Renting software over the Internet

Renting software over the Internet is a fairly new concept.There are some great advantages to doing so, but there are also some drawbacks considering the infancy of the software rental market.It's definitely something you can look into without making a long-term commitment and if you don't care for it you can always go out, buy and install the software yourself.

The main idea behind renting software is that you or your business can "rent" access to software over an Internet connection rather than buying it and installing it on your desktop.An Internet company, often known as an ASP or application service provider hosts the software and usually charges customers on a per-use basis or they charge a monthly fee for unlimited use.To use the software, you go to your provider's (ASP's) web site and log in to start working.For example, say you own a company with 100 computers.Employees needing access to Microsoft Word on a daily basis operate fifteen of these computers.Rather than buying the program and getting fifteen licenses for use on these computers, you can "rent" access to the software and pay a monthly fee for unlimited access.Now suppose you also have fifty of those employees that occasionally use Microsoft Excel programs.You don't want to invest a lot of money into buying a program that is seldom used, so you can "rent" access to this software and pay per-use.Whenever these employees need to make a spreadsheet, they simply go to the ASP's web site, enter their login information and start working.

There are several advantages to renting software.The first is costs.An ASP can help you mange your software costs more effectively by offering the different options mentioned above.You are not paying full price up front plus you don't have to continually buy the upgrades that will also need to be installed.Second is ease of use.There is no installation.All you have to do is log onto a web site to get access.A third advantage to software rentals is the ASP carries all responsibility for maintenance.They maintain the software, install all of the latest updates and bug fixes and they are responsible for making sure that everything runs correctly and smoothly.You are only a consumer and you can unsubscribe at any point.There are no returns or refunds to hassle with.

However, there also come disadvantages.Software renting is still a young, untested market and there are still many mistakes to be had before all the kinks are worked out of the system.Because the concept is still relatively new, many users have reported slower, less reliable results in some programs such as Microsoft Office as compared to their desktop equivalents.This is due mainly to the fact that the applications have to travel over Internet channels.Most applications work best with high-speed Internet access although some ASP's claim that dial-up Internet is sufficient.There are many people who are leery of relying on this type of software simply because they have no control over it, its results, and its availability.Imagine having a fast approaching deadline and all the frustration if the Internet shuts down or even just the server that hosts the software shuts down for maintenance.It would sure be nice at that point to have other options.There are all sorts of problems you might face in running a business, however, if you hold the control, you hold the power to solve the problems as well and that peace of mind can be worth the money to just buy the software in the first place.