E-Commerce News: SMB

IBM Fuels New Blue Biz Initiative With Linux

Wednesday - May 7, 2008

IBM plans to launch an initiative that centers on a Linux-based platform and a Web-based marketplace tailored for small and medium-sized businesses. Set for later this year, the rollout will provide users with a range of products and services from independent software vendors. It will also allow them to tap into IBM's computing horsepower. Code-named "Blue Business Platform," the offering consists of a catalog, of sorts, that will allow users to view IBM's ever-growing partner ecosystem in one locale. [More...]

IBM Lures SMBs to the Cloud

Tuesday - April 29, 2008

IBM released an on-demand, cloud-based suite of products targeting small and mid-sized businesses looking to offload security, e-mail continuity and archiving services. The Express Advantage product line is meant to offload some of the more data-intensive processes an IT department has to handle. [More...]

AMD Fishes for SMB Buyers With Business Class Initiative

Monday - April 28, 2008

AMD on Monday launched a new line of PCs targeting small and medium-sized businesses. Through its business class initiative, the chipmaker aims to provide desktop solutions to customers stuck between consumer PCs and enterprise-class systems. [More...]

Linux Becomes a Serious Option for Business

Monday - April 21, 2008

We've been hearing about an open source revolution for years now. Although "revolution" might be an overstatement, the Linux operating system is emerging as a formidable player. Until recently, Linux was used mainly by IT pros and PC hobbyists and enthusiasts, cementing its geek reputation. But with consumer perceptions of existing operating systems as bloated and costly, this just might be Linux's time to shine. [More...]

The Internet Runs on Ad Billions

Sunday - April 20, 2008

From the basement of his house in San Francisco, Chris Lindland runs a successful specialty retail business that sells horizontal corduroy pants to customers across the country. Tim Carter turned years of hands-on experience as a building contractor in Ohio into a new career as webmaster of Askthebuilder.com, which in its first year netted him more than four times the income he earned in his best year as a builder. [More...]

Mid-Sized Businesses and the Quest for Compliance

Tuesday - April 15, 2008

Mid-market companies often have few choices when it comes to ensuring compliance with federal regulatory edicts for customer identity and financial records. Big companies use business process management and enterprise resource planning systems to track everything their employees do. Mid-size companies have to spend a small fortune or manage with manual spreadsheets and homegrown solutions. [More...]

The Long and Grueling Road to SOX Compliance

Thursday - April 10, 2008

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction," said Sir Isaac Newton. While he made that observation centuries before the dot-com boom and bust, his words remain quite relevant today. After large corporation executives took advantage of their positions and wreaked financial havoc, the federal government was called to step in and prevent a recurrence. [More...]

EMC Scoops Up Iomega in SMB Market Push

Wednesday - April 9, 2008

Spurned in an earlier buyout attempt, data storage vendor EMC came back with a $213 million offer that Iomega accepted Tuesday. The all-cash deal -- a 20 percent increase over a March bid of $178 million -- opens the way for EMC to target small businesses and consumers. The buyout is for $3.85 per share -- nearly 6 percent over Iomega's closing price of $3.64 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. [More...]

The Apps Small Biz Needs Now

Sunday - April 6, 2008

Why doesn't someone invent clothing with very small, powerful magnetic material woven in? That way all the clothes teenagers leave strewn about the house could be automatically pulled toward a designated laundry basket. Or what about a central trash system, like central plumbing, where all refuse gets whisked away to some underground recycling facility inhabited only by the alligators of urban mythology. [More...]

Nail-Biting in Tech Boardrooms: Resources, Regulation, Recession

Saturday - April 5, 2008

Over the past five years, 42 of the technology companies that Mercury Ventures has invested in have made the transition from publicly traded to private firms. That is part of a larger trend among smaller publicly traded companies, for whom the benefits of being public no longer clearly outweigh the burdens of complying with the regulatory requirements that come with the territory. [More...]

Simplifying Data Storage With iSCSI

Thursday - April 3, 2008

Companies evaluating iSCSI are driven primarily by the need to lower the cost of their storage infrastructure. However, adoption of iSCSI storage solutions by large enterprises has been slow. A recent study by Aberdeen provides evidence that iSCSI is now replacing or supplementing fibre channel and other competing technologies in all market segments, including large enterprises. [More...]

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