Doing it All Online

Microsoft recently joined Yahoo in another battle for control. It has stepped up its online solutions platform for small business. Microsoft recently upgraded Office Live Small Business "OLSB" (poorly named, it has little to do with the MS Office product set) to give small businesses online solutions they can put up without needing outside technical help.

According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, only 35% of small businesses have a website, half have a high speed connection, and only 57% use the internet for business purposes. Microsoft and Yahoo are trying to bridge this gap. Microsoft's OLSB provides the following:

• A private domain website with 100 email accounts and 5G storage (free for the first year)
• A contact manager with Outlook synchronization
  
• A document manager for version control, sharing, and rights management.
• Online workspaces and a Project Manager solution.
• It even works with the Firefox browser (so even Mac users can apply)!!
  

While all the above is free, modules for e-commerce (selling your products online) and email marketing are available for a fee. A more detailed review is provided by Stuart Johnson of Small Business Computing.

This offering is a 2.0 version, much better than the original, and presumably it will keep getting better. Yahoo's services are similar, and I would be surprised if we don't see a few more entrants (Google, etc.).

If you've been waiting to go, market, or sell online, because of cost or complexity, these solutions make it much easier and cost efficient. The minimum hurdle has been lowered significantly.