Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

CNN Money article featuring my response to the challenges small businesses face in the selection and use of SaaS products.  I was interviewed on the phone while attending the UNCC SaaS conference last week.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/04/smallbusiness/cloud_computing_is_for_the_birds.smb/



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Darryl Parker
Entrepreneur, CEO
http://www.parkerweb.com
http://www.iMatthews.com

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Congratulations on getting interviewed!

Here`s a live link to the article.

What`s interesting is that we have another post going that advocates pro cloud computing. "What is Cloud Computing?"

I think it`s critical to understand that Business, today, breaks out into three very broad categories:

• Enterprise - Large corporations spread across nations or international arenas
• Small Business - A business with over 50-100 employees, often with annual revenues over $1-million
• Micro Business - A very small business, often referred to as a "mom-and-pop" or "family" business.
  

The ongoing problem for analysts and traditional economic reporters is that they simply don`t understand the blur between a "small business" and a "micro business."

An even bigger problem is that government intervention in the overall economy routinely causes harm to micro businesses, fails to provide help or support, and in many instances actively serves to shut down those micro businesses.

So we have an odd paradox taking place, where on the one hand the economy increasingly requires new ideas, new products, new entrepreneurs, new inventors, and new businesses. But on the other hand, more and more controls and regulations are closing down startup businesses or making it very hard to get them going.

"Cloud Computing" reminds me of when networking technology hit the market. Because enterprise sites generate vast amounts of money for IT, Microsoft and many other companies focused more strongly on those corporate sites. Sort of putting all their eggs in one basket.

It`s true that networking is highly beneficial, and a home network can help a lot. But there are still a huge number of people who simply want a "personal" computer, where the extent of their networking is to connect to the Internet.

To my way of thinking, cloud computing is important to the high-end world of corporate IT. It has some offshoot benefits to a few small or micro businesses, but as a novelty or niche concept. Let`s hope that big, enterprise-level corporate business continues to stay healthy.

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