Buy or rent?

Federal agencies can purchase and maintain their own Web-based collaboration solutions, or, for a monthly fee, they can turn the job over to an application service provider.

Buying a Web-based collaboration solution is best for organizations that:

Have all the required IT resources and a data center located in-house. Are implementing an enterprisewide solution and plan to integrate it with the rest of the existing business infrastructure. Have strict security requirements. Renting services from an ASP might be better for organizations that:

Have limited IT resources. Need to get an application up and running quickly. Need to keep upfront capital expenditures low. Want a faster return on investment. Want a solution for specific projects or departments rather than the entire enterprise. Want to keep business partners and customers outside the firewall.