Nonetheless, here goes:
When I talk to many small business owners about online services, they want to talk about their documents. The common requirements tend to include:
1. Be able to have quick and reliable access to their documents
2. Access the documents from everywhere
3. Share documents with business partners
4. Do all of this in a very secure manner.
So basically they want to have their cake and eat it too.
The discussion inevitably guides itself towards online document storage. Google Docs, Windows Live, etc. It seems perfect: Your documents are available from anywhere, you can share them with others, and it's relatively easy.
So I ask: Why don't you sign up then?
The answer varies from: "Well, you know Google is indexing my documents." to "I don't want Microsoft holding all of my docs." to "I don't trust those sons of a *gun*!"
So, the short answer: TRUST
My question for providers of online document storage: How do you convince your clients that
a) Their data is safe from intruders?
b) Their data is safe from you?
c) Their data is safe from system failure?
Further thoughts that I may write about later include providing a service to your clients that's seamless, flexible, and secure.
In the mean time, any thoughts are welcome.
