Social media offers small businesses an inexpensive, relatively friction-free way to accomplish different business functions, from generating new leads to getting input for new product development. Consequently, it's not surprising that small businesses are rapidly moving to take advantage of it. How far along the social media curve is your business compared to your peers? We’ve picked some ke...
Category: SMB
The New Dell and What it Means for SMBs: Takeaways from Dell’s 2011 Solutions for a Virtual Era Event
Twenty-seven years ago, Michael Dell launched Dell with $1,000 and a streamlined sales and manufacturing model that revolutionized the PC industry. Sticking with this playbook, Dell achieved similar success in the server market, once again disrupting the status quo. However, times changed, and Dell started to look like a one-trick pony. As Michael Dell himself acknowledged at last week’s Dell’...
Dell and Boomi: Doubling Down on Integration
Originally published 4-26-11 as an SMB Group research brief in .pdf format, available here. When big companies gobble up smaller ones, you always wonder whether the acquired company will get swallowed up into the belly of the beast, der...
What is Systems Management, and Why Should You Care?
(Originally published March 23, 2011 in Small Business Computing) What is Systems Management? Systems management is an umbrella term that refers to the centralized management of a company’s information technology assets, and it's o...
Is there a Method to Social Media Madness?
Co-authored by: Sanjeev Aggarwal and Laurie...
Changing Customer Service Channels: The Gap Between Social Media Haves and Have Nots
Co-authored by: Laurie McCabe and Sanjeev Aggarwal, SMB Group, and Brent Leary, CRM Essentials How quickly is social media catching on as an engagement channel for SMB customer service and support? It depends on who you ...
Social Business: Why Having a Plan Matters
Co-authored...
What Are Integrated Payment Solutions and Why Should You Care?
(Originally published January 30, 2011 in Small Business Computing) What are Integrated Payments Solutions? Integrated payment solutions are tools that your business can use to integrate accounting, customer relationship manag...
SMBs Open a New Front Door with Mobile Web Sites
Ten years ago, SMBs were just beginning to understand the need for and value of building web sites and storefronts. Today, SMBs are at a similar point when it comes to building mobile web sites and enabling mobile transactions. Why is this important? 4.8 billion users browse the web via a mobile device compared to 1.7 billion users who browse the web via other means, ...
SMB Mobile Spending Trends from SMB Group’s 2010 Mobile Solutions Study
As part of the recently completed SMB Group study "2010 Small and Medium Business Mobile Solutions Study," we performed a detailed analysis of U.S. small and medium business (SMB) spending on mobile devices, applications, and services. As explained in this study, SMBs (1-999 emplo...