Between 25% and 50% of most companies’ revenue goes toward purchasing goods and services, so the ability to keep these costs down is paramount. Applying strategic sourcing methodologies to pinpoint spend categories and select qualified suppliers allows organizations to reduce expenses and positively impact the bottom line. 

In the cover story of the April 2012 issue of Storage magazine, Lauren Whitehouse outlines best practices for cloud backup integration and the various methods for doing so. Also included in this issue are articles regarding virtual server management, storage for big data, the rising cost of disk drives and more. 

Virtual server backup is a known pain point among backup administrators. In our tutorial, learn all about VMware backup with this collection of articles on VMware backup and restore, VMware Consolidated Backup, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and more. 

If you'e a small or medium business owner with more than one computer, it's time to consider investing in a server. A server will keep your data secure and organized and will help you run your business more efficiently and professionally. If you've reached one of the 10 thresholds in this article, a server could do your business a world of good. 

Master data management (MDM) tools are on the rise as more companies look toward ways to solve all their data needs through one system. This expert e-guide from our editorial team features two articles with exceptional insight on what vendors and trends are prevailing in the current MDM market. 

The security of SQL Server database servers has become a top priority for database administrators. This article examines best practices that can be employed to secure Microsoft SQL Server 2000 databases. It provides an overview of the security model in SQL Server 2000 and discusses best practices you can employ to secure yours. 

This e-book, packed with four expert articles, highlights SAP's solution to sales order management, offering insight into its CRM, ERP and supply chain management components. Read these insightful articles now to learn about this option's strengths and weaknesses, how to properly define the sales process and so much more. 

This e-guide features two shop-floor quality-control articles from our award-winning editorial team. Read on to learn critical advice for increasing your manufacturing without compromising compliance or quality. 

This finantial e-guide covers the impact of real-time data and how to take advantage of new risk strategies. Articles and research focus on technological innovation, business strategy and geographical markets and is full of insights from Sybase experts and other leaders across the financial services industry. 

The expectations, working methods and tools used by employees in all organisations have changed as a result of advances in communications technologies. 

Are you going to upgrade to SQL Server 2012? This edition of SQL Server Insider sets out to help you decide whether the investment is worth it or not. Read this edition to learn if several IT pros are going to upgrade and why, how this release will affect the database marketplace and pros and cons of actually upgrading. 

Gartner research director, Valdis Filks, offers tips to help businesses get to grips with escalating storage costs.