Small Business Computing Staff

by David G. Propson This year, the biggest buzzword on the internet, and in the economy at large, has been “B2B.” New Web exchanges and established industry leaders are touting e-commerce as a newly discovered font of savings. But many industries have been doing business-to-business e-commerce for years. For most, “B2B” is still spelled “EDI.” […]

by Joanne Cleaver When nss corporation had its latest sales meeting, it swam with the sharks. Doug Pearson, the president of the 25-person, Bedford, N.H. company, which designs specialized software for the banking industry, wanted to make a splash with potential customers, so he booked space at the New England Aquarium. Sure, participants had fun […]

by Cathy Brower A few weeks ago, i moderated a panel at an event our company hosted. The panelists consisted of executives from some pretty impressive technology companies: Compaq, IBM, and Sprint, to name a few. I thought you might be interested in some of the things they had to say. The overall topic was […]

by Amy Blankstein They want you to — ante up on line. As part of its ongoing efficiency crusade, the Internal Revenue Service wants to make it easier for American businesses to pay taxes. Personal 1040 form filers have benefited from the IRS streamlining for some time now: Not only are their forms short and […]

by Dan Littman Ever since the first caveman burned his hand on a torch, we’ve known that technology can be a mixed blessing. E-mail has been an enormous boon for many businesses, but it has also caused all sorts of new problems. Now that everyone has it and is in the habit of using it, […]

by Angela R. Garber Many people still carry the misapprehension that farmers are staid, set in their ways, doing things exactly as the generations before them. And, just in any other sector of the economy, there are those who lament the good old days. But as dairy farmer Debbie Windecker says, “People have gotten into […]

by Robert J. Wagman David, look alive. Small businesses selling their wares via the Internet may soon have to adhere to a set of standards being drafted by some of the largest Web merchants around. Microsoft, America Online, AT&T, Dell Computing, and others have joined together to draft “model” international rules of conduct for all […]

by David Haskin It’s time to get serious about online privacy. For the past few years, businesses ­ both big and small ­ have been living in a fool’s paradise, figuring they could collect information on the Web and not be held responsible for what they do with it. Selling information to marketers, sharing it […]

Blame the economy. Businesses nationwide are trying everything from telecommuting to hoteling (hiring part-timers to share desktop space) to solve the office squeeze. Office space is at a premium and rents have risen apace, especially in metropolitan areas. According to a recent Cushman & Wakefield study, the cost for office space in Philadelphia has risen […]

by Liz Levy & Jamie McAfee One for Every Budget For important business documents, monochrome and color laser printers can offer top-quality printing and cut down on those treks to the print shop. These workgroup printers provide the convenience of being manageable over the network, which gives users and administrators the ability to adjust printer […]

by Joey Latimer Conducting business globally has inherent difficulties no matter where you’re located on the planet. Although the Internet began in the United States and the predominant language used is still English, the cyber-landscape is changing rapidly. Believe it or not, non-English speaking people all over the world use the Web for business and […]

by Karen J. Bannan Eventually, every business hits a breaking point. The employees get grumpy, the executives get angry, and everyone begins to get frustrated. Tech support is important, they say, because technology is essential to our jobs. We need an expert to take care of it. So why don’t we have one yet? In […]