The Dilemma
While larger companies and corporations have always been able to meet their computing needs
either through internal staffing or by contracting with service providers, the
small- to medium-sized business owner has long been at a disadvantage. This was
true in the 1980's and 1990's in the areas of -
- Consulting
- Hardware/software selection, acquisition, and implementation
- System configuration
- Ongoing support
Service providers have always been anxious to serve larger organizations, but
reluctant to work with smaller companies.
The same remains true today. But, added to this dilemma is a lack of professional
assistance to help the small business owner establish a presence on the Internet.
There are of course tools to help owners design and launch their own site, but the
learning curve is steep and daunting. Still, if so inclined, they may -
- Research, select and register a domain name
- Conduct an evaluation of web hosting services available and make a
selection based upon price, bandwidth, amount of disk storage, tools and
services offered, host reliability and stability, and quality of technical support
- Decide whether the site should be launched only as a public portal, or as a
secure working environment for employees - or both
- Design the website, code the pages and upload them to a server
- Create the needed files and databases, then populate them with current data
- Maintain and support the new website, monitoring availability and creating periodic backups
- Be prepared to respond to any unscheduled, prolonged website outage
Or, they may elect to turn to someone who will do all that and more on their behalf -
someone who can make such decisions based upon solid experience.
In practice, a business owner's time and energy are nearly always better spent
focused on their core competency - running the company.
