STRATEGIES

Buyer’s Guide: How to Buy Online Data Backup
  Saving regular backup copies of your company’s crucial data with a hosted, online provider can make a lot of sense for small business. It’s affordable and typically more secure than any backup option you could provide on your own. We’ll walk you through the questions you should ask before you trust your data to an online vendor. (October 27, 2005)

Buying and Selling Software as a Service: A View from the Trenches
 Without evaluating SaaS and looking at the big picture, today’s enterprise software firms may not survive in an increasingly competitive market. Guest columnist Chris Miranda discusses how these vendors may well be doing their customers and partners a disservice in the short- and long-term if they don’t carefully investigate their options to move toward a service-delivered model. (October 6, 2005)

Company Spotlight: TheLadders.com
 The hot online job market had space to fill for the $100K+ set and TheLadders.com moved right in. (July 28, 2005)

CRM Best Practices
 Six tips from the experts on how to choose the right CRM solution for your company and boost your odds for a successful adoption. (July 25, 2005)

Anatomy of a Successful CRM Implementation
 With CRM gaining in popularity once again, heeding a few crucial steps should lead to a successful deployment (this time around), writes guest columnist Bill Donlan of Adjoined. (July 14, 2005)

Dev: Integrating Your Web Site into Microsoft CRM
 Using Microsoft’s CRM software is an effective way to keep track of who your company is doing business with. Integrating customer interaction on your website with Microsoft CRM will move you even closer to efficient, automated business processes and help you realize the ROI you’re after. (June 8, 2005)

Outsource Security to the Cloud
 One company is building security data centers, offering top-of-the-line, up-to-date products to business customers on a plan the company calls ‘Security in the Cloud.’ (June 1, 2005)

Microsoft Wants Everybody Talking … via Web Services
 FEATURE: Microsoft wants everything from printers to cameras to cell phones communicate via Web services. (April 29, 2005)

Product Review: Interland’s Online Catalog Suite
 Like many modern ISPs, Interland offers a lot more than just Web hosting. In the latest in an ongoing series of online hosted e-commerce storefronts, we examine Interland’s ‘Online Catalog Suite’ offering. (March 17, 2005)

Dev: Service-Oriented Architectures: An Overview
 Get a developer’s overview of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs), the compositional software structure at the heart of the Event Web. (February 17, 2005)

Company Spotlight: Ubersmith Oustources Billing for Businesses Both Large and Small
 With solutions available for both large and small hosting companies, Ubersmith’s billing application service is currently offered as an outsourced solution and, soon, as downloadable software as well. (January 25, 2005)

Dev: Remoting or Web Services, How Do I Decide?
 Choosing between XML Web services and .NET remoting isn’t a hard decision. Just use XML Web services almost all of the time, says Paul Kimmel. (January 6, 2005)

Dev: Building Distributed Apps? Use XML Web Services, Not .NET Remoting (Mostly)
 When choosing between .NET Remoting and Web services for your distributed applications, XML Web services are the right call most of the time. Learn how to produce and consume these Web services. (December 16, 2004)

Halsey Minor, CEO Grand Central Communications
 The entrepreneur discusses his latest venture, which proposes to integrate customers’ applications on demand. (November 22, 2004)

For ASPs and ISPs, Better Margins Through E-Commerce Automation
 A look at Rodopi Software’s offering for online service providers, which administers nearly hands-free customer sign-up, fulfillment, billing, and support. (October 13, 2004)

Wading into Uncharted Waters
 While Web services have been touted as here today and ready for action, CIO Update columnist Mike Champion, a senior technologist at Software AG, advises CIOs to approach with caution. (October 4, 2004)

Airframe Makes Waves as an ASP
 With its wide selection of business applications, price-per-user subscription and all-you-can-use applications, Airframe could be the ASP for you. (October 1, 2004)

IBM Takes ISVs to the Web
 As small and mid-sized businesses start to explore new options for software delivery and pricing structures, IBM announced that it is stepping up its efforts to work with independent software vendors to help them offer their wares as Web-based services. (September 30, 2004)

GoToMeeting Offers Affordable Web Conferencing
 Have you considered Web conferencing but found it too complicated or just too expensive? Citrix Online wants to change all that with GoToMeeting, a simple, secure service with a price that peaked our interest. (September 23, 2004)

Web-based Biz Finds a Home With Microsoft
 Starting a virtual business offers very real challenges, but Mountain Plus found the going easier by signing on with the Microsoft Small Business Center for advice, information and a suite of online tools. (September 16, 2004)

NetSuite’s Online Advantage
 NetSuite Small Business lets you manage your financial and accounting data from any Internet-ready PC. But is that enough to make you abandon QuickBooks? (September 9, 2004)

E-Mail Providers Praise Progress at Sender ID Summit
 The ESPC and other e-mail players emerge from their huddle at Microsoft’s headquarters. (August 13, 2004)

SMBs Don’t Have to Pay for CRM
 FreeCRM and Salesforce.com let you manage your customer relationships without spending a dime. (August 2, 2004)

Softricity About More Than Application Delivery
 With the release of SoftGrid Enterprise Edition, Softricity’s application virtualization platform becomes more than just a new way of doing Electronic Software Distribution. (July 14, 2004)