Project management software lets you get to work on what has to get done instead of spending time figuring out how to do it. It automates task assignment, resource allocation and milestone tracking. The software can either allow multiple people to work together at once or just let someone work on a project alone. It helps businesses stay organized and run smoothly, but how do you know if project management software is the right tool for your company?
I recently asked this question to Team Interactions President Mark Kenny. Team Interactions has a project management software product called EnterPlicity and since Mark also blogs about this type of software I knew that he would be able to give some great tips. Here are the two questions Mark said to ask yourself to determine whether your company needs project management software:
1) Can you quickly and accurately answer some basic questions about your organization?
- What are your people working on?
- How much time do people spend on projects?
- How often are projects completed on time?
- Where is the latest version of that important document?
- What is the status of all of our current, active projects?
- If a client called looking for the realistic status and completion date of a key project, could you tell them?
If you can’t answer the above questions quickly or, worse yet, if you don’t even know where to begin finding the answers—you might need project management software. continue reading »
We love asking software companies to share their advice for software buyers. They interact with buyers across all industries and are in a unique position of being able to see where most business software buyers make mistakes in the process. However, it’s not every day that you get the chance to talk with an industry insider who is willing to share some secrets, so I was very excited when dESCO’s Director of Marketing and Business Development Jonathan Frei offered to provide advice that software sales reps wouldn’t normally give to buyers.
dESCO’s software helps organizations manage and communicate with field employees and resources, but Jonathan’s advice is relevant regardless of what type of software solution your business needs. Here are seven secrets that software sales representatives won’t tell you:
1. They don’t know you. Software sales persons may act like they totally understand your situation and your needs, but they really don’t have a clue until you tell them. One of the best things you can do as a buyer is to tell software companies what you want: how you envision your company using the software and the goals you hope it will help you achieve. Finding the right software is about finding the right fit, but you have to first understand your business needs.
2. You might not need everything they’re selling. Software vendors can go on forever about all of the special features they offer. However, just because they offer it doesn’t mean that you need it. Ask yourself and the sales rep how these extra features will help satisfy your business needs. It’s not about the software features; it’s about how these features will benefit your company.
3. If you need it, it won’t be overpriced. The biggest deciding factor should not be the price. Software that doesn’t fit your needs is going to be overpriced every time. Thinking of your company before and after implementing the software rather than just dollars and cents will paint the bigger picture of software as an investment in your company’s growth. If the price is right, you should see the ROI. continue reading »
There aren’t many big ticket items that you can try out before you purchase them. Sure, you can return the designer shoes if they don’t fit, or you can give the car a quick test drive, but when it comes to understanding how you’ll use something in your day-to-day life, the opportunity to really try it out isn’t there very often. That is what is so great about free trials for business software. Many software vendors offer you the chance to actually use their product so you can see how it will work for your needs. Take full advantage of this opportunity. With real or test data, use the software just as you would to help simplify the tasks that made you start looking for software in the first place. Think about different scenarios in the life of your business and try to use the software in reaction to those. Using the software as much as you can during the free trial period will help insure that you find the right solution for your needs.
Effective collaboration and teamwork is critical to the growth of any company. But even with a great, cooperative team sometimes it’s hard to keep track of which document floating around is the most up-to-date. This is where collaboration software can help— by allowing you to share information through a platform for virtual teamwork. It makes it easier to manage document libraries, projects, editing, discussions, calendars and all of those other details that make your business run.
You may wonder how to determine whether your company needs this type of software. I asked a panel of industry experts from Dito, HyperOffice, LotusLive, and Zoho (that’s them in the picture at the GrowSmartBiz conference). They had a lot of great suggestions that I’ve summarized into the following three questions to ask yourself.
1) Is the issue at your company collaboration? Or is it communication? Collaboration won’t make your inter-office communication work. That’s a separate issue. But if what you need is a way to organize your communication, collaboration software can help.
2) Are you re-entering the same data in different places? If you have to consult several different data sources to pull together an answer, you’re not responding to problems in real-time. Collaboration software helps integrate project and planning communication between your co-workers and your company’s different software programs. continue reading »
This past Friday, I spent the day at the GrowSmartBiz conference in Washington, DC. One of the featured speakers, Smallbiztechnology.com editor and Capterra friend Ramon Ray sat down with me for a few minutes to give software advice. Here’s what he had to say:
Besa: Why do you think a lot of small businesses have reservations about buying software?
Ramon: It’s two things. They don’t know what they need and they’re scared. Let’s start with need. Part of that could be that they don’t know what their main problem is. For example, they know there’s some sort of disconnect in their operation but they don’t realize it’s an inventory problem. The best way to get around this is to ask for help. Take the time to find a business process expert to help you identify the problem. continue reading »
