With so much attention on the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market as a place for growth these days, silicon.com looks at how these businesses use IT. We examine how SMEs make technology buying decisions - who do they go to for advice and what are the determining factors? - as well as how (and whether) IT affects their productivity and what they do with their budgets.
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The SME hype cycle
Heard a lot about IT for small businesses lately? The hype cycle has come around again. Dale Vile explains why this keeps happening - and what the little guys really need from technology sellers.
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Leader: Listen to SMEs
It's only by getting to know an individual organisation that vendors can understand how to sell to them - but since there are so many SMEs and the deals we're talking about are relatively small, vendors can't justify the time this would entail.
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The right way for SMEs to make calls
Voice communications are vital for modern small businesses. The market has grown massively over the past 10 years and the choice of service providers, technologies and networks is often bewildering. Stewart Baines offers some advice to buyers on the best way to identify and procure the right telecoms services.
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SMEs and open source - a perfect marriage?
Small businesses can benefit from switching to open source, says Danny Bradbury - just be careful which applications you choose to move.
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Peter Cochrane's Blog: SMEs rule the world
It would be easy to come to the conclusion that the whole planet is supplied and powered by a handful of mega-corporations but nothing could be further from the truth.
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IT suppliers: Size does (and doesn't) matter
Are IT chiefs missing out on big benefits by avoiding small tech vendors? Users speak out about what the little guys have to offer.
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Quocirca's Straight Talking: How small businesses buy IT
IT vendors hoping to target small organisations can't treat them like large enterprises. Quocirca's Bob Tarzey explains how small businesses procure technology.
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Short-term planning drives IT purchases for SMEs
Small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) have their own particular ways of buying IT - which are quite different from the large enterprises that dedicate entire departments to procurement. The smaller players are constrained by both cash flow considerations and the need to purchase IT equipment on an ad hoc basis to meet volatile conditions, finds Danny Bradbury.
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