Are Hosted Software Applications Good for Small Businesses?

A few months ago I wrote an article at Associated Content on whether a small business should consider a hosted software application.  At the time I identified a number of factors that a small business should consider before deciding to rely on a hosted software application.  Some of the factors I discussed included reliability of the provider, cost analysis of ongoing fees versus an outright purchase, ownership and control over your data and the stability of your business’s connection to the Internet.  Since that time, a number of things seem to be making hosted applications more attractive for small companies.  There are now a wide variety of free hosted software applications and broadband access continues to be more widely available for small companies at ever reduced cost.

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Tags: hosted software applications, small business, web

Microsoft (Still) Doesn’t Get The Web

Microsoft has a long history of releasing “not ready for primetime” products.  I recently tried to add this blog’s xml sitemap to their “webmaster tools” on Windows Live Search.  I would have to say that their new “webmaster tools” is another in a long line of Microsoft failures. 

When going to the site to add a sitemap, the user is presented with a simple form.  The form asks for the web site address, the address of the sitemap, how you want to verify ownership of the site (the usual meta tag or by uploading an xml file), and the webmaster’s email address.  Seems simple, right?  Not so fast!  Entering http://www.julianhilltech.com gives an error that says “Invalid web address”.  Dropping the http:// at the beginning yields the same result and adding a “/” on the end yields the same result.  Putting http://www.julianhilltech.com/sitemap.xml as the location of my sitemap yields an error that says my sitemap must be in the root of my web site.  Huh?!  Did you look at the URL? 

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Tags: Live Search, Microsoft, web, Webmaster Tools