Keeping Track of your customers and prospects is critical for a small business. The following web based applications offer free CRM functionality.

Highrise 250 contacts and one login with the free version.

FreeCrm 5 logins and advertising with the free version.

Zoho CRM 3 logins with the free version.

This is the third post in my series on Cloud Computing. Click here for the introduction and index.

Email is the obvious place to start with cloud apps because its both one of the oldest cloud based applications, and because its one of the most common. Almost every email provider has a web based email program, so its pretty easy to get your mail on the web. the problem with most of those web based applications is that they only allow you to read one email account at at time. Since I have personal email address, a business email address, a blog email address, and an email address that only my in-laws use, I don’t want to be going 4 different places each time I check my email.  PC based email programs like Outlook Express, and Mozilla Thunderbird let you pull and send from different accounts in the same program, I want to be able to do this on the web too.

This is the second post in my series on Cloud Computing. Click here for the introduction and index.

Updated 12/17/08 with a ‘Good’ item I forgot– Sharing Data.

OK now that I bored you theory in my last post, I’ll finally give you something mildly worthwhile.

The Good

• You can use less than state of the art hardware since all you are running is a web browser.
• There are lot of free apps.
• You don’t have to update your programs.
• You can work anywhere you have an Internet connection, on any computer.
• You data is backed up on the provider’s server so you don’t have to worry about hardware crashes.
• You can share data easily with others

The Bad

• No Internet, no work.
• Many Internet based applications  don’t have all of the features of comparable pc based applications.
• You have to remember lots of logins and passwords

The Ugly

• If your application provider goes out of business your data goes with them.
• Bad guys don’t need access to your computer to try to access your data.
• If someone gets your password, they have your data (at least for that application, if you don’t use the same password everywhere!!)

This is the first post in my series on Cloud Computing. Click here for the introduction and index.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing describes computing where the Internet and Internet technology is a major portion of  an application. Examples of Cloud Computing include Web Mail programs, like Gmail, and photo sharing applications like Photobucket. Typically cloud computing only requires a web browser on the users’ computer, and an Internet connection.

Why is it called cloud Computing ?

Cloud computing got it name because about 15 years ago when people created diagrams of network connections they decided to make the Internet look like a cloud. (Don’t know why, but its always been that way.–they could have used a mushroom and called it mushroom computing…much more interesting.)

Why would you want use cloud computing

With cloud computing you don’t have invest in top of the line hardware to run sophisticated programs, the powerfull hardware is on on the server. All you need is a computer with a web browser, and an Internet connection. There are many applications that are free, and other applications can be used via subscription and may be more cost effective than purchasing an application for your PC . (This pay as you go method of prvoiding sofware is sometimes called Software as a Service or SaaS.) You also don’t have worry about updating your software and your data is stored on the server so you don’t have to worry about a PC crash destroying your data.

How about a picture of cloud computing ?

Cloud Diagram

What if I want to see real pictures of clouds ? 

Click here

How about a Cloud Computing Haiku ?

Why clouds and not rain/Rain makes the computer wet/Clouds block the sun’s glare 

Cloud computing sounds great so far.. but wait for  my next post where I talk about the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing. (Storm clouds on the horizon perhaps.)

My Data’s up in a cloud, of that fact I may be proud.
You may or may not become wowed , but this info I shall shout aloud. 

I’ve always wanted to able to sit at any computer anywhere, whether at home or on the road, and be able to run my business with no worries about hardware or or software. Over the past few years the internet has grown to the point where this just may be possible for a small business owner. Among tech geeks, running your software over the internet  is known as cloud computing. If you’ve  ever used a web mail program like Hotmail, Google Mail, Yahoo mail, or AOL mail, you’ve already been computing in the “cloud”.