Comparison Shopping

SmartMoney.com published a great review of the top online price comparison sites. For the most part I agree with their findings. Their reviews found PriceGrabber.com was the superior website for comparison shopping. One of the better features included on PriceGrabber.com is the ability to setup alerts for products based on your desired price range. With the constantly declining costs of technology products, it doesn't make sense to pay bleeding edge prices.

They also rated Yahoo! Shopping, Shopping.com and NexTag as good sites. Rated towards the bottom was Google Products (AKA Google Shopping) because it provided poor details on listings. In their defense, Google says the tool is simply a way to find products and the stores that sell them.

Regardless of what online tool you use, now there is no excuse of overpaying for any product. My advice to you when using these price comparison tools is to perform searches by the part number of the product you want. For example, if I know that I want a specific 3Com network switch, I look up the part number on 3Com's website then I plug that part number into PriceGrabber.com. This ensures that I get the exact item I am looking to buy.

Happy shopping.

Eliminate Landlines, Go Mobile Instead

Forget traditional landlines! Modern business required maximum mobility and minimal expense. That means running your business completely with wireless phones. If you're ready to make the switch, the first step is to evaluate your needs.


Mobile Small Business
Starting a small business means hard work, long hours and the need to predict your future business needs. Mobility is absolutely essential for all owners who must fulfill multiple business roles. For the small business struggling to carve into the market, around-the-clock connectivity is a key to success.


Mobile Phone Service
• Handheld mobile connectivity. Products like the BlackBerry and Palm Treo integrate e-mail, phone and handheld comuting into one product.

• Customizable data plans. Data plans allow you to transfer data using the cell phone company's network. Plans may include domestic or global data plans, depending on your business needs.

• International calling options. Whether your company is already global or not, international phone and data plans can be included into your existing service.


Mobile Business Connectivity for Growing Businesses
Any growing business needs room to grow, and the ideal wireless phone will grow and adapt with your changing needs. Clients remain your primary focus, and client needs may become an integral part of your wireless strategy. That means working with a wireless phone provider that is willing to work with you to achieve your goals.


Large/Growing Mobile Business Connectivity Options
• GPS applications. From tracking employees, to navigation and fleet operations, GPS services keep everyone on the map. Many new phones include GPS while some require it as an add-on device.

• Group messaging plans. Wireless walkie-talkies offer group communication without the effort of conference calls. This can be useful for spontaneous meetings and briefings. However they can also be very intrusive so plan accordingly. Group messaging may work well for some employees and not for others.

• Wireless IP phones. For international and high-volume calls, VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phones connect calls over the Internet. VoIP eliminates long distances charges and is very effective for communicating with clients.

Old fashioned landlines just don't offer the flexibility of mobile business phone services. Businesses of all sizes are making the switch to mobile phones. This switch ultimately saves money, increases customer satisfaction and generates sales.

So, cancel your landlines and move to a purely mobile business. If you need help, just contact me and I will be happy to help you. 1-800-784-8045

Accounting Software Considerations

An off-the-shelf mainstream accounting program works well for small business. Large companies are much better off with customized enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that integrate supply chain, customer relationship management, human resources and all other data systems. Whereas a dedicated accounting software is all you need to run your medium-sized business.


Assessing Your Business Needs
Requirements vary by industry so make sure whatever you look at works for your industry! Regaradless, your accounting software must provide income and expense tracking and report generation.

Before you start sending RFPs, take some time to figure out exactly what you want from your accounting system. Products vary from simple checkbooks and cash-accounting systems to more complex financial management, payroll, inventory management, tax accounting and job costing. Many software offerings are modular so you buy what you need now and then add additional functions when needed.

Accounting software should provide the following tools:

• Generate balance sheets and profit and loss statements
• Track accounts receivable/payable
• AR/AP aging
• Job costing
• Quarterly tax payment estimates
• Income tax preparation
• Sales tax preparation
• Payroll
• Quarterly and year-end reports
• Available inventory
• Inventory aging
• Purchase order creation
• Compute cost of goods sold

Some of these features are standard on all accounting programs. Others are exclusive to ERP systems. Remmeber, that software created specifically for your industry may be the best solution, especially if you are dealing with complex processes or regulation.


Other Concerns
You may also want to consider other features, such as customizable reports, check printing and electronic invoices, to name a few. A service business will likely require an hourly billing function too. You may wish to consider a Web-based or "hosted" solution, which offers faster implementation, easier upgrading, lower costs and avoids technology infrastructure expenses.


Ease of Use
You should include input from the primary users of your accounting software. This will ensure that you get the right product based on their needs. It will also minimize complaints and buy-in when you make a final decision.

When you give any software a trial run, test the software publisher's technical support and sales team. The ideal accounting software publisher should be a business partner. If they aren't willing to go the extra mile for you, then look somewhere else.

Choosing accounting software for your business might just be the most important decision you make. Choose wisely. If you need help, feel free to contact me for help. That's why I'm here.

Generation Entrepreneur

The business world has changed. There are more new business start-ups now than at any other time in history. More people are going into business to chase their dreams and to break out of the neverending layoff cycle. Talented, capable people are tired of being at the whim of others and are working hard to make their dreams come true.


When the economy is upside-down, anything can happen.
Anyone can reach their dreams with hard work, audacity and belief. There are millions of people all over the world starting a business from their home; in addition to their regular day job. They are all trying to realize their dreams of a better life.

The Internet is the great equalizer. The same business tools I sell to big companies are now available to everyone. For ten years, I've been the managing director of R-Squared Computing. Before that I was part of the great Internet bubble of the 90's. I worked as a Sampsonite gorrilla; beating up software trying to make it break. I remember token ring, BNC adaptors and other things non-tech people don't care about.

Project management, painless backup or you can just hire virtual IT engineers to care for your computer 24/7/365. Just three powerful tools that you can use to make your business run better and to gain competitive advantage. And every last one of them have been made possible by the Internet. Now, your micro business can have the same power and tools as the multinationals.

Intelligently applied technology can give your business an enormous edge. Project managment software really just helps you to plan and stay organized. Painless backup is so you can sleep well knowing your critical business information is safe. Virtual IT engineers keep the machines humming and making money for you.

So, just because the economy is diving, the giant companies are out begging and the world is falling apart, it doesn't mean you shouldn't chase your dreams. Warren Buffett says when people are greedy, be cautious; when they are cautious, be greedy. Buffett didn't become impossibly rich by being stupid or wrong.

Now is the time for you to grab hold of your dreams and start building your business. Don't wait! When the business world is upside-down, opportunities for growth are everywhere. Get started today! What are you waiting for?

The True Costs of Free and Low-Cost Software

I found this great article from Idealware. Click here!

If you run a non-profit, this site is a great resource for you. I recommend you subscribe to their updates.

Idealware, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, provides candid Consumer-Reports-style reviews and articles about software of interest to nonprofits. Through product comparisons, recommendations, case studies, and software news, Idealware allows nonprofits to make the software decisions that will help them be more effective. http://www.idealware.org/

The Wireless Cloud

With the FCC decision to allow the use of television whitespace for wireless Internet is the cornerstone of the future Cloud capability. The phenomenal bandwidth that will open up is unprecedented. A whole host of new national wireless Cloud devices will replace what we have become accustomed to. These will sport the new flexible LCD screens for larger displays on portable, handheld devices than we have seen before.

Change is coming. Are you ready?

Computers Don't Matter

Machines don't matter! The time when each computer was important is now over and the sooner you accept that the easier your life will become. All that matters is that we can access our important information and keep our business functioning. Once you move to the Cloud Paradigm you will free yourself to work from anywhere.


The Old Computing Paradigm
The paradigm we are all used to puts a computer on every desk and shackles each employee to that machine. If the computer fails, the employee's productivity drops to zero. But it wasn't always like that...

The first digital computer is the abacus, and all computers (including yours) work based on similar rules. Nowadays, instead of sliding beads on a string, modern computers simply power transistors on or off to perform calculations. In 1946, the ENIAC using 20,000 vacuum tubes was unveiled as the first programmable, general purpose computer. The invention of the transistor and integrated circuits during the 1960's ushered in the era of big expensive mainframe computers that only large businesses could afford. In 1970 Intel's 4004 microprocessor heralded the beginning of the personal computer era. Because microprocessors were cheaper than their forebearers, it would soon become possible for everyone to own a computer. By the 1980's computers became small enough (and cheap enough) to be fitted into many household appliances, such as washing machines. The 1980's also saw the start of the major market penetration of the personal computer. During the Internet expansion of the 1990's the personal computer became nearly as common as television and the telephone.


The Price Argument
In 1996, the average price of a new computer was $1,647. Two years later, that price fell to $1,317. Today you can buy a Dell Vostro 220 for under $500 or an Asus Eee PC for $170. It doesn't take a math genius to map the trend of declining computer prices. As computer components become cheaper because of new innovations in manufacturing, the base price of a new computer system will continue to decline. That means within a few short years we can logically expect the price of a new computer to be cheaper than a good cell phone.

When it doesn't hurt your pocketbook to buy a new computer, it then becomes cheaper to buy a new computer than to repair the old one. Computers will become disposable commodities. And all of this is happening because the computer doesn't matter. Innovation will continue to drive down component prices as companies vie for larger chunks of market share by producing cheaper and cheaper computers. While there will always be a market for high-end computers (e.g. the Alienware gaming machines), the typical business will embrace the Cloud Paradigm and start storing their data online.

Because very few companies are moving onto the cloud, you could gain a substantial advantage against your competition by embracing the Cloud Paradigm. Start reaping the cost benefits of cloud computing today.

For more information on how to eliminate costs with cloud computing, register for my FREE e-Course at www.NearlyFreeIT.com. You'll be glad you did.

Dark Side of the Cloud

While I am a big fan of Cloud Computing, it must be noted that there is a dark side. Salesforce.com, which provides hosted customer relationship management services, suffered a 38 minute service outage on January 6, 2009. While many want to shout and scream that this was a terrible problem, it was ultimately as damaging as a power outage.

The majority of quality cloud computing service companies maintain 99.99% reliability. This means that outages are sufficiently rare that they are negligible. Utility services will suffer occasional outages. That is just the nature of the beast. However, for the cost benefits, these outages are completely acceptable.

And the beauty is if the outages are too frequent and directly imapct your business, you pull up stakes and go somewhere else. So, a word to the wise, be aware that the Cloud Paradigm offers phenomenal cost saving opportunities but it also includes a few risks you should be aware of.

Gadget Fever

I gotta have it! I can’t live without it.

Whenever you experience those urges, take a deep breathe and collect yourself. You only really need food, air, water, shelter, etc. You don't need the latest cell phone or other gizmo. I'm not saying you must live like an Amish monk; just remember that all technology is disruptive, so be cautious. Simply owning the latest and greatest gadget does not necessarily help your business.

You need to take your ego out of it and ask the hard business questions before you spend. Don't let a vanity purchase impact your ability to make money.

Machines Don't Matter

Today, every business has to deliver more, for less. Time costs money, and money is getting tighter and tighter. You need to try to find alternative technologies that are cheaper, better and faster; but that don't get in the way of doing your job. The old paradigm required an enormous investment in computer equipment and labor. The market has changed, and you can probably find better uses for your money.

Most people appreciate the benefits of change if it provides real business value. Change is always risky so you have to be cautious. The challenge is identifying the right changes that will help you improve performance, exploit efficiencies and build competitive advantage. Fortunately, the solution exists in the Cloud.

Technically speaking, the Cloud is just another name for the Internet. However, it also refers to the amazing new way of working with the Internet. The Cloud refers to a shift away from the individual importance of any computer. The computer is just a machine. It shouldn't matter if any one computer breaks, explodes or catches fire. It should not impact your business in any way.

I realize you think I am crazy. "My life is in that laptop," is something I hear too often. They don't really mean the laptop, what matters is the information inside it! Now that information can reside in the Cloud: freeing you from equipment investments, costly computer techs, unreliable backups, expensive software and all the nasty surprises that seem to come with computers.

Undeniably, there is a major shift in thinking required to trust another company with your business information. Many are never able to overcome this barrier and are trapped in the old paradigm with all the related costs. That always happens when there is a paradigm shift. Those who are able to shift into the new paradigm will harness the new tools and blow away the competition.

Total reliance on a specific computer means you are paralyzed when that machine fails. And every computer fails at some point. Then there's the tedious, time consuming process of moving everything from your old computer to the new one. How many hours have you wasted? The Cloud eliminates all of these problems. Machine don't matter - information does. And your information is safe and secure on several remote computers at the same time when it's on the Cloud.

Online there are a collection of tools and services that you can harness for a fraction of the price of the most expensive enterprise-level software. That means you can have at your fingertips the same tools used by the biggest companies in the world, for a price that any small business can handle. It means having access to state-of-the-art computer tools and engineers for a price you cannot ignore.

The companies that are hosting these Cloud services know that their entire business will collapse if there is ever a security breach or data loss. So, they hire the best computer engineers to manage their world-class computer centers. You get the benefits without the massive costs. That means you get the software tools, plus the security, plus the backup, plus the freedom, but minus the cost. All it takes is that all important shift towards the Cloud.

Suddenly natural disasters, fires, theft and equipment failures don't matter. Sure, it sucks when you have to buy a new laptop because it was destroyed. Isn't it better to know that your information is safe and secure? Suddenly, the computer is just a machine again. And machines don't matter.

Old Computing Paradigm

The computing paradigm we are most used to is the desktop paradigm. This is where one user has access to a single computer which processes and stores all the user's information. This model makes the specific computer incredibly important to the user since everything of importance is on that computer. The failure or loss of that one computer could be devastating to the user.

This paradigm is based firmly on the development of the Intel x86 processors in 1978. For the first time in history, cheap processing power made it possible for the birth of the personal computer revolution. Now it is not uncommon of households to have more computers than people!

But this paradigm is unstable. In a highly mobile world, being chained to a single computer is no longer acceptable. Small businesses are required to do more with less and to do it faster than ever before. That means we can no longer be chained to a single machine. We can no longer be slaves to the whims of a single computer which can fail at any moment.

We need to accept that the old paradigm is dying and a new one is being born. We are at the forefront of another paradigm shift brought about by technology. The importance of the individual computer is over. Information is what truly matters! How you access, manipulate, examine and store that information is the major change that is coming with the new computing paradigm.

Is your business ready for this paradigm shift? Contact R-Squared Computing today to make sure.

Nearly Free IT

Could your business benefit from better organization, painless backup and a virtual engineer? What is it worth to you to have a computer that runs fast, safe and error free? How much money would you save if you could be warned before your computer broke? Aren't you tired of paying through the nose to repair your computer? Geek Squad charges $160 just to install a new computer! Most computer techs charge insane hourly fees to sit and stare at the damn hourglass on the computer screen.

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• Delegate responsibility: build quick to-do lists and share them with others
• Document collaboration: so you can work together to finish faster
• Painless backup: with your data safe, you can sleep peacefully
• Predictive failure: know before it breaks, so you can fix it first
• Malware protection: protection from viruses, trojans, spyware, and the latest Internet nasty, rootkits.
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Laggards Are Losers

To close out this series on the Technology Adoption Lifecycle model...

At the tail end of the Technology Adoption Lifecycle curve are the Late Majority and the Laggards. The timing between the Early Majority and the Late Majority is very difficult to measure. However, the Laggards are those who suffer the worst.

While Innovators and Early Adopters are overpaying for new technologies, the Laggards are getting the best bargains. Unfortunately, they are also buying into the technology just before it is replaced by something newer. Laggards are the people rushing out now to by DVD players. These are the people who still boast about their VHS machines and Eight Track players.

Laggards are so far behind the technology curve they are unlikely to ever catch up. Obviously in some industries this is not as bad as in others, but any competitor that has harnessed technology wisely will display a substantial competitive advantage. Keeping up with technology is mandatory under the new computing paradigm. While you don't need to be a tech expert, you should keep up to date with the latest developments specific to your industry.

The only reason to incorporate technology into your business is to improve your ability to compete. You provide a product or a service that serves a market niche. Technology can help you to better identify, communicate, examine, understand and win over that niche. If you stray too far behind on the technology curve you will lose your competitive advantage and run the risk of losing your customers to another business that can better serve their needs.

Fall behind on technology at your own risk. Whether you like it or not, technology has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives. Laggards will not survive as competition gets more ferocious, especially in hard financial times.

Ubiquitous Computing

In the very near future, everything will have a computer built in. Under the desktop paradigm, computers are large, sometimes bulky devices that provide processing power and store information for a single user at a time. The new paradigm eliminates the importance of the individual desktop and pushes information and processing capacity onto the Internet cloud. The paradigm that will follow afterwards will see the final demise of the desktop as computers become embedded into everything you can imagine.

Ubiquitous computing will allow users to interact with multiple computers during the course of the day, oftentimes without even being aware of the interaction. This future paradigm will be based on small, cheap computers that connect to the Internet to share information. The example you may have heard before is the intelligent refrigerator that is aware of its contents, can plan menus based on available foods, can warn about spoiled food and can order new items automatically for you. Another example posits a connection between computers embedded in clothing that monitor body temperature and communcate with lighting and climate control computers to adjust to your needs automatically.

Obviously this is still several years away. However, it helps to bring into focus what tomorrow will bring to your business. It never hurts to start planning for the next paradigm, especially when you have plenty of time to figure out how you can benefit from ubiquitous computing.


------------------------------
Souce: Wikipedia: Ubiquitous Computing

When to Buy In

To continue from yesterday's post...

Ideally, you should always avoid the bleeding edge. Unless you know the product, the manufacturer and you stand to gain a significant competitive advantage from the new technology, you should always wait till the Early Majority stage to buy into new technologies.

By this point in the Technology Adoption Lifecycle the costs of the technology have dropped from their high levels. Since the Innovators and Early Adopters have absorbed the research and development costs, the manufacturer can drop prices to encourage the Early Majority to buy in. So, you can pick up the same (or better) product for a discount.

Usually by this point in the curve, the manufacturer has had the opportunity to release a few updates or has made necessary corrections. These repairs can be a huge benefit to you and your business since you won't have to shoulder the hidden costs associated with working around unforeseen problems. Typically, by this stage in the lifecycle curve, most manufacturers have also included a few new features to "sweeten the deal." While these new features may have problems, you can rest assured that the nastiest surprises have been settled.

Typically, by the Early Majority stage, the company has enough customers to ensure its survivability. Because the Innovators and Early Adopters have provided a financial foundation, the company will probably survive to continue supporting and developing the technology. While this is still no guarantee against mis-management and other causes of business failure, at least you know they won't go broke because their product doesn't have a wide enough customer base.

By settling comfortably in the Early Majority stage of the adoption lifecycle you can avoid all the risks that the Early Adopters and Innovators have to bear. This stage of the curve also ensures that you will have access to better quality technologies which have been rigorously consumer tested. Plus you will also have the peace of mind that comes from knowning the company you have purchased from will be around for the foreseeable future. The most important benefit, however, if the Early Majority still benefits from new technologies without shouldering the associated risks.

Avoid the Bleeding Edge

Below is the Technology Adoption Lifecycle curve as defined by Joe M. Bohlen, George M. Beal and Everett M. Rogers from Iowa State College:

The curve describes how new ideas and technologies spread across cultures. The researchers have found that the bell curve above is a standard model for the adoption or acceptance of new technologies. Both demographics and psychological characteristics play a significant role at each stage in the curve.

Their findings indicated that:

• innovators - more educated, more money and more risk-oriented


• early adopters - younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders


• early majority - more conservative but open to new ideas, active in community and influence to neighbours


• late majority - older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active


• laggards - very conservative, little money, oldest and least educated

Ultimately it is your risk tolerance that determines where you fall on the curve. Obviously familiar technologies related to your business may lead you to an earlier stage on the curve. However, I usually advise all my customers to avoid the Innovator and Early Adopter stages of any new technology. Typically, these are the users that absorb the greatest amount of risk associated with new technologies.

Think of every new gadget that has caught your attention on release. On June 29, 2007, Apple Computer released the iPhone; innovators and early adopters stood in line for hours to pay $599 per phone. By September of 2007 Apple announced a $200 discount on the high end iPhone which caused a massive customer backlash. Because of the incredible hype, normally rational people rushed out to overspend on a new cell phone. If they had waited three months they could have gotten the same phone for 30% less. Innovators and early adopters tend to absorb the highest costs for new technology. They are the consumers that repay the lion's share of the research and development costs.

There is also the risk posed by bugs and problems. Everyone has a story of a new product or gizmo they bought that didn't work right. Innovators and early adopters always bear the brunt of these problems as the company hasn't had time to iron out the bugs. There is significant business risk associated with errors and problems with new technologies. Could you imagine a new productivity software that paralyzed your business because of bugs? The hidden costs of these problems can be astronomical. A great example of a product failure caused by excessive bugs is Microsoft's Windows Vista. Vista suffers lackluster sales after computer geeks worldwide largely dismissed it as error prone and faulty. Regardless of the number of updates and repairs issued by Microsoft, the damage was done and Vista never fully recovered.

Finally, there is the very real danger from a failure to capture sufficient market share. If a company cannot launch their new technology and capture enough market share, there is no future for the product. A great recent example is HD-DVD which lost the high definition format war to BluRay. How many people purchased HD-DVD equipment only to have it become obsolete? I am certain you can think of other examples. If you are old enough you may remember the battle between LaserDiscs and DVDs. The technical history books are full of examples of failed technologies that left innovators and early adopters high and dry.

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Source: Wikipedia Technology Adoption Lifecycle

The End of Platform Wars

Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux: the battle rages on, with other smaller players fighting for precious market share. Advertisements urging you to choose a side in the Platform Wars sway from the ridiculous to the insulting. Old consumer prejudices are still common too: Mac is for artists and Windows is for business.

It is all nonsense and it will all be ending soon.

A computer's platform is the operating system. Windows Vista, MacOS X, Unbuntu are just brand names for the collection of computer programs that run the machine and provide you with digital services, like Internet accessibility. The operating system used to be the most important consideration when buying a computer. People wanted to buy a computer with a system they were familiar with that would also run all their favorite video games and work software. This is the old paradigm that brought about the industry giants like Microsoft and Apple.

The new paradigm is platform independent. More computer users don't really care what platform they work on, especially when they use web services like Zoho and Gmail. The operating system doesn't matter when all I want is to connect to the Internet.

With the rapid move of technology towards the new computing paradigm, the platform is irrelevant. Soon, users will only be interested in platforms that do not hinder their work and does not hog system resources. As more and more useful services become available online (and as more users start using them!) the services traditionally provided by an operating system will be just more bloat that slows systems down.

The new computing paradigm is up on us. Is your business ready?

Utility Computing Examples

The real benefit of utility computing comes from better control of your money. Traditional business data centers are almost always underutilized. Most business servers idle 85% of the time! This is because computer technicians are notorious for overbuying hardware in order to:
handle high workload peaks (such as the surge caused by holiday shopping!), to plan for future demand and for the unanticipated surges in demand. Utility computing allows companies to only pay for the computing resources they need, when they need them.

Despite recent problems with outages, Amazon Web Services is an excellent example of utility computing. Using the power of Amazon.Com's phenomenal technology infrastructure, customers can now lease computing power. Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) permits customers to pay for computer resources by the hour and Simple Storage Service (S3) which lets customers pay based on storage capacity.

Another top quality service is Mozy Unlimited Backup which offers 2GB of totally free online backup and also unlimited backup space for $4.95/Month! After you signup online, you need to install a small program on your computer that gives you total control over what files you backup and how often. They have a very intuitive and easy to use program that lets you select broad categories of files for storage. I have been using the free 2GB service for my home computers; I only backup the really important files but soon I will break down and start backing up everything.

The Difference Between Cloud & Utility Computing

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that cloud computing is not the same as utility computing. I have received a few emails asking me for futher explanation. Apparently it isn't as obvious as I thought...

Think of utility computing as the infrastructure and cloud computing as the services provided. Now that you are completely confused, let me break it down further.

Utility computing is about providing access to heavy duty machines. It is infrastructure provisioning by leasing you access to computer processing power (pure number crunching) or storage (hard drive space). Under a utility computing framework you are only getting access to the hardware capacity and nothing more. Because you are not using 100% of the equipment capacity, you will only pay for the fraction you use. This allows you to control your costs and avoid capital expenditures on hardware that will be obsolete in a few years.

Cloud computing is software sold as a service. You buy the software services you and your employees need from an online vendor. This vendor promises to provide you access to the software and your information for a set monthly fee. This allows you to control your costs and avoid capital expenditures on software that will be obsolete in a few years.

Cloud computing requires utility computing since it cannot exist without it. However, they are still different concepts. While I realize this is splitting hairs, it is important to understand the distinction. Purchasing cloud services gives you access to web-based software that allows you true business mobility. Purchasing utility computing services provides you with access to equipment capacity without having to buy the hardware.

I hope that clears things up...

Understanding Cloud Computing

We can always rely on my associates in the computer business to name everything with either an unpronounceable acronym (LAN, WAN, VoIP, ad nauseum) or with something vaguely faggy (cloud, tweet and so forth). First and foremost, you need to understand that "cloud" is just another name for the Internet.

The name originated from the practice of drawing a simple cloud shape to denote any part of a computer network diagram that we did not have to worry about. So, your area of responsibility was detailed with every wire labeled and computer described. Everything outside your network could just be explained away with the cloud drawing. This is similar to the practice of ancient mapmakers who would draw dragons in uncharted areas of the map. The cloud was simply our lazy way of saying Here Be Dragons for our computer network; said simply: we don't know and we don't care.

However, with the advent of high speed Internet connections and advances in web programming, we can now use the Internet to distribute powerful software tools for all users. Cloud computing is built on utility computing; though many believe they are the same thing. Cloud computing is also a metered utility service which allows you to pay for software as a service, meaning you only buy what you need.

The greatest advantage to cloud computing is you no longer need to worry about keeping your software up-to-date and software license compliance. Most cloud computing providers will give you new features and updates as part of your normal subscription. This means you have constant access to new features and updates without having to pay more money or manage software licenses.

The other advantage is you do not have to maintain the infrastructure. Computer servers are expensive and so are the technicians needed to maintain them. Let the cloud computing provider handle the hardware; this lets you focus on growing your business. As any accountant will tell you, renting software is a better option than the capital expenditures involved.

For example, Wired Gecko provides preventative PC care. Using the Internet, Wired Gecko will monitor all your computers to catch failures before they interrupt your business. You must break out of the old Break-Fix cycle where you waste time and money waiting for your computer tech to repair a damaged PC. Take control of the relationship and tell your tech what needs to be repaired before it breaks. This lets you schedule the tech's time so that it doesn't interrupt your work. You have to admit, it's a smarter way to work.

Allmoxy offers a fantastic suite of products that can provide nearly everything your small business could need. From customer service to inventory management, Allmoxy delivers a great set of tools for "businesses that make stuff, move things, and get dirty."

The downside of cloud computing is you can only access these services when you have Internet access. The other concern is access to your information since your data is now residing on their computers. You must be sure there is an easy way for you to secure a copy of information if you should need it. You should also check and be sure that the provider offers solid backup and redundancy. If you are in the medical, legal, banking or other regulated industry, you will want to be sure that your cloud software vendor is in full compliance.

Cloud computing is an excellent way to control your software costs. It also allows you the freedom to work from anywhere there is an Internet-enabled computer. While there are some dangers, the benefits are substantial. Cloud computing should become part of your business especially if it sharpens your competitive edge.