Wise Buys

Get Bizzed. If you're looking for a one-stop portal for all your small-business needs, try e-Citi's Bizzed.com. e-Citi, the e-commerce unit of Citigroup, formed this portal to help entrepreneurs gain access to big-business resources easily and securely. For example, the portal provides access to free support services from Citigroup, such as e-commerce capabilities; payroll and electronic banking; credit-card processing; postal services; financial services such as insurance and retirement plans; marketing and advertising support; and the procurement of business services at discounted prices.

Don't Get Hacked. If your Web site has already been hacked-or you just want to make sure it never happens in the first place-try DefendNet from Virtual Media Technologies. DefendNet provides outsourced administration, monitoring and reporting in one package, eliminating the time- and cost-intensive burden of managing network security in-house. The cost is $599 per month, with a one-time installation and configuration fee of $2,400.

Find the Missing Link. If you're like most e-tailers today, you're probably still trying to find the perfect medium for setting up shop on the Web and handling product and service orders. Well, look no further. OpenOrders Inc. has come up with OpenWeb Connect software, which enables Internet merchants to fulfill all their real-time order processing needs, including product fulfillment, inventory management and one-to-one marketing customer support. OpenWeb Connect is middleware (software that mediates between an application and a network) written in Java that allows a Web server to easily connect to an OpenOrders database for order processing or retrieval of customer service information. It requires Windows 95/98/NT.

Melissa Campanelli is a technology writer in Brooklyn, New York, who has covered technology for Mobile Computing & Communications and Sales & Marketing Management magazines. You can reach her at mcampanelli@earthlink.net.

Contact Sources

Jupiter Communications, (800) 451-5790, www.jup.com

TALPX Inc., rhaddab@talpx.com, http://www.talpx.com