The Small Business Technology Tour, hosted by the energetic and engaging Ramon Ray came to Boston this week, and SMB Research had an opportunity to sit in to hear what the experts and small businesses are talking about. This Boston event was the 3rd of 5 stops for the 2011 tour, and, like the agendas in the other tour stops (with some minor variations) the Small Business Technology Tour focuses on addressing how small businesses can strategically use technology to grow their businesses. There are technology references and insights mixed in, but the primary focus is on strategies and best practices in the establishing an on-site presence, and then leveraging that with the right marketing, sales and content strategies. Ramon Ray and Laura Leites of Smallbiztechnology.com brought an engaging mix of speakers who in general provided some valuable insights to the enthusiastic audience.
Small Business Technology Tour, 2011
Day 2 at Interop New York 2011
Another day at Interop under our belts, and more opportunities to wander through the exhibit floor and talk to quite a few vendors. This Interop conference has been, perhaps not surprisingly, all about the data center, cloud computing, network management and security, desktop and server virtualization, unified communications, and wireless / mobile strategy, with more minor focuses on WANs and WAN optimization, social media, voice and video, backup and storage. This diversity is seen on the exhibit floor as well, and is both Interop’s attraction as well as a challenge.
SMB Research’s Watch List for Oracle OpenWorld 2011
SMB Research is monitoring developments from Oracle OpenWorld 2011 with great interest. Are you a Mid-market or SMB headed to Oracle OpenWorld? Are you evaluating Oracle for the first time, or further integrating an Oracle solution or technology into your enterprise? Let us know what you think of Oracle’s strategy and technology and what questions/concerns you have. Here below are a few of the things we are watching, with plans to refresh our assessment of Oracle for you in the near future.
What Did You Take Away From WebInno31?
SMB Research stopped in at the WebInno (Web Innovators Group) event this week. We cannot speak to the previous 30 WebInno’s (or even whether there have been 30 previous WebInno’s), but WebInno31 was a bit of a hoot.
Social Media from the Legal Perspective
We hear so often about Social Media from the technological or strategic viewpoint that I was not quite sure what to expect from the GSMI’s (Global Strategic Management Institute‘s) event, “Social Media: Legal Risks & Strategy”. While many of us are understandably excited about the promise and the opportunity of social media, the legal aspects are ignored at our own peril.
The Fortune 500, Inc. 500 and the Use of Social Media
The always insightful Bill Ives over at the FASTforward Blog has alerted me to a study from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth‘s Center for Marketing Research (CMR) study on the use of social media by the Fortune 500 and Inc. 500.
