Fortune magazine has a fascinating article about a new line of “thin” computers from HP.

These are not computers in the traditional sense: they have no local storage (like a hard drive), instead having just an operating system and a browser - and not much else - “installed” in flash memory.

In a nutshell, HP has determined that the clear trend among larger businesses is towards software as a service (SaaS, sometimes called On-Demand), rather than software and data stored on local machines. Since everything is remote, what users really need is a web browser, memory, and a reasonably powerful processor.

The implications are huge. First, it’s a lot cheaper: the new line is priced at about half of what comparably-powerful traditional computers from HP cost ($450-$500 for desktops, $725 for a laptop). These are enterprise-class machines, too - not the cheap office supply store versions - so their components are top-notch.

Secondly, they’re vastly superior from a security perspective because there’s nothing stored locally. I know that many people are nervous about having data on a remote server, but having run one of the top network security companies I can tell you that’s a misplaced fear (see my posting Is your money in your mattress?) - data is much safer in a well-architected online environment than it can ever be on a local machine.

But most of all, it’s a window into the future.  Companies like HP don’t introduce products on a whim, but only after careful thought and research.  What this signals is that they see the market moving, and want to be at the forefront not just in terms of thought leadership but of sales.

As you plan for your company’s technology future, this is something you should be watching.

One of the benefits of having been involved in technology for as long as I have is the ability to see recurring patterns. None is more fascinating than the one that is happening right now with respect to small business.

In the 1980s and 1990s, big companies chose different paths when it came to adopting technology. Some (such as Morgan Stanley and Visa) saw technology as a mechanism for differentiating themselves from their competitors. Others saw it as a necessary evil and spent as little as they could.

The Visas and Morgan Stanleys were right: investing in technology enabled them to turn themselves into industry leaders.

But by about 2000, their peers had caught up, and in 2003 Nicholas Carr published a provocative article in the Harvard Business Review entitled “IT Doesn’t Matter” (you can read the article here). In that article, Carr made the point that technology had become a commodity, and arguing that it no longer made sense for companies to over-invest in tech because it was no longer possible to gain a competitive advantage that way.

He was absolutely right for big enterprises. But what about for small business?

I’d argue that, for small businesses, today is the same as the early 1980s was for big enterprises — because technology has finally reached the point where it can be deployed efficiently and easily.

Small businesses that deploy technology aggressively will be able not only to distance themselves from their less forward-thinking peers, but will also be able to close the gap between themselves and big enterprises.

This is a big deal. We’ve heard for years, for example, about the crushing effect of “big box” stores on local retailers. A lot of their advantages stem from technology, and there’s not much chance that mom-n-pop retailers will be able to catch up on that score.

But winning doesn’t necessarily mean fighting them head-on; in fact, it’s far better to engage on the basis of your unique strengths. The advantage a mom-n-pop retailer has, for example, is knowledge of local customers — who they are, what they want, and how to reach them — in ways that the big box retailers never will.

Every small business today should have a broadband connection. And that connection should be every bit as reliable as dialtone (if yours isn’t, change your provider).

Couple that with the growing capabilities of on-demand software (like NetBooks) and suddenly you have access to the kind of capabilities that took big companies two decades to deploy.

As I said, this is a big deal. I’ll talk more about the different ways you can leverage IT to benefit your business in the future, and welcome your questions.

I’m probably not going to make a lot of friends among computer manufacturers with this posting.

Let’s face it: computers are as important to your business today as, say, electricity. But unlike electricity, you’re kind of on your own when it comes to keeping everything up and running.

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