SMB

37 posts

A calendar with red push buttons pinned to it, illustrating small businesses planning cloud adoption

Four in 10 Small Businesses Planning Cloud Computing

Almost 40 per cent of SMEs expect to be paying for one or more cloud services within three years, according to a Microsoft report. The IT vendor announced the results of its third annual worldwide study into how SMEs will use cloud services over the next three years. A total of 3,258 companies with 2-250 employees were surveyed in 16 countries. The survey found that 39 per cent of SMEs expect to be paying for […]

A close up of a phone with a red cord, illustrating reasons to choose hosted VoIP

Top Ten Reasons to Choose Hosted VoIP Services

Hosted voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services can level the playing field for small and mid-sized businesses, making enterprise-grade communications available for a monthly subscription fee. At the same time, the flexibility of hosted business telephony offers unparalleled value for larger players as well. Here’s a look at ten reasons hosted VoIP services could be the right choice for your business: 1. Lower upfront cost: VoIP services maintain a system infrastructure on behalf of the […]

City skyline during night time, illustrating Dallas as a cloud-friendly city

Dallas One of The Top 5 ‘Cloud Computing Friendly’ Cities

Cloud computing in Dallas ranked high in a recent survey of over than 2,000 SMB and enterprise IT decision-makers. Microsoft named some of the country’s top “cloud-friendly” U.S. cities as a result of the survey. In the findings, IT decision makers nationwide discussed how they are adopting and using cloud computing. Dallas ranked third among the most cloud-ready cities for large companies. Of IT decision makers, 46 percent believe the cloud is an engine of […]

Black and gray internal HDD, illustrating the cloud backup market for SMBs

SMB Audit Highlights High Growth Cloud Backup Market

While both large and small companies are investing aggressively in cloud backup and recovery solutions, in the next two years the greatest growth in cloud-based managed services will come from SMBs. Today 5 percent of SMBs surveyed employ backup-as-a-service, remote backup or online backup services from a managed service provider and 38 percent plan to employ them in two years – a growth rate of 660 percent. Market Driven by Multiple Needs Three factors contribute […]

Man sitting in an airport boarding area, illustrating less dependence on a single device

Cloud Computing Can Lessen Dependence On a Single Device

Diane Darling flies around the country, speaking on “Effective Networking” – not coincidentally her company’s name. But this column isn’t about her networking tips. This is about Darling’s born-of-experience advice to entrepreneurs whose laptops hold their work. And it’s particularly about those who schlep their laptops from place to place. At a recent speaking engagement, Darling returned to the car – where her laptop had been hidden under the car seat – and found the […]

Portable SSD, coffee, and stationery on a grid mat, illustrating backing up virtual machines

SMBs Stymied By Virtualization Backup

While smaller companies may adopt virtual machines in greater numbers in 2011, they may not necessarily adapt their backup plans to match the changes in their environments. That’s a problem, says backup and recovery vendor Acronis, which recently took a deeper dive into the data from its January study on small and midsize business (SMB) disaster preparedness. The report found that SMBs will increase their deployments of virtual servers in 2011, with adoption jumping from […]

Woman working at desk with laptop and phone, illustrating virtual PBX adoption

As Cloud Computing Proliferates in 2011, Many Are Turning to Virtual PBX

The year 2011 is expected to be the year of the cloud. What does that mean for you? In essence, it means that it is time to start watching for those solutions and applications that can run effectively in the cloud. One feature SMBs and SMEs are finding delivers considerable benefit is that of the virtual PBX. According to a Washington Post report, companies in the SMB and SME sector of the marketplace have already […]

Group of people having a meeting, illustrating cloud computing decisions for small businesses

Cloud Computing For The SMB

Top Tips For Decision-Making & Deployment If your small business is considering adopting cloud computing, you’re not alone. A recent survey of 1,000 small to midsized businesses by researchers at MarketBridge found that 44% of respondents had already deployed at least one cloud-based application. In addition, more than 70% of those surveyed planned to move at least one new application to the cloud within six months. Why are smaller companies so attracted to cloud computing? […]

A calculator and a pen on a piece of paper, illustrating using cloud computing to control costs

Businesses Adopt Cloud Computing To Control Costs

A report has found that many businesses are turning to cloud computing in an effort to control costs Companies are increasingly turning cloud computing to enhance productivity and increase their return on investment (ROI), according to a report from Fonality. The “2011 Small and Medium-Sized Business Communications Plans and Priorities” state-of-the-market report polled professionals considered to be on the “leading edge” of technology adoption. Respondents emphasised that cloud-based business applications or AaaS (Anything as a […]

Two men looking at laptop and papers in store, illustrating deciding if SaaS fits a small business

How to Know If SAAS Is Right for Your SMB

Many small and midsize businesses (SMBs) don’t yet fully understand what software as a service (SAAS) is, how SAAS works and why SAAS makes business sense for them. In this article, I’ll discuss the evolution of software delivery models, why applications in the cloud make sense for SMBs, and the various benefits of SAAS for SMBs (including low financial risk, easy deployment and ease of access from anywhere). After reading this article, you’ll be able […]