When disaster strikes, organizations need to put their business continuity plans into action and recover their IT systems as quickly as possible. Failing to do so can mean serious financial and reputational repercussions. Despite this, investments in disaster recovery are set aside each year for high-tech IT investments, and every year companies and employees continue to suffer for it.

Recently, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the creation of a new data analytics tool to lighten the burden on businesses when analyzing data in the cloud. This tool, referred to as “Glue,” is meant to clean up and organize data that comes into the cloud from various sources so that it can be analyzed by business intelligence software and data analytics experts.

Marketing automation was once a technology reserved for mega corporations and enterprise-level businesses. Fortunately, the IT industry is making business tools cheaper and more accessible all the time. Nowadays, if you’re a small business owner, you’d have to be crazy to pass up all that marketing automation has to offer.

Data is vital to your business. It’s how you keep records, track activities, and function as a business in general. However, with all of the data that your business generates on a regular basis, it can be difficult to keep everything backed up at all times.

With Business Intelligence software, companies have the ability to pull data from various sources throughout the company, from human resources to accounting and marketing reports. By combining information from across departments, owners have all the data they need to make the best decisions for their company.

The internet is constantly tempting us. There’s an endless collection of funny cat videos, memes, and social media statuses to consume. Sure, the occasional three-minute YouTube video never hurt anyone, but if employees waste hours of their working day on these websites, that’s a problem.

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.

Earlier this year, thousands of Delta passengers worldwide were grounded due to a power outage that halted critical IT operations. This was a huge problem not only for the many delayed travelers, but also for the airline company itself. Within three days, the airline company cancelled around 2300 flights and paid over millions of dollars in downtime costs.

As the saying goes, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” If oceans were to separate you from your loved ones, what would you do? Would you communicate as much as you used to? Would you still check in from time to time? Now, apply this sentiment to your business; what would happen if communication with your customers broke down? Following up on orders or keeping track with progress would become a nightmare - it’s time for CRM software to save the day:

Since every business differs in terms of size, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to CRM. Thus, varying corporate sizes require unique CRM software that best addresses requirements.

The art of organizing a meeting is much like chess. Each player has different possible moves, or availabilities; and it's up to you to strategize which pieces to move where, or which events to schedule (or reschedule) when. The objective is to land on a square wherein all participants can attend, but achieving this goal often demands a tiring and time-consuming process.