Mid Market Innovators » Technology: Questions & Answers

Concerned Business Owner asks

Public — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:21:46 +0000

I hear some commentators on TV saying that we are coming out of the recession. Others are saying no, things are terrible. Here’s my question: should we upgrade our technology, or invest in marketing instead?

We’ve been fortunate in this recession and have the funds. But if the recession is going to linger I’d rather spend that money on marketing to make sure our revenues remain steady and do not drop. If we’re coming out of the recession then I’d like to upgrade my tech so that we can expand capacity to deal with immediate growth.

Martin Lindeskog asks

Public — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:20:27 +0000

I am interested if you have a map / list of “wired” places in America? Where is the best high speed internet connection, WiFi, hotspots, meeting places with internet access, data traffic through mobile phones, etc.

Where is the ideal place for distance work?

My questions come after reading Rich Karlgaard’s book, Life 2.0: How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness.

Martin Lindeskog asks

Public — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:20:04 +0000

What do you think the next big thing will be when it comes to the smartphone / personal digital assistant / notebook? Is the mobile technology already present in the “cloud”?

Amanda S. asks

Public — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:19:37 +0000

I’m worried about losing all of my blog pictures, purchased and downloaded online, if something should happen to my computer. What is the best and most cost effective way to protect myself? Is it better to store them on a flash drive or use an online backup service? Thanks in advance.

Amanda S. asks

Public — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:04:58 +0000

I’ve started getting notices from my web site hosting company about overusage of disk space along with other types of notices. My site is pretty small and I noticed it has gotten really slow lately too. I’m currently paying $15 a month for my hosting plan. How do I know if I’m being ripped off by my hosting company? I’m thinking I may need to make a change soon. Any help would be appreciated.

TJ McCue asks

Public — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:04:27 +0000

From the Managing for Growth webinar, it talked about SaaS applications and I’m wondering if large companies like Sun or Intel are using SaaS apps like Basecamp or Smartsheet or Shiftboard? Have you seen any lists that separate tools from platforms? I see Basecamp and Smartsheet as tools. Shiftboard as an online scheduling platform for companies managing staff and shifts. I could be totally wrong, so let me know your thoughts. I haven’t seen any great lists besides the one at Mashable that lists 270 online tools.

Henry asks

Public — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:24:53 +0000

I have an idea to form a collaborative of business owners in my community to team up on IT infrastructure and costs (and staff). Basically acting as one large company with powerful servers, partitioned for our respective businesses. Besides privacy, which I think a pro consultant could set up properly for us, are there any other pitfalls/reasons I should dump this idea? My business is growing but not enough to do the tech expansion I need.

chad asks

Public — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:04:06 +0000

how do i tell a DNS problem from a network problem?

Carlo asks

Public — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:34:16 +0000

What are best practices for dealing with confidential client information in regards to data storage, back-ups, policies, tools?

Matt asks

Public — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:15:02 +0000

Seems like every time I boot up my work PC there’s a little bubble from Microsoft telling me there are updates to download. Really. Like every other day. How do I know which ones I need, and which ones I don’t. Also, I can’t seem to find anyway to disable it so that at the very least it doesn’t do that every day but rather every month or whatever — unless it’s an urgent fix.

I am on XP, btw.