What’s in the cloud? Storage, savings and security issues

Small businesses use cloud computing for backup, email, document management and collaboration.

By Ann Meyer For Cancer Treatment Centers of America, serving patients involves more than medicine. It’s also about guaranteeing access to patient records 24 hours a day, while maintaining patient privacy with a secure IT environment, said Chad Eckes, chief information officer at the privately held company based in Schaumburg. That’s why the company recently [...]

Written on July 29, 2011 | Posted in Special Reports | No comment

Tech firm Ahead forges way with private clouds

Large technology companies often beget small ones, as employees become entrepreneurs. When Dan Adamany worked for IBM and EMC, he recalls colleagues leaving the giants to start their own businesses. Now, he’s one of them. In 2007, Adamany left his sales position at EMC to start his own IT business, Ahead. While the Chicago-based company [...]

Written on July 29, 2011 | Posted in Technology | No comment

Quinn approves new Illinois tech fund to attract capital for high-growth firms

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into law a bill creating the Technology Development Account II, which will use money from the state Treasurer’s investment pool to support technology companies. Proponents say the new law will help attract venture capital and seed-stage funding for technology firms in the state, which would lead to job growth. [...]

Written on July 25, 2011 | Posted in Political | No comment

Five websites every CEO should know about

Lorene Kennard is a guest columnist for SmallBizChicago.com

By Lorene Kennard Guest columnist We spend much of our lives online these days as the Internet now can do many of the tasks we used to do in person. But we also waste a lot of time surfing the Web looking for information. Put the Internet to good use. Here are five websites that make [...]

Written on July 22, 2011 | Posted in Columns | No comment

Collaborative selling accelerates software firm’s sales, users

Andrew Sieja launched kCura after serving as a consultant for several years.

Andrew Sieja is president and chief executive of Chicago-based kCura, which is doubling its headcount as software sales accelerate. Photo courtesy of kCura By Ann Meyer – With an eye toward innovation, Chicago technology company kCura relies on partners to sell its software so it can spend more time on service and add-ons. “We’re continuously innovating the [...]

Written on July 14, 2011 | Posted in Technology | No comment

Amazon wants to put anti-tax action before California voters

In a controversial move, Amazon has announced plans to ask California voters to decide whether the state should require the online merchant to collect sales tax. The development comes about two weeks after the California legislature passed an Internet tax law similar to those passed in Illinois and several other states. (See related story on SmallBizChicago.com). Amazon [...]

Written on July 14, 2011 | Posted in Political | No comment

Jobs data makes case for hiring now

Hire now, if you plan to expand this year. That’s the advice of Robert Miano, president and chief executive at Wayne, N.J.-based Harvey Nash USA, a staffing and recruiting firm. “It’s an excellent time to hire,” said Miano, who is adding staff to his own firm in advance of what he believes will be stronger [...]

Written on July 8, 2011 | Posted in Economy | No comment