Low Rent Apps

واضح آرشیو وب فارسی:سایت ریسک: View Full Version : Low-Rent Apps Vahed02-08-2007, 03:25 PMBringing old processes online saves time and money! Founded in 1764, The Hartford Courant is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. The paper handles a high volume of classifi ed ads that go into print and online. Since Colonial times, employees have used word of mouth and paper to communicate between the sales and production departments. But as the paper system entered the 21st century, it began to break down under increasing sales volume and a greater range of consumer offerings. Sales reps spent the whole day running back and forth between their desks and the production department. Ads and changes to ads were scribbled on sticky notes and handed off, ostensibly to someone who wouldn’t lose them. The classifi ed department recently turned to Intuit’s online database offering, QuickBase, to streamline the process and introduce accountability. “With the old system, things would get lost all the time. Now we can place and correct ads speedily, sometimes while the customer is still on the phone,” says online support manager Polly Edwards. One project involving real-estate listings used to take 16 or more hours a week. Now customers can input ad information themselves through a form on the Courant’s Web site. The data is ported automatically to a QuickBase database, which generates proofs for customers to approve. The ads are also imported into Adobe InDesign and laid out automatically. “We de signed this to save us time, and it turns out that the customers love it,” says Edwards. HOW YOU CAN DO IT, TOO SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SAAS) IS THE TERM DU JOUR FOR application service providers (ASPs) and online applications. Many small businesses (and departments in larger businesses) are turning to SaaS to implement new software initiatives. Advantages include not having to purchase, install, and maintain software or the server it would run on. It’s a very attractive proposition for small-business owners. SaaS opens the world of enterprise applications to small businesses. What 10-person (or even 100-person) shop has the resources to implement and maintain an ERP application— on its own servers? SaaS typically helps businesses save time and money. Providers have massive infrastructures with all sorts of redundancies built in to prevent failure. Another benefi t is disaster recovery. Events that force your offi ce to close typically don’t affect your SaaS provider; you can simply connect to the Internet and run the app from somewhere else. When evaluating SaaS solutions, keep the following tips in mind UNDERSTAND TECH-SUPPORT POLICIES. Is your shop 24/7? Will the provider be there for your users 24/7? Can your staff get through to a knowledgeable support person quickly? What sort of turnaround time is guaranteed for issues? ASK FOR A TEST DRIVE. It should be easy as pie for a provider to give you a 30-day trial; after all, quick rollout is supposed to be a selling point for SaaS. During this time, make sure that the solution does what you need and verify that its availability and performance are what you expect. EVALUATE CUSTOMIZATION CAPABILITIES. Can you modify data structures and add custom fi elds to accommodate data already stored in a local database? Can you assign policies by user or group? Are there customizable workfl ow features such as automatic notifi cation when approval is needed? FIND OUT WHAT SORTS OF API ARE AVAILABLE. To tie this application in with the rest of your company’s data, you’ll need a well-documented API. Ask about Web Services standards —give extra consideration to services whose APIs comply. CONSIDER THE PROVIDER’S CUSTOMER BASE. Are other small businesses among the clientele? The last thing you want is to settle on a provider only to have it go belly-up, or, possibly worse, start cutting corners because of fi nancial pressure. FIND OUT THE PROVIDER’S RETURN POLICY. Should you later decide to take the function in-house or to a rival ASP, how will you get your data back? Also ask what formats that data can be exported to. You don’t want years’ worth of transactions locked up inextricably with a provider—or in its app’s proprietary data format. *__ BY MATTHEW D. SARREL سایت ما را در گوگل محبوب کنید با کلیک روی دکمه ای که در سمت چپ این منو با عنوان +1 قرار داده شده شما به این سایت مهر تأیید میزنید و به دوستانتان در صفحه جستجوی گوگل دیدن این سایت را پیشنهاد میکنید که این امر خود باعث افزایش رتبه سایت در گوگل میشود

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