If one were to simplify the evolution of the internet, you could characterize changes as going from static websites, to interactive blogs and social networks, to web services and resources that increase productivity by moving tasks, projects, and work online. Web services are increasingly known as online applications extended from "Cloud Computing." Fancy parlance that alludes to the fact that your data, the work you've done within the application, lives on the internet; 'out there,' up in the clouds (so to speak), rather than on your laptop or a saved file easily lost or corrupted.
The promise of cloud computing is both simple and exciting:
1. No software to install (usually nothing to buy)
2. Nothing to save, backup, or worry about being lost to Swine Flu or some other virus
3. Accessibility from anywhere you can get online: work, home, your iPhone, or the business center at a hotel.
More than that, these online services offer a world free of upgrades, service packs, and versions which are costly to both your wallet and in terms of re-learning the application.
In all likelihood, you've been using a form of cloud computing, a web service, for years. Yahoo! Mail and Gmail are nothing more than online variations of a traditional software product like Outlook. With such an account, you are already an expert with web services.
Leaving one to wonder, why are you still using software?
As a small business, associating yourself with your domain (your web site address) is important. Yahoo Mail is nice but you won't want to be identified, professionally, with yahoo.com; that means, migrating from a yahoo.com or gmail.com address to one consistent with your brand and identity.
Take a look at Google Apps as a way to migrate your email from Outlook or a hosted site to yourdomain.com. Google has brilliantly incorporated calendar and documents and spreadsheets through Apps with a web service that hosts all at "yourdomain.com." Essentially, your work online, at your company.
Whoa, wait... "documents?"
That's right, the first place to look to web services is with your presentation, document, and spreadsheet applications with which you need not buy MS Office or deal with the software considerations therein. Google Docs will give you most of the functionality of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel while putting it all online, accessible from anywhere, and without the need to save and manage files.
Want alternatives to Google? ThinkFree, a document application, is doing some brilliant work with documents that enable you to easily put them online; that is, more than just creating files.
For spreadsheets (you aren't still using spreadsheets are you?), take a look at TrackVia for an innovative approach to doing much more with rows and columns of data. Consider too though, that as a small business, you have various applications for those spreadsheets. Certainly, you might have been managing your books in Excel (though, no longer, right?), and TrackVia gives us a way to better use the data for projects and planning, you also have business relationships to manage and clients to coordinate. Sign up with Highrise to optimize "who is doing what" for you and take a look at Pipeline Deals as a far better resource for tracking sales leads and potential business with their hosted CRM.
'What does this have to do with my business expenses or income? I see an opportunity with spreadsheets but...'
Check out Freshbooks as a way to better manage your income. Freshbooks is, simply, intuitive and "painless" billing with online invoicing, tracking and reporting. Vastly simplify you accounting with an online solution; eliminating the challenges presented with software that needs to be upgraded and relearned as new versions are released. There is no reason to manage transitions through Quicken or Quickbooks, Peachtree, or other software variations. Don't accept the fact that software "sunsets." That is, at some point, software is no longer supported by the company, leaving you without customer support or resources you need when you have questions about the product you bought only a few years ago.
The invoices you manage through Freshbooks plug directly into Outright, where you can track income, expenses, and estimate taxes for your business; all online, in the clouds. Sign up for Outright now to, simply, track those expenses you have from being on the road or taking a client to lunch and get a little more familiar with cloud computing.
For a fantastic read on productivity related applications of cloud computing, give ReadWriteWeb a read.
Still not enough? What if you could move your entire operating system online? And wait until you see what the gang at Earth Class Mail is doing... to heck with moving just software online.
Outright is secure.