BE2X

Better connections with customers, more efficient use of resources will drive future IT investments. Small and medium-sized businesses intend to expand their use of technology to improve customer interactions, mobility options and operational efficiencies, according to a new study released recently by CompTIA, the non-profit trade association for the information technology (IT) industry. Seven out of ten small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) surveyed said they expect to increase their technology spending over the next 12 months, according to CompTIA's Third Annual Small and Medium Business Technology Adoptions Trends study. A full third of the companies surveyed expect to increase their IT budget by 10 percent or more. This may reflect large, one-time purchases, which is still a good sign for technology vendors and solution providers. In the aggregate, expect SMB IT budgets to increase by an average of slightly over 5 percent, with some firms' growth rates much higher and some flat. "Technology is...

Twenty years? Well, I guess technically longer, I first made money using my knowledge of computing by writing a simple accounting and inventory application that ran on a TRS-80, (remember those?) at the age of twelve. Seeing as I am on the wrong side of thrity, it has been at least that long.  Computers, from very early on, became an obsession. Not only could you program it to do pretty much anything you wanted (within certain limits of course, but the possibilities were endless), it played games, and even better, it was a tool, for reaching out into the world. Prior to the Internet as we know it, there were any number of BBSs (Bulletin Board Services) all across the globe, many actually sharing in on of the first messaging relay system, FIdonet. I quickly began to share and participate in discussions of ideas that were pushing the boundaries of technology, learning more and more. And of course, the more I learned, the more I needed to learn.  The pursuit of technology is an quest which never ends, but a...