Business Technology Roundtable

Novell has canceled BrainShare . Apple is ending appearances at MacWorld . And thousands of businesses continue to cut their travel budgets for 2009. I've got some unconventional advice for you: Stay on the road in 2009, and make sure you're meeting face-to-face with your best business prospects and sales leads. I plan to be on the road at least 40 to 50 percent of the time in 2009. But on the other hand, our business continues to embrace a range of online technologies that drive conversation and collaboration with employees, customers and partners. Here are five options that can enable your business to save money and cut travel costs in 2009. 1. Hosted TelePresence : Yes, TelePresence (next-generation video conferencing) is a great way to drive communications. But building out TelePresence studios (they resemble executive boardrooms for the digital age) can cost $300,000 or more. Lower-end TelePresence solutions can cost about $12,000 and prices continue to fall. Still, you ca...

As Thanksgiving approaches on November 27, many U.S. companies are heading into an extended four-day holiday weekend. If you're an executive or CIO ask yourself the following question: If your web servers, databases or network infrastructure failed over the holiday weekend who would you call for help? Despite the proliferation of smart phones and ubiquitous network services, many IT staff members are impossible to reach over holiday weekends. And commuting into the office for an IT or network emergency is the last thing most employees have in mind when they sit down for Thanksgiving turkey. Secure, Safe and Sound On the other hand, I will rest easy this holiday weekend because our company depends on multiple managed service providers (MSPs) -- a group of companies that remotely monitor, manage and troubleshoot our Web servers, databases and network systems. In most scenarios, our MSPs mitigate an IT or network issue before it becomes a major problem. We pay a flat monthly fee to o...

I'm in Orlando, Fla., this week "on vacation." As a small business owner, I can't afford to fully unplug from my business. Sure, managed service providers keep my company running even when I'm focused on family time. However, I still need a mix of unified communications and mobile technologies to really keep the business optimized. Here are three key technologies that can give me -- and my customers -- peace of mind while I'm (mostly) unplugged from my business. 1. iPhone 3G : I wasn't a big fan of my iPhone 3G when I initially purchased it. Dropped connections seemed quite common during the first few weeks with the device. But the iPhone 3G has proven to be a great device for my business travel. I can monitor our company Web sites, Internet traffic patterns, reader loyalty, reader comments and more from the iPhone's browser. My family cringes when I open a laptop during vacations. But smart phones can let you quickly check in with your online busines...