Web-based apps that work for you
By Cynthia Karena | smh.com.au | 04 May
The ability to access his company information from anywhere is what sells web-based business software to Simon Goodrich, the managing director of the digital technology company Portable Content (portablecontent.com).
Web-based software is what you use on the internet with a web browser. There is no need to install or download anything and data is backed-up automatically off-site. The applications are a click away.
Many businesses use Google applications such as Gmail or Google Calendar but here are some lesser-known useful web applications suited to small businesses.
Goodrich looks to web applications to save money, effort and time. "They are constantly being upgraded," he says. "You don't have to wait two years."
He uses Basecamp (basecamphq.com) and Harvest Time Tracking (harvestapp.com) to track projects. Basecamp is an online project-management tool that Portable's clients use to interact with the company. "We have many people working on multiple projects and it's an easy way to manage files, to-do lists, milestones and messages," Goodrich says.
Basecamp is one of a suite of web applications for small businesses from 37signals (37signals.com). Other 37signals applications include Highrise (highrisehq.com) to track business contacts, leads and deals, as well as track all conversations, phone calls and emails; and Campfire (campfirenow.com), which allows team members to collaborate by sharing text and files in real time in a similar manner to instant messaging.
"Harvest tracks time spent on projects," Goodrich says. "It brings a level of accountability to the way the business works for ourselves and clients. It's a great way to justify to our clients what we've been doing."
Web applications "enable me to push into working from home while still collaborating with others", says Clinton Downs, from the animation group The Lab. "They give me accessibility beyond the office. They are hosted elsewhere - someone else takes care of the maintenance and upgrades."
Downs uses 14Dayz (14dayz.com) for time tracking, where he can "track the progress of my team away from the office", and Shotgun tracking and scheduling (shotgunsoftware.com). He says that, for him, the application interface is critical. It has to be "simple and powerful".
"It's taken a while for web apps to be able to do things like multiple selects and drag and drop," Downs says.
"The way we can interact with web applications is very powerful. Instead of static websites, now we can customise them and display data how you like."
The web is also great for storing and backing-up information. Unfortunately computers crash, there are hardware failures, electricity interruptions or blackouts and virus attacks. Backing-up data in the cloud automatically stores it off-site. Simon Goodrich uses Dropbox (getdropbox.com) for sharing and synchronising files with people all over the world. Changes are synchronised automatically into a common file storage area.
You could also use Dropbox to back-up any files or information you want to have access to when travelling.
Australian developers have the edge because they understand the way small businesses work here, according to Brendan Lewis, the chairman of The Churchill Club (churchillclub.org.au), a community of technologists, innovators and entrepreneurs.
He uses Saasu (saasu.com), which is a comprehensive Australian-developed online-accounting system for managing business financials - jobs such as sales, purchasing, inventory, payroll, e-commerce and the management of documents and workflow.
Lewis is a fan because Saasu is programmed to understand the Australian tax system and other accounting procedures and there is no need to convert to Australian dollars.
"My bookkeeper and I use it together and we work out of different suburbs," Lewis says. "I can be in Thailand and still see if people are paying their bills."
Lewis is also investigating Medley (medleysystems.com), which streamlines expense processing, leave management, time billing and asset tracking in business.
"I get on to Google and then start looking at customer reviews," he says.
"If you are interested in an application, search for the name with a positive word [such as 'fantastic'] or a negative word to check out the customer reviews."
There is a US concept called the lean start-up, he says, where small businesses can download whatever components - administrative, operational, marketing - they want from the internet for free or at low cost.
First published by Smh.com.au on May 04 2010
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