Application Criteria

Here is listing of the criteria for future "server applications" development.

They must be web-based. This means that they should not depend on specialize software on the clients. If we do, we start treading into the world of Microsoft, and I don't think we have the resources for this. (Note: Domino is not really web-based, as it expects the clients to be running Lotus Notes).
They should be integrated into the RNA. This way, the user has a central point of contact with both administrating their account and services as well as accessing their applications (see CommuniTech.net's Control Panel demo for a good example of how this should be done ... as well as our competitor in this arena).
They should be designed to work with our current products. We should not attempt to see application "blah" as a stand-alone product. Each application should be part of our current SMB or ISP product line (see Jack's illustration on the right). Not only will this focus our business model, but it will be easy to deploy and administer.

Application Listing

The following is a table listing my initial pass of possible server applications that fulfill my criteria. For each application, there are existing products (both commercial and open-source) and we may want to partner with some of them before we attempt to write our own.

ISP Applications	Small Business Applications
Email Reader Read email from a web browser, ala Hotmail.	Email Reader Read email from a web browser, ala Hotmail.
Store Front Shopping cart and credit card transactions, like E-commerce.	Workgroup Calendaring, chat, etc.
File Manager Allows users to copy, move and delete their files as well as password protect web directories.	File Manager Allows users to copy, move and delete their files as well as password protect web directories.
Web Creator Wizard-based way to create a web site.	Message Board Method for creating notes that others can append.
Search Interface Add search capability to a domain's web site.	Document Repository Archival storage, retrieval and searching of a business' documents.
Chat Room A chat room for a web site.	Internet Filters Allows a company to filter out web sites.
Web Advertising Add banners to a web site.	Virus Detection Analyzes email and strips detected viruses.
Knowledge Base Interface Create on the fly FAQ lists based on initial input.