Starting the Online Office
So, I use Google Apps right now for my documents, calendar, planning, and so forth, for OBriNet. I’ve got a list of a hundred things I have to do still, like register my business, apply for a Federal EIN, open a bank account strictly for the business, so forth. The more I start looking into what needs to be done only for the business (not for the client support), I have some work to do still. Most of it is not hard, but as of right now, I’m about $100 in the red on the business books, and I have other stuff I have to do with my regular paycheck (like insulating the attic and Christmas) that I can’t afford to dump many resources into the business right now.
Anyways, on the back-end stuff, I’m using Google Apps for documents. This does leave something to be desired for the most part, but it works enough to do what I need it to do. I was doing a little research into the costs of leasing an online server (Server 2003 preferably) so I could do a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), compared to building out another server, and making it strictly a business server (along with the dedicated internet line, static IP, so forth) so that I could really have an online office. Anyways (again) I found something that could rival, if not beat, Google in the documents department. It’s a site called ThinkFree, and from what I’ve read, it’s just about as good as using the standard MS Office for creating documents, spreadsheets, and Presentations.
One thing I like about this so far (from reading documentation on the website) is that not only can you use this online, but you can download the software for use on your computer. It supports the standard Windows, but also current versions of Apple’s OSX and Linux with a Kernel of 2.2.4 or newer. How can it do this you ask? It’s run solely in Java, which is OS Independent. Nice :)
On top of being able to use the document creation on the site, you can also invite others for collaboration, and store up to 1024MB (known as a GB) of documents as well.
Why am I writing about this? Is it that I just try and find multiple ways of doing the same thing? Yep. Am I just a geek with apparently entirely too much free time? sort of. Most importantly, however, is that my goal is to try and help small businesses with their IT needs without incurring the typical IT and consultant fee’s, which can be great. If I can cut down on the typical expenses such as online backup, online hosting, and software, this could save a single small business a couple of thousand bucks a year. (case in point, I just moved my one single client over to a new online backup routine, which is just more secure and offers more options, saving him 780/yr)
The more I look for ways to help my own small business out in the long run, the more I’m finding ways of cutting costs for other small businesses. Nice
