While small businesses lack awareness of cloud hosting, medium-sized businesses appear prepared to reap the benefits of cloud hosting, as revealed in a recent survey conducted by Rackspace. More than half of the mid-sized businesses surveyed are aware of cloud hosting with 57 percent of medium businesses in the US and 53 percent of medium businesses in the UK responding as such.

However, as compared to their medium-sized counterparts, the survey indicates that small businesses may be more confused about current cloud hosting technology and services, and less certain of how to utilize the cloud in the future. With over two-thirds of small businesses in the US and UK unaware of cloud hosting, this business segment appears poised to miss out on a revolutionary opportunity, that can be of great benefit, especially during this tough economic climate.

“The cloud can be a profitable technology for businesses of all sizes and the stats show us small businesses are not yet taking full advantage of the cloud services that are currently available,” said Lew Moorman, chief strategy officer, Rackspace Hosting. “Cloud is a proven technology which is unique in that it is not a one-size-fits all technology. There are different flavors of cloud hosting offerings which allow businesses to take advantage of the benefits of hosting in a very price competitive and flexible format which is an ideal mix for all IT departments, no matter their size.”

The survey also shed light on the potential future adoption of cloud hosting. Although only 14 percent of medium businesses in the US and 11 percent in the UK are already utilizing cloud hosting, 55 percent of medium businesses in the US and 42 percent in the UK have plans to use cloud hosting in the future. These respondents identified data storage and back up, replacing centralized computing and boosting server availability as some areas where they would leverage cloud hosting within their IT departments.

Within the US and UK small business markets, nearly 60 percent of the survey respondents have no plans to adopt cloud technology. It appears from these results that small businesses may be shying away from Cloud Hosting because they do not fully understand the added benefits over their existing hosting solution and, even more surprising; they may view the cloud as being cost prohibitive. This could be a detrimental mix up for small businesses in that they could benefit from the cloud’s scalability and cost efficiency, especially when coupled with their current traditional hosting configuration. A hybrid hosting solution can make for a truly powerful option.

FOX News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly will step down from hosting The Radio Factor on Westwood One stations and FOX News Talk in the first quarter of 2009, announced Kevin Magee, executive vice president, FOX News.

Produced by FOX News Radio, The Radio Factor is currently heard on more than 400 radio stations nationwide as well as on XM and Sirius. Since its debut in 2002 to a record 205 stations — the biggest launch in the history of talk radio — Radio Factor affiliates have experienced dramatic ratings increases. O’Reilly will continue anchoring his top-rated program, The O’Reilly Factor on FNC, as well as writing a weekly newspaper column.

In making the announcement, Magee said, “The Radio Factor has been a lucrative partnership for Westwood One and FOX News and Bill has been integral to the success of FOX News Radio. He loves the program, but we understand his desire to lighten his heavy workload.”

O’Reilly added, “It is with great regret that I’ve come to the decision to leave the Radio Factor, but with the success of the O’Reilly Factor, I can no longer give both TV and radio the time they deserve. From the beginning, Westwood One has been tremendous and FOX News continues to set the standard and I’ve enjoyed working with them. I will miss talk radio and the callers very much.”

Contrary to what the music industry proclaims, downloading songs from the Internet is generally legal. Songbeat is not an illegal file-sharing interface, as it uses no P2P technology and does not bypass copyright protection mechanisms. Instead, it employs clever search and record functions for access to the music that is already out there.

Songbeat also offers a record function of the online radio service Last.fm. By entering the name of their favourite artist, the user can enjoy a stream of new music based on their taste. Utilizing Songbeat, this stream is recorded live – the digital version of sitting by your old radio, waiting for your favourite show, armed with a blank casette. This form of “download” by recording is legal in Germany.

It may sound like the music industry would not be thrilled about the software utilized by Songbeat. The founders, Philip Eggersgluess and Marco Rydmann, have a progressive perspective that recognizes how the online availability of songs is changing the music industry: “With Songbeat, we have created the optimal Model for controlling and monetizing the music which is already freely available online!”

Songbeat offers multiple options for the monetization of something that, up to now, was uncontrollable and generated no income for record labels and the music industry. The function “Songbeat Discover,” for example, allows access to over 350,000 artists, who can, with the download of their song, offer concert tickets, merchandise, and albums. Other services designed specifically to proactively support artists and labels are currently being developed by Songbeat.

With the economy taking us on the ride of the century and 2009 right around the corner, taking control of your personal finances should be at the top of your list of New Year’s resolutions. Whether you are planning on changing jobs, paying off a loan, buying a new home, starting a business or even just taking a vacation in the next year, it’s essential to have the necessary funds to meet your goals. That means taking the time to sit down to review your current financial situation and taking some steps to keep your finances organized and, most importantly, protected. But don’t despair – financial planning doesn’t have to be a chore! Here are some simple tips to help you take a new, proactive approach to managing and protecting your finances for the New Year:

1. Set a budget. What’s your current ratio of income versus expenses? If you don’t know, then your first step in taking charge of your finances will be to figure out what your fixed and variable costs are each month, and compare them with your net income. Some expenses can’t be changed, but others can be, and having a handle on how much you can spend will help you to stay within the limits, so that you don’t get in trouble with overextended credit. Having a budget doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy life – it just means that sometimes you need to stretch out the timeline on your purchases.

2. Have sufficient cash reserves on hand. Most experts recommend having at least 6 months worth of income set aside for emergencies. In order to save money, reduce spending in unnecessary areas — this will also reduce your reliance on credit and ease the burden on your investment assets.

3. Know Your Scores. Most everyone is familiar with a FICO score used throughout the world to assess credit risk. FICO scores are available through all of the major consumer reporting agencies and to find out what your FICO score is, order your credit report from one of these agencies. You are entitled to receive a free credit report from each of the big three credit-reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) once per year, and can order it from the official credit reporting Web site at www.annualcreditreport.com. Now there is another important score that everyone should know — your risk for identity theft. In tough economic times, many experts predict a rise in identity theft – now the #1 crime in America. In the last year, over 200 million Americans had their identities compromised and new victims of identity theft happen every 2 seconds. Understanding your risk is critical in these economic times. With the introduction of their IdentityThreatScore by TrustedID, you can get your score –assessing your risk for identity theft. It will outline your individual risk profile and determine immediate next steps that should be taken for prevention. Learn more at www.trustedid.com.

4. Protect What’s Yours. In addition to assessing your risk of identity theft, take proactive steps to prevent it. Avoid giving out your Social Security Number if it’s not absolutely necessary. Shred mail that contains account information or new credit card offers before throwing it in the garbage, and avoid carrying bills, your Social Security Card, or other personal information with you, especially if you are traveling. If you bank online or store personal information on your laptop, it would be wise to change your password at least once a month and try to select passwords that will not be obvious to potential hackers (birthday, anniversary, pet name, etc.). Always use firewall, virus and spyware protection software that you can update regularly like Norton Internet Security 2008: http://www.norton-security-store.com/. This will protect your computer from spyware, which can collect many different types of personal information, including passwords and credit card numbers. Only download free software from sites you know and trust. For comprehensive protection, consider signing up for an identity theft protection service.

5. Grow Your Worth. In order to increase the value of your investments, most experts recommend building a diversified investment portfolio. Before investing, review all of your investments carefully and evaluate the long-term viability of each. Make sure that your financial assets are spread out, to ensure that you are not overexposed to any particular segment of the market. If you invest in mutual funds, make sure that you invest in different securities within the same asset class, such as stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents. Diversifying within an asset class can help smooth out the returns within a particular sector of your portfolio.

Here is to a prosperous and successful 2009 for you and your company!

98% of the nearly 700 financial institutions responding to a recent Wolters Kluwer Financial Services survey conducted in August 2008 say they are offering their customers commercial loans, including both commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans. On average, commercial loans represented just under half of respondents’ loan portfolios (46 percent).

“While those numbers may have changed because of recent credit market conditions, they do illustrate the overall importance of commercial lending as a line of business for financial institutions and as a significant percentage of their loan portfolios,” said Ken Newton, executive vice president of Banking for Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

The survey results also showed 7 of 10 respondents used a software solution to document commercial loans while 40 percent were using an outside service, including those provided by attorneys, to do so. Newton says one of the main reasons financial institutions are implementing new technology to document commercial loans is the numerous benefits automation presents. These include lower cost and faster documentation as well as more thorough compliance with an increasingly-complex set of regulatory requirements.