The tablet market across Canada is undoubtedly dominated by iPads. As of today, no high end tablet producer has been able to undercut Apple when it comes to pricing. But the BlackBerry PlayBook seems all set to break the record with its manufacturer, Research In Motion, citing that PlayBooks will be sold at $20 below the price of iPads in Canada beginning April 19.

The PlayBook will be offered in three versions with 16-, 32- and 64- gigabytes at $500, $600 and $700 (Canadian) . Now that RIM has given the iPad competition on price, RIM now has even more matters to look after that will make the PlayBook the better choice. Handling Flash multimedia or more robust multitasking are just two of the features that are likely to make the PlayBook stand out.

The PlayBook will not only come with Wi-Fi capability, but the device can also be tethered to the BlackBerry to share a data plan. This is a feature which you will find in iPads, as well. Nonetheless, there are major differences between these tablets that could well decide their fate. An iPad has a 9.7-inch display while a PlayBook bears a 7-inch display. Likewise, PlayBooks can handle Flash Multimedia which iPads cannot.

The iPad, however, has a big advantage over the PlayBook in terms of tablet-optimized applications. There are far more tablet-optimized applications for the iPad than for the PlayBook. With the lower price tag and the number of retail stores that will be stocking the PlayBook (which is almost double the number of stores selling iPads), the PlayBook is all set to take the tablet market by storm. But, some factors say it isn’t so. RBC expects RIM to sell about only four million PlayBook units by the end of this year compared to a whopping 30 million iPad units. And there are some people who say a few bucks won’t be able to sway the market dominance in favor of the PlayBook.

Need help figuring out what the right mobility solution is for your GTA business?  Give our team at Dynamix Solutions a call today and we will help you decide the best solution to meet your tablet and mobility requirements.

Collaboration and working with Peers is something that Dynamix Solutions is very familiar with. Our membership in the Microsoft Partner Network is a great example of how we work with others in the tech industry. But did you know we are active in the Markham Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations.

How does the average Toronto small business compete on the global stage or against their largest competitor?  Collaboration may be the secret many small businesses owners are searching for.  Teaming up with like-minded and complimentary services to combine their efforts may just outwit their larger competitors.

Until and unless SMBs make collaboration their high priority, they may struggle to survive and prosper in this world of tough global competition. However, a research conducted by the InformationWeek Analytics has showed that small and medium-sized businesses are still wondering whether to invest in collaboration projects or not. Even as the IT budgets are on the rise, only one-third of SMBs intend on increasing their IT budgets while 15 percent were trying to cut down their expenses in technology.

There are major drawbacks to implementing collaboration tools which could be why SMBs are reluctant to invest in collaboration. Many fear that control over the information flow will be lost, and the collaboration will add more problems instead of solving them. However, it is essential, and been proven by some of small business best-of-breed companies, that investment in collaboration projects is vital to survive and thrive.

It’s best for small businesses not to jump into collaboration with both feet right away until they research the benefits and potential drawbacks that can arise from such an action. There are certain necessary precautions that a business owner should take first. Trust will be a major part in any joint venture or collaboration project, so if that trust is undone by any of the members, it will be very hard to recover the business relationship. Small business owners need to be able to recognize the warning signs and be able to avert any failings. If the collaboration seems to be falling apart or hampering the business, small business owners need to recognize this early, review the challenges and even put an end to the project if needed.

Business should also focus on building a successful collaboration and information sharing strategy. The fact that many businesses will have more IT resources this year than they had last year comes across as good news. But it is sad to know that as many as 20% of the businesses are considering reducing their IT expenses. Collaboration projects helps business move onwards and upwards, so investing in collaboration by avoiding the pitfalls is the right thing to do.

If you are tired of changing online backup vendors often, it is time you analyzed the qualities, or rather the lack of them, which has made you switch from one vendor to another at a rate which one would call abnormal.

While all vendors are not entirely perfect, you should consider researching about a prospective vendor early on if you want to offer the best backup and disaster recovery services to your customers.

Here are some key questions that you must ask your potential backup service before signing up for the service.

• The first question to ask is how you are going to be billed and on what basis. This will save you from the shock you are likely to get on receiving your first bill.  There is nothing worse than getting a bill you were not expecting.

• Another thing to find out is if the backup partner supports the computer systems your business uses. Ask them what operating systems and configurations are supported. What type of backups does the solution perform?
• This is the third question that ought to be asked. It is the IT providers’ job to make sure that the backups work.  Make sure they have a testing system in place and schedule regular tests of your business backups.

• The fourth in our list is the location of their support team and their working hours. This will spare you the hassle and the frustration of not being able to get in contact with them when needed.

Bitter disappointment is the last thing you would expect from a new partner, so don’t forget to identify in which ways your prospective backup and IT partner differs from your previous one or else you will end up with the same problems.

Dynamix provides backup and disaster recovery services to business across the GTA.  Our services offer complete “peace of mind” that your business data is properly secured and in the event of a simple file deletion or complete business disaster, your information is safeguarded from loss.

Contact us today for more information.