Using Web based or "on demand" software is a relatively new way of working. During the last few years, the Internet has become home to a developing trend of application service providers (ASPs) - businesses that provide a service by housing a software application on the World Wide Web, giving clients remote access to such applications through the Internet.

The software application is housed at the ASP's facility rather than at the office of the end-user or client. This allows the service provider to manage, update and centralise support for the service, while allowing the client access to the application from any computer in the world with Internet access.

Recently there has been notable growth in the use of on demand software. One of the fastest growing companies in the world is Salesforce.com, which provides on demand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions. In the Architectural and Engineering sectors, one successful on demand solution is TIMEminder, by PH-media which is a leading project management solution to these sectors.

The main reason for the recent growth in this area is that on demand solutions are designed to solve specific business problems, not to create installation and infrastructure headaches.

The data is housed and maintained off site by the supplier, which frees the client from the responsibilities and associated labour costs of maintaining the software. They also use "enterprise class" equipment, which is usually well beyond the budget of a typical SME office.

The rest of this article highlights the main areas in which on demand software compares with traditional client/server (or office based) software.

Each section outlines the main benefits of using ASP software but before selecting a supplier, always check their terms and conditions and disaster recovery documentation to ensure they have sufficient systems in place to ensure your data is safe.

Cost

 Annual maintenance, support fees and call-out charges for installed software can often equal or exceed the equivalent monthly costs.
 The business model for supporting an installed software base is many times more expensive than via the Internet. This allows ASPs to keep their prices low and invest in research and development to ensure your solution is always delivering the best business benefits.
 No expensive engineer callout fees are charged to the client, only additional training if required.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Doesn't paying monthly cost more over the long term?

When looking at the Total Cost of Ownership for buying practice management software, there are a number of relevant factors to consider. Paying a monthly fee to access a web solution has the following advantages over purchasing software outright:

 There is no crippling up front capital investment to make.
 Web based solutions have no impact on your existing hardware infrastructure and will not involve you in upgrading your existing file servers or compromising your existing IT strategy.
 With all upgrades, support and back-up included in the monthly fee you can budget with the confidence that you are not obliged to purchase expensive upgrades to stay competitive.
 A truly "Web-based" or "Web-Native" application only requires a username and a password, nothing additional to license or install.

Time from order to up and running

 With no physical implementation required the time to get up and running is much faster, measured in weeks not months.
 You will not require any additional local support or technical knowledge.

A significant amount of time is usually required to install, set up and maintain legacy Client/Server software systems, including the physical installation, configuration, training and servicing, not to mention the office interruption.

A typical Client/Server system takes anywhere from one to three months for the setup, installation and configuration. All the training takes place thereafter, which is obviously a significant amount of time between purchasing a program and realising improvements from the new system. Such training usually requires an office to close its doors for a significant amount of time while this implementation and training process is undertaken.

With an Internet-based system, there is no such installation, and deployment is as easy as receiving usernames and passwords. ASP systems usually provide online instructions and convenient Web training to make training fast and easy.

Upgrades

Client/server-based software upgrades require an additional fee and an on site vendor consultant to upgrade the software on every machine, contributing to more office downtime. As a result, minor software changes may be put off until a future upgrade. But even smaller maintenance upgrades require installation on every machine and therefore, more office downtime and increased costs.

Conversely, Internet-based systems are easily upgradeable, and changes to such Web software can be made almost immediately as upgrades can be made automatically and installed system-wide

Data and backup storage

In-house data backup at an office requires additional equipment and time. To ensure a quality backup, all users must exit the system before conducting the backup, creating more downtime.

With Internet-based systems, continuous backups are done via the Internet throughout the day without requiring anyone to exit the system. Additionally, the data can be downloaded by the client at anytime for disaster recovery to make an in-house backup copy if desired.

Remote access

Remote access to a Client/Server-based system requires several supplementary elements of complex technology. Internet-based systems can be accessed at anytime from any computer with Internet access.

Multiple office support

Legacy software systems can be configured to support multiple offices, but doing so is more expensive, more complex and very inefficient. Additionally, the data must be continuously synchronized or duplicated across each location.

Multiple office support is inherently a part of Internet-based systems. Each location can share the same secure, real-time data over a standard Internet connection. No special lines or configurations are necessary.

Case study

London based practice Hawkins Brown initially used a client server version of TIMEminder before PH-media made the decision to go entirely Web based. The practice has now made the transition from client server to the Web based application. Financial Manager, Eva Boardman explains:

"Due to our network the speed of the Web-based TIMEminder is much faster than our previous office-based version. I definitely would recommend anyone to use the Web based version. It is so nice to see the regular updates to TIMEminder that appear automatically, particularly the new reports."

Conclusion
 
ASP software does offer a practice the opportunity to use software that may otherwise be out of their reach for a realistic price without all of the normal head aches of client server software.

For some, the move to "someone else holding our data" is a big leap, but rest assured that any reputable company offering their software in this way will make sure that your data is safe and secure. ASPs tend to charge on a monthly or annual basis, this means that they have to give their clients the same high level of service in year four as they did when they signed up.

With cost effective and well supported solutions, companies like Salesforce and PH-media are redefining the software market.