Skip to main content

June 30, 2009

Online File Storage vs Local Server Storage: Monthly Fees, Simplicity, Direct Access to Files

I've recently been living a dual life: Using hosted services to store files and also using a PC based storage - with remote access.

While online file storage is good, and I know works, there are also monthly fees involved. For your business you must weigh the monthly fees ($10 or more per month, per user) versus paying for a computer server ($500+ one time fee) with remote access.

The hosted file server is much easier to set up and often includes neat features to make it easier to share the files. The traditional computer server has no monthly fees and you have direct access to your files.

Virtual file server vendor Egnyte told me about Danny Guillory, the owner of Innovations International, which creates and runs corporate training programs,who ditched his traditional file server in exchange for a virtual, "in the cloud" server from Egnyte.

The company has been in business for 25 years and just recently decided to shut its physical offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and work from home offices. Danny has 5 employees and works with a lot of freelancers. With Egnyte, every employee can upload, store, share and collaborate on files from any location. Danny can easily provide access to the file server to new contractors for specific projects.

Another thought is what happens when a company does not have access to the Internet? Egnyte has a neat tool that provides offline access to Egnyte, but not every hosted service has this feature.

Recently I used Box.net for a major project - it's simply flawless and feature rich. For example, once I uploaded the files, I used an embed code to make them accessible, on a web site, to others.

Hosted applications are wonderful applications and quite useful, but I wonder if they are for every use.

Other than the scenario of no Internet access and monthly fees, I also am concerned, just a bit, about the viability of the core documents belonging to the company. Maybe you're a startup and find yourself in business for 20 years. Is it reasonable to think that the documents you uploaded to the hosting service today, will be online and available 20 years from now?

On your own server, you have total control of the server, can upgrade it when you want and move the server to a new location and etc.

I hope this article has not confused you, but given you something to think about.

tags: box.net, hosted applications, local storage; egnyte | 0 comments


June 30, 2009

Why Palm Pre Could Boost Your Productivity And Bring Enjoyment To Your Cell Phone Use

palmpree.jpgA few weeks ago Palm launched its latest smartphone, the Palm Pre, running on Sprint's network.

Over the years, I've used BlackBerry's and Treo's (using Palm's earlier OS and now Windows Mobile operating system). When choosing a mobile phone, which for many of you is more than just a phone but is an "out of office" computing device, there are three things to keep in mind:

The carrier you use for the wireless connectivity (see my interviews with Verizon Wireless executives Howard Watermanand Bruce Simon

The hardware you choose - BlackBerry, Treo, Nokia, Samsung, etc. Flipphone vs Clamshell vs Open face (like the iPhone) etc

The applications running on the device and how they work together

These three things are critical in determining how smooth your mobile computing experience will be.

Let's have a look at Palm's Pre, which costs $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Read the rest of the story

tags: palm, pre, smartphone, sprint | 0 comments


June 30, 2009

Is Your Website Mobile Friendly? Here's Some Tips To Help

Lyn Nielsen of web development company Desktop Solutions sent me these great tips in how and why to consider making your web site "mobile friendly" so that it more easily displays on web sites of cell phone browsers and I'd thought to share them with you.

As more and more users, use their smartphones to communicate on the road, having your web site fully or partially accessible through a cell phone browser is crucial. Lyn writes:

Picture this. A Vice President of a manufacturing company is sitting on an airplane, explaining his company’s product line to his seat mate. He takes out his new Blackberry Storm, pulls up his site, and discovers that many of the pictures are missing or broken. Sound familiar?

Discovering that your site is not automatically viewable on the newest mobile devices is a disappointing fact of life. But as the quality and speed of mobile devices improves, companies are discovering that having a mobile-friendly version of their site is a necessity. We've put together some tips to help you develop your mobile web strategy. We hope you find them useful

Review your competition. Take a look at what your competitor’s sites look like on various devices. This may be an opportunity for you to create a competitive edge!

Think about how users will be using your site while on a mobile device. What features will they most need to use while sitting on a train, eating in a restaurant or walking down the street? Do they need to see the ‘News’ section, the ‘About Us’ page? Will users need to see photos of every product in your line? While it might be nice to have a complete version of your site visible on every cell phone imaginable, it might not be necessary.

Read the rest of the story

tags: cell phone, mobile; browser, smartphones, web site | 0 comments


June 30, 2009

New Vendor Web Site: Websites.com - Full Of Information For Building Great Web Sites

There's an increasing number of vendors, making web sites chock full of REAL information related to the products and services they offer.

Citrix has a web site all about non-traditional work environments. HP has a series of videos with Revision 3 here. These are just two that I can think of, but I know there are more.

Other vendors, such as Symantec, Register.com and Intuit have web sites that are full of information respectively related to security, online marketing and all things building a small business.

Web site host Verio has launched a nice new web site, Websites.com that provides a lot of information helping businesses build better web sites.

You can check Websites.com out for yourself but the press release reads that it is devoted to providing resources and sharing best practices for website planning, building, hosting and marketing specifically designed for the SMB. All in an effort to help SMBs become more successful online, Websites.com provides educational and informational content, offers peer to peer networking and collaboration and also gives SMBs the opportunity to contribute content to a network of small businesses around the world.

My own 10 Web Site Musts is a great read as well.

tags: verio, web sites, websites.com | 0 comments


June 29, 2009

$440 Million In Fed Govt Printing Waste: What Lessons Can You Learn

Lexmark surveyed federal employees to find out how the federal government prints.

Their survey revealed that the government wastes $440 million dollars every year in printing. What's ironic is that the total printing expenditure is $1.3 billion so roughly 1/3 of the governments printing is wasted. You can download the full report here.

Although your business is probably never going to spend $1.3 billion dollars on printing, the reports findings and recommendations are probably something you can learn from.

Some reasons the government gives for printing includes:


  • The document needs a signature

  • Need to review or share documents in meetings

  • Need to share hard copies with others

  • Need to edit documents and prefer hard copies

  • Need to file/save docments

Does this sound a bit like your office?

Another interesting tidbit was that federal employees print much more from their offices than they print at home.

The governments printing solutions require a lot more than a few bullet points, but some solutions offered in Lexmark's report include:

Read the rest of the story

tags: lexmark, printing | 0 comments


Recent Posts

Small Business Technology Executive video Series....uncut Bringing you the technology leaders behind your technology.

Full video archive

What is Smallbiztechnology.com?

Smallbiztechnology.com helps small-medium sized businesses strategically use technology as a tool to grow their businesses and provides news, articles, discussion boards, resources, analysis & events for the owners of small to medium sized businesses.

Subscribe to the Smallbiztechnology RSS feed.

Join our Facebook Page.

Get cell phone Tweats (updates) via Twitter.