Karen Schwartz

With IT budgets remaining essentially flat for 2008 and uncertain economic times ahead, its more important than ever to make sure you dont overspend on IT. The situation is so uncertain, in fact, that Gartner recommends preparing two IT budgets for 2008. While the first would assume modest budget growth, the second would assume a […]

The owner of an online lingerie business posts a request on a social networking site to find an ethical, effective search engine optimization company. Within 24 hours, she receives nearly two dozen suggestions from other small business owners. With that information, the small business owner can reduce the risk of going with the wrong company. […]

For companies that aren’t flush with cash, it’s important to keep on top of technologies that save money, both in the short and long term. Here are some of the technologies that gained prominence in 2007 and that are considered to be among the best at helping companies retain their hard-earned profits: Unified Communications. A […]

The time is ripe for inexpensive—even free—yet high-functioning analytic tools to improve efficiency and productivity. Take the example of a roofing company in the Bay area that uses Google Earth, among other analytic tools, to prospect for business. “When a customer calls them and requests a roofing job, the first thing they do is get […]

First, there were the viruses that got through to the law firm’s network as if its antivirus software had holes in it. Then, there were the times when Internet access slowed down to a crawl for no apparent reason. How to tighten security and keep the network available when you’re working with a small staff […]

It’s hard to be the company Scrooge—especially around the holidays—but someone’s got to make sure that expenses don’t outpace profits. At the same time, companies can’t grow without the right technology and sometimes, that means spending money to make money. After all, without powerful servers, efficient networking, ironclad security, effective backup, productivity-enhancing software and knowledgeable […]

Altius Information Technologies is aiming upstream and has retooled its existing risk assessment offerings to target midmarket firms with between 100 to 1,000 employees. The vendor has previously focused its AssessIT Risk Assessment services on smaller companies. The services focus on basic building blocks, such as anti-virus, tape backup and other basic levels of protection. […]

For companies on the path toward true unified communications, IBM’s Lotus division has come up with a way to dip a toe in the water. By introducing a scaled-down version of longtime unified communications product Sametime, IBM is aiming to give companies the chance to take baby steps without having to make a full commitment […]

Microsoft has tweaked its Windows Live OneCare self-updating PC care service to better meet the needs of small user group environments. Windows Live OneCare consists of a set of security and performance tools, all managed by a central console. Security features include anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall feature with automatic updates. Performance tools include backup and […]

With the introduction of new high-performance computing platforms aimed at companies with 100 to 999 employees, Hewlett-Packard is trying to bring supercomputers into the mainstream. The new HP Cluster Platform Workgroup System, announced Nov. 13 at the Supercomputing 2007 show in Reno, Nev., is an out-of-the-box system that comes complete with servers, interconnects, optional storage, […]

Overland Storage has added deduplication technology to its REO virtual tape library appliance, allowing the products core audience—SMBs and distributed organizations—to store months of data on a disk-based appliance. The REO 9500D deduplicating VTL appliance can be configured with up to 12 library partitions, 64 virtual tape drives and 3,000 virtual cartridges. Usable capacity stretches […]

With the introduction of a new suite of products aimed at the midmarket, Verio is continuing its transformation from a generalized Web and application hosting provider to one focusing squarely on companies with fewer than 1,000 users. The Centennial, Colo.-based company has introduced Verio Business Solutions, a suite of eight stand-alone products companies can buy […]