twopointouch

One of the frequently touted ingredients of Web 2.0 is the idea of the “web as platform”, and providing software as a service. In some respects, this isn’t a new thing at all. I got pitched the idea of using an ASP (application service provider) for the first time in 2000. Citrix was founded in 1989 - before the web existed - and its Metaframe products to provide remote desktops over the Internet have been around since the late 90s. Historically, internet connection speeds haven’t been fast enough for enough of us for such products to be of much interest. However, that’s definitely changed over the last couple of years.

Today, I’ve been playing around with the Citrix remote desktop service from Extrasys, a UK provider. You buy it on a subscription basis, depending on number of seats, software requirements and other service elements such as renting thin clients (very basic computers that basically act as an internet connection). In many respects, there isn’t a great deal to say or do, because you simply get a copy of Windows delivered over the net, which won’t seem very glamorous, new or exciting compared to the pretty creations from flickr, etc.

But from a small business perspective, these services make a lot of sense. The main benefits, as I see them, are:

Cost-savings - you only need thin clients in the office - they’re cheaper and consume less power - and license fees for software will be lower when bought through an ASP.
Total Cost of Ownership - there’s no additional support costs or depreciating hardware, and you don’t need an IT manager.
Speed and Versatility - you can work anywhere you have an internet connection; new workstations can be added instantaneously.
Security - your small business probably doesn’t have a RAID array, air filters or daily offsite backups; it doesn’t matter (from the IT perspective) if you lose your laptop or your office gets broken into - there’s nothing on the machines anyway.

What are the downsides? Not being able to work without an internet connection (trains and planes are starting to become so annoying in this respect!). There’s also an (illusory) sense of less security because your confidential documents are in someone else’s care, which is unnerving to many, though irrational.

Given that security will be an objection, Extrasys provide a two-step authentication. As well as the normal ID and password, you get a little plastic widget that provides a single-use passcode that’s tied to your User ID for every log-on. It looks like this:

One other caveat, the service wasn’t quite as fast as I’d like over my 2mb broadband connection. There was a noticeable delay as I typed, or when resizing windows. Not as fast as using Writely, for example. Not sure why this was. I’ll keep trying for a couple of days and amend this post if things speed up.

Given that this sort of solution was invented years ago, is it Web 2.0? I’d argue yes. A lot of what we’re seeing in Web 2.0 on the technical level was possible years ago, if only we’d had the connection speeds and the people to use them.