Profile of Benjamin Tomkins

Blog Posts: 273

Mobile Football Madness: Best Apps For The Gridiron

9/1/2010
College 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.
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InformationWeek SMB Integrates With InformationWeek

7/6/2010
The technology resource for small and midsize business is now fully integrated with InformationWeek to provide users with even broader technology resources.
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SMBs Don't Understand Cloud Computing

6/10/2010
Almost three quarters of decision makers in small and midsize companies know the same or less about cloud computing than they did a year ago.
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Calculate Benefits Of Cloud Computing

6/8/2010
Understanding the potential of the cloud and spreading that message across your organization is the idea behind Google's cloud calculator.
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BP Oil Spill Lessons For SMBs

5/21/2010
The 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.
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10 Tips For Processing Payments

5/20/2010
Getting 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.
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SMB Lending Affected By Relationships

5/19/2010
Good relationships between business owners and financial institutions affect loan approval and in a growing economy they can mean lower rates for small businesses.
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Tech CFOs More Optimistic On Economy

5/10/2010
50% 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.
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Small Businesses Will Lead Out Of Recession

5/7/2010
A 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.
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SaaS Solutions 77% Cheaper Than On-Premises

5/6/2010
Analyst research comparing midmarket SaaS and on-premises CPM solutions finds significantly lower TCO for on-demand options.
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56% Of SMB Websites Don't Meet Businesses Needs

5/6/2010
Every business needs a website, but developing a website that performs for your business takes careful planning and time.
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How To Hire Right For Your Business

5/6/2010
Hiring 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.
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ChoiceVendor Introduces Vendor Rating Service

5/4/2010
Promising to streamline vendor and service provider selection for business owners, ChoiceVendor brings a "wisdom-of-crowds" models to B2B provider ratings.
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More Data Suggests Rising SMB Confidence

5/3/2010
The latest Small Business Scorecard indicates continued increases in hiring and a significant uptick in business owner confidence about the economy.
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SMBs Adding Jobs At Fastest Pace In 3 Years

4/30/2010
According to the latest Small Business Employment Index, the hiring rate for small businesses has reached a three-year high.
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Most Software Execs See Rebound This Year

4/29/2010
According 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.
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SMBs Demand Fast ROI On IT Investments

4/28/2010
According 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.
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Female Leaders Steered 50 Businesses To Billions

4/23/2010
According 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.
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4 Tips For SMBs To Go Green

4/22/2010
On 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.
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Start A Small Business Vs. Climb Mt. Everest

4/20/2010
Despite the widely-spouted axiom that small businesses will lead us out of the recession, few Americans actually want to start a small business.
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How The Top 10 E-Commerce Sites Close Sales

4/19/2010
New 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.com
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Big Company Call Center Functionality For SMBs

4/19/2010
A new SaaS offering from Ringio seeks to bring enterprise-class call-center technology to small organizations by leveraging Google Contacts.
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Cisco Introduces New Switches, Wireless VPN Firewall For SMBs

4/13/2010
The latest Cisco offerings from Cisco focus on delivering cost-effective, accessible networking equipment to SMBs that lack robust IT resources.
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5 Things SMBs Hate About Printing

4/13/2010
With vendors making a hard push to capture the SMB printing market, the results of the a new survey identify the printing pain points for small and midsize businesses.
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New Printers, Scanner From HP Offer Simplicity, Low Costs

4/13/2010
HP's latest printers for small and midsize businesses include the company's "plug and print" technology that enables printing within 2 minutes of connecting with no install CD.
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SMBs Need Smartphones As Much As Sex

4/13/2010
Smartphones and intimate relations ranked equally as the one thing that business professionals cannot live without according to the results of a new SMB survey.
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Small Businesses Confidence On The March

4/12/2010
According to the findings of a new survey of small businesses owners, 70% expect growth in 2010 and almost 40% plan to hire additional employees.
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Online Hiring Shows Steady Growth

4/12/2010
Online hiring is on the rise with strong demand for mobile, social media, open source ,and cloud computing skills in particular according to data from online talent marketplace Elance.
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Drobo FS Offers Low Cost, Simple Backup For SMBs

4/6/2010
Data Robotics new NAS storage unit offers small businesses and remote offices an affordable backup solution that requires minimal management and can expand to meet changing needs.
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53 Small Business Owners Recognized For Accomplishments

4/5/2010
In a welcome bit of good cheer amid these challenging economic times, the SBA has announced the Small Business People of the Year for 2010.
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Hiring Numbers Up, Unemployment Rate Steady

4/2/2010
Though the latest job numbers push into positive territory, unemployment remains high and wages stagnant even in IT, but there's some good news for SMBs.
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Google Dominates April Fool's Day Hoaxes

4/1/2010
April 1st unleashes the silly and the search provider continues its tradition of creative hoaxes by renaming the company.
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SMBs Not Optimistic, Not Hiring

4/1/2010
Despite some isolated bright spots about the economy, a bevy of recent data on SMB confidence and hiring indicates business owners see the glass as not even half full.
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Dell Launches Printers For SMBs

3/30/2010
Multifunction and single-function laser printers offer low printing costs, reliability, and productivity features for small and midsize businesses.
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SMBs Continue Hiring Trend

3/30/2010
U.S. Small businesses created approximately 50,000 new jobs in March and almost 175,000 since mid 2009, while wages and hours worked remained flat.
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SMBs See The Future Is Mobile

3/24/2010
Despite the cost cutting prompted by the great recession, SMBs are holding the line on wireless spending and see mobile as crucial to remaining competitive and surviving.
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DeskCenter Comes After U.S. Market With New Partner Program

3/22/2010
The U.S. Division of the German vendor has signed three channel partners and is targeting mid-market companies with an aggressively priced, SaaS IT management solution.
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Business Owners See Stockpiling Cash As Best Survival Strategy

3/22/2010
Stress levels for business owners are at an all-time high and most believe that hording cash is a better strategy than investing in the business.
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Facebook Tops Google For First Time

3/16/2010
The ubiquitous social networking platform continues to grow like wildfire and last week unseated Google as the Web traffic leader for the first time since 2007.
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Ruckus Rolls Out New 802.11n Access Points

3/15/2010
The access points in the new ZoneFlex 7300 series claims to deliver cost-friendly performance for less than $1 Per Mbps of capacity.
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5 Tips For SMBs To Seize The Mobile Web Opportunity

3/12/2010
With consumers flocking to mobile devices in droves, businesses need to meet customers where they are. These 5 tips will help your business navigate the mobile Web.
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SMB Confidence Up, Spending And Hiring Still Flat

3/11/2010
A new survey of local merchants finds that most see the economy holding steady in the doldrums and widespread caution about hiring or spending.
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Bandwidth.com Offers SMBs Free Incoming Calls With PhoneBooth Free

3/10/2010
Competing directly with Google Voice, Bandwidth.com introduces free inbound cloud-based phone services with call routing and auto-attendant features.
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Dell Simplifies Backup And Recovery For SMBs

3/10/2010
Dell is offering SMBs a fully-integrated, disk-based back backup solution with available deduplication that can be installed in less than 30 minutes.
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Dell Launches New Laptops For SMBs

3/9/2010
Dell unveils four new laptops designed for small and medium businesses that lack in-house IT staff.
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Avaya Updates UC Suite

3/8/2010
With the release IP Office 6.0, Avaya seeks to bring unified communications within reach for cost-conscious small businesses.
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Avaya Offers SMBs New Features In Latest UC Suite

3/8/2010
With the release IP Office 6.0, Avaya seeks to bring unified communications within reach for cost-conscious small businesses.
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Bye Bye Essential Business Server, Hello Cloud

3/8/2010
Microsoft announces its betting big on cloud computing and discontinues its midmarket server offering.
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10 Tax Prep Tips To Reduce Audit Risk

3/5/2010
Tax day is almost here and business owners are diligently itemizing deductions and calculating depreciation - keep your chances your return being audited with these tips.
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More Businesses Plan To Implement UC

3/4/2010
The implementation rates for UC remain steady, but the numbers of organizations building strategic plans for UC adoption has increased.
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Social Media, Video Become Email Marketing Staples For SMBs

3/3/2010
SMB email marketers are seeing results from incorporating more video and social media into campaigns; 64% have boosted conversion rates using video email.
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SMB Confidence Continues To Flatline

3/3/2010
More than 40% of business owners expect it will be a year or more before their business rebounds from the great recession.
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ADTRAN Joins Cbeyond PBX Partner Program

3/2/2010
ADTRAN's NetVanta 7000 Series will now interoperate with Cbeyond's BeyondVoice services for SMBs.
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Akami Optimization Boosts AppRiver Mobile Email Performance

3/1/2010
Test results indicate up to 50% boost in mobile email performance from Akamai-optimization of AppRiver Secure Hosted Exchange solution.
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Netgear's New SMB Network Storage Solutions Ready For Virtualization

3/1/2010
The 2 new network storage platforms in the Netgear ReadyNAS product line support up to 500 users and are optimized for storage virtualization applications.
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The 10 Most Strategic IT Vendors For SMBs

2/26/2010
The most strategic vendors for SMBs may be the same as for large enterprises. Or, the local and regional vendors that keep serve the IT needs of smaller businesses may just fly under the radar of national and global vendor rankings.
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SMBs Using Social Media More. . . Reluctantly

2/25/2010
Recent reports indicate the SMB use of social media is increasing at a steady clip, but other research finds that the commitment may be lackluster.
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Intermedia Launches Hosted UC For SMBs

2/24/2010
The offering combines unified communications with the low-cost, turnkey appeal of SaaS, but it is still not clear that SMBs see the value of UC.
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Customers, Not Stimulus, Spur SMB Hiring

2/23/2010
Despite efforts in Washington to incent job creation among smaller businesses, customer demand remains the leading driver for hiring.
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SMBs More Optimistic, But Still Scared To Borrow

2/23/2010
Small business owners are more optimistic about the economic outlook than a year ago, but lack of customer demand and anxiety about solvency keeps a majority from pursuing additional credit.
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VeriSign Launches Seal Of Approval For Non-Transactional Sites

2/23/2010
Building on its Secured Seal brand, VeriSign introduces a new trust mark reputation management program for SMB and enterprise sites that don't need SSL certifications.
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Small Business Social Media Usage Booms

2/19/2010
A study finds that almost one of every five small business owners now actively uses social media for their business.
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SMBs Face Growing Risks From Social Networks, Web 2.0

2/17/2010
A new SMB survey confirms that social networks and Web 2.0 applications pose a growing threat to SMBs and even those businesses with sufficient defensive resources struggle to thwart cybercriminals.
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Staples Targets SMBs With IT Services

2/16/2010
Vying to be a one-stop shop for business IT, Staples seeks to grab the SMB market with "high-touch" services that can extend in-house IT efforts or provide full-service IT outsourcing.
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A Great Time To Be Back On The SMB Beat

2/15/2010
Today marks my return to the exciting, dynamic world of small and midsize businesses IT. It's good to be back. Moreover, it's a good time to be back on this beat. With signs of economic recovery flickering on the horizon, SMBs are poised to compete on a playing field that technology continues to level.
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How To Calculate Your Odds Of Business Success

6/9/2009
Calculators provide clear concise answers -- that's the appeal, but for a question as complex and abstract as "will my business succeed" reducing probability to a single percentage is more parlor trick than useful tool -- fortunately a new free online calculator looks (a little bit) deeper.
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Google's Search Analysis Dashboard Can Help You Discover More Business

6/4/2009
Knowing how customers find your business can help you gauge the effectiveness of your marketing, but understanding what those customers are looking for and where they're located can help you drive more revenue for your existing business and even develop new products and services.
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Cisco Gives Partners More Options To Offer SMBs

6/4/2009
Positioned to boost business for channel partners, Cisco introduced new products and services specifically for small and midsize businesses.
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Verizon Business Launches Cloud Computing Service

6/3/2009
Verizon Business is touting the security and availability of its new cloud-based Computing as a Service (CaaS) solution.
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Intuit Partner Platform Adds Federated Apps

6/3/2009
SMBs may benefit from increasingly connected applications as developers offer Web apps through the new federated applications capability of Intuit's Platform-as-a-Service.
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xTuple Launches ERP App Store

6/2/2009
The open source ERP vendor has launched xChange, an online marketplace for extensions and add-ons to xTuple ERP including two new offerings from xTuple.
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Business Owners Need A Holiday

5/29/2009
With every dime precious, taking time off from work, much less an actual vacation, might seem to be an unthinkable luxury, but it turns out that small business owners are planning vacations this summer at about the same rate as last year.
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bMighty Gives Away Computer To Business Owner

5/27/2009
Earlier this year, bMighty launched a PC Giveaway contest and now we're pleased to introduce you to that deserving small business owner who won.
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Small Businesses Positioned For Post Recession Economy

5/27/2009
Echoing the bMighty mantra, Wired's Chris Anderson declares that the new economy emerging from the meltdown favors small over large.
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Cloud-Based Supply Chain Management Offers SMBs Flexibility

5/27/2009
For small and midsize businesses that outsource manufacturing, managing the supply chain is crucial to success. Moving the cloud can allows business, customers, and supply partners lower costs and maintain flexibility.
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Business Owners Don't Fear Recession

5/22/2009
The recession is scaring the bejesus out businesses of every stripe, but owners of small and midsize businesses have been to the brink of failure before -- many times -- and know how to survive.
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Take Credit Card Payments On Your Phone With Intuit GoPayment

5/21/2009
For today's mobile businesses, accepting payment from any location at any time is crucial to maintaining cash flow and increasing business -- cash only doesn't cut it anymore. A new offering from Intuit offers businesses another option for taking payment via mobile phones (and not just smartphones).
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More SMBs Embracing Social Media

5/20/2009
The results of a recent study from AMI-Partners indicate that more than half of small businesses now consider social media to be a significant factor in acquiring customers and retaining existing customers.
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Real Small Business Leaders Tell It Like It Is

5/20/2009
Amid the government power players and big business representatives at National Small Business Week, 9 small business leaders took the spot light to tell a congressional committee about their businesses and how they're coping with the recession.
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Small Business Too Big For One Week A Year

5/20/2009
Containing small business to a single week is ridiculous. SMBs are the economic engine that will lead us out of this recession whether we celebrate them during National Small Business week or not.
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HP Introduces More Printers, Support For SMBs

5/18/2009
HP's latest offering for small businesses bolsters a broadening portfolio of SMB solutions that make cost containment a top priority.
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Security Is Part Of The Cost Of Doing Business

5/15/2009
Looking for ROI on a security investment is misguided -- how do you measure the cost of something that doesn't happen? But nothing happening is exactly the return you hope for when you invest in securing your business IT.
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SMBs Can Trim Costs By Sending Workers Home (To Work)

5/14/2009
If there was ever a time to think out of the box about ways to cut costs, it's now. One tactic that's hardly new, but deserves another look is telecommuting (or Web commuting). Rather than thinking outside the box, you may want to think outside of the office.
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Cost Cutting Resources For SMBs

5/13/2009
Saving money is always important, but in these economic times it's the difference between staying in business and closing up shop. As the recession grinds on the cost cutting resources are growing.
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SMBs In Cyber Criminals' Crosshairs

5/7/2009
When it comes to IT security, small and midsize businesses are in the unenviable position of being not only more attractive to criminals, but also having fewer resources to defend themselves.
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4 Words You Don't Want To Hear About Your Business

5/7/2009
Differentiation is what makes your business more appealing to customers. You can differentiate your business with the quality of your products and services, your pricing, customer support, and myriad other ways, but keep your ears perked up for four words that mean you're not standing out from your competitors.
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10 Ways To Improve Your Online Advertising In A Recession

5/5/2009
Cutting back on advertising in a recession is tempting, but if you slash your marketing spend, your competition may seize the opportunity to grow their market share. What you can do is make your marketing more effective. Here's 10 ways to get more from your online advertising.
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5 Tips For Avoiding Litigation In A Recession

4/30/2009
With cash tight the last thing your business needs right now is a lawsuit. But the inevitable collection difficulties that come with a recession increase the likelihood of a business dispute. Here's 5 tips to help your business steer clear of litigation and handle it effectively if it does happen to you.
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The High Cost Of Not Spending On Security

4/27/2009
Slashing your security budget might be tempting in these tight times, but a security breach will cost you far more than you save. Recent IT spending surveys show that many tech leaders see security as a top priority whereas others are trimming security spending and putting their organizations at increased risk of a security breach.
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Top 10 Tech Investments For Your Business

4/23/2009
Where to spend scarce dollars on IT is a never ending challenge for business owners. Deciding which investments in infrastructure, hardware, or software will yield the most return is a black art, but according CIOs these 10 places are a good place to start.
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10 After-Tax-Filing Security Tips

4/23/2009
Filing your taxes isn't the end of the story. You've also got to be sure that you the electronic information you submit doesn't fall prey to identity theft. Think it can't happen to you? Tell that to the 10 million Americans who had their identity stolen last year.
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Recession Doesn't Dim Green Focus For SMBs

4/22/2009
Despite the recession we're mired in this Earth Day, the majority of business owners say environmental issues are just as important as the economy and more than a third focus more on the environment now than ever before. And thanks to new technologies, going green is more achievable than ever before.
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VMWare vSphere 4 Offers SMBs "Always On IT"

4/21/2009
Positioned as the first cloud operating system, VMWare's vSphere 4 provides SMBs with virtualization options for as little as $166 per processor.
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HP Introduces iSCSI SAN, SAS For Blades

4/20/2009
Furthering the integration of LeftHand Networks, HP is rolling out LeftHand's SAN/iQ-iSCSI storage area network software and its own Virtual Storage Appliance for BladeSystem servers, allowing storage for multiple blade chassis on one SAN.
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Mitel's Low-Cost, Anywhere Phone Extension

4/16/2009
Mitel Networks new Dynamic Extension allows users to ring up to 8 phones simultaneously anywhere in the world and make any phone an extension -- just as long as it has buttons.
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HP Introduces Virtualization-Friendly Thin Clients

4/16/2009
Seeking to ease development and expansion of virtualization platforms, HP introduces 3 new thin clients incorporating the Windows Embedded Standard Operating System.
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Tax Planning Tips For Next Year And Beyond

4/15/2009
Figuring out your tax strategy after you've already spent the money and booked the revenue may work fine, but if you head further upstream and structure your financial management processes you can make tax prep easier, maximize your deductions, and minimize your tax liability.
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Citrix Fakes Web 2.0 With NetScaler Enhancement

4/14/2009
Consumers and business-users can't get enough of Web 2.0 applications. Businesses love the quick deployment, adaptability, and potential to drive sales and increase customer engagement. But Web 2.0 apps have a catch: an insatiable appetite for server computing power.
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8 Last Minute Tax Deductions For Your Business

4/13/2009
With 3 business days remaining until the tax filing deadline, it's late to be thinking about deductions. However, if you haven't filed yet, you might be able to slip it under the wire and it's never too early to makes plans for TY 2009 deductions.
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9 Things That Will Get Your Tax Return Audited

4/10/2009
The nightmare scenario that every business owners dreads is an IRS audit. It brings your business to a halt and it can get much worse once the books are open. However, certain things make auditors more likely to target your business. Read on and adapt accordingly.
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