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GO ASK ERNIESmall businesses are tapping world-class consultants from their PCs. In May, Ernst & Young launched Ernie, an online service that answers E-queries from clients within two days. Now, outfits from resume shops to big law firms are planning ways to deliver their services over the Internet. ``It's the new paradigm for consulting,'' says Susan Tan, an analyst at International Data Corp. But there are pitfalls. Half of Ernie's target customers--companies with $25 million to $200 million in revenue--are unwired. And even some of those who are balk at the price: $6,000 a year. ``Every month we get the bill, we ask ourselves if it's worth it,'' says Chris Strom of the New York office of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, an architecture firm that uses Ernie to research its clients' industries. Lyle DeWitt of Trinet Employer Group in San Leandro, Calif., counters: ``I don't know how Ernie makes money.'' On average, he alone asks two questions a day. EDITED BY I. JEANNE DUGAN
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Updated June 20, 1997 by bwwebmaster
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