ATABASE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A DIRTY WORD. FOR MOST SMALL BUSINESS-Des, a database should be an essential tool. Project management, custom¬er relationship management (CRM), inventory control-they all depend on databases. Fortunately, it's getting easier to build your database-and applications-online without investing tens of thousands of dollars in software development.

Most companies can benefit from a database application designed to track work¬flow, projects, product development, and sales orders. The trouble is that small com¬panies can't afford to build-and maintain-such specialized applications. Now there's a raft of online services that promise to help nonprogrammers create what they need in Web-hosted environments that let teams, companies, and clients work together online. And there are lots of options for small businesses.

eCriteria's online database hosting starts at just Rs.200 a month and is straightfor¬ward and easy to use. Caspio Bridge offers forms, automated alerts, and no per-user fees; it charges based on storage, starting at about a dollar per megabyte. For more extensive support and help, Intuit's QuickBase is growing into a powerful service. It charges Rs.lO,OOO a month for ten users and has over 60 ready-made applications designed for businesses including litigation, health care, and real estate. Intuit also has specialists available to help you import data from various programs, and it plans to add hundreds more prebuilt applications by the end of the year.

Taking online applications one step further is HyperOffice, which puts nearly ev-erything online: e-mail, document management, calendar, project management, and collaboration tools for about Rs. 320 a user per month. A small company doesn't have to have its own server and support staff to keep it all running.

Also consider the forthcoming Microsoft Office Live products, which are still in beta. Office Live can let a small firm quickly register and build a Web site, get e-mail accounts,