ITs only business

Facts, Rumors, and Hopes for IT.

SMB (small to mid sized businesses) will run the future of IT development. I think in many ways this is a true statement as enterprises by nature have more standards. Standardization is the life's blood of technology developments. Small to Mid sized businesses (in the question of does size matter) will have a large influence on development focus simply because they require to some degree more that scaled down versions of enterprise solutions. In addition fewer standards means more customization requirements these "customizations" for the most part are going to have to be simple enough for managers to use and update.


Affordability: What will take to drive the market price down? Greater stability at the core of IT. What should smaller budgets do in the mean time? Learn from someone else's mistakes. Yahoo! and 1and1.com are offering extremely affordable packaged eBusiness solutions. If you don't have the inside connection to expand your business I highly recommend utilizing a packaged service. They are more attractive than they use to be, costly effective on a monthly basis, and are "ready to wear" so to speak.

Open source is another option for those seeking internal upgrades for business management.

It is possible to implement a paperless office with the exception to a good printer and fax.

Tips for Budgeting your business: Reinvest every chance you get. Even if its 5.00 a week. Its the same principle as those in marriage counseling. Funny but true, it is often cheaper to keep her (IT).
also check out www.downloads.com there is still a lot of freeware available for those who know how to go it on their own. Peer to Peer web sites are still good too. Don't let the rumors and concerns about spyware and adware intimidate you from getting things free.
Mom said,"It's good to share."

Upgrading Systems: its really an as needed thing. Purchasing hardware and software should be done with the future in mind. You want very compatible tools so that transition is minimal and cheap.

Beta Testing: Its not what you think it is. Even after a product is released for retail sale the first customers are still (guinea pigs) testing it out. Most problems are located after the first year of release. Be hip about your information but old school when buying.

The Death of a Sales man:

Marketing, PR, Advertising, and Telemarketing~

Consumer Rejection is in many respects killing your sales staff. Revitalize your image and efforts. Sales can combine with automation but some things require a human touch. Inspire your sales force to personalize their attitude and people skills. Some times the best sales pitch makes more friends than sales. Everyone is a customer some just aren't ready to invest in your company. Find out what you need to do to change that.

Mythical IT

Why do they lie to you? What you the consumer can do..

Follow up on things. Get involved in product related forums and discussions. Get reviews from several resources. Talk to people and get their take on things. Hardware in so many ways is evolving faster than software. Software whatever the brand has bad habit of running before walking. Fear makes the world go round. Consumers have to stand up for investments that show signs of strength, loyalty, and longevity.

Open Source Vs. Microsoft

More money, more products, more news, more flaws, more people effected. That's ok for now. But the co-dependencies of corporate manufacturing are not as powerful as the liberties of community spirit. Open source has the option of simply going vertical for security and reliability rather than competing horizontally. Consumers prefer quality and all that was won can easily be lost.

My prediction is UNITY:

The more mergers we see in the future like Kmart and Sears Cingular and ATT&T are going to determine real and present needs for compliance. The pressure is going to be on for developers to learn to fuse technologies with laser surgeon skills or create simpler replacements that can accept data in any form or structure.

Illusion vs. Delusion

Which one is more harmful in business? The Illusion is that we are coming out on top the delusion is that we are the top. It is very relevant to define your struggles as well as your battles.