Data centers will operate to east and west of New Bedford

Daniel Gallagher, CEO of the $40 million fiber optic project called Open Cape, agrees that data center demand is growing, particularly as cloud computing use intensifies. To be secure, Gallagher said, companies are being advised to have two sites for their data, each a replica of the other, that are located anyway 100 miles apart.

And no longer is it just big financial or medical companies that need secure data sites, he said. "It has trickled down all the way to local government, school districts and small business."

Open Cape, which will begin building a 350-mile fiber optic network from the Cape to Providence and Brockton in January, is as well excited about Granite Block's opening and has said it will base its Fall River regeneration site at the data center's facility.

The Cape-based project is as well building its own data center in Barnstable, according to Gallagher, to be used to meet local needs. Nevertheless where the Fall River business has 163,000 square feet of space available, the Cape data center will be only 2,500 square feet, he said. Yet Gallagher isn't worried about space. Should they run out, he said, he knows where to refer the extra business.

Changing patent laws will help the U.S. align its regulations with those of international communities, nevertheless may as well cause financial headaches for small businesses. Businesses and startups eager to learn more about the changes attended a Nov. 9 workshop on the subject at the Advanced Research and Manufacturing Center in Fall River.

"The big criticism of this act is that it puts small businesses and small inventors at a disadvantage," because the entire process is more expensive, said Horwitz, who is an associate at Brown Rudnick LLP in Boston.

Victor Stancovski, founder of ATMC-based Clean Energy Innovations, was one of the startups that attended the workshop because, he said, he has concerns about the act. Patents are central to CEI's business strategy, Stancovski said.

At Emma Marie's Grooming and Daycare in Mattapoisett, the atmosphere is not high-tech nevertheless the business' owner is. Surrounded by 30 or so dogs every day, owner Johnelle Roderick knows she needs to stay on her toes when it comes to banking services that can help her save time or money.

Southeastern Massachusetts banks told the New England Business Bulletin recently that they see mobile banking as the at once logical step for their already accepted and growing online banking platforms. Nevertheless, some said, it's a service that is on the whole gaining traction among clients and one that faces obstacles to full adoption.

The three services

Of the three services, the most basic lets members text message a key word to access information just as account balances and history. The then and there technological step-up is a browser-based option for Internet capable phones, and First Citizen's third and most complete option is a downloadable application encompassing the full range of mobile banking functionality.

"In this economy, people are reluctant to pay an extra $30 to $50 on top of their cell phone bill to access the Internet," said Chapman.

"We know that mobile banking is going to be in the extreme important to customer accessibility hereafter," said Cooke. "As the innovation improves and more people adopt smart phones it will become a natural extension of our online banking platform."

Look to the December issue of the New England Business Bulletin for the full report on these issues and more. As well featured this month is an innovative Cape-based business that believes its oil-absorbing product can help clean-up spills in New Bedford harbor, and a profile of a Fall River developer who is looking to revitalize the Spindle city one downtown building at a time.

The editor of the New England Business Bulletin

Beth Perdue is the editor of the New England Business Bulletin. To read about these business topics and more, see the New England Business Bulletin on news stands Dec. 1. Or, go to www.nebulletin.com today. To subscribe to The Bulletin, e-mail Kati Sorensen at ksorensen@s-t.com.