Simplerich has a great article up talking about Virtual Office concerns. He offers this wisdom:
There are at least three real concerns for a Virtual Office user the way I, and some friends, see it.
- Data Security/accessibility
- Site/Data Permanence
- Ease of getting it local/offline
That second point is the one that I really struggle with. Of course I care about security and of course I care about ease of use. BUT I really care most about how long will the site be around — and will my data always be there? That’s the thought that’s always going through my mind as I experiment with various online “office” applications.
For instance, I’ve looked at the Zoho Writer and Presentation apps the last few nights and like a lot of what I’ve seen (to be fair, I’ve not looked at much in this segment so not ready to do any reviewing or comparing). I can see why I might want to move stuff to the “online office” world. I use a lot of computers, I have multiple jobs, etc. etc. but… how permanent is a free solution?
In a deal like that, if I were to switch to Zoho Planner (mentioned here) and it suddenly went away, would it be the end of the world? No, not really. A bit distressing, but oh well. However, having a collection of documents and presentations, all done for assorted clients, suddenly *poof* would be a real bummer.
If I have to constantly be downloading my online office documents to make sure I don’t lose ‘em, then why don’t I edit them locally as well? Hmm… this is why everyone needs to integrate with a box.net type service, eh? And another argument for common file formats too, I suppose.
Possibly Related posts:
August 13th, 2006 
Tags: 
[...] Not that I expected to be alone, but it’s nice to see a couple other folks agree with me. Or kind of agree with me if you hold your head just right and squint a little… A couple days ago I mentioned that it would sure be nice if online “office” applications would consider integrating with an online storage vendor. Less worry, more integration, blah blah blah. [...]
[...] The most important part of any Virtual Office attempt is going to be your USB thumbdrive. Get one and keep it with you always. Handy wonders aloud over on his blog “If I have to constantly be downloading my online office documents to make sure I don�t lose �em, then why don�t I edit them locally as well?”� and I’ve got an answer now. If I’m using Mongo the Magnificent’s computer instead of my own, and it has interweb access, I can use my Virtual Office to modify my document or continue my work. If I’m using a public access computer, like in a Malco Theater internet cafe a thumbdrive would be nice, and they probably won’t have OpenOffice but ajax apps will work. [...]