Thanks to the Asus Eee PC’s debut into mass consciousness, netbooks – tiny, low-powered laptops with screen sizes of 11 inches or smaller – have seen a significant jump in popularity and a huge chunk of the PC market share worldwide.

Its streamlined features, expansive connectivity options and relatively cheap price points are indeed compelling qualities why it’s become a weapon of choice for end-users from both the consumer and the business markets. In the small and medium-sized business segment, these factors can prove beneficial as IT companies are seeing the values of a mobile office as a definite game-changer.

As a result, we’re seeing a slow netbook penetration into the business segment, especially with the recent economic downturn forcing many IT companies to start pinching their pennies without risking productivity.

But is the netbook indeed ready for SMB primetime?

While most companies across different industries have easily implemented netbook use among its employees, it’s best to first assess if it will even be a logically sound computing platform for your business. After all, we have to understand that technology is not a one-size-fits-all solution; there will always be varying preferences and restrictions that’ll determine if it’s a viable route to take on.

Generally, netbooks are intended for content consumption rather than creation and so they carry the bare minimum of capacities in their components. Normal specs include a mere gigabyte of RAM, relatively slower processor speeds and smaller screen sizes with decent enough resolutions and oftentimes accompanied by entry-level graphics cards.

As limited as they are, you can still run various applications like word processors and a handful of non-resource hogging business software packages among many others. This makes it perfect for bookkeepers and sales people who deal with spreadsheets and simple financial applications, and for the IT support personnel running basic diagnostics.

While its small frame offers portability and storage advantages, it may do so at the expense of ergonomics. For one, the keyboard and the touchpad (along with its accompanying mouse keys) have been reduced to fit the smaller palm rest. Another important thing this highlights is the smaller screen real estate, which naturally comes with a potential decrease in onscreen multitasking. Sure, you can just as easily buy full-sized external input devices and a secondary display panel (also, throw in an external optical drive because that is usually missing) but it may not sit well with your purchasing department as it can be seen as unnecessary additional purchases.

On the other hand, road warriors will find a reliable companion in the netbook with its lightweight, compact form factor that offers smart mobility technology without disrupting productivity even when on-the-go. Its support for most connectivity options, matched by the growing ubiquity of wireless connections from network providers, boosts this flexibility even further.

To complement these, you can leverage a wealth of Software as a Service providers, as well as other cloud computing services and tools readily available. Ranging from simple word processing and storage to online collaboration and other functionalities, both paid and free, these services make sure both the communication with the headquarters and the flow of mission critical processes remain unbridled without taking a single byte out of your hard drive.

While it won’t be your heavy-duty workhorse for system-intensive tasks, netbooks bring a lot of benefits to the table, and will most likely be crucial tools to supplementing a full-featured work laptop or desktop PC. Though these should help you start determining if netbook adoption is right for your company, there are many other technical aspects specific to your set IT infrastructure that you need to take a look at. Contact our IT experts at All Covered to find out how you can address these issues, and how you can optimize netbooks for your company.