Technology options for a small business used to be simple, because there wasn’t much choice.

As an entrepreneur, you used what you already had at home and tried to avoid sizable investments in servers, networking equipment, and applications that were made, and priced, for larger enterprises. Small businesses were an afterthought for most technology vendors.

Today the situation is very different, thanks in part to the web. There are more choices than  before, and new applications that help you manage every function of your business. Much of this innovation is being delivered by “web-based solutions.” The days of capital-intensive, “big-iron” hardware purchases for small businesses are ending.

Some small businesses will still need to purchase technology solutions that are managed in-house. But for most small businesses, you can run a sizable and sophisticated small company without ever hiring an IT manager, and deploy technology solutions at a fraction of the cost of just five years ago.

This means you can spend your money on “transformative technology”, rather than just “nuts’n’bolts” applications such as email and file servers. “Transformative technology means using applications not just to gain efficiencies in business processes, but also take your small business to the next level, with more profits, new markets, and better customer satisfaction.

Here are five ways that new technology can transform your small business.

Technology can enable you to stay connected with your customers. Blogs allow you to start real conversations with your customers. E-mail marketing, leveraging web analytics and Customer Relationship Management systems, allows you to extend these conversations and deepen the value of the relationship for your customer. Now you know that you’re selling something the customer really wants.

Transformative Technology allows us to sell locally while sourcing globally. New web-based collaboration technology big and small businesses to hire and work with people you may never meet. Most importantly we are reaching “markets” that you only visit virtually.

New technology provides us the resources to integrate management tools. New web-based on-demand business management systems provides the ability to manage every facet of your business online, at a fraction of the cost of traditional in-house systems.

New technology promotes production at a fraction of the cost. Now there is little need to spend $2,000 on productivity applications for your 5-person small business. For example, “Google Docs” has 80% functionality that you really use, and it’s free.

“Mobilized Technology” is transforming the 9 to 5 office. If we arm an employee with a $500 laptop, an iPhone, and a unified messaging system like GrandCentral, and there’s really no reason for them to set foot in the office again, they can be out making sales.

The challenge for business owners is learning how to use lower-cost technologies in order to make their venture more productive and profitable. Napa Valley College SBDC, and Northern California SBDC Technology Program are hosting a full-day Business Technology Boot Camp in Fairfield on May 14th that will teach you about the “transformative technology” and provide the tools for your business to prosper. For more information, call the NVC SBDC at 253-3210 or www.sbdctap.com/bootcamp.