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GO IT ALONE!

• No required infrastructure: With online services, no hardware or software is needed. “You just point your browser.”

• Unbeatable affordability: “There are no setup fees, maintenance payments or other hidden costs—just one simple monthly subscription that is less than your sales rep’s cell phone bill. . . . And because online companies can spreadthe cost of their infrastructure across tens-of-thousands of users, staying ahead of the technology curve is never a burdensome cost to the customer, or a needless distraction to a successful business.”

• Unlimited scalability: Online CRM solutions are less complex and provide feature-rich functionality that is fully configurable by customers. Application enhancements are seamless and instantaneous. Because these solutions are fully scalable, they can easily meet the demands of growing enterprises.

Because many go-it-alone businesses rely on a large number of independently operating ASPs, the current focus of many ASPs is on easy integration with other ASPs. As businesses link functions, much less time is required to ensure that information residing in one “silo” is incorporated into other aspects of the business. The same holds true for integrating information in ASPs with commonly used software. Salesnet, for example, offers more than 200 prebuilt connectors to software such as Lotus Notes and Oracle. Doyle says that like Salesnet itself, they are easy to use: “They are configured by clicks, not code. This represents an accelerating trend. Over time, there will soon be ever more easy to use, sophisticated links between ASPs and commonly used software and between ASPs communicating with other ASPs. The result will be an increasingly seamless experience for the small-business user.

Essential for go-it-alone entrepreneurs is the accelerated development of ASPs targeted at businesses with fewer employees.

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Terms of Use GO IT ALONE! Copyright 2004 by Bruce Judson. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.