The year has just started, and, for many companies, it's time to evaluate their IT status: What products do we need to remain competitive in the coming year? But with the products - a few of which we've earmarked for you below - remember training as well.

"Technology and training on that technology can be very expensive initially, as well as during the upgrading and maintenance mode," notes Carly Drum, managing director of New York City recruiter Drum Associates. "With a limited number of people to perform tasks in small companies, it hurts companies to take 'producers' out of the transaction to train or go through a technology upgrade. But at the end of the day, the positives of a strong system/database or whatever technology is needed within a company can absolutely outweigh the negatives."

So it's important to factor in training costs, both soft and hard, when contemplating new products. "Most technology, no matter what software and hardware vendors say, does not run by itself," says Gene Marks, president of the Marks Group. "Our best clients dedicate internal people, who work with external consultants/experts, to really make their systems run well."

Also, take stock of what already works for your company and determine how best to augment those systems. "Most small business owners are wary of the constant hype from software and hardware vendors. We've been burned too many times before with promises of a technology that will solve all of our problems," Marks says. "Many of us have gotten beyond the 'neat to have' and are becoming more focused on 'must haves.' Technology is no longer a savior -- it's just a tool to be used to help us do things better."

Here now, are some potential "must haves" for your small business.

Communicate Better
Reliable e-communications and scheduling capabilities are mission-critical functions for any organization but most available products either don't meet the needs of small and medium businesses or are too costly. Free consumer email services such as MSN® Hotmail and Yahoo!® lack necessary business functionality and security features, while enterprise applications such as Microsoft® Exchange or Lotus® Notes offer more services than needed and require continuous maintenance.

Small businesses might consider an email, calendaring and collaboration solution from BlueTie. BlueTie offers two solution packages: BlueTie Free and BlueTie Pro. BlueTie Free provides Web-based email, calendaring and file sharing with five gigabytes (GB) of storage to businesses with 20 or fewer employees. The email service offers enhanced third-party services that are embedded into its program, adding fuller functionality for users and providing a revenue stream for BlueTie. For example, a user can make flight reservations through Orbitz without ever leaving their BlueTie calendar. BlueTie Pro offers a rich collaboration solution that provides the same features as the free version with the option to turn off the third-party services, along with instant messenger, Outlook integration, mobile support, five additional GB of storage per user and toll-free support for just $4.99 per user, per month. These applications help small businesses improve communication, scheduling and functionality while saving them money.

"We understand that cost is an element of concern for SMBs, so we make sure we provide business-class services that are affordable and easy to use," says David Koretz, BlueTie president. "For example, Jolt Cola used to pay $25,000 in up-front costs for an email solution, plus another $1,000 a month to keep it running. Jolt decided to switch to BlueTie because we were able to bring their costs down to $200 a month and they didn't have to make any up-front investments."

BlueTie solutions are ideal for SMBs, as well as distributed workforces such as those in the real estate and insurance industries. Staff members can stay connected through the Web-based email application despite disparate office locations, easily sharing files and contact information, scheduling appointments and holding conversations via the enterprise instant messenger service.

Get Mobile
Sometimes, "disparate locations" means constantly changing locations. For those spending a great deal of time in the field, consider tablet computers. Laptops require a user to be seated, which is impractical for many field workers, and PDAs often don't have enough processing power or large enough screens to accomplish tasks effectively. Tablets are an excellent hybrid. They are available from numerous manufacturers, including Gateway, Fujitsu and Motion Computing.

When Affordable Blinds and Shutters was looking to automate its sales process, it turned to value-added reseller Solatech. As part of the solution for the customer, Solatech chose Motion Computing's LS800, a 2.2-pound, 8-inch ultra-mobile tablet PC that is roughly the size of a paperback book to run its SalesPro system. "Motion Computing is innovative - ahead of the pack," says Ray Soltis, CEO of Solatech. "We were impressed with the size and ergonomics of the Motion tablet, and felt it would be the ideal hardware platform for our sales solution."

Sales people now capture data on a sales visit electronically. Window measurements are transferred from a Bluetooth measuring device to a pen-enabled order form on the durable, lightweight Motion LS800 tablet. There, the software calculates prices using the latest product information, and the salesperson can input order specifics with the tablet's pen. When the order form is complete, the information is exported to Windows Journal, where a customer contract is made and the salesperson can handwrite notes with the pen and obtain a digital approval signature from the customer.

The paper catalogues, order books and assorted office supplies salespeople used to bring on customer calls have been replaced with the Motion LS800. Bluetooth and wireless features let salespeople to update client files, send orders and check e-mail without having to go back to the office. Ordering mistakes are down, and productivity is up.

Protect Yourself
A virus infection is a quick way for a business to lose money. A virus aims to slow or completely cripple the means by which companies do business. Viruses effectively obstruct communication, vital to effectively conducting commerce. In addition, the time it takes to clean up the mess left by the intrusion is akin to letting money blow away in the wind. Prevention should be at the forefront of a company's IT plan, but, unfortunately, seldom is that the case. A number of antivirus providers offer affordable SMB protection: Symantec, McAfee, Grisoft and Trend Micro.

Having systems in place to help prevent an attack not only helps the small business avert disaster, but it also can elevate its credibility to customers. That was the case for McGarity Consulting, a firm supporting the global semiconductor industry. McGarity deployed Trend Micro solutions to protect its network and confidential data from viruses and spyware.

"Ninety percent of my business is carried out using the Internet and email. I'm dealing with a lot of confidential data for my clients, so it is critical to be able to show them that I keep a high level of security on my computer systems and networks," says owner Kevin McGarity. McGarity uses Trend Micro Client Server Messaging Security for Small and Medium Business. Originally, he used antivirus software from another vendor, but found it too complex. He also tried freeware to stem the tide of spyware, but found dealing with the administration and updates cumbersome.

"The fact of the matter was, I just couldn't keep on top of it -- everything was far too much trouble and I just didn't have the time," he says. "However, I was worried about falling victim to 'key loggers' and 'password grabbers', so I knew I had to find a better solution." McGarity, who serves as his firm's own IT person, installed Trend Micro Anti-Spyware for SMB. "When I add up the cost of running my Trend Micro software and compare it to the time I would have spent manually trying to keep my systems clean, there has been an excellent return on investment."

Analyze Data
Many small businesses collect data, but few make good use of it. Entrepreneurs commonly complain they don't have the time to use data mining tools, which would give them invaluable insights into their businesses. Ironically, using BI tools would give them the extra time needed to concentrate on those business areas requiring attention. In addition, small and midsize businesses have unique concerns, and many analytics packages are aimed at much larger concerns.

Upscale furniture maker Carl Hansen & Sons needed a tool that presented reliable key data of backlogged orders and invoiced sales based on each product and country. The manufacturer has subsidiaries in Canada and Japan and dealers on three continents, and required a means of keeping its data simple, clear and easy to access. The company also wanted to avoid using outside consultants to implement any solution. It settled on timeXtender 2.0 to extract data from the company's systems and turn it into usable information, without writing any code.

"If we had chosen to manually code what timeXtender gives us, we would not have had a solution up and running already," says IT manager Peter Bjarne Andersen. "Plus it would have been extremely difficult for us to maintain. With timeXtender, our initial costs are kept at a minimum, with a lower cost of ownership to come."

According to the company, data errors are now eliminated at a very early stage and deeper analysis is possible. Executives are able to make better market decisions with quality data and yield, which increases ROI. Most importantly, says Andersen, it helps the manufacturer to be proactive rather than reactive to the changes in demand.

Know What's Happening
No matter how much employers might want to trust their employees, sometimes suspicions arise. Unproductive time employees spend throughout the day has serious consequences on companies' bottom lines. According to Info Plus Accounting, if a worker earned $17 per hour (with an actual cost of $29 per hour after benefits and taxes are included), spending one hour of unproductive time per day, 5 days per week, 49 weeks per year, would cost a company more than $7,000.

NAPCO's VCAM is a high quality surveillance camera with a built-in Internet connection that gives employers the ability to monitor their workplace from anywhere via Internet, cell phone or Blackberry. Popular applications of NAPCO's VCAM in businesses include multi-business locations; loading dock areas; employee character and efficiency; lock box/drop box use, cleaning service comings/goings; remote security service; stockroom access; safes; and alarm verification.

Employers would be best served to let employees know such a service is being employed. That way, everyone can be expected to be on his or her best behavior. In fact, forward-looking companies could use the surveillance system feedback to reward exemplary behavior.