ISCSI, SAN, NAS – storage jargon can be too much for small businesses to handle when all they really want to know is how they can better manage their growing amounts of digital data. David Holmes, Enterprise Storage Marketing Manager, Dell UK & Ireland sets out to demystify storage for small businesses and provide advice on how adopting a data management strategy can help them better manage their dynamic storage needs.

There is no question that an increasing number of organisations are adopting various types of digital technologies to help them manage their business. As a result business-critical digital data now includes customer information, emails, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, spreadsheets as well as scanned images. What’s more, there are regulations in place which mean that organisations, regardless of size, face the possibility of legal action and financial penalties if they don’t find suitable storage solutions for their data.

All these issues may appear overwhelming to a small business but they can be easily addressed by putting in place a simple data management strategy. First, small businesses need to work out where key data is stored. Many small businesses may find that their inventory, customer details and other key business data is still paper-based. Others may find that it is electronically stored on PCs, flash disks or CDs. Knowing what you have and what format it is in is the first step to organising it.

Next, small businesses should back up all data. Companies should make electronic copies of key documents and remember to back up all new and existing digital data as well. For the system to be effective, data needs to be backed up as regularly as possible, in case of any virus attacks and data being deleted. Disk and tape back ups are popular options available today. However, as the amount of digital data created every day is increasing, it is important to prioritise data, consider what needs to be backed up and ensure quick and easy access to the most important information.

For those businesses that may be considering investing in new storage solutions, scalability and flexibility are key factors to bear in mind. Any new storage purchases should not only match a small business’ current needs but also accommodate a reasonable amount of expected growth. Small businesses may think that Network Attached Storage (NAS) or Direct Attached Storage (DAS) are the most economical options. However, the proliferation of iSCSI (IP-based) technology means affordable, enterprise-class, easy to manage and always available iSCSI storage area networks (SANs) are within the financial reach of small businesses today.

Finally, businesses regardless of size need to be aware of relevant legislation and its storage implications. Directives such as the Data Protection Act and Basel II govern data storage requirements and can pose hefty penalties for non-compliance. Knowing about the regulations that apply and complying accordingly can keep small businesses on the right side of the law and avoid any negative financial repercussions.

Storage and data management is not as daunting as it seems. With a little planning, small businesses can be well on the way to making data management a relatively painless process, which will ultimately help their business to run more smoothly.

If you're like me, Google Maps has made so many things in my life easier. But, wouldn't it be great if you could have all the addresses you need mapped on one page? Free mashup service map a list grabs addresses directly from a Google Spreadsheet in your account and plots them out over a customized Google Map. The combination of its easy grabbing from GDocs and its step-by-step creation wizard make plotting out your daily sales calls, or any other data, easier than ever. Maps update automatically with the spreadsheet and can be shared publicly.

Over the past year, the BRIC countries have been a focus of much business and economic discussion. Not only do they represent 85% of the world’s population, but they continue to shape the business world, especially for global companies like Dell (BRIC+10 countries account for 12% of Dell’s revenue).

Approximately 500 million new businesses will launch over the next five years, most of which will be from emerging countries (ICSB forecast). From thousands of conversations with small businesses and channel partners in emerging countries, we found that these business owners battle a barrage of issues when it comes to incorporating technology. The prohibitive cost of technology (especially when it comes to mobility) and the ease of set up and maintenance plague small businesses trying to grow in emerging countries.

Because of these specific requirements, we’ve extended our Vostro product line to provide customers in high growth economies and emerging countries the technology necessary to meet their unique business needs. The new Dell Vostros include two laptops and two desktops designed to address the computing needs of small businesses, governments and educational institutions in the world’s high-growth economies and emerging countries. These systems are part of an affordable, quality technology solution that small businesses can rely on to meet everyday basic computing needs. With the new Vostro products, small businesses will be able to deploy and maintain technology while still having easy access to Dell support and services, without costly non-essential components. For more product details, check out Lionel’s post and related vlog on Direct2Dell.

Most of the products announced today will be sold through local Dell solution providers, distributors or retailers. Over the next two months the new Vostro products will be available in more than 20 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

The Vostro A860 (15.6in laptop) is the only new system that will be offered globally and will replace the current entry-level Vostro 1000 starting in late September. Pricing and availability of the new Vostro products will vary by country. For details on the dates go to www.dell.com/newvostropresskit.

Update 8-28-08: Below are a few photos from the launch event in Beijing, China. Enjoy!

Note from Kara: Ryan Peddycord, President of Resource Nation will be a frequent contributor to the Small Business Blog discussing ways you can plan, start and grow your business. Resource Nation is a company that matches businesses to vendors via a database of local & national, pre-screened vendors, in over 100 categories ranging from phone systems to web designers.

Recently there’s been some good discussion around what defines a vendor in the small business space. But, if you are looking for some good tips on working with your vendors here are several to keep in mind.

• Prepare a brief overview - Every vendor you talk to should receive the same information, so write a brief description of your project and send it to each vendor.
• Use a vendor matching service - If you have a lot of time, a web search will provide you millions of vendor options. But, to save on time and pre-screening, ask friends / co-workers for references or use a vendor matching service. Since the selected vendors know they are in a competitive bid environment, they are more likely to give you a competitive price right from the beginning.
• Create a list of questions - While asking questions, you want to listen to the answers and also gauge if you like how the provider communicates with you. Be sure to provide an opportunity for the provider to ask you questions about your company and the project. This will help them understand the scope of your project and help you evaluate the quality of their questions.
• Needs assessment - Depending on the complexity of your project, the needs assessment stage may take more than one conversation. Your goal during this process is to finalize a document that describes your project in detail. Also, you should ask to talk directly with the individuals who will be representing your company.
• Ask for their proposals - Set a deadline for the proposal. A proposal should include confirmation of the project description, a price, a target project completion date, and a copy of the provider’s standard agreement so you can read all of their terms. After you make your decision, it is a professional courtesy to inform all of the companies of your decision. *For more complex projects, a provider may include something in a proposal that you did not expect (a special term or a promotion). You can always go back to the providers to give them feedback on their proposal and ask them to make adjustments if necessary.
• Renegotiate contracts – As the term expires, renegotiation is a great way to save money for your company. Don’t feel obligated to automatically renew with the same company. Your business has likely grown and the market may have become more competitive. Before you renew, get new price quotes from alternative suppliers and make your current vendor compete to give you a great price.

Feel free to share any other tips you’ve uncovered when working with vendors.

BIOS is the firmware software that comes installed on your PC by default and detects and controls the built-in hardware, such as the drive and web cams. Updating your current BIOS version on your laptop or desktop computer will re-fresh your PC and allow your operating system to fully utilize all of the hardware features of the computer (hibernate, standby, sleep mode, wake-on-lan, etc).

So how do you go about figuring out if you need to update the BIOS on your computer? Well first you’ll need to figure out the current version of the BIOS. There are a couple of ways to do this.

1. System Information: Click on Start, choose Run and type in winmsd. This will bring up the Windows System information dialog box.

In the System Summary section, you should see an item called BIOS Version/Date. Now you know the current version of your BIOS.

2. Reboot Computer: Another method to determine the BIOS version on your computer is to simply restart the computer! Most computers, including Dell, show you the BIOS version number when the computer first boots up.

Now go to your computer manufacturer’s support Web site and search for drivers and updates to your particular model. If you see a newer version on the site, simply download it and run the program to update your BIOS!

Regardless of the credit crunch, as a small business you will have always found yourself to be scrutinising budgets and making tough financial decisions about where and how to allocate your resources. Financial planning is a key factor in survival, and can help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to assess cash flow and assign budgets effectively.

With most businesses reliant on some form of technology for their day-to-day operations, IT is an important area to invest in. However, if money is tight, IT purchases might be low on the list of priorities. In such cases leasing is one method of funding IT equipment purchases, by keeping money in the business rather than tying it up in depreciating assets.

There are a number of reasons to consider leasing:

• Technological flexibility - Leasing can give you the ability to meet changing technology needs quickly and easily, without being tied to specific purchases and individual lifecycles.

• Financial flexibility - Leasing conserves cash reserves by enabling you to acquire the equipment without making a substantial lump sum payment. It may also offer tax advantages in some cases as leasing payments may be offset against tax.

• Managing cash flow - Payments are fixed over the agreed term of the contract, allowing you to be protected from changing interest rates, enabling accurate budgeting and cash flow projections.

• Protection against depreciation - With technology becoming more advanced every year, it’s important to ensure you are always getting the best from your IT. Leasing can protect SMEs from equipment devaluation or obsolescence and, if relevant, a piece of equipment can be leased for a specific contract.

• Flexibility at the end - Leasing doesn’t always mean giving the equipment back when the lease is up. At the end of the lease term, customers often have the option to purchase the equipment, renew the lease for a specific period of time or discuss a new equipment upgrade.

Many IT vendors now offer a variety of financing options, including leasing packages. However, since all businesses are different and their needs vary, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. When choosing how to finance your purchases, IT or otherwise, consider all the options and decide on the choice that best suits your company’s size, scope and budget.

The world of digital media can be overwhelming for many small businesses. Do I need to hire someone to help with search? Isn't a website enough? What is social media? But, one of the simplest (and best) Web 2.0 strategies is really nothing new to small businesses, word of mouth (WOM). WOM marketing is just another way to talk about referrals. But, unlike the referrals of yesteryear, WOM isn't just done in person or over the phone -- rather it can happen any time online.

Recently I chatted with Liz Klein, owner and head landscape designer of Design My Yard (a landscape design, installation and consultation company serving Central Texas) about how she has used WOM to grow and sustain her small business.

What I learned from Liz is in the landscaping business - like in many other industries- is about who you know and what you know. From her first job working at a family-owned nursery in San Diego, she learned that it was all about the relationships you formed with the customers. When customers see you as credible AND the source with all the answers they will not only keep coming back, but they also will talk to their friends and family about your service. The good relationship with one customer or contact can truly multiply when WOM enters the equation.

For Liz, referrals, being knowledgeable about local plants and networking with local nurseries and contractors was enough to sustain her business when she moved to Flagstaff, AZ and also when she moved to Austin, TX. But, she soon realized that if she really wanted to grow her business she would have to start marketing herself as an individual rather than a quality add-on service. To do this Liz checked out FLORA (Female Landscapers Out Running Amok), a local female landscapers group.

It was from a contact in the group that Liz found out that HGTV's Landscaper's Challenge had just finished filming an episode in Austin and was interested in finding three more local designers to be a part of the show. After the encouragement of many friends and her family, she applied to the show, was chosen to compete and ended up being selected as the winning designer.

After the excitement of winning died down, Liz realized that it would be good idea to look into some more traditional marketing -- a Web site. Since the show was going to give her a lot of free publicity, she at least needed a place for viewers to easily contact her. The filming was done several months before the show was to air, so Liz had just enough time to get a good site together (with the help of a family member in the marketing business). The show provided Liz with great national visibility, which actually proved to be a great thing for a local designer. She received numerous calls from customers in other states wanting to give a landscape makeover gift to relatives in the Austin area.

Now, several years after the original airing of the show she still gets great traffic to her site. Every time the show re-airs, she sees a significant spike in traffic. To keep up the momentum Liz updates her site regularly with new before/after photos and key words people are using to find landscape designers. She also plans on doing sending out tips on fall clean up and preparing your yard for winter to the email list she's been putting together.

But --still-- the cornerstone of marketing for Liz remains fostering WOM. She regularly calls to check on client's yards, how business is going for contractors and takes perspective clients to the yards of her satisfied customers. Have you been a word of mouth marketer without realizing it? What are some other WOM tips small businesses can use?

Note from Kara: John Arnold, author of Email Marketing for Dummies, will be stopping by the Small Business blog every few weeks to talk about simple ways you can improve email marketing for your business.

According to the Email Experience Council, fewer than 50 percent of marketers create emails that render appropriately when displayed on a computer screen. And, one in five emails is invisible and ineffective because of blocked images.

Email programs don’t necessarily read and display html and other design languages the same way that web browsers do. For example, email programs don’t read JavaScript, and Outlook 2007 uses Microsoft Word to render and display the html in your email. In fact, almost every email program behaves a bit differently when it comes to displaying your html email creation.

Instead of worrying about how your email designs display in every obscure email program, design for the majority. This way you can be certain that your emails will render properly for most consumers. According to MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark Guide, here’s what consumers are using to read their emails:

• 20% use AOL
• 19% use Yahoo!
• 15% use Outlook Express
• 12% use Hotmail

Since each of the above email programs require users to manually enable email images to display on the screen, use email designs that have enough text to identify your business and deliver your main call to action. After you employ a healthy balance between image use and text in any one design, send a test email to each of the email programs. That way you can eliminate any quirky design flaws to assure that at least 2/3 of your audience will see your email the same way.

If you don’t have time to test every email design and work out the rendering details – it would be a good idea to use an email template designed by a professional with a good reputation. Even if you’re an advanced html programmer, starting with a trustworthy email design template and customizing the html in the template will save you from rediscovering the most common email design pitfalls.

The best Email Service Providers:

· Design templates intended to render properly in the majority of email programs

· Have plenty of template options

· Allow you to access the code and style sheet behind the template.

Last week we asked you to tell us what kind of business advice you would want from Michael Dell, and we got several great responses. We've narrowed the questions down to 10, which now you have a chance to vote on via IdeaStorm. The top five questions - as voted by the IdeaStorm community - will be answered by Michael Dell in a vlog here on the Small Business Blog.

Below are all the questions up for the vote and a link to where you can vote on each question on IdeaStorm. If you are not a member of IdeaStorm, you just need to register with a username and password (which can be found in the top right column of the linked page).

SB Questions for Michael: Suggestion Boxes - At what point in a small business would you advise the owner to allow your employees to have a suggestion box?

SB Questions for Michael: IT without a Department - If your business isn`t large enough for an IT department, what would you suggest for the best way to maintain your business?

SB Questions for Michael: What Hardware Do You Really Need - When setting up a business network with around 200 computers, what types of hardware do you suggest to use?

SB Questions for Michael: Best Way to Buy - When buying systems from Dell for a business, do you suggest they do it online or over the phone?

SB Questions for Michael: IT for Healthcare - When building a new medical office (13,000 sq ft medical office with 13 exam rooms and 30 computer stations using electronic medical records) what would be the most streamline desktop system to use?

SB Questions for Michael: Mobile Business - As a Realtor, I am curious about your advice on laptops vs. PDAs for use when I am in the car all the time.

SB Questions for Michael: Integrated System Sets - As Microsoft and system retailers/builders like Dell develop more integrated system sets (i.e. Exchange 2008 Integrated Messaging, VOIP, SharePoint Servers) when do you think it's appropriate to add these components to a small business environment?

SB Questions for Michael: IT Training - We have found that this level of integration offers a lot of advantages to us but the training resources for methods of deployment are few.  Who offers the best quality training for small business IT employees? 

SB Questions for Michael: Organizing IT - What core resources or methods do you feel should be employed to keep an IT staff organized?  Web based help-desk, in-house IT wiki, etc.  

SB Questions for Michael: Web site Creation - What is the best way and the best software to create my own site? Buy big bucks, or save a little?

You have until the end of this week to vote on the questions. Also, if you have any suggestions for how Dell can better serve the small business community through product, service and operation enhancements -- please share your ideas with us in the Small Business category on IdeaStorm.

Update 8-28-08: Due to the earning announcement today, the post on this is delayed. Stay tuned next week for the update.

There are a lot of innovations out there that help you manage your inbox, but sending a large file is often still difficult. Open-source file archive manager PeaZip creates and extracts files from a number of the most popular archiving formats, including ZIP, RAR, 7Z, and more. It has an attractive, user-friendly interface, customizable right-click options, and a standalone portable version you can add to your thumb drive, PeaZip has a charm worth checking out. PeaZip is free and works on both Windows and Linux.