If you don't buy your company's software from the Internet, you may want to start.

By 2005, over two-thirds of all software sales will be made over the Internet (up from 12 percent now), according to the Business Software Alliance. As software companies become more innovative with online sales and distribution, your business has every chance to benefit.

Options

Currently you have three options for obtaining software from the Internet:

• Buy boxed software from online stores.
• Purchase a download from a vendor Web site.
• Access a program on a rental basis from an Application Service Provider (ASP).

All three methods usually only apply to off-the-shelf applications that require little or no customization to your business.

Packaged software

While local retail stores offer a healthy menu of out-of-the-box software, most stores' inventory can't match what's available on the Web. Furthermore, pricing at online stores is typically more competitive than in traditional over-the-counter locations.

However, most retail outlets and third-party vendors have a working knowledge of programs and their scalability. If you want specific recommendations based on your needs, you may want to forgo the online store in favor of your local computer shop.

Downloads.

Downloading purchased software directly from vendor Web sites (known as Electronic Software Distribution, or ESD) can get you discounts and save you time.

If you have a 56K modem or a faster connection, you can download a program in a couple of hours or minutes - even on weekends or in the wee morning hours

Selected downloads are available from big names like Adobe, producer of the popular design tools, Symantec, which produces Norton Utilities, and third-party vendor sites that feature collections of software. (Symantec discounts downloads by 10% over packaged versions, and smaller software companies can discount by up to 30%.)

While we can look forward to a future of completely downloadable software, at this point ESD does have a way to go. Microsoft, for example, will still only ship you major applications like MS Office.

If you do choose to purchase a download, make sure that if you encounter snags your vendor will offer technical support and another copy. Or see if they will allow you to simply reconnect and continue downloading from the point you stopped.

And once you're done, try to backup the downloaded software yourself on disk. Most IT people like to keep hard copies of programs readily available.

Many downloaded applications include electronic help manuals in PDF format. Print these out for easy access. If you need additional support, check vendor sites for online tutorials.

ASPs

The rise in popularity of Application Service Providers (ASPs) over the last year or so means that you can access all kinds of software, from human resources management to email hosting, over the Internet for a monthly per-user fee. Renting applications rather than buying them can save you up to 50 percent of costs per user.

More than that, using ASPs can save big on time by allowing you to rid yourself of the hassles surrounding installation, debugging, troubleshooting and upgrading. You've essentially outsourced the biggest portion of your IT department. How's that for efficiency?

Quick tips

Off-the-shelf only. You can usually only purchase or rent non-customized software applications over the Internet. Keep registration info on hand. Make sure you can easily refer to the purchase details of your downloaded program in case you need to access the info later. Download bug fixes. Check vendor Web sites monthly for any released updates to your software, especially bug fixes and patches that may solve security problems.