Data centre managers could save millions of kilowatt hours annually by implementing 11 best practices, says analyst company Gartner. Most of these projects can be completed with little or no budget or effort. Here's the list of 11 power-saving practices.

While some reports suggest small businesses won't be slashing through IT budgets in 2009, is the average midmarket company willing to invest in virtualization technology? DataCore, among other vendors, says yes.

VKernel's Capacity Analyzer 2.0 can use VMware VirtualCentre statistics to offer clarity in virtualization deployments. However, the virtualization tool is not a cross-platform product; it doesn't address Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization technology. But in VMware environments, the virtualization tool will help IT administrators get the most out of their ESX installations.

Small businesses face tightening IT budgets this year, but here are five technology trends all midmarket companies should be keeping an eye on.

Big and small providers alike offer hosted or cloud-based collaboration and e-mail systems geared for businesses, with some obvious benefits.

While Google and Microsoft have each developed very different business models and attitudes toward consumers and the enterprise, both companies are preparing to clash when it comes to how the world's cloud computing infrastructure develops in the next 10 years. While Google and Microsoft might fight for dominance in the cloud, it's not clear which company will win or if a third company might succeed.