Alignment, staffing and culture are often more critical than software and apps
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Is it true, as the cliche says, that squeaky wheels get the grease? It can sure seem that way to IT departments, writes blogger Neil Macehiter on IT-Director.com . He cites a blog by Steve Jo... More >
So what's your take on using GPS-enabled devices to monitor employees? Is it Big Brother, better business or both? IT Business Edge recently interviewed an executive from Xora, a provider of G... More >
As we've blogged before, SMBs are just as interested in business intelligence as their larger counterparts. And some experts think that the flurry of acquisitions under way in the BI sector will c... More >
Instant messaging is our chief means of communicating with each other at IT Business Edge -- far surpassing e-mail and the phone and running just about even with face-to-face conversations. One of th... More >
It's fairly common knowledge that the best way to learn something -- really learn it -- is to immerse yourself in it as completely as possible. A friend of mine went to France for a semester in colle... More >
Buying technology in many ways isn't so different from buying other goods and services. We consumers tend to be lured -- at least initially -- by low price. But we generally won't stick with somethin... More >
OK, call us cynical. It's clearly no coincidence that the company featured in this Baseline story reporting a highly positive experience with Google Apps is Capgemini, the services provider ... More >
As offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) firms look to expand their business models, they are reportedly angling to make acquisitions , especially in geographies with growing demand for outso... More >
It's no secret that traditional software licensing models are under pressure from a variety of newer options such as software-as-a-service and open source software. And that many vendors see such o... More >
Intuit's Quicken and Turbo Tax products are associated largely with consumers, but the company has been a hit with SMBs as well. A Yankee Group report from the spring of 2006 found that its QuickBook... More >
We've blogged several times in the recent past about CIOs' struggle to remain relevant in a fast-changing business environment. We've noted a number of worrisome trends that suggest that the image ... More >
We blogged back in July about how outsourcing was becoming a key issue of the 2008 presidential election . Immigration -- both legal and illegal -- was still in the headlines following the defeat of... More >
Just last week we blogged about the ongoing debate surrounding the so-called super-cubicle concept, in which all employees -- including managers -- work in a single, open environment rather than la... More >
Are small businesses unfairly targeted by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the group responsible for enforcing copyrights on software produced by companies like Microsoft, Symantec and Adobe Sys... More >
As with many cliches, the old saw about a picture being worth a thousand words is based on a strong reality: humans are inherently visual creatures. Maybe that explains the growing buzz around data v... More >
I've blogged before about how SMBs' relative lack of red tape tends to make them more innovative than their larger counterparts. That point was brought home to me recently when I attended an... More >
Harvard Business School's Andrew McAfee is one of our favorite champions of Enterprise 2.0 -- a term he is credited with coining -- because his arguments for it are based on logic and reasoning rathe... More >
Turns out my employer was years ahead of its time when I worked for a small southern Indiana daily newspaper. The entire staff toiled in a single large open room. People were shoved into every crevic... More >
The U.S. presidential candidate to beat -- as far as many tech companies are concerned, anyway -- may be Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who recently presented a nine-page technology plan called "Conne... More >
Cable operator Comcast is making a bid for the business of SMBs by bundling services including corporate e-mail and document sharing with its high-speed Internet service, reports Newsvine . Comcas... More >
A study released earlier this year -- often cited by advocates of immigration reform -- found that a quarter of technology and engineering startups in the U.S. were founded by immigrants . In Silico... More >
There's a real land grab under way in the business intelligence market, as we blogged recently . SAP's recent acquisition of Business Objects and IBM's bid for Cognos will no doubt trigger additiona... More >
Tech trade associations and others often raise the specter of an American educational system that is failing to keep up with counterparts in countries like India and China. But is it lagging... More >
Because of its nearly universal reach and formidable user base, the Internet can make old-fashioned concepts and activities seem shiny and new. Examples: dating, gossip, political campaigning and pro... More >
In a movie scene so classic that it's become a cliche, Walter Brooke told Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate" that the key to his future was in "plastics." A flurry of press coverage has us wondering, w... More >
In a career like business writing, where you sometimes make predictions about the companies you cover, your words often come back to haunt you -- or at least serve as proof that you are not all that ... More >
We have speculated more than once about when China might become "the next India." (We aren't the only ones. IDC recently went on record with a prediction that China would become a more desirable o... More >
With Windows Essential Business Server (formerly codenamed Centro), its new bundle of server software geared toward mid-size companies, Microsoft is hoping to build upon the success of the Small Bus... More >
If there is a poster child for entrepreneurs, Guy Kawasaki just might be it. He is best-known for his stint at Apple, where he helped create the Macintosh, a gig he told attendees of last Thur... More >
For growth-minded tech companies, employees are becoming an increasingly important resource. Hiring in the tech sector has been on an upswing for the past four years. So it's no surprise tha... More >
Here's a question in the vein of the old "if a tree falls in the forest, does anyone hear it": Is it worth having a Web site if no one sees it? A recent study conducted by Microsoft's adCenter... More >
Both outsourcing clients and suppliers seem to view benchmarking as a necessary evil . Clients must do it to ensure that pricing -- especially in long-term contracts -- remains fair. Suppliers must ... More >
We've blogged before about business users that sometimes leave IT out of the loop, a phenomenon that appears to be becoming more common with the growth of easy-to-deploy technologies like Software-... More >
Wal-Mart has long been the 800-pound gorilla of the retail world, able to bend suppliers to its will and use its renowned supply chain to move goods like nobody's business. Its model was based... More >
Many SMBs are becoming more reliant on mobility to fully leverage their small staffs. According to a recent Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) survey, 90 percent of North American ... More >
To cope with softening demand for their services in the U.S. , Indian outsourcing providers will need to diversify -- in their client bases, their choice of work locations and the services they offe... More >
To use a tired fairy tale metaphor, many companies looking for enterprise search solutions probably feel a bit like Goldilocks. The available options are either too big or too small. Microsoft... More >
It's a bit surprising that a term as nebulous as Web 2.0 ever became popular in the first place. (Granted it did give a lot of bloggers something to do, with their diligent efforts to define it.) &... More >
There isn't much middle ground with Google. Observers tend to be divided into two camps: those that think the search giant has plenty of great ideas, and those that think it has mostly stupid ideas -... More >
Though the Internet can open up business opportunities for SMBs -- helping them market their goods and services to the whole world instead of just a small corner of it -- new business can bring with ... More >
Even as analysts encourage companies to grow their online businesses by cozying up to their customers with more social features and personalized promotions, there appears to be growing unease about... More >
At a time when analysts are issuing bearish outlooks for tech spending in 2008, the SMB sector looks like it could be a bullish exception. Forty-five percent of companies with fewer than 1,0... More >
Though much of the public debate over this summer's failed immigration bill has cooled down, it remains a hot-button issue for workers in the high-tech industry, many of whom would like to see the ... More >
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