E-Commerce Blog

In the spring of 2007, Michael Sullivan was trying to figure out how to add some mojo to his startup, Affine Systems. As a graduate student in applied mathematics at Harvard University, Sullivan had cofounded the company in the fall of 2006 with classmate Bobby Impollonia. Working out of their homes, the two computer whizzes had whipped up a software program to let media companies know if their copyrighted videos show up on the Internet. However, like many engineers, they didn’t know much about business, and they hadn’t yet put together a business plan.

Source:
What I Did at VC Camp

Though their IT needs are fundamentally the same as larger organizations, small and medium-sized business owners may feel particularly challenged when it comes to rolling out a new operating system. The increasing complexity of IT system architectures combined with a relative shortfall of resources — capital, IT expertise, etc. — can make implementing a new or upgraded OS an anxiety-ridden experience. “SMBs have many of the same challenges as enterprises,” said Jeff Carlat, director of ESS software at HP.

View post:
OS Implementations: A Guide for SMBs

The continuing growth of the SMB market is pushing vendors to adapt or lose sales. Vendors are tweaking their more costly enterprise-grade offerings to feature sets and price levels SMB customers can afford. The SMB segment makes up 34 percent of the entire notebook market, according to research firm IDC. About 35 million small and midsize businesses are operating worldwide. That number swells to an estimated 60 million if you include home-based businesses.

Read the original here:
Lean, Mean Machines: Tech for the SMB, Part 2

Regardless of its nature, even the tiniest and newest SMB requires the acquisition and deployment of the right information technology as it begins to set up shop. Vendors of that sort of equipment recognize the growing need for SMB-oriented hardware. For example, computer maker Lenovo’s transaction sales, which includes SMB purchases, accounted for 35 percent of all PC sales excluding Greater China in the 2007/08 fiscal year, said company officials. In addition, recent data from research firm IDC indicates that currently the SMB segment makes up 34 percent of the entire notebook market.

View post:
Lean, Mean Machines: Tech for the SMB, Part 1

Companies in the SMB market segment often don’t have the expertise or financial resources to formulate and then implement formal business continuity and disaster recovery plans like larger enterprises. In a recent Aberdeen Benchmark Report, Business Continuity: Implementing Disaster Recovery Strategies and Technologies, it was reported that more than 44 percent of companies with 100 to 1,000 employees did not have a BCDR strategy in place. These organizations are truly vulnerable and risking much.

Excerpted from:
Keeping Your Disaster Recovery Plan Well-Oiled