What You Need to Know about Business Software

The software market for business needs is developing at an enormous speed. Today, you can find universal software solutions as well as specialized – aimed at solving the needs of companies in a particular industry. You need to know answers to these questions: How to understand the world of software? What do you need to know about the software? What kind of software is there and how does it differ from each other?

Businesses today are becoming increasingly dependent on technology. Without using modern technology, services, and automating tools, businesses are beginning to lose their competitive edge. More advanced companies are becoming more productive and pushing organizations that work “the old-fashioned way” out of the market.

Establish Usage Rights

First, any company that chooses off-the-shelf software on the market is interested in having a full set of rights to the purchased software product: to use it at its own discretion, modify it for its own needs or for further sale (by own forces or by outsourcing the development), distribute the modified versions, including on a commercial basis.

Such rights can be obtained by the company in three ways. The first way is to purchase the necessary set of rights from the producer of the software product. The second way is to develop the software by itself (using its own programmers or outsourcing the development). And finally, the third way is to use free software.

Take Ready-Made Software or Develop It Yourself?

Some companies develop software on their own or use outsourcing firms. In some cases, this is a reasonable alternative to buying off-the-shelf software, but in others it can create significant risks. For example, if software testing software development is not the company’s core business, it will have to: 

• to maintain its own team of developers;
• to create and (what is important!) further develop the software;
• to regularly spend money on their skills improvement since technologies change very rapidly;
• in case of staff turnover – to look for specialists of needed skill.

On the other hand, getting a well-developed software solution from the market will free your company from having to invest in its own development processes. Business owners often purchase Microsoft RDS for tasks such as remote access and web-based software. Microsoft RDS allows users to easily access applications, files, printers, and more from anywhere with an Internet connection while also providing security features that help ensure data privacy for the company.

Let’s Summarize: What Should a Business Owner Pay Attention to When Choosing Software?

• The first is expertise. It is worth giving preference to a company that has been dealing with one software product for many years, over those who produce a series of programs for different business areas.
• The second is the responsiveness of the managers. How quickly they respond to your questions. Bore them with questions, don’t be shy, ask them about everything. Your task is to reveal the company’s policy, the attitude towards you, whether there is a willingness to help.
• Third: read the feedback of those who are already using the software.
• Fourth: you must have a free trial version where you can try everything and understand whether it has the necessary functionality you need, whether the interface is friendly, etc.
• Fifth: you need to ask the managers if the program can be modified to meet your requirements, if there are any programmers in the market who can work with this software, and how much an hour of work of such a programmer will cost.