On 31 August 1999, Sun announced a major initiative in its "dot com" program. This initiative involved its purchase of Star Division, maker of a Microsoft/Corel office type program called StarOffice. The neat thing about StarOffice is that:

1. It uses less computer resources (like hard drive space) than the other "office" programs.
2. It is compatible across all major operating systems (Linux, OS/2, Windows, and Solaris).
3. It can be fully accessible via a WEB browser, no installation on the local computer needed.

Sun is by no means the only vendor creating a new world of hosted applications, moving the computing (programs and user data files) from the local PC and network to the Internet. HP, IBM, Oracle, Compaq, HotOffice, and hundreds of others (from ISPs and telephone companies to software vendors and beyond) are positioning products for this new era of computing.

However, what is in it for your small business? Should you even take advantage of it? Here are some things to conside:

1. Deciding whether to use hosted applications for all your business needs or just a selected few, will have to be up to each individual business, according to YOUR needs.
2. Using hosted applications and accessing Internet based data does offer many advantages:

• You do not have to worry about the next upgrade. Once you log on you already have the latest version. In the Microsoft world, small businesses are constantly shoving money to Microsoft and other vendors, every X years or months for new versions of Windows and other applications.

• You do not have to worry about programs crashing. We have gotten so used to error messages, crashes, and bugs. These are huge time wasters. With hosted applications, these problems will most likely never be seen.

• Having viruses corrupt your valued business applications is no longer a worry if you are using hosted applications.

• You will never have to worry if you have left a file in the office, on a floppy, or at a client's office. It is all on the Internet and is ideally accessible from any WEB browser.

3. As with every thing in life there are disadvantages also:

• Do not try to base your business on hosted applications if you are still using a slow 28.8 or even 56k modem. Hosted applications are ideally used in a high bandwidth environment like DSL, cable, or satellite.

• This technology is new and immature, so there will be problems. I would suggest that especially for "mission critical" applications that you stay away from hosted applications.

• Try out and use some non-mission-critical uses for hosted applications first. Do a test run. Try something like Hot Office (communication), E-letter (mailing), OneCore (banking), and other hosted application services (links to all of these are at http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/shop.htm

• Ebay, MCI, and other services have crashed and will continue to do so just like your own computer. Do not expect that because you have hosted applications you will be problem free. You will not.

• The security and backup of your data is very important. Remember these technologies are immature and new. Even when they are more mature and have gained wider acceptance in the small business world, remember that this is YOUR DATA. Back it up and have a redundancy plan.

Ramon Ray - ramon@smallbiztechnology.com
Small business technology analyst and consultant
Editor, Small Business Technology Report
http://www.smallbiztechnology.com