible to understate the importance of having and using strong, secure online passwords. As important as it is […]

ITBusinessEdge: Small Businesses & Wi-Fi Security Paul Mah explains why unsecured and poorly secured small business Wi-Fi networks are easy pickings for cyber criminals, and how you can protect your network. “Seattle police are currently investigating a group of criminals whose modus operandi was to cruise around in a vehicle to map out surrounding wireless […]

Small Business Labs: Taking A Balanced View Of Twitter Recent articles have suggested Twitter is in decline and no longer important for small businesses. Steve King begs to differ. It’s not for every small business, he argues, but could be just right for yours. “There is a growing backlash against Twitter these days. This tends […]

Open Forum: How Hackers Could Shut Down Your Website Small business owners need to be aware of the threat from distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, says John Mariotti. Hackers use hundreds or thousands of computers to all try to access your site at the same time, causing the server to crash. How can you […]