Posted by Jim Van on May 27, 2011 under entrepreneur, small business | 
4 Comments to Read
Well, okay, they’re actually misconceptions rather than Myths, bit the headl= ine got your attention, right? The conventional wisdom keeps telling me nev= er to use the term ‘managed services’ to clients. I was going to call it Vi= agra, but the name’s already taken. So here goes: Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on May 25, 2011 under entrepreneur, small business | 2 Comments to Read
Recently, a local business publication held its annual Business Plan Competition. Around 100 entrepreneur-types submitted entries, many of them from local colleges, universities, financial institutions and healthcare organizations. There were a lot of terrific ideas, some readily able to be successfully with the right infusion of capital, others presenting a bit more of a challenge.
One of the great realities of thecompetition was the realization, at least on my part, that innovation continues to live strongly here in America, and very much so here in Rhode Island. It was so evident in everything about the competition that at least some of those entrants would be major drivers of our economic future. It led me to the above headline: Small Business Will Lead Us Out of This Recession. Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on May 20, 2011 under entrepreneur, eOffice, mobility, portability, small business | 3 Comments to Read
In 2008, when the economy began the worst implosion since The Great Depression, one of the industries hardest hit was the legal profession. Hundreds of high-powered law firms were forced to cut expenses, including layoffs of lawyers, paralegals, administrators and other staff, many of whom found themselves on the unemployment line for the first time ever. This is the story of a group from a Boston firm who decided to do something about it. Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on May 12, 2011 under Uncategorized | 3 Comments to Read
Spring has finally sprung, and as surely as the green is returning to the trees, our annual health care prospectus came in the mail the other day. I truly think that the real purpose of this annual ritual is merely to provide our health insurance company the opportunity to raise rates (5% this year) and to reduce benefits (20& increase in copays this year). Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on May 4, 2011 under mobility, portability, small business | 2 Comments to Read
Sometimes I feel like the tech industry has more bubbles than a Lawrence Welk rerun. We all fondly remember the dot com bubble and its spectacular burst. Lately, the headlines, marketing emails, tech (and business) magazines and conversations at conferences have focused on cloud computing and social networking.
Cloud computing and its related cousin, software as a service (SAAS) has been with us for years. Its growth was greatly aided in the mid-90s by the growth of broadband internet access, making things possible that just weren’t prior to the availability of high speed internet. Wireless internet, once an oddity, is now ubiquitous. One can sit in a McDonalds and browse the internet from one’s iPad. The growth has been nothing short of remarkable.
Equally remarkable has been all the noise surrounding ‘the cloud’. Everywhere one turns, everything is connected to, or through ‘the cloud’. Services that used to be available only to the largest corporations are now accessible by even a teenager on a smartphone. And it’s all happened, really, in about 5 short years.
So, if the cloud is here to stay, or more accurately, morph into something else even bigger, where’s the bubble? Read more of this article »