Every small business owner knows that new technology can be pricey.

But technology can also pay in the form of significant savings-particularly over the long haul.

Savings from technology isn't just a matter of plugging in a new gizmo and watching the cash roll in. You have to evaluate your priorities and choose the right technology that meets your operating and budgetary requirements.

With that approach in mind, here are seven ways that technology can save your small business money:

 ► Laptop or Desktop:
        Which One is Right for You?

In the not-so-distant past, the choice between a desktop and a laptop computer was simple: do you want portability, or not? There were a few other clear-cut differences, too. Desktop models offered more power and features and were less expensive, while laptops were portable, but also more costly, and less ergonomic.

While some of these differences remain, advances in technology make many of them insignificant. Laptop prices have fallen, and the machines now offer even more power and features. Desktop models are less bulky than they used to be, and with the proliferation of devices like USBs, portability of data is not such a big issue. So how do you choose?

Here are a few points to consider.

Assessing your information technology

You are certainly familiar with the Rube Goldberg machine – the delightfully convoluted set of processes required to accomplish a simple task. In the day to day interactions of information technologies, Goldberg is often hard at work. It only takes a tiny disagreement between software codes or a mismatch of operating systems for the marble wobbling down the chute to end up on the floor.

Ideally, you should be evaluating your IT investment initiatives in the context of a comprehensive business strategy that ensures maximum returns and facilitates that all-important "alignment" of IT and business requirements. But the real world too often delivers unrestrained marbles.

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