Whether you're an SMB or an ISV, IBM Smart Business can make application purchases and deployment easier, allowing you to focus on your company's business.

By Marilyn Dukart, Heidi Saufferer, and Sue Schmidt

In November, IBM announced the availability of IBM Smart Business, a radically simple way for SMBs to acquire, use, and manage technology. This new methodology provides great benefit for both the SMBs that use the software as well as the ISVs that develop the software.

IBM Smart Business offers a Web-based marketplace that allows SMBs to acquire new business applications. It then delivers those pre-integrated ISV solutions with all the required fundamental technology so that implementation is seamless.

Best of all, there's a single point of contact for service and support: IBM.

In a tightening economy, it's more critical than ever to protect one of the most important assets a company has: its data.

By Peter Briggs

Editor's Note:  This article is based on SafeData's white paper titled "High Stakes of Data Availability: An Executive Guide to IBM iSeries Recovery Options," which is downloadable for free from the MC White Paper Center. 

Today, companies rely on their IT systems more than ever. As business processing grows to accommodate worldwide users and Web traffic, applications need to be available and reliable. Surprisingly, most companies, particularly smaller businesses, have significant risk in both their systems availability and their recovery capabilities. With all of the sophisticated technologies available on the market today, why are companies taking unnecessary risks?