According to a recent interview with Stephen Kurtz, president of Total IT, it's important for businesses to regularly evaluate and upgrade their tech stack. This can help improve performance and streamline tasks. But how do you know when it's time for an upgrade? Kurtz shares four tell-tale signs to look out for:

1. Performance issues, such as lagging systems or frequent crashes
2. Outdated software or hardware
3. Difficulty integrating new tools or systems
4. Security vulnerabilities

Big Tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta have been sponsoring the Small Business Administration's (SBA) annual event, National Small Business Week (NSBW), since President Joe Biden took office. A letter from advocacy groups, led by the Revolving Door Project, was sent to the SBA on Monday expressing concern about the partnerships. The letter claims that the partnerships contradict the Biden administration's efforts to take on these tech giants. The groups believe that the SBA's decision to partner with these monopolistic companies goes against President Biden's Executive Order On Promoting Competition. Amazon, Google, and Meta are accused of bullying third party sellers, monopolizing digital advertising, and buying up competitors.

Pipedrive, a sales CRM for small businesses, recently released their Marketplace yearly results and most popular apps of 2023. The data shows that small businesses using software integrations to automate tasks across the revenue cycle win about 1.5 times more deals than companies that have not adopted any third-party tools. With more than 400 integrations, the Pipedrive Marketplace enables customers to sync their data across systems all in one place and automate and optimize processes. This technology helps increase productivity, reduce manual errors, find more qualitative leads faster or enhance team collaboration, making a huge difference in sales.