· Sun Microsystems has launched its latest assault on the Microsoft-owned small business software market, this time with its Small Business Server competitor, Small Office Solution. Aimed at companies with 50 employees and slightly above, it delivers all communications including email and SMS on to the user's desktop. If your staff don't want to change their desktop applications then it'll work in the background while they use Microsoft Outlook or whatever else they want. Sun believes it will undercut Microsoft in terms of running costs by about 50%; if you don't already use or have a need for the Microsoft server offerings it's probably not worth starting now, but if you did then this Linux-based system should be worth a look.

· By now many smaller traders have websites. That's good, but on the other hand it means that competition for attention from the search engines, through which many prospects will find the sites, is getting pretty fierce. Web specialist WSPS is among the companies trying to help, which it does with its BidBuddy, an automated system to submit web addresses and indeed keywords to search engines. This is happening at a time at which search engine submission is an increasingly complex process - there are paid-for search engine placements and those based on the amount of other websites linking to each other to measure popularity and relevance, so it is nowhere near as straightforward a process as it used to be. WSPS is designed to help with the former: see www.wsps.co.uk.

· New research from printer manufacturer Lexmark - conducted before the Iraq crisis flared up, mind you - suggests that the majority of small businesses in Europe were optimistic about prospects for growth during 2003. But it also stressed that people's spending on IT was nowhere near as methodical as perhaps it ought to be. Of companies across all geographical markets, 16.5%admitted they had no idea what the cost of ownership (as contrasted with the retail price) of their technology actually was, while this figure rose to 30% in the UK. Among European companies, 23%didn't know how their IT contributed to their profitability or otherwise; rising to 32% in the UK.

· So, how do you announce changes of policy to your employees? This could be a salient question for business managers facing the changes that will be put in place as the Employment Act comes into force on April 6, forcing companies to make provision for flexible working where a request for it can be deemed reasonable. A survey from corporate policy and compliance specialist PolicyMatter suggests a lot of companies are using email, which makes sense: 65 % of companies are disseminating information in this way, but only 22% are actively recording their employees' acceptance of such policies. This is serious because failure to implement a flexible working policy will allow employees to take their boss to an industrial tribunal, which will want more than "we sent an email to the line manager" as evidence that the policy is in place.

· Time spent on commissioning and ordering business cards can be a major pain for small traders who'd rather be focusing on getting more business. This is the very reason why online company the Big E@sy has set up an ordering system which will store your corporate templates and designs as well as lists of names and job titles. It joins businesses including VistaPrint (www.vistaprint.com) which offers a similar service for sole traders, supplying free colour cards if you don't mind having a Vistaprint logo on the back and paying (cheap) delivery costs from the US.

· IBM Global Financing has launched two new financial products to enable small businesses to make realistic investments in IT - and don't be fooled by the name, they don't tie you into buying IBM kit. SuccessLease is aimed at smaller companies wanting to acquire up to £50,000 worth of equipment while Easylease is aimed slightly upmarket at businesses wanting up to £350,000 worth. Leasing is a good option in terms of getting updates automatically and enjoying tax breaks after the current reliefs expire: see www.ibm.com/financing/uk/programmes for details.

· Related to the above, anyone considering spending anything on IT would be well advised to do so before the weekend, if that is at all an option, since the opportunity to get 100% tax relief on business IT costs expires on Monday. There has been some confusion in the market as to what this actually means; it won't make people worse off in the longer term but it will mean that costs are written off (and tax relief offered) over three years rather than in one hit. So if you want immediate tax breaks, now is the time to act - after double-checking any tax-based decision with your accountant!