Small Business Digital Divide and Ramon Ray's Technology Guidelines

Ramon Ray's Small Biz Technology blog has an excellent post on technology guidelines for small business.  The post combines his six guidelines with guidelines from a Computer World article.  Ramon's guidelines are:

1. Email is Not CRM
2. Don't Technologize a Bad Business Process
3. Outsource
4. Technology Is An Investment - Not A Cost
5. Mobility is Critical
6. Web 2.0 Is No Joke

Computer World's guidelines are:

1. Put IT in your budget
2. Plan your IT future
3. Make It part of management
4. Take care of basics
5. Choose vendors wisely
6. Keep learning

Both lists make a lot of sense.  In our research we are seeing an emerging small business digital divide.  There are a growing number of small businesses who are gaining substantial market advantage through the use of technology.  We are also seeing firms fall behind because of their unwillingness or inability to take advantage of technology.

Both of these lists are excellent starting points for thinking about technology.  While few small businesses need to be on the leading edge of technology, all small businesses should be thinking about how technology can make them more productive, competitive and profitable.