Hi and Welcome…to the age of the “Cloud”
I started in computers before there were such things as PC’s…and in PC’s when they were considered a toy. Originally, there were no hard drives in PC’s. The first server I worked on had a 40 Mb hard drive and we thought we would never run out of space. I have seen the industry evolve all of the way to the “Cloud” in a relatively short time. So, what is the “Cloud,” and are you ready to be part of it?
The “Cloud” is simply a term for anything that involves delivering services that are hosted over the internet, services such as Google Docs, ThinkFree, and Microsoft’s Office Live. Given that definition, many of us are already part of it. So, should you incorporate it into your business plan? If not now, when?
Here are a couple of things to think about when you are contemplating bringing the “Cloud” into your small to medium size business.
* How wide-spread are your sales or service personnel? Are your ready to have those
employees work on a dashboard over the net from anywhere, anytime?
* Are you ready to transfer your accounting, CRM, and HR software to a hosted
environment? In other words, you do not need to own the server hardware. You
do not have to worry about backups, updates or database maintenance.
* The most common browsers are your connection and are accessed in real-time.
* Think about the natural disasters that have taken place in just the last few months.
Cloud computing would mean most business could go on as usual. No interruption.
* Is your infrastructure, security and redundancy as strong or stronger than the SaaS
Environment?
a look at Cloud Myths at http://ibnblog.wordpress.com/
* More on this next time where we will look at some of the technical aspects of SaaS..
Just a couple of notes from business builder in me:
On Earth Day, I started looking at the articles on line and listened to a short blurb about an assembly plant in Michigan, Grand Rapids, I think, that has been able to reuse, recycle or remanufacture over 84% of their waste or what would have been sent to landfills.
That got me researching a bit. Check out this website: http://www.opportunitygreen.com. Their next conference is November 10-11 in Los Angeles. Take a look at the sponsors and speakers from the last conference.
I am wondering how many of you are LinkedIn connected to these speakers or CFO’s. If we would be connected with just five of these companies or speakers, in what way could we each help them? I, for one, am looking into this. How about joining me on LinkedIn?<< http://www.linkedin.com/pub/molly-bitner/9/371/689>> Let’s make a virtual handshake to give each other a hand up.
Oh, and just because I am a CPA:
1099 Reporting Requirements
Starting in 2011, any business that does more than $600 in business with any vendor will be required to submit a 1099 form. This means an increase in paperwork that may increase the cost of every business and may increase prices on the goods and services that these businesses provide. For example, if you as a business purchase a $700 piece of equipment from a mail order company, such as Dell, you will be required to file a 1099 with the IRS. We had not previously been required to file 1099s for vendors organized as corporations. For more information, see IRS.gov and click on Form 1099-misc.
Investing in Fixed Assets
Small Sized Business: Businesses can benefit greatly from a few tax changes in 2011. If possible invest in fixed assets and equipment before December 31st, 2011. The Small Business Jobs Act signed this last September doubled the expense limitation from $250,000 to $500,000.
Eligible investments include office furniture and equipment, machinery, and computer software. If you're a small business owner and you've waiting on buying new office equipment, furniture, or IT equipment, 2011 is the year to invest in it. Here is the Big Advantage: these expenses can be fully deducted from the business' taxes if they are purchased in 2011.
P.S. I have seen three headlines, including the Wall Street Journal, that Microsoft is near closing a deal to by out SKYPE. We use SKYPE regularly, so we are following this.
--Molly Bitner
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