Small Business Web Design: Outsourcing: ASPs

Small business web design needn't be difficult. Many companies let you rent rather than purchase expensive items like servers, software and experienced staff. Technically, these are technically application service providers, the term including hosting companies and payment service bureaus.

You'll find such companies included in the ASP directories of our resources page.

Generally, however, the term ASP refers to the tie-ups between larger companies where the service company takes over a significant portion of the IT burden. In-house payment systems, accounts, supply chain management (SCM), enterprise resource management (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) — these are the areas where ASPs come into their own. Our resources page provides further reading, but ensure that the contract covers:

• movement of data between the ASP system and your current system.

• disaster recovery.

• ownership of data.

• retrieval of data if/when you change ASP.

Small Business Web Design: Web Design Companies

Many ecommerce merchants have mastered the rudiments of site build, and we therefore list web and programming sites on our resources page.

But first some general guidance. Unless you have your own IT staff:

• leave database programming to the techies. Expertise is more than writing correct code.

• keep it simple. The site design should include provision for database access, but not add database features until needed.

• use a reputable company. Don't be guinea pigs for the "we can do anything for you" approach, but check references and choose someone who's already built something close to your requirements.

• use the industry standards. To maintain and develop the site without being held hostage to a particular design company, insist that the common languages are used: ASP or VB for the Windows platform; Perl or PHP for Unix/Linux.

• get a copy of the code. Ask to see code at stages in the site build to check that it's correctly laid out.

• beware copyright restrictions. Code is your property, what you've paid good money for. Ensure you get a complete copy when the site is finished, check that it works, and keep it in a safe place.

• specify exactly what the site is to do. Who does what, and by when, should be specified in the contract.

In-House Programming

Large sites exist to cover a single aspect of programming (and are listed on our resources page.) All we can do here is to make some general points.

1. Read our recommendations on project management and adopt them as far as your company allows.

2. Give some thought to choice of programming language. These are broad generalizations:

• Perl. Safe from vendor changes. Large community and resources. Largely for the Unix/Linux platform. Open source.

• PHP. Becoming a popular alternative to Perl — easier to program but lacks its flexibility. For the Unix/Linux platform. Open source.

• ASP. Promoted by Microsoft and so well supported by sites, books and resources. Easy to program but tied to Microsoft software development (SQL Server is not cheap). Works on the Windows platform, though Unix implementations exist. Open source.

• Cold Fusion. Easy to program but lacks resources and flexibility. Needs the proprietary database and so more expensive.

• Visual Basic. Flexible and easy-to-program language with abundant resources. Tied to Microsoft development and Windows/Internet Explorer/VBScript developments.

• Java. Flexible and powerful language, largely platform-independent and open sources. Also invasive and slow, however.

• C/C++. Fast, flexible and powerful languages, but need considerable expertise.

3. Check, if you are using a third-party hosting company:

• what languages/versions they allow (you'll probably need a dedicated server).

• level and cost of technical support offered.

4. Anticipate. Read the trade news to prevent your site being sidelined by newer technology.

You'll find extended listings for business web design and programming in our e-book.

 

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