Being enterprise software, one usually needs considerable expertise and time to obtain optimal performance and functionality. This is especially true for a product as comprehensive and feature rich as Lotus Domino 6.5 which is fully programmable and can provide workflow, knowledge management, document management, archiving, database and collaboration services via a client-server or browser based thin client model.

Powerful and flexible, but also a little complicated for small business.

Still the best choice for speed and security, but most new additions are eye candy.

A solidly built thin client with a good hardware specification and features, including a classy remote management act

Installation needs to be much more streamlined, but this is a low-maintenance security solution with quality reporting

Excellent value for so many features, though BitDefender Small Office Security could be easier to use

Easy to use, logical and powerful. This is a security solution that will work for most small businesses

With Internet Explorer’s security flaws and no way of securely erasing footprint files, the boost to privacy is minimal.

Devices that attach storage to the network aren't new, but until now they've been either very expensive or limited in ability. But this little marvel from Asus changes all that. The WL-HDD can put a hard disk on the network with no drivers or client software required, and it can do this wirelessly via 802.11g.

Ongoing concerns about the security of wireless networks and an increasing demand to be able to connect remotely to office and home networks has forced many people to look for a reasonably priced VPN solution. Virtual Private Networks use the Internet to establish a secure link between an external PC and a local network.

Easy to setup, easy to use, and very powerful - perfect for small business

The Techmart SOHO is the only system in this roundup to be supplied with a copy of Windows XP Home rather than XP Professional. This highlights Intermedia's emphasis on the small office, home office environment with this system, where the additional networking features of XP Pro aren't necessary. Even so, it does mean you'll be restricted to using a peer-to-peer network, and you'll need an upgrade if you ever want to set up a client-server system. For the extra $90, it might be worth future-proofing and upgrading to Pro.

Netgear delivers a highly affordable SSL VPN appliance that’s also relatively easy to configure.

The perfect blend of price and performance for the average home or small business user.

A stylish and rugged business-class smartphone with a huge choice of push-email clients available.

McAfee actually hosts the Web management for its security package, making it perfect for small businesses that don't run their own servers.

Useful new features and a total interface overhaul make this the best Office ever.

The ability to build a fully updatable, portable and offline personal web makes this a useful tool For home and Business users

The arrival of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 (ES2K3) is a significant event in the history of this product. First, it brings to a close the second era of the codebase. Released back in 1996 on the NT 4 wave, ES4 (there was no 1, 2 or 3) brought enterprise-level email, contact management, diary management and so forth to the Windows Server platform in a new and comprehensive BackOffice application.

To be fair, if you were going to deploy Netware 6, you would have a trained Novell engineer (CNE) configure it on a Netware 6-certified box from a major manufacturer. We, nevertheless, decided to wipe our Windows 2000 clone server and start afresh with Netware.