smallbusiness

Cloud Computing: 3 Critical Questions to Ask

by marcy hoffman on February 23, 2011

Cloud Computing: what to look for and what to look out for.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said at a recent conference:

“Twenty years ago when you were setting up a small business, you had to go and buy a personal computer or a small server … and you had to have an IT professional and you had to run it in-house.

The right thing for a small business to do now is to not have any computers except the things, which are on people’s desktops and on their smartphones … and do everything in the cloud.   … The components would be an email system, a calendar system, a sales force automation system, and then the stuff that’s vertical for whatever their business is.”

So if you are considering cloud based solutions, what are the questions your company should ask before moving to the cloud?

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Cloud computing in 2011: a gift or just wishful thinking?

by marcy hoffman on December 14, 2010

boy opening gift

If a genie appeared before you granting you 5 IT wishes to improve your small business in 2011, what would you ask for?

Let’s start by clarifying what we refer to as a Small Business. The SBA classifies small business at 500 employees or less, yet the fastest growing segment are businesses (called micro-business) with less than 20 employees (per SBA and Kauffman Foundation). From an IT perspective, micro-businesses have fewer IT resources yet can move more quickly in implementing new technologies. So, in this season of wishful thinking (followed by the ubiquitous New Year resolutions), let’s look at the top 5 gifts that the cloud can bring the typical micro-business owner.

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