On With The Show—Make Your Own Low-Cost Video

May 10, 2013
Lisa Durrett

Have you seen that cheeky video from that guy who sells razors online for $1? I watched it again today with my husband. Once he finished laughing, he said he was going to check out the website and look at the company’s programs. The savvy business owner recognized the power of video and within the...

Have Your Cake And Eat It Too With UC

May 9, 2013
Sander Biehn

The dizzying pace of today's business world holds the promise of propelling ideas into concrete reality in shorter cycles than ever. Real-time communications is the mother of lightning fast innovation, and innovation is heavily prized by geographically dispersed enterprise businesses.  Allow me to illustrate....

Get The Most From Your IT Dollars

Allyson Fralish

Many small business owners know how critical technology is to their success. Recent research shows that those who embrace it grow their companies faster, but keeping up with the latest tools can be a challenge. As you maneuver your company through the still-turbulent economy, how can you get the most from your IT...

The Post-PC Era: Are We There Yet?

May 8, 2013
Phil Clarke

As I discuss mobility with IT executives, the conversation invariably turns to the role of the tablet and when and where their peers are finding success with implementation. Hot on the heels of any such discussion, technology professionals want to...

3 Tips To Avoid Being Hacked On Social Media

Mario Armstrong

A couple of weeks ago, a major news service’s Twitter account was hacked, and several fake tweets not only sent ripples through the media, they impacted stocks globally. While there’s a key lesson here about the importance of social media, this...

Job Searching? Get Your Mobile Skills In Order

May 7, 2013
Curlis Phillip

A recent article by Huffington Post writer Daniel Burrus identified twelve key technologies that will transform careers now and in the future. Toping his list were mobile hardware, software, and services....

SMB Leading In Technology Adoption? Believe It…

Abhi Ingle

We read about it all the time in the business and political press: small business is the engine that drives the economy.  But when we look at the innovation that’s occurred over the past decade, the consumer and enterprise segments seem to get all of the...

Is Mobile Learning Effective? Parents Say Yes!

May 6, 2013
Ben Kruse

Educators and policy makers continue to debate whether mobile technology and 1:1 learning initiatives, whether in the form of devices provided by the school or those brought by students from home, can be a valuable teaching tool.  Parents...

Are You Annoying People on Twitter?

Alan See

Do you fancy yourself a social media guru and communications expert?  If so, you might want to make sure you are not using the following tactics; at best, your audience is making fun of you, and at worst, you are probably damaging your brand....

eCardio Helps Keep Patients’ Lives In Rhythm

May 3, 2013
ATT

An irregular heartbeat could be harmless . . . or threaten a patient’s life. To diagnose the problem, doctors have patients wear a monitor to record their daily heart function. Patients would then connect the device to a phone line or even return it...

Get More Bang From Your Promotional Buck

Alice Bredin

The past few years have been brutal from an economic standpoint. Although challenges remain, the outlook is improving, especially for small businesses: 27 percent are increasing their 2013 marketing budgets to grow their...

New Ways Of “Thinking Out Cloud”

May 2, 2013
ATT

There’s no denying that cloud services are going mainstream, providing scalable IT on demand for a variety of organizational needs. What isn’t entirely clear is how this self-service IT approach affects purchasing decisions, implementation...

3 Ways Mobility Changes Enterprise Software

Maribel Lopez

Mobile and cloud are the foundation of next generation computing. At this month’s Cloud Connect event, Lopez Research designed a conference track to discuss how mobile and cloud computing would combine to change security, data...

3 New Lessons For IT Managers

May 1, 2013
Dan Schmidt

Over the years, I have had an opportunity to host and participate in a number of client- and vendor-sponsored briefings. With the trends that have been occurring over the past five years regarding cloud and other managed services, it is always interesting to observe the interactions between the technologist and the business owner participating in these events. It is clear that the market is signaling a shift, and business owners are...

The Accidental Narcissist And The Future Of Customer Engagement

Brian Solis

Have you ever noticed that your Facebook News Feed is the digital equivalent to “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Perhaps you’ve likened your Instagram stream to that of  “Lifestyles of the Digital Rich and Internet Famous.” In each network, and across multiple social streams, you’re fed a visual buffet of travel, food, fashion, and celebrations. In assemblage, they tell the story of life well lived, or at least a life well...

Building A Case For Real-Time Collaboration

April 30, 2013
Cara Knight

Today, collaboration means more than sending emails or leaving voice messages for co-workers, putting decisions and projects on hold while you wait for their replies. Now, tools like audio, video, and web conferences are enabling real-time interactions between employees, partners, suppliers, and even customers....

5 Tips On Finding Your Next Customer

Cheryl Burgess

According to a May 2012 survey by Constant Contact, over three-quarters of small businesses agree on their primary goal: attracting new customers. Unfortunately, a more troubling statistic shows that many small business owners are missing out...

Where’s The Value In Private Clouds?

April 29, 2013
Jeff Kaplan

One of the most confusing aspects of the rapidly evolving cloud marketplace is the definition and value of private clouds. The term has more than one connotation. As a consequence, measuring the business benefits of this method of deploying the cloud can be challenging. The confusion arises from the fact that private clouds can be deployed either by an enterprise behind their firewall or by...

Risk Taking For Small Businesses

Susan Solovic

When I worked in corporate America, I managed a national sales force.  Because the majority of our clients were big brands, we frequently participated in the major industry trade shows many of which were held in Las Vegas....

Are You In Business To Make Money Or Lose It?

April 26, 2013
Bindu Sundaresan

Are you in business to make money or lose it? For most people, the answer to this question is a no brainer! As a security professional, I truly believe that security can impact your bottom line. It is key to protecting your most vulnerable business asset – your data. If your business has anything worth protecting, whether it’s money, intellectual property, or a trusted...

Fog Ahead: Getting To Clarity With Cloud

Jeff Morgan

In a recent Infoworld article, Matt Prigge brought up a host of valid points about the way we market the cloud. Is it a disservice to the small business owner without an IT staff to overly simplify the concepts behind our wares? Surely it sells an account, but at what cost? I’m forever walking the line between too much detail and not enough, but what if the vendor doesn’t actually provide the service as promised? What if, in spite of...