Information is the life-blood of any successful business. What brings success to the business is the ability to move, manage and store information in an efficient and secure manner, and computers and software gives your employees a set of tools to help them accomplish just that. Here are the three different types of software that you will need in your business:
The Basics
This first category of software is designed to help you automate the communication process with people inside and outside of your company. Commonly, this is called “Office Automation” software. The following is a list of the basic software that you will need:
- Email is the process of sending text and files to other people over the Internet. Some email providers will give you software to access your email account, or will allow you to send and receive email from a webpage with no software at all. Another option is to use software that may be included with your Office Automation package (e.g. Microsoft Office).
- Word Processor is software that will let you create documents that can be printed or emailed to other people. These include letters, memos, proposals or anything else that can be printed.
- Spreadsheet programs allow you to store, manipulate and display graphs of numerical data. Examples include accounting data, sales forecasts and charts.
- Presentation software allows you to present your ideas in a visually eye-catching manner. This can be projected on a screen, or printed and handed out to people in attendance.
Two major publishers of office automation software are:
- Microsoft offers a suite of office automation software called “Office”(tm). There are several packages available at different price levels. It is an industry standard package, integrates with a variety of other software, and is very well developed with very few problems.
- Open Office is a suite of office automation products that run on a variety of operating systems. The software is free, but has some disadvantages. When compared to Microsoft products, Open Office runs significantly slower. In addition, there are some compatibility problems if you send document to people that use Microsoft.
Accounting Software
Every organization depends upon money to keep operating. The days of long ledgers and accountants with green eyeshades are gone. The accountants are still here, but they have a new set of tools to use. Accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoicing and general ledger are the basic modules you will need.The following is a list of some of the most popular accounting packages for small business. More information can be found at Top 5 Accounting Software for Small Business.
- QuickBooks
- Peachtree Complete
- Simply Accounting
- Sage BusinessVision
- Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting
Industry-Specific Software
Once you have an office automation package in place and the accounting software is up and running, you can take a look at specialized software for the type of business you are running. Here are some industry examples and what to look for in a package:
- Service / Consulting: Hourly billing, maintenance contract administration, service call management.
- Manufacturing: Work orders, production control, inventory control, quality assurance, purchasing
- Retail: Point of sale processing, credit card processing, inventory control, purchasing, order entry
- Wholesale / Warehousing: Order entry, inventory control, purchasing, delivery scheduling
- Online: Order entry, website integration, order fulfillment, credit card processing
