The concept for DocuBuzz evolved from our experience in developing custom document & records management solutions for a variety of clients.  In the course of these projects, we realized that the core document management requirements are quite similar across most small businesses.  We also realized that most off-the-shelf solutions were simply not suitable for small businesses – being too expensive, too complex, or both.

DocuBuzz is our attempt to offer an alternative – a simple and affordable document management solution that leverages the benefits of the web-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.  The current version of DocuBuzz aims to cover the essential document management needs of most small businesses.

Core features include:

• An intuitive multi-user interface
• Collaborative Notes & Tags
• Full text search with search filters
• Document versioning
• Built-in document viewer
• In-situ link & file sharing with variable shared-link lifetimes
• Flexible folder sharing permissions

Head on over to www.docubuzz.com and activate your fully-functional free trial account to check out DocuBuzz for yourself.  We are extremely eager to hear what you think about it.

The report argues that information technology is coming full circle and becoming increasingly centralized as more activity moves away from distributed devices into data centres. Cheaper and more powerful processors and speedier and more pervasive networks are making computing power ever more disembodied and commoditised.  This allows digital technology to be consumed where and when it is needed – enabling IT to penetrate ever deeper into all aspects of general social and economic activity.

This shift, claims the Economist, “will profoundly change the way people work and companies operate.”  Read the full set of articles in this Special Report for invaluable insghts into where this cloud phenonmenon is heading.

The survey points to a accelerating adoption of subscription-based and on-demand solutions. This is clearly being driven by Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) which are collectively spending 26% of their software budgets on web applications. However, many larger enterprises are also starting to jump onto the SaaS bandwagon.

McKinsey expects this shift to web apps to fundamentally reshape the software industry, predicting the “rise of a new generation of platforms to develop, integrate, deploy and host these applications.”

Read the full McKinsey report here.

The emergence of on-demand solutions specializing in talent management has made it feasible for even the smallest of businesses to effectively implement proven and powerful performance management practices. Two such solutions that we have seen successfully implemented are Taleo & SuccessFactors. Both are web-based, Software-as-Service (SaaS) solutions that include modules for managing & aligning goals, tracking & reviewing performances and benchmarking compensation and benefits packages.

Both Taleo and SuccessFactors are designed to provide critical, real-time performance data to enable companies to better manage, motivate and engage their talent base in order to drive better business results. Once configured and set-up properly, SaaS solutions such as these are ideal for small businesses as they do not need extensive IT support to maintain.

The decision to develop its facilities in Singapore reflects the robust growth of the company’s Asia Pacific business – 94% year on year growth, contributing approximately 10% of Salesforce.com’s total quarterly revenue in the period ending April 30.

It certainly looks as if the cloud computing model is gaining traction in Asia.

IBM in January unveiled its revamped Lotus Web 2.0 platform – a suit of collaborative services that tap into the online content & social networking trend. Gens predicts that the company will soon crash the Software-as-a-Service party with Salesforce.com-style “cloud-based” solutions.

Microsoft has been aggressively promoting on-demand versions of its key enterprise solutions. Keen to have its cake and eat it too, Microsoft is adopting a “software-plus-service” strategy which adds collaborative online functionality to its traditional software products so as not to cannibalize its cash cow.

Of course, the Web 2.0 incumbents will not take this challenge lying down. Google and its ilk have been busy “corporatizing” their services and solutions.

Let the competition begin!

Not all that surprising, really, considering a recent Business Times report that Singapore appears to be loosing its competitive edge – mainly due to sharp increases in wages and other operating costs.In fact, Singapore is now ranked # 7 globally in a table of most expensive office rents compiled by real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield with an average rental rate of SGD 185 per sq ft. Meanwhile, Singapore’s GDP shrank by 4.8% in Q4 of last year.So, how should a small business weather this “perfect storm”?For the smart business owner, this slow-down may the perfect opportunity to transform her business’ competitiveness by leveraging innovative web technologies.For starters, it is the rare small business that cannot benefit significantly from a healthy dose of process optimization. Many small businesses use their resources inefficiently due to poorly-designed, redundant and badly-managed core processes.

The good news is that, with maturing on-demand and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) automation solutions, powerful process automation and management tools are now affordably available to small businesses.Another area to review is the marketing function. Most small businesses are still stuck in the era of broadcast-mode, push marketing. Small, niche-focussed businesses, in particular, ought to explore the advantages of content-driven, pull-marketing techniques made possible by the recent social web phenomenon.

Tools such as blogs, white-papers and active RSS feeds can seriously turbo-charge your small business’ marketing ROI when implemented correctly.Finally, small businesses should aim to deepen their relationships with their existing customer and supplier base. Tools such as wikis, forums and smart web applications are ideal for developing and engaging a firm’s extended community.

This can not only help a business to sell more and higher-value products to existing customers but can also help the business effectively identify, develop and capture new product or service opportunities.So, don’t let the general pessimism get you down – take this opportunity to create your own silver linings to the gathering dark storm clouds.

To keep their networks secure IT departments are notoriously cautious about what applications they allow on their networks. This can be very frustrating for the growing percentage of savvy users, who use increasingly sophisticated tools at home, and feel artificially limited when at their office computer. The new version of Google’s App Suite is targeted squarely at them.Google Apps – Team Edition, allows for shared calendars, instant messaging, and document collaboration, all in-browser, just like the other versions of Google Apps. By leaving out email, which is the hardest part of the original App Suite to deploy – and likely a feature users already have – Google is looking to appeal to users outside the IT Department. The idea being that small teams no longer need wait for IT to approve simple resources, and can administer them themselves.

Google hopes usage will spread virally, and users signing up from the same corporate email domain will be added to the existing ‘team’. So adding a colleague to the team is as simple as inviting them to an event on your calendar, or asking them to edit a document with you. From that point on they become full users, and can create their own events, and upload documents to collaborate with others.

The reaction from IT Departments remains to be seen, and it’s been suggested that the release by Google may alienate IT staff tasked with controlling the flow of potentially confidential information. By providing a new, uncontrolled route for users to communicate and share documents, Google is making it harder for IT staff to meet requirements laid down by regulations on information management like Sarbanes-Oxley, and others, especially in sensitive industries like healthcare and finance.But for small teams and groups, this release is another example of how rich internet applications are increasingly moving traditional applications into the cloud.

Many of these new features apparently started as ideas on the company’s own IdeaExchange forum.Salesforce Content is an interesting addition to the suite that uses social media concepts such as tagging, subscriptions and recommendations to allow users to manage unstructured content within the Salesforce environment.

Other recent networking concepts have been deployed within the Salesforce Ideas module to facilitate the management of communications and user feedback.It certainly is encouraging to see Salesforce.com taking the lead in turning popular innovations from the social networking sphere into tangible business oriented solutions.

Powered by an Oracle database, eXpresso provides more extensive content auditing & management control than services such as Google Spreadsheets. Going beyond basic file versioning capabilities, eXpresso ups the ante by incorporating interactive community features like chat, social tagging and simultaneous editing. The well thought-out interface also adds to a very satisfying user experience.

Priced at US$15 monthly per user, eXpresso certainly warrants a close look for SMBs that rely on Excel as their primary planning and tracking tool.