Small and medium sized businesses had some challenges that do not exist in large businesses. Small/Medium business owners have the same requirements to communicate effectively with customers and address technology needs; they do not have the budget to hire dedicated specialists to handle their requirements. An example would be the need for shared calendaring, Customer Relations Management database, or perhaps VPN connections for remote sales people. In the past, a company had to be sufficiently large to be able to justify having a security expert, a DBA or an email messaging specialist to handle their needs.
Having an IT person or staff with the right skills is only part of the issue that small companies face. Hiring consultants or outsourcing the work addresses only part of the problem as there is the cost of the hardware, software licensing, customizations and maintaining the software.
The small to medium sized business now have the same tools that the large and enterprise companies have been using to gain market share, effectively communicate and continue to make a difference to the bottom line are now available for the small and medium sized business. The tools that are available are not new, but are available in an open source format. The tools utilize scalable database and web technology similar to that which is used for sites such as Yahoo. Small and medium sized business can utilize the software listed below, with the same functionality as a large corporation at a fraction of the cost.
Reference: IT Challenges of Small and Medium Sized Businesses
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