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InfoTech: Check into hosted services
1 Aug, 2008 By: Tyler Whitaker Landscape ManagementThe server is down." "The hard drive crashed." "Our upgrade didn't work like we thought it would." These are the phrases that every business owner dreads, and in the world of premise-based software and hardware, they are often a reality. But when you use hosted or online services, you can put many of these headaches behind you.
Online solutions remove the need for expensive on-site hardware and technical staff. Your core business is not directly related to maintaining servers, running backups or upgrading software. Why not outsource these functions and pay a small monthly fee for the benefit of using someone else's information technology (IT) infrastructure and staff?
Google Gmail vs. Microsoft Exchange
When it comes to technology, one of the biggest time and resource drains on a small business can be managing email. Using Microsoft Exchange has long been the enterprise solution for managing corporate email and calendaring. But typically Exchange requires IT staff, servers, backups and a host of other costly processes and procedures.
In the past year, Google has made some significant progress in positioning its Gmail and Calendar products as an alternative for businesses wanting more out of their email. Google's offerings definitely take the pain out of corporate email by hosting everything online at a price point between free and roughly $4 per user per month. The downside is for users of Microsoft Outlook: Google's Gmail feature set is a little more limiting.
Microsoft recently countered with a hosted version of Exchange called the "Deskless Worker Suite." At $3 per user per month, you get a "light" version of Exchange.
Intuit's QuickBooks Online
Intuit's QuickBooks is easy to use and inexpensive compared to bigger enterprise accounting packages. One downside is backing up and managing the size of data files. I was always nervous that the loss of my laptop meant my business instantly plunged into financial darkness. With Intuit's online version of QuickBooks, those worries go away. Now I have the ability to manage company finances securely from wherever I can find an Internet connection. And with the advent of online banking and Intuit's long history of securing financial information, hacker risks are mitigated.
With pricing starting at $9.95 a month, is maintaining your financial record systems in-house really worth the time and effort?
Online solutions offer a number of cost savings. The most-overlooked benefits are the savings in time and attention. Outsourcing technology needs to the right providers enables you to focus on growing your core business. In the long run, both your business and your bottom line will benefit.
— The author is a freelance technologist focusing in business automation. Contact him at 801/592-2810 or visit his blog at
www.tylerwhitaker.com.
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