Why propose setting up any hardware to begin with?

A small start-up company shouldn't be wasting brain cycles figuring out what servers they should buy, what accounting software to use, what database to install, what registrar to use, etc... They need to be focused on their core business or product - the reason they are together in the first place.

A small business today would be better served using ASP resources such as Google Apps for mail, calendar, docs, etc... and then services like SalesForce.com for accounting, sales, CRM etc... These services often have little or no startup costs and little admin overhead to allow the company to maximize the ROI on the services.

Why learn how to install and manage an Active Directory when there is almost no reason to today?

Click to read the article this is in response to.