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  • Client

    Do Macs love Exchange?

    Snow Leopard finally promises native Exchange connectivity for Mac users; here’s how to make it manageable.
    read more
  • Business Continuity

    Database Backup

    Databases store the most valuable information for the businesses you work with and they’re the trickiest systems to back up; some of the largest technology companies in the world have got database backup badly wrong. Losing that data can have serious consequences for the business, to say nothing of the embarrassment quotient for you. Here we explain the essentials of backing up and introduce some specialist tools.
    read more
ClientTelecoms

Video Conferencing on a Budget

Video conferencing technology has never been so cheap or so effective: what can it do for your small business customers?

 

   
Telecoms

Unified Comms for Small Business with Office Communication Server

Office Communication Server isn’t for every small business and it isn’t always straightforward to implement, but when it’s a good fit the rich features offer obvious benefits you can sell.

   
ServerTelecoms

Setting up Blackberry Enterprise Server BES with Exchange 2007

Getting BlackBerry Enterprise Server up and running needn’t be complex, but it can be tedious: here’s how to get BES working with Exchange 2007 in a Windows network.

   
ServerClientTelecoms

Small Business Applications for Blackberry

BlackBerry is more than a phone with secure email; it’s also an application platform, with plenty of business-focused applications and tools. Even though App World adds a one-stop shop for trials and downloads you still want to be involved in recommending business BlackBerry apps to your customers, so here are our top picks.

   
ServerNetworkClient

Managing networks with System Center Essentials 2007

Microsoft’s System Center tools manage everything from updates to virtualisation. Now there’s a version that will help you manage an entire SME from one screen.

   
The Business Resources

Download the Microsoft SMB Insight Report 2009

“Because they can respond so quickly as business conditions change, small and midsize companies have an advantage in a volatile and uncertain economic climate.

   
ServerSecurityClient

Centralising anti-virus protection for business

Disinfectant for the desktop, with less swabbing. Many small businesses’ anti-virus software strategies are a mess: here’s how you look after it for them, with minimal fuss.

   
ServerNetworkClient

Netbooks: Networking and Managing a Linux portable

Linux netbooks are cheap, popular and probably on a customer site already. How can you connect them to an existing network and make them work with Windows servers and applications?

   
ClientTelecoms

Setting up Google Gmail Mobile in Google Apps

With Google Apps businesses can combine the Gmail service with their own domain names. Here’s how to get it up and running and provide mobile email without a mail server.
   
ClientBusiness Continuity

Recovering and protecting data on Mac and Linux desktops

Make sure all of your clients’ computers have a backup plan, whatever operating system they run.

   


Next
issue March 2010

To read a sample please
download Jan/Feb 2009
IT-Expert-Magazine-Vo2-Ed1.pdf

 

MS-SMB-Report-2009
Download the Microsoft SMB
Insight Report 2009

“Because they can respond so quickly as business conditions change,small and midsize companies have an advantage in a volatile and uncertain economic climate".

Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft

IT EXPERT TOP TIP

Need to script file uploads to a SharePoint site? DavCopy is a command-line tool with a rich set of options including whether files get overwritten, whether they trigger the New file notification in SharePoint and what user credentials to upload them with. http://www.bluedoglimited.com/Downloads/default.aspx read more

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WELCOME

 If it ain’t broke, should you fix it? Actually, yes. The one thing most of your customers need is backup, because they’ll be out of business so this issue we take a look at the trickier systems to back up – databases and Exchange. But to get the most from their opportunities, your small business customers need to be innovating – because the bigger businesses they compete with are going to be. 

According to a survey done by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Accenture, 63% of businesses are going to increase their IT budget in 2010, 75% say IT has to give the business more flexibility – and over 80% said that yes, the cost of projects is very important when they’re trying to get them signed off (no surprise there). 

Incidentally, a third are planning to keep costs down by setting project requirements and sticking to them, which means you need to ask the questions that let you spec the project correctly in the first place. Expect to be asked to drop your charges and to include open source software (which too many businesses still assume is always cheaper, so make sure you know what’s actually cost effective). Think about services you can offer that will save them money by avoiding disruption; GFI’s MAX and LANguard tools help you create monitoring services that cover the full range of small business systems with very little effort and you can prevent most of those irritating and avoidable configuration problems more easily than you think with a free tool in all modern versions of Windows and Windows Server, Group Policy Preferences. 

The survey says businesses want to rationalise and replace existing systems: if that makes you think of virtualisation, 37% of businesses agree with you. Remember that replacing kit means dealing with what gets replaced; we take a look at both the problems and the business opportunities in recycling hardware. They also want to invest in CRM (which we looked at last issue) and improving business processes, in data analytics, compliance and supply chain management. VoIP might help them with that and we look at both the budget option, based on Skype, and the full in-house VoIP systems you can specify and video surveillance is coming down in price as it shifts to IP-based systems. 

We’re also seeing enterprises accelerating their Windows 7 deployments; according to analysts Forrester two thirds will migrate to Windows 7 in 2010, making it the new business standard OS. That’s a significant change given that analysts IDC says 72% of businesses across Europe are still using XP with only 15% on Vista – again, you’ll want to remind the small businesses you work with that they want to get the benefits of Windows 7 sooner rather than later. 

Things aren’t back to business as usual it does look like there will be more business in 2010 – but you’ll have to think strategically to win it. Dell’s director for SMB advanced technologies Aamir Paul has some ideas about what the small businesses you work with will need this year and how you can position the products and services you offer them to suit that. See more of the interview on our Web site, along with all our previous features.

 Mary Branscombe Executive Editor 

P.S.
Smartphones continue to go from strength to strength in business and if your customers are buying the new Bold and Storm BlackBerrys they’re going to want you to upgrade them to BES 5 to get the extra features; in this issue we have a full step-by-step guide to make it easier.

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