The shift toward hardware independence

For many small businesses this picture is changing: an increasing number of workers telecommute from home, road warriors work from airports, hotels and customer sites, and executives e-mail from their vacation homes. The expanding use of technology is providing us with a mobile business world.

Changes in technology and the work environment have acted as catalysts for improvements in many other office operations and devices--most significantly, the use of the traditional desktop computer with installed, licensed software that tethers an employee to a dedicated workstation. The growing number of mobile employees that work in a "virtual office" need, and are demanding, access to their files and data without being restricted to an individual PC or intranet. This evolution is the driving force behind the Software as a Service revolution.

Functionality and flexibility without the costs
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model of software delivery where the software company provides applications--such as CRM and sales force automation solutions, e-mail and collaboration software--which customers access through JavaScript enabled Web browsers.

Users log in to specified Web pages for immediate and up-to-date access to their business application(s). These applications do not require desktop clients or downloads, freeing up device memory and increasing accessibility. Their potential often exceeds that of traditional boxed software by integrating the application with the Internet's communication capabilities, making it easy to instantly share data, such as customer information, calendars and other files.

With a cost structure that fits the small business budget and services that meet their needs, smaller companies are finally reaping the benefits of applications that have typically been available only to big businesses that could afford to make large investments in hardware, software and IT staff. Many SaaS applications operate on a subscription fee basis and are available for as little as a few dollars per user, per month. SaaS providers also manage the maintenance, daily technical operations and support services of the software, usually at no additional cost to the subscriber.

Day-to-day impact
SaaS applications provide virtual workforces with the ability to manage their daily activities, improve their communication with team members, and collaborate on group projects and documents. For example, with SaaS applications, a team of remote salespeople can have their appointments managed by a single administrator through a shared calendar application, a customer support team can work from home with online CRM software, or a consulting team can work together on their latest proposal from various locations, in real-time, by using file-sharing applications.

For SaaS subscribers, critical business information remains accessible from any Web-enabled device, so employees can work from anywhere, at anytime--from a PDA to an Internet café to an airport. As travel restrictions on electronics increase, the ability to work from any computer is taking on a whole new value--small businesses are able to access important information, such as presentations, needed to help them land important accounts, and sales representatives are able to access critical customer information for their next meeting.

SaaS surpasses the mobility and flexibility that even laptop PCs provide and offers more security as well. Storing information on dedicated devices leaves the information vulnerable to theft, hackers, or loss due to system failure. The high level of security provided by SaaS providers and the extensive back-up protocols they have in place 24 hours a day, protect subscribers from these threats.

Then and now
Delivering software via the Web has been tried in the past, principally during the dot-com era by companies known as Application Service Providers (ASPs). ASPs had trouble succeeding because they attempted to port bulky desktop applications to a Web model, which would load or run very slowly due to the limited bandwidth that was available at the time. Today's providers take advantage of widespread business broadband usage and have designed applications using Asynchronous Java with XML (AJAX), a programming technology that enables fast downloads and desktop-like capabilities, such as drag-and-drop. The result is software that looks and feels like familiar desktop applications, without the drawbacks of being tied to a particular device.

Small Business owners now have the ability to use Software as a Service to cut costs, liberate their workforce and run more agile organizations. The small business owner--from the dreamer managing his small start-up in his garage to the thriving and well-established business--can take advantage of proven big business tools without having to make costly, up-front investments or having to pay high licensing and updating fees. This is not only a SaaS revolution, for them, it is a small business revolution.

biography Martin Edic is general manager of BlueTie's Business Division, He is responsible for all of BlueTie's direct and channel partner sales into the small to mid-sized business markets including online sales, oversight of UK sales, and development of BlueTie’s rapidly expanding direct sales group.

Prior to joining BlueTie, Martin was founder of two Internet Marketing companies and is the author of six books on entrepreneurship, sales and marketing for small businesses.