SMB naming standards

It’s no secret that small and midsized businesses (SMBs) are a hot topic these days. Companies like SAP and Oracle are giving SMBs more attention, and analysts predict this trend will continue in 2007.

But it’s also no secret that “SMB,” like so many TLAs and buzzwords, is incredibly broad. The first question to ask anyone who talks about SMBs is what they consider to be the definition of a small company, and what constitutes midsized.

Well, wonder no longer. TechTarget sister site SearchSMB.com has put together a list of how various vendors and analysts define SMBs.

And they’re even nice enough to provide a list of other potential meanings of the abbreviation, so you’ll know when talking to SAP execs that they’re probably not talking about a Server Message Block, or the Society for Mathematical Biology, or — no matter how much having one might help — a Screaming Mechanical Brain. Just feel lucky they’re not talking about Super Mario Brothers or the Steve Miller Band. Even retro cool can’t survive being that retro.