It's easy to let technology hinder your time management with so many distractions at your fingertips. But if you want to make time management and productivity a priority, technology can be a major help as well. From wireless solutions to cutting edge apps and good old fashioned (or new fashioned) calendars, there are myriad ways to make sure you're managing you time better.

The continual advancement of technology as an integral part of the majority of businesses has meant an expanded role for CIOs. With that territory has to come a necessarily closer working relationship and shared understanding with the CFO as well. In fact, 42% of IT departments report directly to the CFO (that number is a whopping 60% at smaller businesses). Clearly, a relationship must exist between the CIO and CFO that supports active communication and effective collaboration.

Today’s business environment is fast-paced and competitive. Technology makes it possible for you to know your customers and your customers to know your business within moments. A customer can give feedback about your business then let others know about their own experience within a few easy clicks.

Remember the days when the only way you could empower your team to collaborate was in face-to-face meetings that required time and travel that were planned far in advance? That brings up not-so-fond memories of securing landlines, delayed flights, flip charts, windowless meeting rooms and maybe even slide projectors!

Of course in today’s business world, this is an outdated and impractical proposition.

A recent study by the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council highlighted a disturbing fact: 3 out of 4 companies worldwide are failing in terms of disaster readiness. The impact that IT interruptions (server crashing, power outage, virus, etc.) have range from thousands to millions of dollars according to the same research.

A business continuity plan enables an organization to respond to threats and disasters without crippling its core business operations. The goal is to assemble a set of policies, processes, and procedures that help you survive an emergency while incurring as little downtime as possible.

In today’s mobile world, it seems telecom directors are rarely at their desks anymore. With access to everything from a laptop, tablet, or smartphone it makes managing systems more mobile and convenient than ever. With this shift to IT and mobility, that means new application downloads are becoming available all the time for both Android and Apple devices.

Most office managers are hearing a lot these days about Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), it’s a service that allows telephone users to make and receive calls using the Internet instead of conventional phone lines and analog phone systems. VoIP services provide a number of benefits for businesses, starting with the enhanced modern conveniences and cost savings.

Forrester indicates that spending on cloud computing is expected to top $160 billion around the globe by 2020 - a growth rate of 22% per year - it's no secret that cloud technology is becoming an essential part of modern business. But along with the implementation of new cloud computing services comes the challenges that come with adopting any new technology- inefficiency.

While small business owners definitely face a lot of challenges on a daily basis, one that can have a major impact on whether the business is able to thrive or not is communication. Between vendors, employees and customers, great communication can be a big hurdle.