Small & Medium Business

Erik mentioned in his post the other week, we’ll be sharing details on the 10 finalists of the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence Award over the next few weeks.  I think you’ll enjoy learning about some of the interesting and innovative things these companies are creating with technology.  The next finalist we’d like to introduce to you is Vitals, from Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

Vitals

The business of this company couldn’t be more topical.  Vitals is an online doctor evaluation and comparison service that helps consumers find the right doctor for them. They have over 720,000 physicians nationwide represented in their database.  If you think about it, it’s been easier in the past to find and compare things like cars or investments than it has been to search for doctors. And when choosing a doctor, don’t you want as much information as possible?

Vitals was founded less than two years ago when the three founders, Larry, Mitch and Erica, saw this opportunity and set out to build a very innovative and customer friendly physician referral database and Web site they possibly could. They tapped over 15,000 different information sources when creating this resource. Consumers can come to the site and search for a doctor based on an extensive array of criteria, starting with where the doctor’s office is located and what insurance he or she accepts and ranging to what procedures are offered, what languages are spoken in the office, what school the doctor attended and various quality scores available.

The company went a step further and built the site to also include customer reviews of doctors – users can submit both a numerical rating and/or a written review.  Customer reviews include the waiting period before you are seen and the friendliness of the staff. The combination of reliable information about the doctor and customer driven reviews makes this site and company compelling. Vitals created the Yelp of the medical world. There are only two companies that even come close to what Vitals offers – and one of those charges for the same information Vitals makes available for free, the other has far less detail available and doesn’t allow user reviews.

The Vitals database has literally billions of data points and yet is flexible and streamlined enough to make it easy for consumers to use. This has allowed the company to establish a number of key partnerships with major insurers and health care providers.

There was clearly a need for this resource.  Healthcare is the single largest search category on Google with over 72 million unique visitors per month. The Vitals team realized that success depended on being smart about search engine optimization to drive traffic.  And the effort has started to pay off as they have over 100,000 daily users – a number that is growing exponentially.

Here’s a fact I really loved, they really have built that level of traffic through providing a great product and leveraging search engine technology. In 16 months, they have spent only $1,100 on marketing expenses.  That’s pretty smart and with such an innovative business ideas and a clear focus on the customer, Vitals is one of the Dell Small Business Excellence Award finalists.

Congratulations to Larry, Mitch, Erica and the entire team at Vitals on being a finalist and good luck in September!

Stay tuned for our next finalist profile coming early next week.

Also, check out my video chat with Ayman El Tarabishy and last year’s SBEA winner, Steve Mattie below.

Back in June, Dell was part of an announcement from Xsigo Systems on how Pixorial leveraged Dell PowerEdge servers and Xsigo virtual I/O in support of their ground-breaking online video service. As both a Dell customer and innovative business, Pixorial is an ideal customer to illustrate how innovative technology and a partnership with Dell helps grow their business.

Today, Pixorial announced the launch of its collaborative video platform with features and capabilities that promise to change the way consumers share their video memories. The new video service lifts the barriers set by alternative video services and makes it possible to share editable video in its original resolution and length. The site makes it easy to share a video link through Facebook, embedded code, email links and a variety of unique DVD and gift ideas.

Listen to Pixorial’s president and founder Andres Espiñeira talk about how the company was founded and has grown in the past few years.

Over the past couple months we've introduced several new products to the Vostro line of products that offer the right features, services, durability, and resources to serve the distinctive needs of small business. From the ultraportable Vostro 1220 to the Vostro All In One (the first all in one exclusively for small business), these systems are preconfigured with tools like free videoconferencing and are designed to be "easy to buy, easy to own."

Dell listens to small businesses to ensure no stone is left unturned when it comes to meeting our customers' needs.  That's why I'm pleased to announce the latest additions to the Vostro portfolio - the Vostro 1014, 1015 and 1088.

These new 14.1 and 15.6 inch systems redefine the entry level for the Vostro line and are primed and ready for your everyday computing needs with set configurations that help you meet the daily challenges of running a small business.
Key features include:

• Notebook processor and chipset: the latest Intel Core 2 Processors to get the most out of your software
• Improved battery life: work for longer with great battery life with power efficient design and WLED LCDs
• Media flexibility: A built-in 5-in-1 media reader to easily transfer pictures, video, data to and from your laptop
• Optional integrated webcam: connect with customers and colleagues across the globe through voice and video for free when you choose the 2.0 megapixel camera
• Color options: Express your personal style and stand out in the crowd with choice of color backs - black, blue or deep cherry red
• Improved energy efficiency: Cut down your power consumption with Energy Star 5.0 certification

Dell also provides an integrated modem with each system to give you the flexibility to connect to the internet, even when there is no broadband available. And of course, the computers come equipped with the Dell gold standard of services you've come to rely on. Specially-trained SMB technical support is available in three ways (phone, online chat or DellConnect) to help solve problems as fast as possible.  And, with Dell Backup Recovery Manager Dell can quickly get you back to business as usual.

For those wanting to get their hands on the machines, the products will be available direct and through select Dell partners. Some of these laptops are already offered in parts of Europe (starting at £255) and will be available in Asia Pacific and Japan starting today. Over the next several months, these laptops will be available to customers in Latin America, United States and Canada.

Check out the set on our Flickr page to see all the images of the Vostro 1014 and 1015 laptops.

Last month Dell announced the Vostro All in One to help entrepreneurs "Reclaim Their Desks." As part of the announcement, we kicked off a contest for readers to share photos of their messy desk and enter in for a chance to win a new Vostro All in One to help organize their desk space.

You still have one week to submit your photo on Flickr with the tag "reclaimyourdesk" for a chance to win. For all the contest details, read the official rules here.

We had a great opportunity to listen to the needs of our SMB customers recently when we organised a roundtable discussion in London with the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), three of our customers (including two UK Finalists from the Dell Small Business Excellence Award 2009) and four journalists who cover the SMB market. The topic was around how technology can help SMBs survive and thrive in a recession. As you can imagine in this current environment, there was lots of lively debate.

On technology itself, the discussion ranged from continually training employees and keeping up-to-date with technology, to the benefits of virtualisation and cloud computing. One of our customers, Warren Vick, founder and executive director of Europa Technologies, a digital mapping company, said that cloud computing allowed them to scale very quickly. A map that could have taken two weeks to render now takes hours because their servers are used to their full capacity – none stand idle.

There was also an interesting discussion around the right time to invest. Martin Port, managing director of Masternaut Three X, a vehicle tracking company, talked about how he’d ‘bitten the bullet’ and invested in Microsoft Dynamics (Great Plains) CRM software, and was already seeing great returns. Warren said he was investing now to get ahead – rather than wait for green shoots. All agreed that investments would only be made where there was immediate ROI - and not for the sake of using the latest and greatest gadgets. At Dell, we’re certainly seen more customers take up our 0% leasing offer so they can continue to make strategic investments in their companies.

The overall consensus was that IT suppliers need to focus more on solutions that solve problems than standalone pieces of hardware or software – which was great validation for the approach we are taking at Dell.

We ended the roundtable talking about Green IT – was it a PR exercise or a driver for efficiency – and the one piece of advice we’d each give to SMBs in the current climate. Here’s what we came away with

• Know your business and concentrate on it
• Invest in your company
• Find a good technology partner (not just a vendor)
• Consider how technology can expand yourself and your business

Great advice from an inspiring group of people. Below is video from the roundtable about the challenges SMBs face today. If you're interested in hearing more from the event, check out the additional videos on the playlist on YouTube.

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