A recent Spiceworks survey found that while companies want to upgrade their software and move to the cloud, they also want to "reduce their dependence on hosted services," and are "ignoring devices such as netbooks and Apple's iPad," according to industry observer Nathan Eddy.

So, the majority want to move to the cloud, but reduce their intake of hosted services. Okay... um, that'll work, sure.

"The technology spending slowdown among small and medium businesses seems to be over," said Jay Hallberg, co-founder and vice president of marketing for Spiceworks. "In the first half of 2010, bright spots are clearly seen in core technology areas, such as new hardware and software purchases."

And as industry observer David Roe says, "while there has been anecdotal evidence that SMBs are beginning to spend on IT again, this week a number of reports show that it's actually happening, although not in the areas you might expect. CRM is a big winner, with British SMBs taking to hosted CRMs rather than on-premise options."

Today, interactive voice response, or "IVR," systems are used by small, medium and large companies to re-direct calls to relevant customer service agents. A recent report looks at this burgeoning IVR system industry, and predicts where growth is most likely to take place.

Some of the more common end-use applications of IVR systems include polls and surveys, office call routing, selective information lookup, call center forwarding, order entry transactions and account balances and transfers.

Market data and trends are presented in "IVR Systems: An International Market Report," from Companies and Markets.

The report finds that North America, Europe, Africa, and Middle East "represent relatively mature markets wherein future growth will stem largely from product replacements." These markets are currently witnessing a rise in the number of IVR upgrades and replacements, especially among large companies with first-generation systems.

Some people are just demanding. Picky, even. Definitely hard to please. And that can be a good thing.

"Having worked at several enterprise companies and a 60 person start-up I've had plenty of experience with CRM systems," says Heather Margolis. Okay, she knows what she's talking about. But who does she really love?

"I wouldn't say any of them have been particularly bad experiences but none have been off the charts fantastic either," she says, reminding us of our pre-marriage dating days. CRM, for Margolis, has "become a necessary evil that if we want to track not just our customers and prospects but activities of those who are not yet in our funnel we need some sort of CRM system."

Datelined Sidney, Nebraska comes the news that Nebraska's Attorney General has announced concerns of a spreading international bank scam "that has hit at least two smaller Nebraska cities hard."

According to the Sidney Sun-Telegraph, State Sen. Deb Fischer and John Munn, director of the state Department of Banking, joined Attorney General Jon Bruning in a teleconference call "to alert other banks and the public on the matter."

Bruning said residents of Broken Bow, Nebraska "began to receive calls on their cell phones from someone claiming to be from Nebraska State Bank and Trust or an auto dialer," Bruning said, according to the Sun-Telegraph. "These people were told their debit cards had been deactivated and in order to restore their service, customers needed to give the caller their account number, their PIN, their security number and their social security number."

Bruning estimated that approximately 5,000 people were contacted with calls that "originated in Romania... part of a large scam operation."

The agility to launch new services and implement new business models is critical for success today. It requires adaptations to your network, information systems, operations and business models.

Alcatel-Lucent has prepared a recent white paper making the case for IP transformation. To stay competitive, it notes, "you are looking to introduce new services for consumers and businesses, reduce operational costs and enhance the end-user experience."

Sound good so far? Sure does to us.

At the same time, as Alcatel-Lucent notes, networks and IT are migrating to an all-IP world: "Large-scale IP transformation requires a broad set of interrelated activities to address business impact, modeling and opportunity assessment," as the paper points out.

To successfully navigate the opportunities open to you it's probably wise to look into consulting services, such as Alcatel-Lucent's Market Advantage Program. Such services can help you assess and capture market opportunities, analyze and recruit the right developers for your business and network strategy and run market trials and launch new services, among other benefits.