I read an article in the NYT's about Amazon's Turk see below:
What is Amazon Mechanical Turk?
In 17**, Hungarian nobleman Wolfgang von Kempelen astonished Europe by building a mechanical chess-playing automaton that defeated nearly every opponent it faced. A life-sized wooden mannequin, adorned with a fur-trimmed robe and a turban, Kempelen's "Turk" was seated behind a cabinet and toured Europe confounding such brilliant challengers as Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte. To persuade skeptical audiences, Kempelen would slide open the cabinet's doors to reveal the intricate set of gears, cogs and springs that powered his invention. He convinced them that he had built a machine that made decisions using artificial intelligence. What they did not know was the secret behind the Mechanical Turk: a human chess master cleverly concealed inside.

Today, we build complex software applications based on the things computers do well, such as storing and retrieving large amounts of information or rapidly performing calculations. However, humans still significantly outperform the most powerful computers at completing such simple tasks as identifying objects in photographs—something children can do even before they learn to speak.

When we think of interfaces between human beings and computers, we usually assume that the human being is the one requesting that a task be completed, and the computer is completing the task and providing the results. What if this process were reversed and a computer program could ask a human being to perform a task and return the results? What if it could coordinate many human beings to perform a task?

Amazon Mechanical Turk provides a web services API for computers to integrate "artificial artificial intelligence" directly into their processing by making requests of humans. Developers use the Amazon Mechanical Turk web service to submit tasks to the Amazon Mechanical Turk web site, approve completed tasks, and incorporate the answers into their software applications. To the application, the transaction looks very much like any remote procedure call: the application sends the request, and the service returns the results. Behind the scenes, a network of humans fuels this artificial artificial intelligence by coming to the web site, searching for and completing tasks, and receiving payment for their work.

Do you think this is here to stay - could a small business compete against Amazon?

I think there are very few companies that could pull something like this off and Amazon is one of them

Fortunately or unfortunately for Amazon, there are several companies that already outsource payroll, office space, reception and virtually everything else for small businesses. Guru.com and Elance.com pick up the difference.

I guess I wasn't clear... since I was thinking of a project oriented usage. Not as much the administration, as the project completion and coordination of outsourced, and inhouse but virtually attached office remnants. Using something like the virtual turk keep the project moving forward by calling in bids at the time when outsourced resources will soon be needed. So that the bids are called before they are needed, but not right on top of the last minute... I am not sure if any software can help overcome some level of procrastination or poor oversight, but maybe it might... then God help us if computers, and software become better at running our business than we are.