Get in the fast lane
Although some Web-delivered applications work within the confines of slow analog connections -- the stripped-down interface of an accounting service like NetLedger, say -- too much of what ASPs promise can't be delivered over these slow connections. This is one of the reasons why major-league ISPs like AT&T WorldNet and Juno have put off plans to host applications for two or three years, hoping that by then broadband access will be more prevalent in small businesses.
Unless your small business has a broadband link to the Internet -- DSL or cable at the least -- forget about ASPs. You may be able to bring in more powerful, expensive software by renting than you could by buying, but you'll lose tons of employee work time as they wait for apps to load and operate over the wires.
Do you have what it takes, bandwidth-wise, to try an ASP? If so, is it smart to put your eggs in a free ASP's basket? My answer's next, and it's not what cash-pinched small companies will want to hear.
