The cloud is a great way for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) like yours to save on IT costs. However, not all business owners are aware of the hidden costs associated with using cloud technologies. In this blog post, we will discuss five cost-saving tips that will help you leverage cloud services without breaking the bank.

Small- and medium-sized businesses are adopting cloud technologies. However, some business owners may not be aware of certain hidden costs. These costs don’t seem much at first, but they can eventually snowball. Follow these five tips to keep the cloud from breaking the bank.

Virtual reality (VR) has many benefits. Its immersive sensory experience is being applied in healthcare, gaming and entertainment, fashion, the military, and the media, just to name a few. Small- and mid-sized businesses are no exception, as this technology is changing how they normally do business in wonderful ways.

If you’re itching to switch your old phone system to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), you may be overwhelmed by the number of choices of distributors available. Many of them claim to be “the best” or “world-class” — but are they really? Can they meet your business needs? Before you choose a VoIP distributor, consider the following.

As a business owner, it’s important to be aware of the unexpected costs associated with the cloud and what measures you can take to keep those costs down. They might not add up to much at first, but could eventually cost you more than the service is worth.

When social media is used correctly, marketers can better understand their target audience and thus create better content and deliver it more effectively. This is vital since you'll be able to send customers tailor-made content that helps increase conversion rates and sales revenue.

Businesses nowadays are focusing their marketing efforts towards social media. Precious time and money are being invested in expanding customer base, establish corporate identity, and drive revenue. That’s why it’s vital for owners to know which platforms work, and which ones don’t. And this is no walk in the park.

It’s been reported that Facebook is about to ship out its Oculus virtual reality headsets, and Google has its own version in the works. By taking all of this into consideration, it’s safe to say that the VR landscape is about to experience growth -- and small- and medium-sized businesses should take advantage of this three-dimensional shift.

It's astounding how celebrities manage to amass millions of followers and gain thousands of likes for posting a photo of their shadow. Companies of all sizes would go crazy for that kind of exposure, but rarely do their wishes get granted. But not all hope is lost, start small and take baby steps with the help of Instagram’s recently-announced tools that help make the process of establishing your company’s presence an easier one:
Business profile pages
Previously, it was hard for Instagram users to distinguish an account belonging to a business from one that is dedicated to cats, but with the Business Profile feature, that’s a problem of the past.

Big data. You may have heard of it; after all it’s been putting in an appearance at boardroom meetings across the globe for some time now. But what actually is big data? And what does it mean when applied in a business environment? More importantly, what can it do and how can it help your organization to succeed? And getting down to the nitty-gritty, does the term big data actually mean anything – or is it just another empty industry buzz word? The good news is that it’s not, and using big data can actually help drive profit.