One type of service we don't think enough people take advantage of is remote access and remote control services. There are all kinds of flavors of these, but in general they let you access files you have stored on your home PC while you are at the office, at a friend's house, travelling on vacation - really anywhere where there is an Internet connection.
They are called remote access or remote control services, and here are some of the leading providers:
GoToMyPC - Free 30 Day Trial - $19.95/mo for 1 PC or $179.40/yr
LogMeIn - Free
PCNow (from WebEx) - 1 Month Free Trial - $9.95/mo per PC - save 20% with annual plan
Positive Networks - For businesses not consumers - Free Trial for businesses
PC Anywhere (from Symantec) - $199.95 for current version (PC Anywhere 12.0)
All of these products let you access files on your home PC from any other PC, as long as that PC is connected to the Internet. And they let you remotely control that PC, which means you can start applications, pull up a file, send an email from that computer, etc.
For mobile workers like consultants or sales executives, these services typically pay for themselves really quickly. And with gas prices what they are today, they probably pay for themselves even quicker!
In a later post we'll talk about file sharing services. These also let you access your files from anywhere, but they don't let you control programs on your PC remotely, and they approach the problem of accessing your files from anywhere from a different angle.
