“Virtual Office?” ….To better understand the future of computer systems you must remember and learn from the past:

Paradigm Network Solutions Inc. was started to take advantage of a “paradigm shift” from host based computing to network computing and to fill the void left in the services market when this took place.

Before PC’s took center stage, host based mini/mainframe computers were the standard mode of information processing. A large room was erected with elevated floors, artificial atmosphere, and independent electrical feeds (all at no small expense).

In a host based environment all processing, data storage and management was contained in one location. The client “terminal” was nothing more than a screen and a keyboard with no breakable moving parts. A cable was run from the host computer to the terminal, the terminal was installed, the terminal could be forgotten.

All software upgrades and updates were made in one location. All hardware performance and/or storage components were installed in the same location. Life was good for the information system (IS) manger. However, host based systems offered the end user no flexibility, graphical user interface (GUI), or independence. Moreover, IS professionals had very little choices in hardware or software platforms.

PC networks changed all that. PC networks provided the end user with power at the desktop. By “distributing” the processing throughout the enterprise, the need for big expensive host based systems was minimized. End users and IS managers had choices in the marketplace for software and hardware. Competition in application software development and the PC based hardware marketplace drove prices down and accelerated the technology at a feverous pace, but at what cost?

Now the client desktop contained a high maintenance PC, individually supported software and a user (who just will not stop playing). Not only was the processing distributed, but the maintenance and support was as well. How do we bring the best of host based and a PC network system together? ASP!

Application Service Providing (ASP) combines the best of hosted and PC environments without you having a computer in your offices. ASP combines existing “thin-client” technology with fast/efficient data communications to offer the freedom and economy of the PC and the maintainability and security of the host system. (Click the “Our ASP Solution” link to learn more about Paradigm’s ASP services).