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Web software products are also called browser-native software applications.
Web software is installed on a single computer and is used to serve
people on many computers. The location of the server computer
can be one thousand miles away or inside your office.
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Web software is universal
like the World-Wide-Web. |
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Web software |
PC Software |
| Software runs in standard browsers? |
Yes | No |
| Easy to use, like Web sites? |
Yes | No |
| No software to install on computers? |
Yes | No |
| Access from any computer in the office? |
Yes | No |
| Use any kind of hardware? |
Yes | No |
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Web software is more flexible than PC software because it does not care
about the version, type, build, and age of the PCs that access it.
PCs can use MS Windows or Apple. They can be old or new. Web software is the most versatile and trouble-free kind of software you can buy.
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Web software's lower cost of ownership. |
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Web software |
PC Software |
| Annual support costs per user? |
About Zero |
$500-$2,500 | |
| Training costs per user? |
About Zero |
$200-$1,000 | |
| Install/deployment time? |
About an Hour |
Weeks | |
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Web software is much easier to maintain than PC software. It is particularly important for organizations with five or more staff. Whereas enterprise-wide PC software requires enterprise-level IT support, Web software does not.
Web software frees you from most of the PC world's upgrade, security, and
deployment problems. With Web software a small business unit or department
can run infrastructures comparable to those managed by large in-house IT centers. Thousands of companies are going "web-based" which may be why Web software is the fastest growing segment of the computer industry.
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When buying Web software prepare yourself by knowing what Web software is, and what it is not. Specifically, when you speak of Web software, make
sure you're speaking of multi-user software that's installed on server computers. The software must run through a browser. If the software requires anything other than a browser on the user-side of the application, then it is something other than Web software.
Web software is most beneficial when the hardware
requirements, maintenance requirements, and the
requirements on the user computer are zero. When the requirements are not zero then the cost savings benefits immediately
change. So beware. Here are some clues Web software may be less than
pure:
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 | Works only on limited kinds of browsers. |
| Requires install of user-side plugins. |
| Requires install of user-side software. |
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In these cases the Web software is not Web software, but
a hybrid. Like PC-style software, hybrid software runs on
limited kinds of hardware, requiring you to constantly fix,
upgrade or buy new PCs to support it.
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What is a Server Computer?
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The "server computer" is any computer with a Web server software program
such as Apache or IIS. It can be most any kind of PC, Unix computer, or Linux computer. Sometimes it's a computer located at a hosting provider. Sometimes it's a computer located in your office. Sometimes it's your
own PC or laptop. Since any computer can run Web server software, any computer can be a "server computer."
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