| October 2009 In this issue
√ No Room for
Risk |
Go Virtual? 9 Questions To Ask
by Christopher Elliott
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center
Randi Smith-Todorowski's business was in the wrong place at the right time.
Atlas Martial Arts, the business she co-founded in Scottsdale, Ariz., was thriving. But the local economy wasn't. "The enthusiasm was there," she says. "But people were cutting back on luxury items, taking second jobs and traveling for work."
So with the end of their five-year lease imminent, Smith-Todorowski and her partner did what an increasing number of businesses are doing: they took their business virtual.
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When Times are Tough, There’s
No
Don't Stop fortifying against risk Every business deals with risk. But medium-sized businesses, with smaller IT staff and tighter operating budgets are often more exposed to risk than larger companies. This reality is never more evident than in a down economy: When the repercussions of a business disruption are as grave as they are, how do you insulate your business from risk? "For mid-sized businesses, the financial impact of business disruptions is tremendous," said Anil Miglani, senior vice president, AMI-Partners. "We estimate that through security breaches and data loss alone, medium-sized businesses worldwide lost approximately US$4.7 billion in 2008." According to strategy consulting firm AMI-Partners, in 2008 medium-sized businesses worldwide lost approximately US$4.7 billion due to security breaches and loss of data. However, taking the right precautions with your IT infrastructure can help you steer clear of danger. Here are four steps you can take to mitigate risks to your revenue, your reputation, and your investment – all the things that keep you awake at night as you wait for this storm to pass. |
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3 Reasons Online Services
Save Money
The good news is that small-business owners can now opt for many of the same communications and collaboration tools much bigger companies have at their disposal-without having to shell out the on-premise technology investment once necessary for these applications. How? By subscribing to online versions of these apps; that is, by joining the ranks of companies which have opted for software as a service. |
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Four
ways to mitigate risk in a tough economy
It is almost
unthinkable to run any business successfully without e-mail.
Or, for that matter, without conference calls or instant
messaging services that allow employees to share information
more efficiently.
The Secret to Successful
Virtualization
used with permission from
the HP Midsize Business Center
Server virtualization is a great way for your IT organization to battle today’s economic challenges. You can reduce costs through server consolidation—which in turn increases ROI as you run multiple workloads on a single server. Plus, the ability to deploy new applications—and scale them up or down—boosts business agility.
But be mindful of pitfalls that can undermine these advantages. As companies large and small have learned the hard way, you can negate the cost-saving benefits of server virtualization by choosing an inefficient SAN storage solution that does not properly support the advanced requirements of virtualized environments.
What to watch out for
While you ride out this recession, you need to make the most
of your virtualization investments. It literally pays to be
aware of the right storage choices. Here are some things to
keep in mind:
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