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When Marcia C. Brier gets a dreaded error message on her PC at MCB Communications, she knows she's on her own. Her IT department is nonexistent, as is the case at most small businesses.

If a laptop is lost, now there is a new way to remotely shut it down -- just text it.

The holidays can be stressful even in the best of times, but this year's dismal economic climate is bringing new headaches. Not only do we have to grapple with the usual questions about what to buy for whom ("Should I get an iPod case for Aunt Mabel? Wait, no, I got her one last year..."), we also have to look for ways to cut expenses.

Even a year after the introduction of the Asus Eee PC netbooks are still something of a novelty. Just a couple of weeks ago, while I was sitting one evening in a hotel lounge with a group of professionals, mine was passed around with enthusiastic curiosity -- they had heard of its easy portability and were eager for some hands-on time before possibly buying one for themselves.

Just because you don't have a large enterprise doesn't mean you can't run your IT operation like the big guys. Here are seven ways to help your SMB--a small or medium-size business--implement some of the lessons big IT operations have learned over the years. Using these tips, you should be able to improve productivity, cut costs, and keep your business running smoothly.

When you're one of just two technology managers tasked with supporting a geographically dispersed user base, any kind of self-help technology that takes the burden off IT is welcomed with open arms. That's why Ernest Kayinamura of Enel North America and his lone counterpart have actively embraced wikis as a way to make IT materials more accessible to the end users they support.

Microsoft is offering smaller businesses the same kind of Windows Mobile push services that enterprises get with new versions of its server software, expected to be launched on Wednesday.

Although it may seem like your computing life is all e-mail and browsing, computer users still create files, documents, spreadsheets, boring presentations and all manner of other stored information. Which brings me to the question: Where do you store your data? And are you ready to store your data online in a service hosted by a third party provider?

Telstra launched the first stage of its online software platform this week, rolling out security, email, CRM, business productivity and backup solutions via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model.

Yahoo is making good on its promise to rewire itself by opening its data and tools to developers so they can build customized applications.

Hewlett-Packard's jump into the mini-laptop market continues this week's bubble of activity in the so-called netbook business.