Technology & Telecommunications

Mid-Market Heroes: Tech Implementation, Amish-Style

June 23, 2008 | When Lavern Schlabach introduced an ERP system and BI processes to Keim Lumber, a nearly 100-year-old home improvement and lumber company, he faced an unusual challenge: A predominantly Amish staff with little or no exposure to technology. But a slow, methodical approach coupled with cultural sensitivity ensured a smooth and painless implementation.
By Naomi Grossman

Midmarket Heroes: Scuba Toys -- Scuba Community Dives into Web 2.0

June 10, 2008 | Founding a scuba gear company in a landlocked part of Texas might not seem like the best idea. But Scuba Toy's founder Larry Dague has used Web 2.0 to reach scuba divers around the world -- and create a community of divers that keep coming back for more
By Naomi Grossman

Smaller Businesses Learn From Enterprises: Integrating Business and Technology Initiatives Matters

May 2, 2008 | A recent study of Canadian small and midsize businesses indicates that they are investing in information and communication technology -- like their larger size peers -- but the study highlights the need among smaller businesses to integrate technology initiatives into business-planning processes
By Michael Astle, Courtesy of Cisco

A Mobile Future

May 1, 2008 | The new technology of smartphones offers smaller businesses more mobility than ever before. And a peek into the future of smartphones indicates that this trend is only going to grow
By Steve Cooper

How to Quickly Grow Your Smaller Business

April 18, 2008 | The secret is having advanced network technology that will enable your smaller business to be prepared for its expansion. The side benefits are that it will save you money as well as improve your company's efficiency and responsiveness
By James A. Martin, Courtesy of Cisco

Smaller Business UC Hurdles: User Adoption, Policies

April 2, 2008 | To get maximum value from unified communications, smaller businesses must find ways of integrating UC into existing business processes to spur employee usage, but they can't risk overlooking the need for shrewd security and access policies
By Rivka Little

Open Source VoIP: What Your Smaller Business Needs

March 17, 2008 | With its ability to lower the cost of voice applications and spur additional deployments, open source VoIP could be the solution smaller businesses have been looking for
By Paul Korzeniowski

Wi-Fi Management's Next Phase: Aruba Leads the Charge

March 11, 2008 | Aruba's business is based on identifying the needs of small to midsize companies. Its latest foray into network management is good news for smaller businesses struggling to deal with their growing web of mobile devices
By Paul Korzeniowski

SLIDESHOW: Election 2008: What Smaller Businesses Should Know About The Candidates

February 26, 2008 | The Texas and Ohio primaries are the next hurdles in the race to the White House. In light of these crucial upcoming primaries, bMighty.com cuts through the chatter about delegate counts and YouTube clips to zero in on what matters most: the candidates' stands on business and technology issues
By Benjamin Tomkins

Cable Companies Connect with Small and Midsize Businesses

January 7, 2008 | Cable companies cite convenience, efficiency among the reasons why small and midsize businesses should consider handing over their telecom business to them. But can they deliver business-grade service?
By Paul Korzeniowski

Four Reasons Your Servers Belong In a Colocation Facility

December 17, 2007 | Renting space and bandwidth from a colocation facility can be more cost effective and offer greater reliability than storing and provisioning your servers "for free" at your small or midsize business
By Alan Zeichick

8 Big Reasons For Smaller Businesses to Give Thanks

November 16, 2007 | bMighty editors and contributing writers list their top picks for technologies that make it possible for small and midsize businesses to compete with bigger enterprises -- and come up large
By Keith Ferrell, Naomi Grossman, Paul Korzeniowski, Judy Mottl, Alan Zeichick, and Cora Nucci

VIDEO: How to Prep a Smaller Business for Disaster Recovery

November 13, 2007  | Howard Marks, a networking specialist with expertise in disaster recovery, outlines nine steps smaller businesses should take now -- before disaster strikes.
Courtesy of Interop TV

VIDEO: CEO Cheet Sheet: Merging Two Networks

November 12, 2007  | Cisco's Jimmy Ray Purser diagrams the process of merging the networks of two businesses when one acquires the other.
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

The Tricky Business of Network Use Policies

November 8, 2007 | In this brave new world of IM, e-mail, and YouTube, how can IT managers protect their networks, ensure productivity, and still have happy employees?
By Naomi Grossman

Mobility Demand, Satisfaction Surging Among Smaller Companies

November 7, 2007 | Exclusive new bMighty research reveals how -- and why -- smaller businesses are actually using mobility technologies. From the consumerization of business mobility to which vendors best satisfy users, the results may surprise you.
By Rusty Weston

Microsoft Poised to Knock Cisco's Block Off

November 5, 2007 | Cisco has long dominated the networking market,with its routers, switches, and VoIP solutions. But Microsoft is bringing its own line of unified communications products -- Office Communications 2007 -- to market. Can Cisco hold on?
By Paul Korzeniowski

3Com Struggles -- Should Small and Midsize Businesses Bolt?

October 23, 2007 | A series of missteps doesn't bode well for the networking vendor. Small and midsize businesses have helped the company stay afloat, but for how long?
By Paul Korzeniowski

Building a Better RFID Reader

October 18, 2007 | ThingMagic's Yael Maguire figured out how to get RFID tags to be read more easily and accurately. Now he believes there is nothing this technology can't do
By Naomi Grossman

Chicago Wi-Fi Plans May Rile ACLU

October 12, 2007 | Chicago's municipal Wi-Fi plan is ambitious -- and could get the ACLU and other privacy advocates riled up if the city also uses the network for "proactive homeland security monitoring"
By Paul Korzeniowski

How to Stop Snarfing and Other Common Switch Hacks

October 11, 2007 | ARP poisoning, SNMP snarfing, and "fuzzing" are common hacks perpetrated on Ethernet switch gear. Cisco networking expert Jimmy Ray Purser explains how to guard against these hacks.
By Jimmy Ray Purser, Courtesy of Cisco

Wireless LANs Poised to Topple Ethernet? Not.

October 5, 2007 | Sure, employees at small and midsize businesses are working remotely more frequently and in greater numbers, but cutting the Ethernet cable altogether in favor of full-on Wi-Fi is a bad move
By Paul Korzeniowski

Expert Solutions to Common Wireless Problems

October 4, 2007 | Multipathing, hidden nodes, data collisions, near/far errors and other common wireless problems can be easily ID'd and resolved. A Cisco networking expert explains how
By Jimmy Ray Purser, Courtesy of Cisco

The IT Manager Who Saved the Day

October 3, 2007 | When his servers went up in smoke and nearly half the company's data went with them, Hal Baumgardner set out to rebuild the IT shop so this could never, ever happen again
By Naomi Grossman

Managing Relationships With End Users

October 2, 2007 | The IT guy doesn't have to be the joke of the company. Developing and maintaining a good relationship with your end users can go a long way toward breaking those stereotypes -- and making your job much easier
By Mike Bohlmann