There is a lot of talk about ‘cloud computing' at the moment, suggesting that it is something new that we all need to start using. Well, for many of you reading this article - you are already using at least one cloud-based service - LiquidShop. Put simply, a hosted, web-based service is cloud computing and the benefits are clear. Reduced capital costs, a fully managed and maintained service, and access to regular system updates. Why would you want to ever buy software again when these are the benefits of the alternative?

The retail trade is about to enter its next major buying period and Sitemakers will be attending some of the major retail trade shows in June and July to provide seminars and advice to retailers on the subject of online and multichannel retailing. One thing that we discuss is the need to have access to timely data on stock and sales whenever and wherever it is needed. Using hosted services means that a retailer can access all of the relevant trading information at any time and be able to keep track of the business even when out at trade shows seeking next season's new and exciting products.

All this is part of making sure your business is fit, agile and responsive in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Somerset will receive a multi-million pound package, part of the Government's £530m fund earmarked to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to areas that the market alone will not reach, adding to the existing superfast broadband pilots.

"This is great news for people in these areas," said Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. "Other councils will soon have the chance to bid for a nationwide funding programme as part of our plan for virtually every community in the UK to have access to superfast broadband."

Sitemakers have been supporting the bid for this grant and congratulate the team at Connecting Somerset that put forward such a compelling proposal. As well as supporting the creative industries in the county, this means that almost any business can be part of the online revolution and does not have to be located in a city to get access to the digital world as the same high speeds that urban areas already enjoy.

Now that we have reached 20% of all UK retail sales happening on the Internet, there is no excuse for leaving your ecommerce website to run itself. Just as you would always have a staff member in a retail high street store, the same applies for online as well. Yes there is some clever coding embedded in good ecommerce sites that will take away the repetition and obvious adjustments like deciding that to do when a product runs out of stock, but it does not match an individual retailers knowledge and experience to just know what works and why.

Where possible, you need to set aside a time each day when you review the homepage of your site, the most popular and visible products and sections and tune (not tinker) with the content based on your retailer expertise coupled with looking at your sales and site statistics. Of course this means that you must have the ability to make these adjustments immediately - most good ecommerce systems will have a content administration (usually called a CMS) that gives you the ability to amend preview and enact changes instantly. If this is not the case and any amendments to your website require a third party or supplier to take your instructions with a turnaround time that is not under your control, then it's time to look for a replacement.

Sitemakers are often asked to review ecommerce websites for retailers and we find that well over 50% of these appraisals show a site that has not changed for a significant period of time. We are in the era of knowledgeable and impatient online consumers and they can be even more critical of ecommerce websites than our own reviewers. Customers will rapidly decide how good a website looks, feels and navigates but, just as importantly, they will expect it to offer all of the key features they are used to seeing on other websites when searching and buying from the Internet.

If your website has not been updated or improved during the past few months the chances are it will be missing some of these key new features and it may also limit access to the growing market of smartphone and tablet computer users.

Have you tested your site to see if it works on the iPhone and Android based smartphones? Over 10 million people in the UK made retail purchases online via their mobiles in 2010. In addition, the most popular web browsers - Firefox and Internet Explorer, have had major updates recently. This means that even if you are still viewing your ecommerce site on last year's version of a web browser many of your ecommerce visitors will be accessing web pages on this year's shiny new version. And it is vital that it works properly for them.

The popular phrase "the only constant is Change" is so true about modern technology with its compelling drive for faster, better, easier. Don't be left behind in this process and if you do not have the time or inclination to tackle this yourself, then get a member of staff or a trusted supplier to take this on for you.