Troubleshooting IT

• Economies of Scale: Ideas vs. Attention

  The development of social tools and technologies has led us into an idea-driven or knowledge economy. But as it's become easier to share our ideas in blogs, ...

  Brent Leary

• Visibility: The Strongest Link in the Supply Chain

  How strong is your supply chain? You won’t know until it fails. Reducing your risk of failure depends on visibility -- your ability to see any aspect of th...

  Mike Gorsage

• Customer Service for IT Departments

  A big complaint in business is that IT staff say they will help and then don't show up until hours later -- or the next day -- without explanation. But you c...

  Jerry Osteryoung

• The Era of the Electronic Medical Record

  The implications of the EMR are enormous. It touches every component of the healthcare delivery spectrum -- from physician to nurse, even to the person trans...

  Mike Gorsage

• Managing IT Costs during a Recession Part II: Improve Asset Utilization

  Still waiting for economic recovery? Think you’ve done all you can to reign in IT costs? It’s probably time to get even more innovative by assessing the...

  Mike Gorsage

• Tech Talk: Music Firm Distributes Digitally

  A San Francisco-based music industry marketing company representing hundreds of independent record labels found a better alternative to e-mail for sending ou...

  Elizabeth Wasserman

• Personal Tech Checklist for the Workplace

  The seamless connectivity most people expect these days can have security implications in your workplace. You may need to establish usage policies, ban items...

  Kim Boatman

• Tech Talk: TV Frame Maker Shares Files

  A business that custom designs frames and mounts for flat panel TVs avoided hiring IT personnel by outsourcing file sharing and management to an on-demand pr...

  Elizabeth Wasserman

• Tech Talk: Handbag Retailer Deploys DIY Tech

  An online designer handbag retailer based in Boston finds that building their own website and customizing features better attracts customers -- and gets them...

  Elizabeth Wasserman

• Virtually There

  Be at the office without being there: remote workplace access solutions are becoming easy to implement, affordable, and offer the flexibility entrepreneurs n...

  Andrea Peiro

• Good Match: Choosing an IT Services Vendor

  Choosing the right outside IT services provider for your business involves knowing what you need, rounding up a qualified candidates, asking the right questi...

  Michelle V. Rafter

• IT Mistakes: Failure is Not an Option

  IT mistakes can do serious damage to a small business, so learn from others’ misfortune what to do in order to avoid their fate.

  Michelle V. Rafter

• Use IT Asset Management for Software Compliance

  A recent study found that the majority of the IT professionals surveyed weren’t sure if their software is in compliance with licensing requirements. IT ass...

  Alice Osborn

• The Business of Intelligence

  When used effectively, information gleaned from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can can dramatically simplify the day-to-day tasks of employees ...

  Mike Gorsage

• Less Is More Where Data Is Concerned

  Understand what data truly matters to your business, consolidate it, and make it available at all time from all places -- if your business truly needs it.

  Andrea Peiro

• Before You Virtualize Servers: A Checklist

  Virtualizing servers can save on equipment, reduce your company’s carbon footprint and help with disaster recovery. But there are a few things you should k...

  Minda Zetlin

• Document This: How to Organize Computer Data

  Add-ons, backups, and plug-ins make sorting and storing e-mail and other computer documents easier than ever, even for the most organizationally challenged.

  Michelle V. Rafter

• The Book of Truth: Your Source for Business Intelligence

  How can a company consolidate information from various departments or operational units and alleviate the strain of inefficient processes and potentially ina...

  Mike Gorsage

• Tech Talk: Cloud Computing Lifts Acting School

  A Hollywood acting school outsourced the hosting and management of its software and computer systems, ending a string of computer woes for employees.

  Elizabeth Wasserman

• Tech Talk: Web Firm Outsources Rails Monitoring

  A Massachusetts-based online property management service outsourced its monitoring of a free Web tool built with Ruby on Rails after Web traffic increased dr...

  Elizabeth Wasserman

• Virtualization Sets Desktops Free

  In data centers, virtualization helps big companies save on servers and better protect their data. Now smaller companies can use the same technology to gain ...

  Minda Zetlin

• Watchful Eyes: Outsourcing Video Surveillance

  Video surveillance does more than monitor cash registers. With specialized software, in-store cameras can stream video to a private site, where images can be...

  Jean Thilmany

• Log Management: What's in Your Log Files?

  Log files are like internal surveillance cameras, recording everything that happens inside servers, network devices, and some applications. Here's how to mak...

  Minda Zetlin

• Setting Boundaries for Employee Internet Use

  A total ban on Internet surfing for workers isn't practical, but employers do need to create a balance to use the technology to increase productivity while m...

  Lisa Metcalfe

• Tech Talk: Green IT Proves Profitable

  A California-based Web hosting firm discovered that energy-saving technologies, such as solar power and virtualization, helped it meet environmental and busi...

  Elizabeth Wasserman

• The Ins of Outsourcing

  Making the move to outsource functions, such as IT, may be intimidating for businesses the first time around. But it may be cost effective in an economic dow...

  Lisa Metcalfe

• Cutting IT Costs, Not Quality

  Inexpensive technology solutions can play an integral role in determining the success and sometimes failure of new small and mid-sized businesses -- especial...

  Lisa Metcalfe

• IT for the Pajama Generation

  Building an IT environment to support a business environment that allows telecommuting involves standardizing on technology, setting perimeters, and taking s...

  Linda Wilson

• The Promises and Pitfalls of Free Technology

  While growing businesses take advantage of open-source products, IM, and VoIP, they many not be paying enough attention to the "costs" of free tech.

  Caroline Waxler

• When On-Demand Services Go Awry

  You have the service-level agreement in place when your business contracts for Software as a Service (SaaS). But what happens when things go wrong? What reco...

  Minda Zetlin

• The Integration Appliance

  In the past, small to mid-sized businesses had only two options for integrating applications. They could spend a lot of money and use complex software tools ...

  Patricia Brown

• The Devil Is in the Details -- on the Spreadsheet

  The road is littered with mistakes businesses have made in recording details in their spreadsheets. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when trying to use...

  Renee Oricchio

• The Cost of Competence

  In a fast-changing world, here's one more thing to worry about: being too good at what you do.

  David H. Freedman

• Destination IT: The Road to Project Success

  More than two-thirds of all major IT projects are delivered late, over budget, or get canceled altogether. It doesn’t have to be that way if you communicat...

  Lisa Metcalfe

• What ITIL Can Do for Small Businesses

  Information Technology Infrastructure Library sounds bureaucratic -- it was developed by the British government -- but these best practices can help business...

  Jennifer Zaino

• Technology Transformation -- A Miracle Cure?

  To give your business a boost, you may need to rethink the way your business approaches IT. The right investments in technology can help you leap frog over c...

  Lisa Metcalfe

• Deploying IT: Easy as Replacing The Kitchen Floor

  Real-life examples can teach you lessons about how to deploy new technology in your business, namely to research, double-check your research, and test out ne...

  Ramon Ray

• Managing IT through Mergers and Acquisitions

  Small and mid-sized firms are more likely to merge or be acquired these days. But one of the stumbling blocks to making any M&A activity work for a business ...

  Patricia Brown

• Sensible IT Choices that Fit and Work

  What IT leaders of small and mid-sized businesses should keep in mind to make sensible technology choices.

  Andrea Peiro

• Tech Tools to Manage the Back End

  From barcoding to "smart" tags, a host of new technologies has become available to help small and medium-sized businesses manage inventory and supply chains.

  Mary O. Foley