  What does Web-based mean?CiviCRM is a web application. This essentially means that people who use CiviCRM access it using a web browser (such as Firefox, Opera, Safari, or Internet Explorer). It also means that you can set it up so that it can be accessed over the internet. You need to install CiviCRM on a server, a computer that delivers (serves) web pages. It you want it to be available over the internet the server needs to be accessible from the internet. Some organizations are large enough manage their own servers and have people trained to administer them; others use hosting services. Clearly if you are planning on using a hosting service, you must ensure that they can fully meet the requirements for hosting CiviCRM. Advantages and DisadvantagesWith web-based software you only need to install it on one server. You don't need to makechanges to desktop computers or laptops throughout your organization. Therefore, the cost of using web based applications is usually lower than for software that has to to be installed directly on end-user computers. There is a 'real' cost connected to maintaining the software on the server - you do need to spend time administering the server or pay for hosting.Fortunately that cost is usually much less than servicing many computers throughout your organisation. This benefit is particularly obvious when introducing a new version of the software - an upgrade on a web-based software only needs to be done in a single place and it is immediately available to all users. Another related advantage is that your staff and volunteers can use the software from practically any computer. You can sit volunteers down at temporary workstations to do data entry, or ask them to bring their laptops, with no need for special preparations: CiviCRM will be instantly available from any computer in the office. This is also very useful for people in your organisation that work remotely: they can use CiviCRM from wherever they are located, as long as they have an internet connection. The next advantage might seem obvious, but it's still worth mentioning. Many people can be working in CiviCRM at the same time. So while one person is picking up the phone and registering information about a constituent in CiviCRM, someone else might be changing information about another constituent or generating a report. Another advantage of web-based applications like CiviCRM is that your data is centralised. Your data is precious and should be protected from loss, which means you want to make backup copies of the data as frequently as possible. When data is distributed among many computers, this becomes complicated and solutions that provide effective backup tools in such circumstances are usually quite expensive. Having your data in one place allows you to protect this key asset easily. There are obviously some limitations to using web based applications. The main one is network dependency: your staff and volunteers need to be able to connect to your server in order to use CiviCRM. If your CiviCRM website is on the internet and they don't have internet access or it's on your intranet and they can't get to it then web-based applications are probably not the best choice for you. Further readingWeb based applications
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