Netbooks Chromebooks and Small Businesses

Googles announcement of the Chromebook has raised much commentary and opinion on both sides of the argument. What does this all mean for small businesses? Small businesses have over the past years been seeing the cost of providing computing services, at least from the hardware perspective, fall significantly. In Australia a netbook can be purchased for as little as $400 and a decent laptop for well under $1000. Add the cost of Microsoft Office for $350 when purchased together with the laptop for around the $1000 mark is what it costs to provide your staff member with a suitably configured computing device.


The real question for small businesses is what they are equipping their employees with and for what reason. Google has positioned Google Apps for $5 per month per user. Yes it is not as functionally rich as Microsoft Office but it does a good enough job for most employees most of the time. It does require an adjustment in thinking as all documents and content is stored in the cloud. There is a plethora of opinions readily available so I will not even attempt to repeat them here.

From a practical real life point of view not storing your document on the device you are actually working on does take getting used to especially for those who have been brought up on PC applications and this adjustment should not be underestimated.

There are three categories of devices spanning a wide spectrum of uses. The Chromebook sits at the pure Internet user end and it will do the job more than adequately. The laptop is more like a general purpose workhorse. it can do everything that the Chromebook can do and more but it does come at a cost both in terms of the device itself and PC applications which are at the present time more expensive than their web based counterparts. Netbooks sit somewhere between the two. The device costs significantly less than a laptop but offers the same capabilities but with lower processing capabilities.
But the picture is incomplete if you do not take into account the ongoing maintenance cost. All software needs to be updated and while most PC applications are now updated via the Internet. Upgrading PC software typically involves what in reality amounts to purchasing the new version. (for example Office 2007 to Office 2010).

It will cost $40 per month to get kitted out with Google Apps on a Chromebook which is a relatively attractive proposition for $480 per year. You will however need to be connected to the internet to access the services. To anyone new this type of computing, it can be somewhat unnerving. Despite the unfamiliarity with this computing model, there are several benefits which are not always obvious:

• No loss of data if the device is lost or damaged
• Immediate Continued access to the applications and data via any device with a browser
• No additional cost of upgrading applications

The biggest potential benefit is improved team productivity that comes from the inbuilt team collaboration features that are baked into Google Apps which come sharing and working on a single copy of documents (not sending and having to manage multiple copies and versions of documents).

Make no mistake there is a culture change required in moving to Google Apps but the platform is sufficiently mature to make it worthwhile to make the change. The adoption of the the Google Apps platform can be undertaken with all the devices noted above and Chromebook is another option, while radical for many users, is a perfectly viable business proposition.