With the growing number of online services, it’s becoming more economical for small business to rely on web-based tools rather than expensive enterprise software. Not too long ago we brought you 5 Web Apps To Keep Your Startup Organized, and now the website Business Pundit has released their top 10 list of online collaboration tools for small businesses.
Call it Web 2.0, or Enterprise 2.0; the fact of the matter is that online services just make more sense for businesses on a budget. Because these software platforms are web-based, users can use any computer to access them at work, at home or even on the road. They eliminate the need for expensive software and fewer IT employees are required for setup, updates and patches to systems.
Considering these benefits of online tools, Business Pundit’s list of collaborative services is an excellent resource for startups and small businesses looking to save some cash while still getting things done as efficiently as possible.
Topping their list is OfficeMedium, a service we profiled last fall which provides a wide variety of collaborative features wrapped up in an elegantly designed interface. With live chat, user profiles, polls and calendars, OfficeMedium is a social collaboration network for your company.
While the service is relatively inexpensive with monthly costs of just $6 per person and $1 per gigabyte of storage, you may be disappointed by a lack of mobile application and developer API if your company is constantly on-the-go.
Coming in just behind OfficeMedium is Basecamp, a service that we use daily here at ReadWriteWeb and which made our top 5 list of organization apps for startups. While the two services are more or less functionally comparable, Business Pundit puts Basecamp in second place due to its less-than-thrilling (though customizable) interface design and a few functionality gripes. For the mobile business, Basecamp’s API has allowed for over a dozen mobile applications, which could be a feature that makes it the #1 choice.
Rounding out the rest of the top 5 are CubeTree, WizeHive and SocialText – three powerful web applications which were deprived of the top spot by a few lacking features, design problems and ease-of-use issues. The remainder of the top 10 includes CentralDesktop, Onehub, PBWorks, Zoho Projects and Socialcast.
What do you think? Is there a better business collaboration tool out there that was left off of Business Pundit’s list? Or would you rank one of these apps higher than another? Let us know your thoughts below in the comments.
Photo by Flickr user wonderferret.
