Yesterday, market research company, The NPD Group, released the results of its third quarter SMB Technology Monitor. The findings in the area of tablet use and adoption were very interesting. Overall, 73% of SMBs (less than 1000 employees) reported that they plan to purchase tablet technology in the next year. This is a 5% increase over last quarter’s polls. The average budget for SMBs was about $21,000 for the next 12 months. The iPad was the frontrunner for the brand of tablet being purchased.

Smaller companies (less than 50 employees) are at the lower end of the tablet purchasing. 54% of small businesses plan on purchasing tablets, and the average budget is $2,000. 89% of the smaller businesses do plan on maintaining or even increasing spending in this sector, however.

On the other hand,

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Today, eMazzanti Technologies, a leading consulting corporation, Microsoft Gold Partner and long-time SMB Nation Tribal Member, released an exciting new article highlighting Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 8. The article is from this past year’s D9 Conference, and it outlines some of the new features of Microsoft’s next-generation operating system.

The new Windows OS is generating a lot of excitement at eMazzanti Technologies. “We are already talking Windows 8 to clients. Many want to see what’s coming down the technology road and do some migration planning,” said eMazzanti’s President, Jennifer Mazzanti in a press release today. “The new capabilities hold the promise of powerful capabilities, new applications and increased productivity.”

Windows 8 has been engineered to work more intuitively with touch-based devices. A few of the new features include:

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Today, Microsoft Gold Partner and Master VAR, The SBS Group, announced that it has earned a spot on the VAR Stars 2011 list. The List, composed by the Bob Scott’s Insights website, recognizes the top 100 VARs for their innovation, leadership and growth in the mid-market financial software niche.

This has been an active year for the SBS Group. Last week, the SBS Group announced the expansion of their SBS Desert Mountain Group, formerly Silverware, Inc. Other notable achievements for the leading tech consulting firm include the launch of Stratos Cloud Solutions and expansions in the SBS Partner Network (Microsoft Master VAR Program.)

“This was a year of growth for SBS, both organically and through our Partner Network. This growth is due to our focus on industry-specific marketing and expanded solution sets. We are proud of this recognition and thank the entire SBS Team,” Joseph Longo, COO for SBS Group said today in a press release. “We look forward to pursuing our vision in the New Year and growing the business further.”

For the full list of 100 VARs, see the site

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Long-time SBSer (and past SMB Nation employee) Van AuBuchon from Lynnwood, WA, (a Seattle suburb) has been elected to the local city council for his community. Many readers will remember Van’s contributions to SMB Nation in the 2003-2008 time frame.

Van was especially keen on the Intel system builder partner program and represented and protected the interests of system builders everywhere in the SMB channel community. Even today, Van remains an active technology consultant/system builder serving small businesses in North Seattle. But the real news is that Van’s love and affection for politics has paid off! Van was elected to his city council position by a mere ten votes defeating an entrenched incumbent in a very close race.

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Today, VaultLogix, the world’s only online backup service provider, announced that they are now protecting over 600 Terabytes of data. They also allowed customers to restore over 40 million files this past year. This is a 70% rate of growth for the cloud-based BDR company, which is astounding given the current economic slow-down.

CEO at VaultLogix, Tim Hannibal, is very pleased by his company’s growth in 2011: “Our customers rely on our online backup service to provide assurance that their data is available in the event it is not accessible from their primary storage. That we were able to help our customers restore so many files, and safeguard so much data, is a testament to the quality and cost-effectiveness of our solutions. We look forward to continuing to implement data backup solutions that provide the best safety net for our customers’ data.”

VaultLogix caters to businesses of all sizes, allowing them to

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Today, Charles Gaudet, Marketing Expert and Founder and CEO of PredictableProfits.com revealed his predictions and suggestions for the upcoming year. His company, PredictableProfits.com works primarily in the SMB sector, helping entrepreneurs from all industries get the tools they need to survive in today’s often “high-seas” business environment. Mr. Gaudet referenced the latest results of the Edelman Trust Barometer, which showed the U.S. only 5 points from last place in the list of the top 10 economies. Countries like Brazil, India and France saw an increase in consumers’ trust in a business to “do what’s right.” The U.S., on the other hand, saw a decline of trust in all sectors, with only 46% of consumers trusting businesses, which is an 8 point drop from the 54% in 2010.

According to Charles Gaudet, trust is becoming the most essential factor for businesses: “Entrepreneurs must realize that they have more competition and customers have more choices than any other point in modern history and with the growing mistrust in businesses, trust becomes an essential component in competing in today’s environment,” he said in a press release today. “I believe that 2012 is going to be the year of transparency. Those businesses that incorporate trust-building marketing strategies into their regular everyday business activities will dominate and reign as king in this ‘trust economy’.”

Mr. Gaudet offers five strategies for building trust with consumers:

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By Regina Ciardiello, Editor, SMB Nation

Image: Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here we go again! As I do each week, I am really enjoying bringing our readers a quick round-up of the blog coverage I didn’t manage to get to during the busy week prior.

My apologies for the tardiness of this week’s “5 We Missed Blog Post.” Here at SMB Nation, we have been celebrating the holidays for the last few days by giving our staff a nice, long holiday weekend. We are open for business today, and the rest of the week, and then closed on Jan. 2 in observance of New Years’ Day (which falls on a weekend this year).

Even though last week marked the last full week that most offices remained open for 2011, there was still much news to be shared to beat the holiday rush, and the quiet holiday week that we are currently experiencing.

Also, since many of you are probably taking this week to catch up on emails, industry news and other office “housekeeping” items, you might want to check out what’s in store for our next live event, MVP Nation, to be held March 2-3, 2012, in Redmond, WA. With a focus on the new Windows 8 technology, the two-day event will allow attendees to create their Windows 8 road map. For more information, and to register, go to: http://mvp.smbnation.com/.

Once again, here are a few snippets of information that we didn’t get a chance to bring you last week. Let us also know if there was something we might have missed, which is not mentioned in this entry…because as you know…we love news!

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A December 13 article from Huffington Post writer Alicia Ciccone presented research from the National Federation of Independent Business which showed a marked increase in the confidence level of small businesses. The NFIB conducted a survey in November of over 780 small business owners, and the results were optimistic. There was a 1.2% increase in the confidence level of small business owners, the highest level since February, 2011 according to the NFIB. This is the third consecutive month of increase. In addition, 7% of small businesses plan on hiring in the next few months. Holly Wade, Senior Policy Analyst at NFIB is heartened by the change in the SB environment: “Hopefully, [business owners] will see new policy ideas that fit their business and that will help increase their confidence in the future.”

For more information about the Small Business Survey or to see full results, please see the site here.

To see the full Huffington Post article, please see the site here.

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The good news is that few of us dwell on the past. That being said, I do want to briefly highlight a few notable items in 2011 and share some insights moving forward in 2012.

For the industry as a whole, the activities that occurred are too many to list here. However, you can easily observe a “Time Line” of the SMB channel by perusing the archived weekly newsletters HERE.

SMB Nation specific new-new highlights in 2011 included:

•    Q1 2011 – Secured New Editor for Print Publication
o    Regina Ciardiello (Formerly from VSR Magazine)
•    Q1 2011 – Launched Dynamic Social Media Delivery System
•    Q2 2011 – Team Improvements
o    Tom Poole joins team as CEO
o    Harry Brelsford transitions to Chairman/Founder
o    Improved Sales Force
•    Q2 2011 – Launched 1st MVP Nation Conference
•    Q3 2011 – Moved to New Office Space
•    Q3 2011 – Launched Cloud Nation at www.cloudnation.co
•    Q3 2011 – Launched Completely Revamped Magazine
•    Q4 2011 – Migrated to SalesForce and Quickbooks Enterprise from NetSuite
•    Q4 2011 – Launching New SMB Nation Website
•    Q4 2011 – Launching Brelsford School of Technology

Looking forward to 2012, you can anticipate the several strategic announcements, an acquisition or two, a more aggressive competitive posture and the fortification of the Cloud Nation asset. We are also looking to hire yet another salesperson so raise your hand high here and now if you think workin’ at the Nation works for you!
What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Lemme know and I’ll blog it!

Special Program Note:
Karl's 2012 State of the Nation...

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Today, leading Business Management solutions provider and Microsoft Partner, Silverware, Inc. joined the SBS Partner network, becoming the SBS Desert Mountain Team. The SBS Group is currently one of only three Microsoft Dynamic Master VARs in the United States. This latest addition to SBS Group’s already stunning list of professionals will bring in more knowledge about e-commerce, distribution and manufacturing.
Sara Silver, Managing Director of SBS Desert Mountain is “…thrilled to join the growing SBS Partner Network and further expand solution offerings to our clients. With twenty plus years of experience and countless implementations, SBS Desert Mountain has been delivering Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions to mid-sized businesses throughout the southwest United States.”

The SBS Team is an award-winning Microsoft Gold Partner. They have also been selected as

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