http://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2010-09-04T06:00:00ZCollege football season is in the first quarter and the NFL season about to kickoff. Take your football experience mobile this fall by arming yourself with the best mobile apps for following your team, be it fantasy or real, and staying in the game no matter where you roam. Here's 20 of the best.http://www.informationweek.com/news/227200191?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbThe TV network's free iPhone/iPod Touch, Android, and BlackBerry apps, developed by <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/mobile">CBS Interactive</a>, deliver live NFL scores and stats, play-by-play and breaking news combined with standings, videos and commentary from CBSSports.com experts and pundits. That's perfect for keeping track of your NFL team, but the apps also offer tools for fantasy football devotees, allowing you to set lineups and add or drop players instantly. <P> After a summer of anticipation, training camp reports, recruiting scandals, endless pre-season games and the annual Brett Favre will he-won't he announcement, football season is at long last upon us. With mobile apps now mainstream, the football experience extends well beyond the stadium, sports bar or couch -- the game comes with you wherever you are. For hardcore fans, this is nirvana! You can keep tabs on the latest injury reports and recruiting rumors while watching video of your team at the same time you're listening to your college fight song, tweaking your fantasy lineup and picking out a seat in the stadium for next weekend while placing an order for a giant foam finger. And if someone calls, don't worry; you've got your team ringtone ready to roll. From Death Valley to The Big House, Texas Stadium to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, are you ready for some football? It's kickoff time.Available in free and paid versions for iPhone/iPod Touch, Android and BlackBerry, the <a href="http://plusmo.com/featured?t=iphone&w=3#">Plusmo</a> app offers live play-by-play and real-time push updates for top rated teams or a personalized dashboard of teams. There's a social component as well with a "Boo" or "Cheer" feature during live play and a "smack talk" discussion area along with the scores, stats, polls, schedules, news and other vital data along with AP photos.When it comes to sports highlights, <a href="http://proxy.espn.go.com/mobile/products/index">ESPN</a> is the marquee stage. The free ESPN Scorecenter iPhone/iPod Touch and Android apps (paid version available for the iPad), skip the pithy catch phrases in favor of up-to-the-minute updates for NFL and college football (and other major sports too). The push scoring alerts ensure you never miss a touchdown -- if you see it on the ESPN ticker, it's on your phone -- and setting up the MyTeams card allow for easy tracking of your favorite teams.First the disclaimer: this is not the same Madden experience as you get from a console. Then again, try slipping an Xbox 360 into your pocket. Available for iPhone/iPod Touch ($7.99), iPad ($12.99) and BlackBerry ($6.99), the 2010 edition of the Big John's eponymous game has the expected annual refresh, complete with Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees shouldering this year's Madden curse. It's loaded with features (a streamlined version would be an improvement given the screen real estate) and the perfect diversion when you're ready to get off the sidelines and get into the game. And <a href="http://www.ea.com/games/madden-nfl-11-ipod-touch#1">EA</a> also offers NCAA Football for the iPhone/iPod Touch ($6.99), if college pigskin is more your game.Keeping tabs on the latest line, doubling down on your favorite team or setting up a parlay can take time and the clock always counting down to kickoff, you can't afford any confusion. Enter the iBet NFL 2010 iPhone/iPod Touch (Lite version free, $9.99 for full feature set) app from <a href="http://www.ibetsportsapps.com/NFL/Flash.php">iBet Sports Apps</a>. It will track your wagers, your wins and losses, open bets, betting history and even model best case and worst-case scenarios for you. It won't place bets for you though, but just about everything else.Forget face painting and alumni hoodies, hardcore fans can pimp out their iPhone or iPod Touch with officially licensed college wallpapers from the school of their choice. The $1.99 app from <a href="http://www.smartphonestech.com/">Smartphones Technologies</a> allows four downloadable wallpapers from a collection of more than 2,000 logos, football actions shots, cheerleaders, mascots, marching bands and even stadiums.Fantasy football fans know that mastery of stats is crucial to victory and this Android app ($0.99) from <a href="http://www.buboware.com/product.html">BuboWare</a> makes it easy. The cheat sheet pulls data directly from ESPN for the top 200 players in the league and then you can peruse the rankings by position with a few taps on your phone so your team is always top of the heap.The venerable paper of record for American sports offers free mobile apps for both Android and iPhone/iPod Touch developed by <a href="http://www.zumobi.com/showcase">Zumobi Network</a>. There's the expected scores, stats and fantasy tracking that you can get from other providers, but what sets it apart is the exclusive analysis from the Sporting News blogs and podcasts that offer the nuance and commentary hard-core fans demand. The only thing missing is video.With your favorite NFL team, you have a choice of apps. For the Green Bay Packers alone, there are 10 iPhone/iPod Touch apps (from free to $2.99), 10 Android app (again, from free to $2.99) and even one for BlackBerry ($5.99). The reality is those most of these load up your phone with themes, audio, video, games and wallpapers that pimp out your phone for your team and that's where they stop. A notable exception is Green Bay Packers Football Fan News for the iPhone ($1.99). The <a href="http://www.iphoneappdesigns.com/">Yuan Ventures</a> app, despite the predictable obsession with all things Favre, delivers live scores, schedules, standings, roster updates, photos and RSS feeds of Packer news from most notable outlets to keep any cheese head in the loop.Chock full of options for the hard-core college football fan, the <a href="http://www.mailmint.com/gridiron2010/">Tom Klimek</a> iPhone/iPod Touch app ($0.99) delivers schedules, stats and more for all 120 Division1-A college football teams. Review schedules by team, by conference or by day and peruse current rankings or even schedules and scores from the 2009 season. Planning a road trip for the big game? This app gives you detailed stadium seating charts. What the app won't give you is live score and updates (next day only) making this more a reference app than a game day dashboard.Championships are made on draft day and that's doubly true for fantasy football aficionados. The free Draft Analyzer iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad apps, paired with the paid web and desktop clients from <a href="http://www.draftanalyzer.com/">Advanced Sports Media</a>, provide the mobile component of a draft day war room your fantasy opponents will fear. The richness of the data is the hook for this app, which pulls data from all the major sources and offer recommendations on picks, mock draft worksheets and personalized picks from the Draft Analyzer experts.Marching bands are longtime staples of fall Saturday afternoons and whether it's dotting the I at the Horseshoe in Columbus or goose-stepping with the cadets in College Station, a fight song is something special. The free iPhone/iPod Touch app from <a href="http://www.smartphonestech.com/">Smartphones Technologies</a> connects fans with the official fight song for their school performed by the marching band or pep band, which can be downloaded to iTunes (costs vary by song).Paper football -- yes that game you once played in the school cafeteria -- is the ideal diversion to break up the tedium of an extended instant replay review or a carry you through those endless TV timeouts. A free iPhone/iPod Touch app (though you can buck up $0.99 for the signature edition) from <a href="http://jirbo.com/inc/apps.php">JIRBO </a>makes you the kicker for the crucial last minute field goal, but with multiplayer options so you're not the only once getting iced.If you want smash mounth college football, look no further than the SEC, home to the last four national champions. Fittingly, the ascendant football conference has myriad mobile apps for keeping tabs on the clash between Florida's Urban Meyer and Alabama's Nick Saban. The $1.99 Android App from <a href="http://www.mypocketschedules.com/">R. Stephens</a> offers rosters and schedules for all 12 teams along with alerts and links to news. The SEC Football Edition for My Pocket Schedules for iPhone/iPod Touch (free for LITE, $0.99 for full features) from SilverTree Technology offers the same functionality, with more refined graphics and is also available for Big 10, Big East, Big 12, ACC, WAC and Big West conferences.For any exasperated football fan who has dealt with a spouse, child or foreign visitor who's baffled by American Football, help has arrived. The $2.99 BlackBerry app from <a href="http://www.incelligence.com/products/sports.htm">Incelligence</a> explains officiating complete with penalties and diagrams, a 300+-term glossary of football terminology and an in-depth history of every NFL team. "I dunno" won't cut it next time someone asks you to explain why the ground can't cause a fumble or what exactly a "football move" is.As with NFL teams, just about every major college football team has its own app. Some produced by the university cover all sports (want updates on the fencing team?) and others by independent developers are sport specific. For the crazed fans of Big Red, the Huskers Football Clocks & News Android app ($0.99) from <a href="http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/sports/huskers-football-clocks-news_iuii.html">Shot</a> doesn't stop with the latest scores, Tom Osborne rumors and insights on what Bo Pellini had for lunch. No, it will take over your entire phone from a cheer center with the fight song, an air horn and two custom clock widgets so it's always Husker time.The NFL (or No Fun League, as some players call it) has banned players from using Twitter immediately before and after, not to mention during, games. But Commissioner Roger Goodell's nemesis, the <a href="http://www.nflplayers.com/Fantasy-Promotions/NFLPLAYERS-Pro-Tweets/">NFL Players Association</a>, has embraced the micro-blogging service and offers a free iPhone/iPod Touch App to track players tweets. So not only can you keep pace with the latest from Chad Ochocinco, but you can also check and update your own Twitter account while you're at it.Love it or hate it, the Bowl Championship Series is the path to the mythical national championship. Sure, you can drive yourself nuts reviewing the AP, USA Today, Fox Sports and every other poll, but that's all smoke and mirrors -- the BCS rankings are what count. This iPhone/iPod Touch app ($0.99) from <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/my/app/top-25-college-football-tracker/id338096056?mt=8#">Jeff Huxen</a> puts all those other polls right on your phone, and (starting week 5 when the BCS kicks into gear) updates each Sunday with the latest BCS rankings (as well as those other polls) and tracks bowl matchups when bids are announced for all bowl games (not just BCS bowls).Whether its a few bucks in the office pool or regular trips to a bookie, gambling is part of football -- it's not just did your team win, but did they cover the spread. And with the new free <a href="http://www.leroys.com/index.html">Leroy's app</a> for BlackBerry users on Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile, American Wagering has made it easy to place your bits with a few taps or clicks. Though approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, there's a caveat -- and it's a big one -- the app is certified only for users in Nevada. Support for more carriers and an app for the iPhone are in the works.DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers get every NFL game every week -- league-mandated blackouts aside --but that requires a long time on the couch every Sunday. When you do need to wander further than the bathroom (or even then), the free <a href="http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/sports/nfl_online_mobile">DirecTV app</a> (though you must be a Sunday Ticket subscriber) available for iPhone/iPod Touch, Android and Blackberry puts the action right on your phone -- every game, every play. It also offers real time player and team stats, highlights from all Sunday Ticket games and a Red Zone channel so you can watch the final yards of every single scoring drive.2010-07-06T11:49:26ZThe technology resource for small and midsize business is now fully integrated with InformationWeek to provide users with even broader technology resources.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229201053?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbThe technology resource for small and midsize business is now fully integrated with InformationWeek to provide users with even broader technology resources.Regular users of InformationWeek SMB will notice some changes this week. What's prompted this is that InformationWeek SMB is now fully integrated with InformationWeek. That means the site now has a new look and feel, but our team of contributors will continue delivering the SMB-focused content you've come to expect through news and features, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/blog/index.jhtml">blogs</a>, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/slideshows">slideshows</a>, and the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/newsletters/subscribe.jhtml">InformationWeek SMB Report</a>. Plus, thanks to the tighter integration, we'll be presenting you with SMB-relevant news and resources from InformationWeek as well. <P> As part of the integration, we've also introduced contributor pages that make it easy to keep tabs on content from specific writers. Take a moment to check out the pages for each of our contributors: <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/blog/authors/daniel/index.jhtml">Daniel Dern</a> (Hardware & Software, Open Source, Storage, Cloud Computing, SaaS) <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/blog/authors/keith/index.jhtml">Keith Ferrell</a> (Security, Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery) <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/blog/authors/paul/index.jhtml">Paul Korzeniowski</a> (Networking & Communications, UC, Messaging, Collaboration, Mobile) <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/blog/authors/michele/index.jhtml">Michele Pepe-Warren</a> (VARs, MSPs, Social Networking, Web 2.0) <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/blog/authors/jake/index.jhtml">Jake Widman</a> (Business & E-Business, Internet/Web, Apple) <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/blog/authors/lamont/index.jhtml">Lamont Wood</a> (Servers, Virtualization, Green Business, Printers & Printing) <P> To keep up with the latest on technology for small and midsize businesses, visit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/smb/index.jhtml">InformationWeek SMB</a> now and subscribe to the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/newsletters/subscribe.jhtml">InformationWeek SMB Report</a> delivered to your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.2010-06-10T10:13:13ZAlmost three quarters of decision makers in small and midsize companies know the same or less about cloud computing than they did a year ago.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202343?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbAlmost three quarters of decision makers in small and midsize companies know the same or less about cloud computing than they did a year ago.More than half of SMB decision makers, 52%, place a high priority on sharing IT resources and 42% say the same of on-demand resources. From those data points, culled from a <a href="http://www.tophosts.com/articles/010252.html">Verio-sponsored survey</a> of 515 SMB decision makers, it's not too great a leap to infer SMBs harbor an appetite for cloud computing. Yet not too many SMBs appear to be actively seeking answer to questions about <a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/05/when_should_an.html">if now is the time to move to the cloud</a>. <P> According to the same survey, 64% know exactly as much about the cloud computing as they did a year ago and 8% actually regressed in their cloud knowledge - that's 72% that don't really know much about the cloud. Even if you factor in the 22% who claimed to have learned "a little more" or the 6% who know "a great deal more" about cloud computing, this still ranks as statistical stasis. With the economy still foundering and the low-cost appeal that's woven into every discussion about the cloud, you'd think more SMBs would be eagerly reviewing cloud options. <P> That is until you consider where technology ranked on the cost cutting priority. It's fourth on a list of 6 options ranking ahead of only "some other expense" and "don't know" with 30% indicating it was a priority. What ranks higher? Healthcare insurance (58%). Salaries (42%). Rent (32%). When business owners are grappling with keeping the doors open, not cancelling heath insurance and cutting jobs, shifting servers and applications to the cloud slides to the back burner - at least for business owners who aren't inclined to embrace technology issues. Though tools like the <a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/06/calculate_benef.html">Go Google cloud calculator</a> offer an easy way to drop eye-catching stats in front of a decision maker. <P> Mitch Merrifield, Senior Director of Managed Computing Solutions for Verio, commenting on the survey findings hit the nail on the head when he said, "One of the main factors leading to confusion surrounding cloud is that the technology is emerging and still being defined," <P> The inchoate nature of cloud computing is an obstacle for business owners, particularly in smaller companies that tend to have a shallow IT resources. The channel is the obvious conduit for SMB cloud adoption and more launches such as <a href="http://www.crn.com/it-channel/225200747">Arrow Fusion</a> and <a href="http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Tech%2BSense/Highlights/Story/A1Story20100609-221143.html">SingTel</a> will provide businesses with the choices and options they need to begin the long awaited stampede to the cloud and perhaps deliver on Merrifield's prediction that "At its core, a Cloud solution can help SMBs share on-demand resources in a highly scalable, pay-as-you go environment to minimize technology costs. With the SMB market on the cusp of understanding its value, we predict that 2011 will mark a significant shift in the viability of Cloud offerings with small businesses." <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/06/calculate_benef.html">Calculate Benefits Of Cloud Computing</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/05/when_should_an.html">When Should SMBs Use Cloud Storage?</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225200751">Six Cloud Computing Benefits For SMBs</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700133">How To Move Your Business To Cloud Computing</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/05/cloud_computing_7.html">Cloud Computing Will Reinvigorate WAN Expertise</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-06-08T14:58:40ZUnderstanding the potential of the cloud and spreading that message across your organization is the idea behind Google's cloud calculator.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202356?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbUnderstanding the potential of the cloud and spreading that message across your organization is the idea behind Google's cloud calculator.Moving to the cloud isn't a decision any business owner or IT manager should take lightly and calculating the benefits is a key step to reaching that decision. Smartly, Google has stepped into the breach with the Go Google cloud calculator. <P> The reality is that this tool is more about explaining that cloud than calculating the tangible IT benefits. That has value for any change management efforts within an organization and for managers or directors attempting to sell the idea to a board or execs. <P> The double meaning of Go Google cloud calculator is intentional; it doesn't calculate the upside of moving to any cloud, rather moving to Google Apps specifically. The calculator displays the drop-dead simple user experience that has become Google's hallmark - 2 questions, 2 minutes - and functions as much as an advertisement for Google as a useful assessment tool. <P> In fact, the Go Google cloud calculator will seem eerily familiar if you view the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/take-test-drive-into-cloud.html">intro video for the product</a> before using. From the touting of familiar brand names such National Geographic, Konica Minolta, and Jaguar Land Rover to the numbers that flit about the screen detailing the savings, this is a promotion no question about it. <P> However, despite entering only 2 criteria - company name and number of employees (so effectively 1 criterion) --- the calculator does eventually generate some unique numbers for the values entered. Here's what I got: <P> <ul> <li>For a 1-employee organization, the calculator estimated savings of $34,266 and 56 hours</li> <P> <li>For a 150-employee organization, the calculator estimated savings of $477,998 and 8371 hours</li> <P> <li>For an 825-employee organization, the calculator estimated savings of $2,488,189 and 46,040 hours</li> </ul> <P> And when you get to end, the real genius of thing (for Google at least) comes into focus when you're presented with the choice to generate a unique URL, a PDF, a poster, or a spreadsheet. For any manager or so-called change management agent who's struggled to sell a superior on a concept this could be useful. <P> The PDF option generated a 14-page slide deck or handout with high-level information. The poster option put all the data on one page (<a href="http://www.gonegoogle.com/poster-report/60dd8ae397e040c1afe3685760a9c702">click here to see the PDF poster for the fictitious 150-employee company BFT</a>). The custom site put it all in a customized web presentation (<a href="http://www.gonegoogle.com/presentation/60dd8ae397e040c1afe3685760a9c702/">click here for the fictitious BFT's web presentation</a>). The spreadsheet is likely the option that has the most legs as it allows fine-tuning of multiple variables (you can do this in the calculator as well) that allow more precise modeling. <P> <a href="http://www.gonegoogle.com/#/company-name">Go give it a whirl</a>. For the price of 2 questions and two minutes, what you got to lose? <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225200751">Six Cloud Computing Benefits For SMBs</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700133">How To Move Your Business To Cloud Computing</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/05/cloud_computing_7.html">Cloud Computing Will Reinvigorate WAN Expertise</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217700885">Cloud Computing: Useful Technology Or Mere Marketing Buzzword?</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/07/cloud_computing_6.html">Cloud Computing: A Security Disaster Waiting To Happen?</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220300150">The 7 Components Of Cloud Computing</a></li> <li><a href="http://smb.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/01/cloud_computing_1.html">Cloud Computing: The Ultimate Recession Technology</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-21T19:27:43ZThe oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has put BP in headlines, but not in a way that reflects well on the oil company. Business owners take note: you can learn from BP's mistakes.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202729?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbThe oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has put BP in headlines, but not in a way that reflects well on the oil company. Business owners take note: you can learn from BP's mistakes.In the annals of crisis marketing about companies that responded to their darkest hour in ways that ultimately helped their brand image. The Johnson & Johnson response to the <a href="http://www.aerobiologicalengineering.com/wxk116/TylenolMurders/crisis.html">Tylenol crisis</a> is an oft cited example of this. The more common story is the company that stumbles in its response and makes a bad situation even worse. Toyota offers a recent example and then, of course, there's the oil spill and <a href="www.BP.com/OilSpillNews">BP's response</a>. <P> <a href="http://www.company.com/">Company.com</a>, the lead generation and business social community provider, has compiled the following five lessons from the BP Oil spill that are worth noting for any business owner. <P> <strong>Lesson 1: Prior performance is no indicator of future success</strong> <P> One of the most fatal organizational diseases a company can suffer from is complacency. Deepwater Horizon was one of a number of drilling platforms that combined to earn Transocean a Safety Award for Excellence, given by the Department of the Interior's Mineral Management Service, for "outstanding drilling operations" and a "perfect performance period" during 2008. That recognition came at the MMS National Award luncheon in May 2009. Less than a year later, the Deepwater Horizon can be found resting on the sea bed in the Gulf of Mexico. Awards can be dangerous -- nobody's saying that having great performance recognized is a bad thing, but awards are always given from a position of looking back at what happened last week, or last month, or last year. In business, if you're not looking at the road ahead, bad things can, and will, happen. <strong>Lesson 2: Some costs are controllable -- some just aren't</strong> <P> Deepwater Horizon was commissioned by Transocean in 1998, at a cost of $350 million, and construction was completed by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea in 2001. Transocean leased the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit to BP, in a contract worth $496,800 per day. Rebuilding the Deepwater Horizon will cost around $700 million. <P> Cleanup operations are costing around $5 million per day, and BP's share price has fallen by 25 percent in the month since the accident. Nobody knows how much further BP's stock might fall as the spill is brought under control, but the cost of the lost production is going to find its way onto a financial statement somewhere. That will impact profits and may hinder future growth. <strong>Lesson 3: Making unauthorized changes may void warranty</strong> <P> While the Deepwater Horizon was insured for $560 million (and Lloyds of London has paid out on that policy), the total insured losses could reach as high as $3.5 billion by the time compensation, law suits, and clean-up bills are settled. <P> The investigation into the cause of the accident is focusing on the blowout protector (BOP), and whether it was correctly connected and maintained. There is some evidence that the underwater control panel may have been modified and connected to the wrong ram which, to simplify things a whole lot, is the part of the rig that manages the circulation of drilling fluid around the drillbit. Right now there are dozens of lawsuits being filed which accuse BP, Transocean, Cameron International (who build the BOP), and Halliburton -- or any combination of those companies -- of negligence, careless disregard, and violation of the Oil Pollution Act. <P> Lawsuits are never a good thing to be on the end of -- not in your private life, and especially not in business. <strong>Lesson 4: Have a back-up plan for your back-up plan</strong> <P> Engineers working for BP have tried many times to stop the flow of oil from the pipeline. The first solution was to place a 125 ton container dome over the well head. The dome would funnel the erupting oil to a pipeline that would transport the oil to a storage vessel. <P> Unfortunately, methane hydrate crystals clogged up the opening in the dome and prevented the oil from being pumped away. On the surface of the sea, containment booms were put in place -- they're like bumpers to prevent the oil spreading on the surface. They might have worked, too, if the ocean was calm and still, but the wind and waves made the booms ineffective. <P> Plans to disperse, cap, and contain the leak have been tried and have been unsuccessful, though it's expected that heavy drilling fluids will soon be pumped into the BOP on the well head to reduce the flow of oil, and then the well will be permanently capped. <strong>Lesson 5: When you screw up publicly, you can't control the damage</strong> <P> Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez disaster, we still remember the name. Do you remember that Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" was record of the year? Does anyone remember what they played at weddings before 1989? The point is that we remember the bad things much more readily than the good things (1989 is the year Seinfeld first aired, and the last wonderful year before anyone knew the names of the New Kids on the Block). When bad things happen in public, or in a public forum like the Internet, you have no control over how it will spread. The lawsuits from this spill could run for a long time, and will be a constant reminder that the Deepwater Horizon was a BP vessel, impacting BP's reputation for years. <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/business_owners_4.html">Business Owners See Stockpiling Cash As Best Survival Strategy</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220100983">Credit-Card Processing Options For SMBs</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/05/take_credit_car.html">Take Credit Card Payments On Your Phone With Intuit GoPayment</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_smbs_demand_fa.html">SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223500050">Let Your Customers Pay By Credit Card Using Your iPhone</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224500076">How To Get Paid Like Michael Dell</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-20T01:11:20ZGetting paid is crucial to success for any SMB and processing payments efficiently and effectively and offering customers appealing payment options can let any smaller business compete with bigger companies.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202690?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbGetting paid is crucial to success for any SMB and processing payments efficiently and effectively and offering customers appealing payment options can let any smaller business compete with bigger companies.With the economy still limping along, maintaining cash flow is crucial for SMBs. Strong sales are critical of course, but getting paid in a timely manner is every bit as important. Too often, smaller businesses stumble when it comes to payment processing from not offering customers convenient payment options, which creates a barrier to sales and exposes the limits of the business to wasting valuable resources on poorly selected payment processing vendors. <P> Greg Hammermaster, president of the payment solutions division for <a href="http://www.sagepayments.com/">Sage North America</a> is in the payment processing business. Though there's an implicit endorsement of Sage from him, his tips for processing payments remain solid advice for any business owner or business finance manager eager to impose order on payment processing and project a professional image to customers and partners. <P> The following are Hammermaster's top 10 suggestions and tips about processing payments for small businesses: <P> <ol> <li><strong>Consolidate payment vendors</strong> -- Each vendor relationship costs time and money. It's usually more cost-effective and efficient to use a full-service payments provider who can process all payments (credit cards, debit cards, ACH payments, check services and gift/loyalty cards), and using all methods (retail POS, web, phone, mobile, check scanner).</li> <P> <li><strong>Maximize your sales channels</strong> -- "Close the sale" by being accessible in all the places your customers want to buy from you: over-the-phone, on the web, at the tradeshow, in-the-field, etc. Forcing your customer to call you or go into your store to make the sale limits sales opportunities.</li> <P> <li><strong>Embrace credit cards</strong> -- Customers buy from stores/vendors they feel comfortable with. Asking your customer to not use a credit card might make you lose future sales. Additionally, if you're a business-to-business (B2B) shop, <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220100983">being credit card friendly</a> can position your business as the first alternative when your competitor is out of inventory.</li> <P> <li><strong>Integrate payments data with your accounting system</strong> -- A best-in-breed practice is integrating your payments data into your accounting system. Not only will this eliminate the inaccuracy of manual data entry, but it will reduce your days sales outstanding (DSO) and enhance your audit and compliance positions.</li> <P> <li><strong>Have a mobile payments strategy</strong> -- The infrastructure is there. The technology is there. Are you there? <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223500050">Mobile payments</a> are more than an iPhone that can process a credit card, or a mobile phone that replaces a credit card; it's also about delivering information and building loyalty through an array of mobile devices that your customers use.</li> <P> <li><strong>Have a check payment strategy</strong> -- As e-payments replace more and more checks, don't lose sight of the potential increased exposure with fraudulent checks. Converting paper checks electronically to ACH, checks-by-phone, web, Check 21, and check guarantee can increase cash flow and mitigate losses.</li> <P> <li><strong>Choose a technically savvy and financially stable payments provider</strong> -- Due to product complexities and ongoing investment in infrastructure and security, payment systems have moved from being bank owned to business software-company owned and operated. Select a technically savvy and financially stable payments provider that can meet your business's unique needs in a safe and secure environment.</li> <P> <li><strong>Get PCI certified and scan your PCs</strong> -- Payment Card Industry (or PCI) is a requirement of all businesses that interact with credit or debit cards. PCI certification ensures that you're up-to-date on the latest best practices to protect your business and customers from payment fraud. And, just as you use virus software on your PC, you should use payment security software that scans your PC and alerts you to potential security leaks.</li> <P> <li><strong>Use a payment provider that supports end-to-end encryption technology</strong> -- End-to-end encryption (E2EE) starts with your payment capture devices, and goes all the way to the transaction being authorized. E2EE prevents the card account data from being stolen electronically and lessens the cost and impact for your business to become PCI-certified.</li> <P> <li><strong>Understand cost vs. product & service</strong> -- Using the low-cost provider comes at the expense of limited product functionality, potential security holes, and lower levels of customer service. In today's competitive environment, take the time to study the best practices of your competitors and understand how your payment system touches your customer and your back office operations. Taking the lowest cost route could cost you business.</li> </ol> <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/business_owners_4.html">Business Owners See Stockpiling Cash As Best Survival Strategy</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220100983">Credit-Card Processing Options For SMBs</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/05/take_credit_car.html">Take Credit Card Payments On Your Phone With Intuit GoPayment</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_smbs_demand_fa.html">SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223500050">Let Your Customers Pay By Credit Card Using Your iPhone</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224500076">How To Get Paid Like Michael Dell</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-19T22:24:29ZGood relationships between business owners and financial institutions affect loan approval and in a growing economy they can mean lower rates for small businesses.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202579?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbGood relationships between business owners and financial institutions affect loan approval and in a growing economy they can mean lower rates for small businesses.Every business owner understands the value of relationships to business success. Whether those relationships are with suppliers, customers, or employees, they matter. Good ones help support success. Bad ones can hurt the bottom line. It should come as no surprise then that relationships can determine the success or failure of loan approvals. <P> According the results of "<a href="http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2010/0517-bank-relationships-matter/">A Multistage Model of Loans and Role Relationships</a>," a study co-authored by Tansel Yilmazer of the University of Missouri and Sugato Chakravarty of Purdue University, good relationships between financial institutions and business owners can affect a borrowers decision to apply and loan approval, but how those relationships factor into loan rates changes with the economic situation. Business owners who have a good relationship with a lender are more likely to apply for a loan and are more likely to have that loan approved. <P> "The findings suggest that when in a recession, such as now, when loan rates are already low, good relationships between the business and the financial institution do not really matter," said Yilmazer. "However, when in an economic expansion, positive relationships allow loan officers to lower the loan rate." He added, "Relationships are important for both businesses in need of a loan and financial institutions that are trying to attract less risky businesses." <P> The study used data from the 1993, 1998 and 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances; in 1993 and 2003 the economy was in recession, in 1998 it was expanding. <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/business_owners_4.html">Business Owners See Stockpiling Cash As Best Survival Strategy</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_adding_job.html">SMBs Adding Jobs At Fastest Pace In 3 Years</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700179">Most Software Execs See Rebound This Year</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_smbs_demand_fa.html">SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">SMBs Loosening up the Purse Strings</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_it_spending_1.html">SMB IT Spending Will Grow, But Slowly, Say Analysts</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-10T13:12:33Z50% of CFOs in the IT industry believe the U.S. economy will improve in the next six months, a more bullish outlook than their counterparts in other industries according to a national survey.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202550?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smb50% of CFOs in the IT industry believe the U.S. economy will improve in the next six months, a more bullish outlook than their counterparts in other industries according to a national survey.Half of the CFOs in technology companies believe the economy will improve in the next six months. That's six percent more optimistic than collective perspective of CFOs from other industries according to the findings of a national survey of CEOs released Monday by accounting firm <a href="http://www.grantthornton.com">Grant Thornton LLP</a>. The biannual survey was conducted between March 22 and April 5. The survey captured input from 496 CFOs and senior comptrollers in the manufacturing, technology, financial services, health care, banking, government, retail, non-profit, transportation, real estate, and construction industries. Other almost 500 participants, 53 were from the tech sector. <P> The six month economic outlook wasn't the only area where tech CFOs saw more reason for cheer than those in other industries. 60% of the tech CFOs believed their company's financial prospects would improve in the next six months (52% for all participants) and 37% said the economy would come out of recession in 2010 (28% for all participants). Other industries (24%) plan to raise prices in the next six months at a higher rate (17%) than the tech sector. The other thing not going up in tech is salaries: only 11% of tech CFOs plan to increase salaries compared with 15% across all industries. <P> Click <a href="http://www.gt.com/staticfiles//GTCom/Grant%20Thornton%20Thinking/Surveys/CFO%20survey_Spring%202010.pdf">here</a> to download a PDF of the complete survey findings. <P> Click <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/business_owners_4.html">here</a> to read about previous Grant Thornton survey results. <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/business_owners_4.html">Business Owners See Stockpiling Cash As Best Survival Strategy</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_adding_job.html">SMBs Adding Jobs At Fastest Pace In 3 Years</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700179">Most Software Execs See Rebound This Year</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_smbs_demand_fa.html">SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">SMBs Loosening up the Purse Strings</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_it_spending_1.html">SMB IT Spending Will Grow, But Slowly, Say Analysts</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-10T08:00:00ZAnalyst research comparing midmarket SaaS and on-premises CPM solutions finds significantly lower TCO for on-demand options.http://www.informationweek.com/news/224701043?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smb <P> Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) corporate performance management (CPM) solutions have a significantly lower total cost of ownership (TCO) compared with on-premise solutions according to a research study released Monday by analyst firm <a href="http://www.hurwitz.com/">Hurwitz & Associates</a>. The research, commissioned by Adaptive Planning, the on-demand financial planning and reporting provider, indicates that the TCO for SaaS CPM solutions is as much as 77% lower. As the number of users increases, the cost of advantage of SaaS does taper: the 77% savings for 10 users slides down to 64% for 100 users. <P> The research focused specifically on <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?y=0&term=cpm">CPM</a> solutions from midmarket vendors, including Longview Solutions, Prophix, and Clarity Systems. In addition to the TCO analysis, other findings include: <ul> <li>SaaS application software costs are approximately 62% of total solutions costs.</li> <li>On-premise application software costs are approximately 17% of total solution costs.</li> <li>SaaS applications require no infrastructure costs</li> <li>On-premises infrastructure costs range from $150,000 for 10 users to more than $275,000 for 100 users over four years.</li> </ul> <P> Commenting on the findings, Hurwitz & Associates partner Sanjeev Aggarwal, said, "Via the SaaS model, companies of all sizes can gain access to enterprise-class solutions without incurring large upfront costs, or having to hire expensive IT staff for initial implementation and ongoing management. It's clear that SaaS is fundamentally changing the software equation in profound ways." <P> CEO of <a href="http://www.adaptiveplanning.com">Adaptive Planning</a>, William Soward, added, "The comprehensive analysis performed by Hurwitz & Associates provides clear evidence of the significant economic benefits that the SaaS model provides compared with the traditional on-premise model in the CPM space." <P> Though the report indicates a clear case for considering SaaS CPM, and by extension SaaS solutions in other categories as well, the analysts also noted that proper vendor assessment is crucial to realizing the potential savings of SaaS solutions. To that end, Hurwtiz and Associates included guides for evaluating SaaS vendors, cautioning business and IT decision makers to "try before you buy" and review the following points with care: <ul> <li>Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and contract terms</li> <li>Data security</li> <li>Application customization requirements</li> <li>Benefits provided by a third-party VAR or system integrator</li> <li>Pricing transparency</li> <li>Multi-year contracts and commitment</li> </ul> <P> The complete Hurwitz & Associates research report is available for download <a href="http://www.adaptiveplanning.com/docs/Hurwitz_TCO_of_SaaS_CPM_Solutions.pdf">here &#91;PDF&#93;</a>. <P> <br><em><a href="http://benjamintomkins.com/">Benjamin Tomkins</a> is editor of InformationWeek SMB.<br>Follow him on Twitter @ <a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a></em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/verizon_introdu_1.html">Verizon Introduces 'Security-As-A-Service' Packages</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208801202">SaaS Eases Security Cost and Complexity</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700133">How To Move Your Business To Cloud Computing</a></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <br> <small><em> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a><br> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a> </em></small>2010-05-07T11:36:55ZA significant majority of small businesses believe that they will lead the U.S. Out of recession and plan to increase hiring and spending on sales and marketing this year.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202607?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbA significant majority of small businesses believe that they will lead the U.S. Out of recession and plan to increase hiring and spending on sales and marketing this year.Almost three quarters of small business owners believe they will lead the U.S. out of the great recession and more than half claim their business has already recovered or will this year. Those optimistic perspectives are among the findings of the third annual Sign of the Times national business business survey. The online study, conducted in early April, was commissioned by <a href="http://www.fedex.com/us/office/index.html">FedEx Office</a>. <P> According to the survey findings 72% of small business owners believe they will lead the recovery and 51% say that business has already rebounded or will by year end. A year ago the same survey found that 54% of business owner were concerned about the economy and how it was affecting their business and only 9% planned to hire. This year, 18% are considering increases in staffing. <P> Business owners are also planning to spend more on sales and promotions, with 42% planning to increase spending on marketing and advertising and 30% looking at increases in sales initiatives. <P> Commenting on the survey findings and adding a plug promoting the services his employer offer, FedEx Office vice president of marketing, Randy Scarborough, said, "Small businesses are definitely getting it right when it comes to identifying and investing in the tools that will help them bounce back from a difficult period. From print ads and direct mail campaigns to online marketing programs and a social media presence, small business owners today are smart and savvy about how to maximize their budgets while connecting effectively with new and existing customers down the street and around the world." <P> Despite the growing availability of online tools, small business owners cling to the familiar: 87% says that printed marketing/advertising tools are somewhat to very effective and 61% see traditional marketing methods as more effective than web-based alternatives. According to the report findings, small businesses plan to allocate dollar to the following marketing advertising methods: <ul> <li>43% Brochures</li> <li>39% Yellow Pages listings</li> <li>37% Flyers, banners, and posters</li> <li>32% Newspaper advertising</li> </ul> <P> Despite the interest in traditional methods, 46% do plan to grow business by improving the online presence of their business and 36% plan to use social media to drive business. <P> More survey findings and information is available <a href="http://news.van.fedex.com/node/16669">here</a>. <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_adding_job.html">SMBs Adding Jobs At Fastest Pace In 3 Years</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700179">Most Software Execs See Rebound This Year</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_smbs_demand_fa.html">SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">SMBs Loosening up the Purse Strings</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_it_spending_1.html">SMB IT Spending Will Grow, But Slowly, Say Analysts</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-06T14:24:49ZEvery business needs a website, but developing a website that performs for your business takes careful planning and time.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202640?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbEvery business needs a website, but developing a website that performs for your business takes careful planning and time.In today's business world, a website is a requirement, the contemporary equivalent of a yellow pages listing, but with infinitely more reach, possibility,and power. Most smaller businesses have gotten the message about the importance of having a website by now. Putting up a website, however, and having a website that garners results for your business are two very different things though. <P> According to a <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/majority-of-small-businesses-saddled-with-websites-that-do-not-meet-their-needs-92974839.html">study from Deluxe Corporation</a>, 56% of small businesses believe that their website doesn't meet their needs. Drilling down on those findings 21% think their site needs more work on content and layout and 29% see a need for a total overhaul. The phone and online survey polled more than 200 small businesses. <P> "Having a solid online presence is critical to growing a business," said Joanne McGowan, segment leader, Small Business Services at Deluxe. <P> Using the survey as pretext, Deluxe also announced a contest designed to cure the online ills of these businesses with under-performing sites or at least one of them. The grand prize winner of the "<a href="http://www.ihatemywebsitecontest.com/">I Hate My Website</a>" contest will receive a site redesign, a year of hosting, and Gateway netbook. 59 other entrants will also receive prizes of some sort. The last day to enter is May 15. <P> Deluxe may well overwhelm the website woes for one small businesses, but that leaves a sea of others out there still flailing. Handing the keys to your site over to firm to overhaul can help -- make sure you <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700575">vet the vendor</a> -- but it's also important to understand some core principals. <P> One guy who's manged to do very well online is Samy Liechti, the founder of <a href="http://www.blacksocks.com/g3.cms/lang/en">Blacksocks.com</a>. If you can make a success of selling socks by subscription (among other things) you must be doing something right. Liechti recently offered up some advice for leading online businesses. He's talking about the big picture stuff, not where you put the navigation or if you have an RSS feed. Depending on what you're doing online these tips will apply to in varying degrees. Here's four of his tips: <ul> <li>Keep your Internet presence fresh.</li> <li>Maintain a human connection with your customer.</li> <li>Experiment with social media.</li> <li>Invest in long-term success.</li> </ul> <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700575">ChoiceVendor Introduces Vendor Rating Service</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224600007">Why SMBs Need A Strong Brand</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224600348">How To Make Your Website Mobile</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223700005">Check Out Your Checkout</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-06T08:26:56ZHiring the right people is as important to your success as your IT infrastructure. Take your team building to the next level with these 10 tips.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202557?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbHiring the right people is as important to your success as your IT infrastructure. Take your team building to the next level with these 10 tips.The data, hardware, network, and all the other IT resources that your businesses relies upon are crucial to your success. Yet even if you have flawless IT, the technology is ultimately there to support the people who are your small or midsize business. And whereas making the choice between cloud and on-premises applications or selecting a network appliance can be distilled down to tangible factors such as cost, performance, compatibility, scalability, and so forth, selecting the people who work for and the people you work with is closer to alchemy. <P> That's true when selecting the service providers and vendors that keep your IT system running and it's also the case when you're hiring. There are now some <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700575">resources to help you vet vendors based on past performance</a>. When it comes to hiring your team, however, you can look at past performance, but you also need to consider the skills and competencies your business needs and how those roles relate to each other. It's a tall order and there's no right answer, but Mashable has a list of 10 tips for building your team (particularly helpful for startups that have a blank slate when it comes to staffing, but also applicable to existing <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_adding_job.html">businesses that are now starting to hire again</a>). Here's the top line list (click <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/05/05/how-to-build-a-business-team/">here</a> for the details on each point): <P> <ol> <li>Have Very Clear Objectives</li> <li>Master the Art of LinkedIn</li> <li>Go Where the Talent Is</li> <li>Make Your Company (and Yourself) Accessible</li> <li>You Have to Sell Your Business to Your Team</li> <li>Learn About Their Side Projects and Passions</li> <li>Project Management Tools Are Your Friend (Mostly)</li> <li>There's More to Your Team Than Your Employees</li> <li>Use Social Media to Build a Voice</li> <li>Trust Your Gut</li> </ol> <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_adding_job.html">SMBs Adding Jobs At Fastest Pace In 3 Years</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700179">Most Software Execs See Rebound This Year</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700575">ChoiceVendor Introduces Vendor Rating Service</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">SMBs Loosening up the Purse Strings</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_it_spending_1.html">SMB IT Spending Will Grow, But Slowly, Say Analysts</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-05-03T10:25:00ZPromising to streamline vendor and service provider selection for business owners, ChoiceVendor brings a "wisdom-of-crowds" models to B2B provider ratings.http://www.informationweek.com/news/224700575?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbMarrying the wisdom of crowds with small businesses ongoing need to identify and vet vendors and service providers is the offering that <a href="http://www.choicevendor.com/">ChoiceVendor</a> unveiled today. The free online service launching today offers peer-driven business-to-business reviews in more than 70 categories. Initially ChoiceVendor is focused on developing a strong presence in the San Francisco, Chicago, and New York metro markets with the intent of providing reviews nationwide. Concurrent with the launch of the new service, ChoiceVendor announced the acquisition of Boston-based <a href="http://www.vendorcity.com/">VendorCity</a>, a move that bolsters the offering in the Northeast. <P> ChoiceVendor<a href="http://www.choicevendor.com/about/company/"> founder and CEO Yan-David Erlich</a> claims the concept for ChoiceVendor was born of his own frustrations and challenges in identifying quality service providers for his previous business. He noted that the approximately 26 million small businesses in the U.S. spend roughly $5.3 trillion annually on non-payroll services with legal, accounting, and insurance comprising 30% of that. According to Erlich, 64% of small businesses start their vendor and service provider research with search engines and online searches and word-of-mouth remain the primary avenues for identifying vendors. That's a contrast to the consumer markets where a host of ratings and rankings services from Angie's List to Yelp to Consumer Reports offer consumers input about purchasing decisions. <P> "Business owners are busy and ChoiceVendor can significantly reduce research time and provide valuable insight, whether these companies are seeking service vendors to print business cards or searching for a marketing firm," said Erlich. "When we were searching for a lawyer we started with a Google search, which was uninformative at best. ChoiceVendor was inspired by the desire to bring word-of-mouth referrals online. We believe small business owners should be able to access a trustworthy repository of peer reviews." <P> Erlich also cited data that indicates that 54% of small business don't write reviews of vendors and service providers because they don't know where to go to do so. That data suggests pent up demand for vendor rankings, but also underscores a lack of traction for existing<a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/04/vendor_rankings.html"> vendor ranking services such as VendorRate</a>. <P> Viewing vendor and service provider ratings will be free on ChoiceVendor at launch as will vendor listing, though the firm is counting on vendors to spur reviews from their own customers and will introduce ways to monetize the service in the future. Right now, ChoiceVendors offers vendor reviews in <a href="http://www.choicevendor.com/c/">14 top-level categories</a> and a bevy of subcategories including, accounting, attorneys, web design, search engine marketing, value added resellers, and software and application development. <P> <br><em><a href="http://benjamintomkins.com/">Benjamin Tomkins</a> is editor of InformationWeek SMB.<br>Follow him on Twitter @ <a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a></em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/04/vendor_rankings.html">Vendor Rankings an Imperfect Science</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212901067">Follow The Money To Better Vendor Management</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/01/how_to_fire_a_v.html">How To "Fire" A Vendor</a></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <br> <small><em> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a><br> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a> </em></small>2010-05-03T09:33:57ZThe latest Small Business Scorecard indicates continued increases in hiring and a significant uptick in business owner confidence about the economy.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202516?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbThe latest Small Business Scorecard indicates continued increases in hiring and a significant uptick in business owner confidence about the economy.Small business owners had a much brighter outlook in April than March and are putting cash behind that optimism with continued increases in hiring. Survey data released today by <a href="http://www.surepayroll.com">SurePayroll</a> indicates a 12 point jump (to 67%) in optimism about economic conditions for SMBs and a rise in hiring that now stands at 3.4% year-to-date nationally and an even brighter 3.9% in the Midwest and 3.8% in the West. <P> The boosts in hiring and optimism are among the findings of the April <a href="http://www.surepayroll.com/scorecard/">SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard</a>. The monthly scorecard is based on payroll data compiled by the online payroll provider. These positive trending numbers reinforce the data released Friday in the <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_adding_job.html">Inuit Small Business Employment Index</a>, which is also based on payroll data. <P> Though it would be nice to hop on the SMB optimism bandwagon (insert the WSJ axiom that "two's a coincidence, but three's a trend" here), neither the SurePayroll nor the Intuit data strides into bullish territory. Despite the trend toward hiring, the Scorecard <a href="http://www.surepayroll.com/scorecard/2010/april/nationalresults.asp">monthly pay index fell 0.1%</a> making the year-to-date decrease 0.3%. Combine that with the employment numbers in the Northeast, which stand at 2.1% and there's ample fodder for a pessimistic view here. <P> As SurePayroll President Michael Alter said, "Bottom line for small business is that while some good things are happening, until more small businesses start hiring full-time workers -- and those workers spend with confidence due to perceived job security -- it's not time to declare a full recovery." <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_adding_job.html">SMBs Adding Jobs At Fastest Pace In 3 Years</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700179">Most Software Execs See Rebound This Year</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_smbs_demand_fa.html">SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">SMBs Loosening up the Purse Strings</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_it_spending_1.html">SMB IT Spending Will Grow, But Slowly, Say Analysts</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-04-30T08:54:32ZAccording to the latest Small Business Employment Index, the hiring rate for small businesses has reached a three-year high.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202817?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbAccording to the latest Small Business Employment Index, the hiring rate for small businesses has reached a three-year high.Small and midsize businesses created 66,000 new jobs in April according to the April <a href="http://payroll.intuit.com/employment_index/?cid=pr_prsbe_prpay_landing_payindx">Small Business Employment Index</a> from Intuit. That is the fastest pace for SMB job growth in the three years and continues a trend that dates back to 2009; since that time 300,000 new jobs have been created in the segment. <P> Commenting on the findings, economist Susan Woodward of <a href="http://sandhillecon.com/6_aboutus/bios.html">Sand Hill Econometrics</a> said, "Small businesses are looking healthier. Every trend we measure -- employment, hours worked, and monthly compensation -- is showing signs of a recovery. Last month the national figures finally began to show a recovery for larger businesses and the entire economy, but for small businesses, the recovery has been underway for more than half a year." <P> Though not robust, compensation and monthly hours worked also increased in April by a meager half percent. Compensation has been flat since 2008 including the compensation that business owners allocate to themselves. Average monthly compensation is no $2,607. <P> The monthly index is based on payroll data from more than 50,000 small businesses using <a href="http://payroll.intuit.com/payroll_services/online_payroll.jsp">Intuit Online Payroll</a> and represents approximately 220,000 employees. <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700179">Most Software Execs See Rebound This Year</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_smbs_demand_fa.html">SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">SMBs Loosening up the Purse Strings</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_it_spending_1.html">SMB IT Spending Will Grow, But Slowly, Say Analysts</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-04-29T09:46:00ZAccording to the findings of a new survey, most software CEOs and CFO see a return to pre-recession levels this year and cloud computing, particularly among SMBs, is the big driver for the rebound.http://www.informationweek.com/news/224700179?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbThe results of a survey released today by <a href="http://www.sandhill.com/">Sand Hill Group</a> point toward a software recovery this year. The survey of more 100 software CEOs and CFOs indicated a widespread sentiment that business will soon return to pre-recession levels. In fact, 42% say that it already has and another 27% believe it will happen before the year is out. As a result of this optimism, more than 90% have already begun hiring or plan to hire this year. <P> Commenting on the survey findings, <a href="http://www.sandhill.com/sandhillgroup/team.php">Sand Hill Group CEO MR Rangswami</a> said, "It's not often you get to review CEO and CFO forecasts from more than 100 leading software companies. Seeing the optimism of these executives is a terrific indication that we are rebounding from the recession in Silicon Valley. One thing is clear - software is back, driven by the rapid adoption of cloud computing. The results also show that software companies will have to adapt to the market's new reality in order to ensure their future success." <P> Though these results are encouraging for the economy as whole as well as the IT sector, they indicate particular optimism for SMBs. Of the 107 software CEOs and CFOs participating in the 24-question survey, 92% were in companies of 500 employees of less. The online survey was conducted in February and March of this year polled executives in five segments - application software, infrastructure, verticals, service providers, and data storage - with 60% from application software firms. <P> In a <a href="http://bit.ly/d69259">webcast today</a> at 11 am Pacific Time, representatives of Sand Hill Group will review the key findings of the Software CEO/CFO Outlook 2010. <a href="http://bit.ly/d69259">Webcast registrants</a> will receive a complimentary copy of the report, which was underwritten by web-based financial management and accounting application provider <a href="http://us.intacct.com">Intacct</a>. In addition to the overall optimism about the prospects for software firms, the survey findings also reveal strong momentum for cloud computing, SaaS, and other on-demand software models, particularly among smaller organizations. <P> "The SMB segment is adopting cloud-based solutions at two times the rate of large companies," said Rangswami. He believes that we're just at the beginning of cloud ascendency and that SMBs, in particular younger companies, will be embracing cloud computing because they don't have the same level of investment in legacy software and hardware as many large enterprises. <P> The key data points on adoption of cloud computing and SaaS as key growth drivers for software include: <ul> <li>44% see on-demand cloud and SaS models as the method most customers prefer to software purchasing</li> <li>Only 43% indicated plans to add SaaS and cloud offerings, though that's tempered by the 53% who already have offer a cloud or SaaS model</li> <li>63% use an on-demand or SaaS pricing model</li> <li>10% use a cloud-computing or pay-per use pricing model</li> <li>60% or more of vertical software providers use on-demand SaaS pricing</li> <li>60% of more of the infrastructure and security firms use traditional software licenses</li> </ul> <P> <br><em><a href="http://benjamintomkins.com/">Benjamin Tomkins</a> is editor of InformationWeek SMB.<br>Follow him on Twitter @ <a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a></em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224700133">How To Move Your Business To Cloud Computing</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216402102">9 Cloud Storage Services For Your Business</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/help_arrives_fo.html">Help Arrives for Managing Cloud Applications</a></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <br> <small><em> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a><br> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a> </em></small>2010-04-28T06:57:04ZAccording to a CompTIA survey, 80% of SMBs wants technology solutions that "deliver immediate payback in terms of minimum disruption of business continuity and seamless integration with existing solutions" and are most interested in virtualization, unified communications, and mobile.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202946?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbAccording to a CompTIA survey, 80% of SMBs wants technology solutions that "deliver immediate payback in terms of minimum disruption of business continuity and seamless integration with existing solutions" and are most interested in virtualization, unified communications, and mobile.That return on investment is top-of-mind for business owners and decision makers in small and midsize organizations isn't surprising, given the economic conditions. More intriguing is the 71% who indicated a willingness to pay a premium on proven solutions. Those are the two leading findings of of the second annual SMB Technology Adoption Trends study released by <a href="http://www.comptia.org">CompTIA</a>, the IT industry trade association. The online survey polled 400 executives as US SMBs in February across several industry sectors, including finance, professional services, insurance, healthcare, and manufacturing. <P> Commenting on the findings, Tim Herbert, vice president, research, CompTIA, said, "The underlying take-away is that SMBs want IT that works right the first time and will look to solutions that do. Thanks to innovation, the steady decrease of the cost of computing power and storage and new business models, technology has never been more accessible to companies of all sizes." <P> Digging deeper into the findings reveals the specific solutions that SMBs are most interested in considering over the next 12 months: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/a_recent_case_s.html">Server virtualization</a> (37%)</li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/more_business_p.html">Unified communications</a> (25%)</li> <li>Open source applications (20%)</li> </ul> <P> In addition, the study revealed a "two to three fold increase" in use of managed services by SMBs compared to the findings of the 2009 CompTIA study. Moreover, 45% have identified the need for improved mobility infrastructure to enable remote network access in the next 12 months. <P> The willingness of SMBs to spend on proven solutions indicated by the findings, belies the business and IT challenges that smaller organizations grapple with on an ongoing basis. The study also identified the leading IT priorities stemming from those challenges, including: <ul> <li>Keeping up with <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/storage/index.jhtml">storage demands</a> (55%)</li> <li>Managing the increasing sprawl of mobile and remote networks and devices (54%)</li> <ul> <li>72% have telecommuting employees</li> <li>87% have mobile employees</li> </ul> <li>Offering richer online customer experiences (53%)</li> </ul> <P> The complete findings are available on the <a href="http://www.comptia.org/news/10-04-27/SMBs_More_Aggressive_in_Technology_Adoption_CompTIA_Study_Finds.aspx">CompTIA</a> site to members of the association at no charge. <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">SMBs Loosening up the Purse Strings</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_it_spending_1.html">SMB IT Spending Will Grow, But Slowly, Say Analysts</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/more_business_p.html">More Businesses Plan To Implement UC</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/a_recent_case_s.html">Virtualization And Blade Servers: A Competitive Edge</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/_the_10_most_st.html">The 10 Most Strategic IT Vendors For SMBs</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-04-23T08:21:14ZAccording to a recent ranking of women-led companies, the 50 fastest-growing businesses with women at the helm grossed $2.3 billion in 2009 and all but 4% plan to hire this year.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202909?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbAccording to a recent ranking of women-led companies, the 50 fastest-growing businesses with women at the helm grossed $2.3 billion in 2009 and all but 4% plan to hire this year.The <a href="http://www.womenpresidentsorg.com/index.htm">Women President's Organization</a> (WPO) released it's ranking of the 50 fastest-growing women led businesses in North America today. This is the third such ranking released by the WPO and SMB-centric <a href="http://home3.americanexpress.com/corp/pc/2010/open_wpo.asp">American Express OPEN</a>. To be ranked, businesses not only had to be privately held and women-owned or women-led, but also had to have booked revenues of at least $500,00 by the first week of 2005 and at at least $2 million by 2009. The rankings were established by a formula that combined percentage and absolute growth. <P> Having demonstrated, at a minimum, an almost five year track record, none of these companies are startups or fly by night organizations. Moreover, more than 10% play in the IT/technology/online space. That's a potentially welcome data point in the wake of a recent <em>New York Times</em> story chronicling the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/technology/18women.html">challenges women face in Silicon Valley</a>. The piece noted that women account for only 6% of the CEOs at the top 100 tech companies and 22% of software engineers at tech companies and that despite woman-owning 40% of all private businesses in the US, women account for only 8% of venture-backed startups. <P> Commenting on the rankings, WPO founder and president Marsha Firestone, said, "The Top 50 list exemplifies the vital role women business owners have on boosting the economy and enhancing job growth overall." To that, Nancy Hood, vice president at American Express OPEN added, "There are 10 million women-owned businesses in the US that employee over 13 million people and generate nearly $2 trillion in annual sales." <P> In addition to the rankings, the business were surveyed about the reasons for their success. Not surprisingly, leadership (64%) and skilled teams (78%) were cited as the most critical factors. More than half (56%) noted lower sales due to economic conditions as the biggest challenge and, in a welcome dash or optimism, almost all (96%) indicated they plan to add employees this year. <P> So who are these leaders and the businesses they lead? See for yourself. <P> <ol> <li>Beatriz Manetta of Argent Associates, Inc. (NJ, Supply Chain Management)</li> <li>Shelly Sun of BrightStar Care (IL, Staffing services)</li> <li>Ranjini Poddar of Artech Information Systems LLC (NJ, IT Consulting)</li> <li>Gail Warrior-Lawrence of Warrior Group (TX, Premier construction services)</li> <li>Elizabeth Elting of TransPerfect (NY, Language services provider)</li> <li>Amy Gonzales of AK Environmental, LLC (NJ, Consulting firm)</li> <li>Fran Lessans of Passport Health (MD, Provider of travel medical services)</li> <li>Hallie Satz of HighRoad Press (NY, Printing solution)</li> <li>Vicki Raport of Quantum Retail Technology, Inc. (MN, Software solutions)</li> <li>Elaine Osgood of Atlas Travel International (MA, Full-service travel agency)</li> <li>Sue Butler of Butler/Till Media Services, Inc (NY, Media agency)</li> <li>Dr. Padma Allen of Technodyne LLC (NJ, High-end technology solutions)</li> <li>Jill E.M. Kusic Esq. of NRA Group LLC d/b/a National Recovery Agency (PA, Revenue Recovery Services)</li> <li>Cheryl Lang of Integrated Mortgage Solutions (TX, Collateral protection resources)</li> <li>Tomima Edmark of Andra Group (TX, Online lingerie store)</li> <li>Jeni Bogdan of The Saxon Group, Inc (GA, Heavy industrial construction)</li> <li>Carol Koffinke of Beacon Associates, Inc (MD, Consulting and program support)</li> <li>Vickie Wessel of Spirit Electronics, Inc (AZ, Supply-chain solutions)</li> <li>Magdalah Silva of DMS International (MD, Management, consulting training)</li> <li>Anjali Ramakumaran of Ampcus Inc (VA, Biz, tech, engineering solutions)</li> <li>Stephanie Point of Point 2 Point Global Security, Inc (MD, Security patrols services)</li> <li>Carole Borden of C.B. Transportation, Inc (PA, Transportation management)</li> <li>Nicole Geller of Government Contract Solutions (VA, Professional services and solutions)</li> <li>Susan A. Morano of Suzanne's Specialties, Inc (NJ, Makes Organic Sweeteners)</li> <li>Cynthia B. Kaye of Logical Choice Technologies, Inc (GA, Promethean integration & training)</li> <li>Francine Farkas Sears of Fabrique Ltd (CT, Design & Make accessory case)</li> <li>Min Cho of Nova Datacom (VA, Information assurance)</li> <li>Lee Ann Cochran of Cochran Electric (WA, Electrical contractor)</li> <li>Donna K. Alligood of Knowledge Link Incorporated (VA, Information technology services)</li> <li>Dr. Ellen H. Yankellow of Correct Rx Pharmacy Services, Inc (MD, Pharmaceuticals)</li> <li>Cynthia J. Pasky of Strategic Staffing Solutions (MI, onsulting and staff augmentation)</li> <li>Pamela O'Rourke of Icon Information Consultants (TX, Recruiting)</li> <li>Katherine Dietzen of MedEdNow, LLC (NY, Medical education communications)</li> <li>Elizabeth Williams of Roxbury Technology Corp (MA, Remanufacturer/distributor of ink)</li> <li>Sonu Ratra of Akraya, Inc. (CA, Staffing)</li> <li>Melissa Cather-Thiede of ProActive Solutions, Inc (KS, IT services and solutions)</li> <li>Lori Matthews of Isoflex (CA, Distributor of stable isotopes)</li> <li>Liz Lasater of Red Arrow Logistics (WA, Transportation provider)</li> <li>Jennifer Scully of Clinical Resources LLC (GA, Staffing firm)</li> <li>Wendi Goldsmith of Bioengineering Group (MA, Ecological restoration)</li> <li>Laura K.T. Schriver of Language Services Associates (PA, Foreign language communication)</li> <li>Priti Parikh of Sweta systems Inc (AZ, Tech Consulting services)</li> <li>Lisa Moore Turano of Providus (TX, Legal Staffing)</li> <li>Sherry S Deutschmann of LetterLogic, Inc (TN, Manufactures mail, letters)</li> <li>Danielle Waske of DNT Environmental Services Inc (GA, Contracting specialty)</li> <li>Juli Spottiswood of Parago (TX, Rewards-based incentive solutions)</li> <li>Noreen Guanci of Long Term Solutions (MA, Elder care coordination & support)</li> <li>Maria D Bradley of Benefit Express Services, LLC (IL, Admin and enrollment services)</li> <li>Kiran Gill of PARS Environmental, Inc (NJ, Environmental consulting firm)</li> <li>Heidi Ganahl of Camp Bow Wow (CO, Pet care franchise)</li> </ol> <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_online_hiring.html">Hiring Numbers Up, Unemployment Rate Steady</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/hiring_numbers.html">Hiring Numbers Up, Unemployment Rate Steady</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_confidence.html">SMB Confidence Continues To Flatline</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/small_business_11.html">Small Business Employment On The Upswing</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/customers_not_s.html">Customers, Not Stimulus, Spur SMB Hiring</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/smbs_more_optim.html">SMBs More Optimistic, But Still Scared To Borrow</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-04-22T09:55:22ZOn Earth Day, environmental responsibility gets top billing, but the businesses can slash power costs with a few simple energy conservation tips and go green at the same time.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202997?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbOn Earth Day, environmental responsibility gets top billing, but the businesses can slash power costs with a few simple energy conservation tips and go green at the same time.Lately, the cloud has been a boon for communication services; the cloud of volcanic ash from the eruption in Iceland that has curtailed air travel across Europe has <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224500133">boosted use of video conferencing</a>. But that cloud will eventually blow over. The cloud that's here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, is cloud computing and that cloud can help SMBs go green and reduce costs. <P> Moving data into the cloud can eliminate on-site servers. That, in turn, can reduce power consumption. The savings can be substantial according to Michael Osterman, principal of industry analyst firm <a href="http://www.ostermanresearch.com/">Osterman Research</a>, "The savings stemming from eliminating on-site servers can reach thousands of dollars per month for the average 100-person business. The source of these savings is primarily reduced license and staffing costs, but lower power consumption alone contributes up to about $870 in savings per server each year." <P> Given that it is Earth Day, <a href="http://www.intermedia.net/">Intermedia</a>, the hosted Exchange provider, is touting the Eco-benefits of cloud services. The company maintains five data-center cloud infrastructure that it claims support almost 250,000 business people. Getting down to brass tacks, Intermedia asserts that it can power approximately 240 mailboxes (BlackBerry, OCS, and SharePoint) with one server. That same load would required four to eight on-premises servers. This assumes a certain level of redundancy to maintain business continuity. Regardless of your environmental perspective, the prospect of not powering, much less supporting, a half dozen servers should be appealing - it's an argument that Intermedia and many other cloud providers have been making with some success. <P> Now about those tips. In addition to pointing out the cost savings and potential green cachet of the cloud, Intermedia also released 4 tips (if you prefer a list of 7 Tips To Green Your Business <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207400122">click here</a>) that businesses can use to reduce environmental impact. Here they are: <ol> <li>Have employees <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219401089">turn off computers</a> when leaving the office at night.</li> <li>Use video conferencing instead of business travel.</li> <li>Encourage public transportation. Offer employees travel vouchers or reimbursement for your city's public transportation system.</li> <li>Unplug unnecessary electronics at the end of the day. Electronics such as chargers, fans and lamps use unnecessary power even when in "off" mode.</li> </ol> <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223100593">Intermedia Launches Hosted UC For SMBs</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219401089">Turn Off Your PC!</a></li> <li><a href="hhttp://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207400122">7 Ways For Your Businesses To Go Green</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207400760">Calculating ROI for Green IT</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-04-22T09:35:00ZFashion entrepreneur, author, and television star Daymond John discuss the importance of branding and how he's used social media to understand his customers and educate them about his products.http://www.informationweek.com/news/224600007?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smb<em><a href="http://www.daymondjohn.com/">Daymond John</a> is founder and owner of FUBU, star of the ABC series "Shark Tank," and a corporate branding consultant. He has been named Marketer of the Year by Brandweek and New York Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. In his new book, <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224400159">"The Brand Within: How We Brand Ourselves, From Birth To The Boardroom,"</a> John draws from his experience over almost two decades in the fashion business to explore the loyalty-based relationships between brands and customers. <P> Recently, John spoke with InformationWeek SMB about the importance of branding for businesses of any size, the relationship between personal brands and business brands, and why the Treasury Department is the only organization that doesn't need to manage its brand.</em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss: </font><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224400159">An excerpt of Daymond John's "The Brand Within"</a></strong> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <div style="float:right; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:5px;"><a href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bmighty-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0982596219&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4536243065_c7dfe7c5ac_o.jpg" width="110" height="110" alt="DaymondJohn"></a><div align="center"><strong>Daymond John</strong></div></div> <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> Let's start with why brands are important, particularly for small and midsized companies.</em> <P> <strong>Daymond John:</strong> Whether they take the time to make the conscious effort about it or not, they are being branded. So it all depends on if you're going to cultivate your brand. People buy into your brand and your asset because of the value you're offering. The people running these companies are giving you something, like a value-related service; maybe it's an accounting business. The core of that business value is to save you money; it has nothing to do with being a big or small company. No matter what, you have to brand yourself by the value you offer. No matter what size company, you have to make sure that your customer knows the value you offer. The only company that doesn't need to brand itself the Treasury Department as far as I'm concerned. <P> Whether you offer the cheapest product or great customer service business branding is absolutely necessary... it's your calling card. It's what people are going to say about you once you're gone. You can sit there as a company and say anything you want to somebody, but once you brand yourself a certain way, it's more important what that person is saying to everybody else about you. That is what's going to give you the business that you need to move forward - especially in a time and age like this. People are going to go towards brands that they really are comfortable with because you have to pick and choose in an economy like this. You're going with what you call your "safest bet." And when you brand yourself, in some way or another you're creating the perception that you're a safer or better bet than anybody else. <P> <div style="float:right; margin-left:5px;"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bmighty-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0982596219&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe></div> <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> What about the distinction between a personal brand and the brand of the business? For smaller organizations where the owner or president is very hands on, are they one in the same or is there a distinction between the person and the business?</em> <P> <strong>John:</strong> They're absolutely are one in the same. Look at Steve Jobs. If he even looks sick, the stock goes down 20 percent. In my world, I deal with a lot of musical artists and there are several have wanted to start a clothing line or fragrance line, but look at the ones who were successful. There's only two or three maybe: Russell Simmons, Jay-Z, and Puff Daddy. Those three people were fashion-forward before they ever came out with anything else. If you look at other artists who aren't as fashion-forward, when they put out fashion lines the products didn't match their DNA and most failed. On "Shark Tank," when people walk down that aisle we judge them and we brand them way before they open their mouths because of the way they are: They're shifty or the way they're dressed or the way they ask a question. The brand and its association with who they are is really why they get the deal or not. <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219300183">Boost Your Brand From The Inside</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2009/02/crisis_survival_32.html">10 Steps To Maintain Your Online Reputation</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207401644">The New Rules Of E-Branding</a></strong><strong></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss: </font><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224400159">An excerpt of Daymond John's "The Brand Within"</a></strong> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> Not long ago you changed the name of your company from FUBU to FB Legacy. You spent years building the FUBU brand. Why the change and when should business owners be thinking about making a big change like this to their company brand?</em> <P> <div style="float:right; margin-left:5px;"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bmighty-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0982596219&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe></div> <P> <strong>John:</strong> It really depends on the business strategy and the angle of the new strategy relative to the old. In America, Fubu has been out 15 years and now people 35 and older say, "I was around when it was really big, and it was great and was doing well," and they see value. But for younger kids, 10 years old, 15 years old, in their mind it's, "Oh, that's the old crap my uncle used to wear." So we needed to change it around a little bit. These kids have such a short attention span now; it's the length of 3&#189; minute video - you wake up poor and by the end of the day you have a Mercedes and you get the girl. They have a very short time understanding the time. So for them FB Legacy is new, but an older generation still knows FUBU and the FB in FB Legacy gives them an understanding that there's a history behind it. That's why we changed it around. Will it work? We don't know, but we're giving it our best effort. <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> Over the 15 years you've been leading FUBU and now FB Legacy, how have the tools you use to develop and manage your branding identify changed? Specifically, I'm think of how social media has changed the way you promote your brand and connect with potential customers.</em> <P> <strong>John:</strong> Social media has changed things immensely. When we first started FUBU, you had focus groups to find out what your customers thought. You had these kids telling you the truth, but they're all sitting in your office getting $100 each. And you don't know if they're telling you real answers. Now, if you don't have thin skin, you can go and search your name an your brand name and you see in on Twitter or Facebook or MySpace all these outlooks on your brand. From that you can make accurate assessments about your strengths and weaknesses. <P> For example, I looked at FUBU and realized, first, that most kids didn't know much about it, but what they did think was that it was cheap stuff and that it was super-baggy stuff. Now, if I came out with a new line not knowing this, I wouldn't know where to target. And I saw an opportunity to educate them about the brand. Most of them didn't know that we've also been in Europe for the last 15 years and for that market we made form-fitting and properly cut sizing, but American kids wanted the baggier look. Then they understood that we had a history of making the clothes the proper size. If you look at them saying "cheap goods," most didn't realize that we pulled out of America for the last eight years, so the goods they were seeing as cheap were either counterfeit or very old. So, we saw an opportunity to educate them that they were seeing older goods in the market. That's all information that I wouldn't have known without social media. <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> What about pitfalls? When you're trying to manage and cultivate a brand identity what are some big mistakes that can really damage your brand identity?</em> <P> <strong>John:</strong> With social media you have to be transparent. You really do. You have to admit your mistakes. If you try to put up a facade around your product or your brand, it's easily discovered because all your employees have access to the world and the world has access to them. Everything's moving so fast that your information will be out there. So, it's important to be transparent to some extent even about your faults. <P> Another thing is that a lot of people really don't understand their consumer. They want to believe their consumer is one person, but it's not. For example, Timberland builds the best boot in the world and they're proud of it and they market it that way heavily. Now a real hiker or mountain biker buys the best boot in the world, but he's only going to buy that boot once every two or three years. A construction worker may that boot buy once every six months or once every year. But then kids latch onto the Timberland brand. Good, bad, or indifferent, they latch on to the brand, and instead of valuing it from a functional aspect this urban customer values it from a fashion aspect so they're buying a new pair of Timberlands every three weeks when it gets scuffed. You have to understand where your bread-and-butter is coming from - it's not always the consumer you intend. You also have to be able to market to that group in a sensible way. You can't just run out and start shouting, "Hey, guys. We love you. We love you. We love you." For certain markets, as soon as you pay attention to them, they back away from you, because then you're no longer aspirational. So have to find out who your customer is, then determine how to market to them in a sensible way that reinforces more and more sales, but doesn't totally ignore your other consumers. <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> Any last words of advice on branding?</em> <P> <strong>John:</strong> Your perception, your public perception, your brand DNA, is your most-important thing. A lot of people are so busy trying to set up the business, that they overlook the mission statement. I tell everybody that you need to be able to explain yourself, your company, in three to five words. So if you're BMW, you are "fine German engineering." If you're TBS: "We know drama." You need to be able to understand yourself and relay that to everybody else in three to five words. <P> <br><em><a href="http://benjamintomkins.com/">Benjamin Tomkins</a> is editor of InformationWeek SMB.<br>Follow him on Twitter @ <a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a></em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219300183">Boost Your Brand From The Inside</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2009/02/crisis_survival_32.html">10 Steps To Maintain Your Online Reputation</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207401644">The New Rules Of E-Branding</a></strong><strong></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <br> <small><em> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a><br> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a> </em></small>2010-04-20T09:13:04ZDespite the widely-spouted axiom that small businesses will lead us out of the recession, few Americans actually want to start a small business.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202920?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbDespite the widely-spouted axiom that small businesses will lead us out of the recession, few Americans actually want to start a small business.According to the results of a recent survey, two thirds of Americans believe it's easier to scale the world's tallest peak than to launch a small business. That's right, faced with the prospect of making payroll or ascending into the death zone, more Americans see climbing Mt. Everest as the easier option. That finding hints an unexpectedly broad understanding of the sometimes grim realities of being a small businesses owner (in this or any economy). <P> The online survey conducted by <a href="http://wakefieldresearch.com/">Wakefield Research</a> and sponsored by e-commerce platform provider <a href="http://www.alibaba.com/">Alibaba.com</a>, polled more than 1,000 Americans in early April. Among the findings, was the widely held belief (70%) that that small business will turn around the economy. Of the respondents only 10% had actually started a small business since the economic downturn began, which accounts for the two thirds that would rather pursue mountaineering. <P> The survey also tabulated widespread dissatisfaction with government efforts to create jobs and showed a distinct preference for distasteful jobs in larger organizations than in the perceived instability of small businesses. <P> Commenting on the survey findings, <a href="http://news.alibaba.com/specials/aboutalibaba/Management.html">Alibaba.com CEO David Wei</a> said, &#239;&#191;&#188;Historically, recessions have proven very fruitful times to start small businesses.&#239;&#191;&#188; As the data shows, Americans strongly believe that small businesses will be what turns around the economy.&#239;&#191;&#188; <P> Wei's company is using the pretext of the survey findings to announce the <a href="http://aliblog.alibaba.com/2010/04/18/50-winners-announced-for-alibaba-coms-entrepreneur-abroad-program/">Alibaba.com Entrepreneur Abroad Program</a> which will sponsor 50 students to participate in a study abroad program in China. <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/_online_hiring.html">Hiring Numbers Up, Unemployment Rate Steady</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/hiring_numbers.html">Hiring Numbers Up, Unemployment Rate Steady</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/smb_confidence.html">SMB Confidence Continues To Flatline</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/03/small_business_11.html">Small Business Employment On The Upswing</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/customers_not_s.html">Customers, Not Stimulus, Spur SMB Hiring</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/smbs_more_optim.html">SMBs More Optimistic, But Still Scared To Borrow</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-04-19T13:46:21ZNew data and a free eBook about the leading e-commerce sites delves into how the most successful sites keep their conversion rates higher than Amazon.comhttp://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229202921?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbNew data and a free eBook about the leading e-commerce sites delves into how the most successful sites keep their conversion rates higher than Amazon.comIt's obvious, that closing deals is crucial to business survival. For high-touch deals, there's as much alchemy to it as science. By contract, with e-commerce there's not much that's hidden behind the curtain. For businesses relying on an e-commerce site to generate revenue, boosting conversion rate is everything and the obvious place to look for models is other e-commerce sites that are successful. <P> <ol> <li>Research just out from <a href="http://en-us.nielsen.com/">Nielsen</a> and the online shopping cart recovery service <a href="http://seewhy.com/">SeeWhy</a>, makes it easy to go look at some top performing examples. Based on six months of Nielsen data June 2009-November 2009), the SeeWhy rankings review websites with at least five million unique visitors per month. The conversion rate in these rankings is based upon the ration of site visitors to purchasers in a given session. Here's the top 10:</li> <li>Schwan&#239;&#191;&#188;s (food) 41.7%</li> <li>ProFlowers (flowers) 26.5%</li> <li>Vitacost.com (health and nutrition) 24.0%</li> <li>Woman Within (catalog/clothing) 22.4%</li> <li>Blair.com (catalog/clothing) 20.5%</li> <li>Lands&#239;&#191;&#188; End (catalog/clothing) 19.5%</li> <li>DrsFosterSmith.com (pet supplies) 18.6%</li> <li>Office Depot (office) 18.4%</li> <li>Roaman&#239;&#191;&#188;s (catalog/clothing) 18.4%</li> <li>QVC (jewelry) 18.3%</li> </ol> <P> For comparison sake consider that Amazon has a conversion of 16.5% based upon this measurement methodology. Commenting on the data, SeeWhy founder and chief strategy officer <a href="http://seewhy.com/about-charles-nicholls-founder.htm?src=Management">Charles Nicholls</a> said, &#239;&#191;&#188;E-commerce teams have an understandable fascination with the top 10 converting websites. As a group, the top 10 convert approximately 10 times more visitors than most e-commerce websites. Unexpectedly, four out of the top five converting websites force a full registration before purchase. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom which suggests that a full registration reduces your website conversion rate. Rather, the top 10 focus on capturing visitor details up front and building a relationship spanning many years of repeat sales.&#239;&#191;&#188; <P> Simply taking a tour of these sites to examine the purchasing flow is a good start in replicating their success, but it helps to have some analysis of what is working for them. Conveniently, SeeWhy has done the legwork on that. The key pattern the firm identified was a focus on &#239;&#191;&#188;facilitating a lifetime of transactions&#239;&#191;&#188; rather than the initial sale. Other observations include: <ul> <li>9 out of the 10 have a catalog</li> <li>9 out of the 10 do not offer free shipping</li> <li>8 out of 10 offer a simple sign up on their home page</li> <li>4 out of the top 5 force a full registration before a first purchase</li> <li>10 out of 10 use remarketing</li> <li>9 out of 10 offer a 1-800 number on their homepage</li> </ul> <P> SeeWhy is offering more analysis and observations about this data in form of a free eBook available today (registration is required). Visit SeeWhy for more information or a copy of <a href="http://seewhy.com/top-ten-converting-websites.htm">&#239;&#191;&#188;Lessons Learned from the Top 10 Converting Websites.&#239;&#191;&#188;</a> <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218700249">E-Commerce Software for SMBs: Why Your Shopping Cart Matters</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218100542">Selling Online 2.0: Q&A With Author Michael Miller</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217500003">Why SMBs Need A Web Presence</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>2010-04-19T12:52:00ZA new SaaS offering from Ringio seeks to bring enterprise-class call-center technology to small organizations by leveraging Google Contacts.http://www.informationweek.com/news/224400709?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbJust because SMBs can't afford enterprise-class call center technology doesn't mean that they don't have call-center needs every bit as complex as large corporations. Moreover, with smaller customer bases and less entrenched brand recognition, the quality of customer care that SMBs provide, potentially, can have a bigger impact on the bottom line. Bringing the CRM and telephony functionality that enterprises take for granted to SMBs is the premise of the <a href="http://www.ringio.com/">Rich Calling service announced today by Ringio</a>. <P> "The high-level idea behind Ringio is to solve the issue of uninformed phone calls between customers and employees and give the employee more context, more info, and more help when a calls come in," said Ringio Co-founder and Chairman <a href="http://www.ringio.com/about/management-team/">Michael Zirngibl</a>. "The type of technology is not revolutionary. It has been used in large corporations and call centers for some time; CTI &#91;computer telephony integration&#93; and CRM-integration can cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. We're making this type of technology available, accessible, and affordable so that a five-person company can benefit from the same technology as a million-dollar call center." <P> The Ringio's Rich Calling service is SaaS-based and presents users with both calls and contextual details via a desktop client; a mobile version for Android-based smartphones is also available. Through the desktop or mobile call-control screen, Ringio users can view customer information and add to it. The records automatically sync with a Google Contacts database, making the contextual detail information available across an organization. Future integration with other contact managers as well as Salesforce.com is planned. The customer data syncs with an organization's Google contacts and is also stored in the Ringio framework. <P> The service also supports so-called intelligent call routing provided by <a href="http://www.voxeo.com/">Voxeo</a>. This allows incoming calls to be directed to specific employees or departments. Using the Ringio client, users can view incoming calls, and available details about the caller, and then elect to accept or direct the call, transfer the call to a colleague and view colleagues' availability in real time. An administrator reporting function allows managers to view data about incoming calls and behavior. <P> In a demonstration, Zirngibl created a contact for my phone number in the Ringio database and then asked me to call the company's main number. When I called, I was greeted by name and then selected the option to speak with business development, which routed me directly to Zirngibl according to a set of pre-determined "rules" that were set up in the Ringio client. Connecting with a real person wasn't instant, but it was quicker than many of the phone trees we've all experienced. How effective the system is for any one company will largely depend upon how they configured the call routing options. <P> A bigger question mark for some business owners will be about storing customer data in the cloud. For companies that have already made the move to the cloud, this may be a non-issue, but for others it may be a show stopper here. That's more a question about the security and reliability of the cloud than about Ringio however. <P> Zirngibl claims a set up time of less than 10 minutes for a 10-person company. The company now offers toll-free numbers and local numbers in select areas. The Ringio Rich calling service is available directly from the<a href="http://www.ringio.com/"> company site</a> with pricing starting $99 per month for four users and $25 per month for each additional user. <P> <br><em><a href="http://benjamintomkins.com/">Benjamin Tomkins</a> is editor of InformationWeek SMB.<br>Follow him on Twitter @ <a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a></em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223200121">Avaya Offers SMBs New Features In Latest UC Suite</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223100593">Intermedia Launches Hosted UC For SMBs</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223400076">Bandwidth.com Offers SMBs Free Incoming Calls With PhoneBooth Free</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217400589">Plan B: An SMB's Guide To Making Do During The Recession</a></strong><strong></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <br> <small><em> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a><br> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a> </em></small>2010-04-19T09:13:00ZHP's director of SMB marketing, Brian Burch, discusses the pent up demand for new technology in many smaller businesses and how some SMBs are moving aggressively to seize new opportunities.http://www.informationweek.com/news/224400623?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smb<em>Brian Burch is the director of <a href="http://www.hp.com/sbso/index.html">SMB marketing for HP</a> in the Americas. Previously, a founding member of HP's home products division, Burch leads HP's efforts to serve the enormous and diverse small and midsize business market. <P> In this interview with InformationWeek SMB, Burch discusses the pent up demand for new technology in SMBs and how upgrading can actually save businesses money. He also addresses where netbooks make sense for a business and the aggression he sees in SMBs eager to seize new opportunities coming out of the recession.</em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <div style="float:right; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:5px;"><a href="http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100223/FREE/100229970"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4528106439_db95aabf1b_o.jpg" width="110" height="110" alt="BrianBurch"></a><div align="center"><strong>Brian Burch</strong></div></div> <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> One of the things that often causes confusion is this elastic term SMB. It can mean a lot of different things. What's HP's view of what SMB means and the particular needs and pain points?</em> <P> <strong>Brian Burch:</strong> We define small and medium business as companies with one to 999 employees. My primary focus in marketing is companies 10 employees and above. Typically, the sales engagement for the one to nine person company is either a retail store or over the web, and so, from a marketing perspective, a lot of my energy, and all of my energy to support our indirect channel partners is focused on the larger size companies of 10 to 999. Really, our support of our channel partners probably is focused above a hundred employees. <P> The definition of what that audience is looking for is really changing swiftly. It's interesting to us how quickly things like <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208800952">virtualization</a>, cloud services, and all the things that we historically think of as more enterprise class offerings, are really becoming relevant to the SMB audience and how aggressive many of them are being, especially as we get into what we think is going to be a really enriching refresh cycle for a lot of these companies. They're really looking at the top end of what technology can do for them because it's pretty proven at this point that for many different business segments or business verticals having the right technology is really a competitive differentiator. <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> That's a sentiment we hear from our readers all the time: they look to technology to level the playing field with larger companies and give them an edge on competitors. You mentioned <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/01/cloud_computing_1.html">cloud services</a> and virtualization specifically, let's dig into that a bit. What is bringing those technologies in particular into reach for SMBs? Is is it just lower price points or are those technologies now more accessible to companies with little or no IT staff?</em> <P> <strong>Burch:</strong> Well, I think making prudent use of capital is part of it and IT infrastructure is something that a lot of growing businesses are really obsessed with. I think there are efficiencies that people are looking for, but I think what we hear most often is the reduction of complexities. Some of the things that you virtualized can remove complexity, basically, improve overall security and just make it easier for less IT resources to do more and maximize the productivity. From a cloud perspective, there's ways that growing businesses can leverage services through a cloud subscription that. frankly, the overall investments to do in house would just be prohibitive. <P> So, I think that, whether it's hosted, exchange type products, or collaborative work spaces, or something HP is very focused on, which is web-based customer contact using a product that we've introduced called <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221600731">Virtual Rooms</a>. These products make it very inexpensive and simple for these types of businesses to leverage a traditional web conferencing experience at price points that they can afford. Over time, everybody realizes, "Wow. This saves us so much money. We could pay more for this than we are now." And no one wants to do that. <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221601161">How HP Plans To Rule The SMB World</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217702150">Sundia Fruit Uses Technology To Weather The Great Recession</a></strong><strong></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221600731">To Fight The Recession, HP Introduces Lots Of SMB Products</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217400589">Plan B: An SMB's Guide To Making Do During The Recession</a></strong><strong></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P><em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> You mentioned refresh cycle and with the economic conditions being what they have been there's a significant amount of pent up demand in terms of technology investments of all kinds. What are you seeing SMBs putting off or learning to live without as a result of the economic conditions?</em> <P> <strong>Burch:</strong> That's dead-on and there's data about that pent-up demand from a variety of sources. One that we're pretty close to is <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/smbs_loosening.html">Spiceworks</a> &#91;a network management software vendor&#93;. There are 29 million units managed via Spiceworks, so they collect a lot of great data. Spiceworks is showing that exiting 2009, about 39% of the desktops on their network were over three years old; 24% of the desktops on their network were over four years old. The notebooks are a little bit younger as you might imagine, but still the aggregate number, when you look at desktops and notebooks together, is in the 32-34% range that are over three years old. <P> Once you hit that three year mark, the cost to maintain a system goes up. That's when commercial warranties expire and historically a lot of people's refresh cycle has been two or three years. The productivity of the person using that older system starts to go down just because there's so many things that the newer systems can do. The video capabilities of web conferencing tools are really amazing, for example, but it doesn't work if you don't have a notebook with a webcam in the bezel or a separate webcam if you have a desktop. <P> We're seeing that there's a really big refresh cycle coming, that a lot of these companies have had to nurse their technology along during the worst of the recession. I don't think anybody has declared an end, but maybe we're on the back side of it rather than the front side of it. So now you have the successful companies that survived looking at the prospect of growth coming, existing customers that are asking for proposals, and opportunities to acquire new customers. <P> Frankly, they have less competition than they once had for those new customers, but they also have less employees to be able to do the work. So the answer is new technology, we believe, in terms of dramatically increasing the productivity. We've spent a bunch of time and energy on real metrics for <a href="http://www.facebook.com/HPBusiness">our SMB customers and prospects</a> that proves the value of new technology. In fact, we have tested a bunch of models and can legally make supported claims that say a new desktop is likely to provide almost a 3x boost in performance, and it will use half the electricity of the desktop you are likely replacing. So you kind of get the fantastic double whammy of dramatic increase in productivity while you reduce costs. Who doesn't like that? <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> Speaking of energy management, it has become an important factor in decision making for large enterprises, but is <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209900936">reducing power consumption</a> something that SMBs are really thinking about when they consider technology purchases?</em> <P> <strong>Burch:</strong> I'm not sure that we're seeing that across the board as being an important factor for them, at least that they articulate. It is an important factor for us. We're evangelizing and raising awareness of that for two reasons: One, its good business to be environmentally sensitive and sustain the planet. And we want to point out how dramatic the advances have been in terms of the energy saving properties of new technology. Obviously, we want to be their provider for that technology when they're ready. One of the things that helps people justify the productivity benefits is that they can find a way to save money at the same time. Cutting the energy cost of say 20 computers in an office is a material amount. I'm not sure it's top of mind with everybody yet, but I think that's coming. <P> We've also got a very aggressive trade-in and financing program, because with this average age increase that's happened over the last year or two, you've got a lot of systems that historically would have been handed down some time ago. A new system would've been acquired for someone and then they would have handed down their old computer to somebody else to extract some more value over it. We believe that quite a bit of the technology that's out there, is probably running into the end of its useful life cycle. You can't just throw a computer in the trash; it's not legal to do so. You have to properly recycle that product. Many avenues of recycling actually costs money and we don't think that's a good business decision for these companies to have to pay to recycle these products. Our trade-in program allows either desktops and monitors or notebooks to be traded in against the purchase of new and the money comes back to them in the form of a rebate. In Q4 of last year, the average notebook trade-in was worth of $100 and the average desktop and monitor together was worth of $100. When companies are considering the purchase of a $600-system, $100 back is a significant amount. <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> The upside of embracing newer technology is probably pretty obvious to most decision makers, but the stumbling block for many smaller organizations is that they're probably not in the financial position to say, "Okay, we're going to get all new desktops or everybody gets new notebooks." They need to prioritize and make decisions about what comes first. Is the desktop the place to start or should they focus on server, the network, mobile, virtualization . . . where are they going to see the most ROI the quickest?</em> <P> <strong>Burch:</strong> The average age of the systems that we're seeing out there and the percent of both desktops and notebooks that are over four years old make the quantifiable benefits of refreshing the computer that your employees sit in front of every day obvious. But everything has value. Mobility has value, servers, and networking. But the infrastructure decisions that our customers and prospects made over the last few years, underscore that people need to continue to make their business function, and IT infrastructure has become mission critical for so many different types of businesses. A lot of people could make and did make a conscious decisions to wait on new PCs and I think the wait is over; I honestly think that people are going to find dramatic benefits, especially with the advent of Windows 7. The fact that most of our customers are still using a 9-year old OS and the Windows 7 benefits are very integrated into the energy savings and productivity enhancements I mentioned earlier. Being able to refresh all those systems with huge productivity benefits, significant energy savings, trade-in allowances on the old equipment, and <a href="http://www.crn.com/it-channel/213900004">0% financing</a>, mean that now is the time. <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221601161">How HP Plans To Rule The SMB World</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217702150">Sundia Fruit Uses Technology To Weather The Great Recession</a></strong><strong></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221600731">To Fight The Recession, HP Introduces Lots Of SMB Products</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217400589">Plan B: An SMB's Guide To Making Do During The Recession</a></strong><strong></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P><em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> With mobile becoming more important, how do expect the balance of notebooks to desktops to play out in this refresh cycle? Do you expect to see a significant shift toward the notebooks as we've seen in the consumer segment?</em> <P> <strong>Burch:</strong> I think it's going be significant, but not shocking. Historically, in the commercial markets it was around 60% desktop, maybe 40% mobile, I think you might see those numbers flip. I think that we've probably hit 50-50 already and I think in this refresh cycle, it'll probably be 6 notebooks for every 10 units bought. But I do not think it's going to be 8 and 2, because if you think about a lot of the applications of a PC, in a lot of different types of businesses, mobility isn't necessarily a virtue everywhere. One example might be a doctor's office. You don't necessarily want some of the office staff taking their computer home at night because that could create issues with patient records and stuff like that. There's a rich set of scenarios or use cases that we and everyone else have obsessed over, but there's a lot of applications for fixed desk space systems. <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> Now what about netbook phenomenon? The price points are driving significant interest, but are you seeing any businesses making an investment in netbooks or are they more ancillary equipment or, perhaps, a passing fad?</em> <P> <strong>Burch:</strong> I think analytical data on that topic is hard to find, to be honest. But I'll offer a personal opinion. Let's equate it to the data we do have. We know that the average age of virtually everything in use in the SMB has been rising dramatically over the past couple of years. Without statistics I can point to, I think that use of <a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221900616">netbooks in SMBs</a> has happened and will continue to happen. I think some of that choice was driven necessarily in the last year or two by the fact that in the teeth of an economic downturn right, the great recession let's call it, technology becomes so important to so many different business practices that you couldn't turn to an employee who has a four and a half year old computer that doesn't work anymore and say: "Gosh, you know times are really tough then. If you could just hold out until 6 months from now and then I'll get a you a new computer. Maybe you could pull out pad and paper until then and just live without a computer until our finances get a little bit stronger." That just isn't an option. You can nurse a computer along that's working properly, but if something needs to be replaced and it doesn't work any longer, you can't say that. That's the lowest common denominator. I have to get a computer for this employee, and this may not be the perfect fit for what that person needs to do, but it's what I can afford right know. <P> Now in some business or verticals, like real estate, it make sense. You could easily imagine a real estate professional having a full-powered notebook to take with them when they're going to sit all day at an open-house with Wi-Fi from the homeowner, and you can imagine that same person having a netbook that they would carry with them when they're driving around showing another client homes. Both those products have huge utility for the business professional because they spend a good chunk of time someplace other than the office. They need a full performance 15-inch notebook product and since they spend time in the car traveling around and still need a connection to the internet, but maybe more than just a smart phone screen, that's where you could imagine a netbook/notebook tandem. <P> <em><strong>InformationWeek SMB:</strong> Let's close with a final questions about how SMBs are faring right now. From your perspective, Is now a good time to be an SMB? Is there opportunity on the horizon or are we still in the foxholes with our heads down?</em> <P> <strong>Burch:</strong> I think there's some cautious optimism, but there's a ton of aggression. Typically successful small businesses were challenged to make it through this great recession so I'm sure there's been some winnowing of the field. We see a lot of aggression from people who recognize opportunity. They have less competition than they had before because some people didn't make it. Current customers are starting to inquire again, so businesses are starting to signal that maybe something's going to happen and that has many SMBs thinking in an aggressive mindset. They can't spend money or hire people yet, so you're not going to see a lot of growth in terms of employment yet and they're going to be very prudent about investments that they make and they are really focused and aggressive about coming out of this thing with a really full pipeline and really getting rolling. They're seeing that there might be some spectacular growth opportunities ahead and you know, to the early bird that goes the worm, right? So, I think you're starting to see some people read the signals. <P> Another thing that I would mention to you that we've been tracking for quite a while now is literally gigantic growth in new business starts because this great recession is the first time since World War II that the white collar work force in the US ever declined. Previous recession's unemployment members were all in the blue collar work force and so we've seen a lot of data throughout 2009 that says for the first time ever the white collar workforce experienced a decline in terms of employment and so you have a lot of very business savvy, highly educated, well resourced people who saw their industry contract by 20-40%. A lot of those jobs are never coming back and so these people are entrepreneurs almost by accident. <P> We've seen data from Forrester that says the number of business starts in the US is going to be 50% over historical norms per annum because of these accidental entrepreneurs that are kind of flooding the system and building very intelligently designed companies that have a very significant IT foundation. These people are not going to build cabinets, they're going to go after something web-based, they are going to use these white collar worker skills that they've developed and their graduate educations. So that's an exciting prospect and for the SMB community, it's new blood entering the space. The recession didn't work out so well for some of the companies that were little less well positioned and now there's a new wave of competition and I think the best and brightest are really going to get out ahead of it. <P> <br><em><a href="http://benjamintomkins.com/">Benjamin Tomkins</a> is editor of InformationWeek SMB.<br>Follow him on Twitter @ <a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a></em> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <strong><font font color="#ba2124">Don't Miss:</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221601161">How HP Plans To Rule The SMB World</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217702150">Sundia Fruit Uses Technology To Weather The Great Recession</a></strong><strong></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221600731">To Fight The Recession, HP Introduces Lots Of SMB Products</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217400589">Plan B: An SMB's Guide To Making Do During The Recession</a></strong><strong></li> </ul></strong> <P> <P> <P> <hr size="1" width="100%" color="black" align="center"> <P> <P> <br> <small><em> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a><br> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a> </em></small>2010-04-14T09:15:00ZThe latest Cisco offerings from Cisco focus on delivering cost-effective, accessible networking equipment to SMBs that lack robust IT resources.http://www.informationweek.com/news/224400114?cid=SBX_iwk_related_mostpopular_Networking/Comm_smbCisco introduced a new family of switches, a wireless VPN firewall, on-premises equipment for service providers, and the launch of an online SMB training center today. The new offering for the small and midsize business market require minimal IT support, a key feature for resource strapped SMBs that often have small, part-time IT staff or no IT staff at all. <P> Cisco vice president of Small Business Solutions Marketing, Rick Moran, emphasized the growing importance of the network to smaller organizations. He said, &#8220;For more and more SMBs, if the network doesn't work, the business is not functional . . . if it fails, you're done . . . that's led them to invest in business grade products.&#8221; <P> Though more SMBs may be convinced of the importance of the network to their business, that doesn't necessarily translate to the IT resources to required to support and manage complex data networks. To fill that gap, Cisco SMB products are designed with simplicity in mind that are accessible to business leaders without IT expertise. As Moran said, &#8220;We do speak geek, but instead we need to focus on what customers want to do with the network.&#8221; <P> According to the vendor, the unmanaged switches the newly release <a href="http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/products/routers_switches/100_series_switches/index.html">Cisco 100 Series</a> ($57-$413) deliver energy-efficiency and Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity right out of the box. The switches are the first of a broader rollout from the <a href="http://www.cisco.com/smallbusiness">Cisco SMB group</a> that will continue through the year. <P> The <a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10852/index.html">Cisco RV 120W</a> Wireless-N VPN Firewall ($189)offers affordable connectivity according to Cisco. Designed for organizations with fewer than 20 employees, the device includes 802.11n wireless access and segmented network access control that may appeal to business that want to use the same network for secure internal operations and provide guest access to customers, partners, or clients. <P> Most SMBs rely heavily on technology service providers and the latest rollout includes two Service Ready Platforms in the Cisco SPR 500 Series for service providers that cater to smaller organizations. The <a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10500/index.html">SRP 526W and SRP527W</a> (both $300) allow vendors to deliver data, voice, and other services to small businesses at low cost. <P> In addition to the products, Cisco also unveiled the online Small Business University for its partners. The web-based resource includes partner tools and training, solution roadmaps, and self-paced technical training all available on-demand around the clock. <P> Commenting on the value to SMBs of the latest announcements from Cisco, Moran said, "Cisco is focused on building reliable, affordable technologies that small businesses can easily use to connect their business to the world, help secure their business, and communicate more effectively. By categorizing the Cisco Small Business portfolio into connect, secure and communicate, we're helping small businesses select the right technologies to meet their core business needs and even accelerate as the economy recovers." <P> <big><strong><font color="#FF0000">Don't Miss: <ul> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224000120">HP-3Com Vs. Cisco: Who Will Be Your Network Provider?</a></li> <li><a href="http://bmighty.informationweek.com/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224201862">Small Businesses Get Busy With The FCC Broadband Plan</a></li> </ul> </font></strong></big> <P> <br> <small><em>Follow Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins">http://twitter.com/benjamintomkins</a><br> Follow InformationWeek SMB on Twitter @<a href="http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb">http://twitter.com/infoweeksmb</a><br> Get InformationWeek SMB on your mobile device @<a href="http://mobile.bmighty.com">http://mobile.bmighty.com</a></em></small>