How to choose the best software for your company?

How to choose the best software for your company?

In order to help foster growth within your business, investments into new software solutions are a necessary step, however trying to decide what software aligns with the way your company operates, is capable of improving your company’s workflow and fits best within your price range can be a difficult task.

If you feel like tasks are frequently exceeding your timeline estimates or problems regularly appear, it might be time to take a look at what you’re already working with and assess which areas of your current setup can be improved upon. Try to keep an open mind, as just because you’re used to something, it doesn’t mean it can’t be improved upon.

Businesses rise and fall on a daily basis due to changes in the market, so the importance of looking forward in terms of your software choices is key to future-proofing your company. Ask yourself how quickly your company is developing and whether your current software will be able to keep up with this growth.

Throughout the course of this article we’ll provide you with some tips to help you make these important decisions.

Who are the affected parties? 

The first thing to consider before making any further decisions is your team. It is essential to involve the people who will be affected by the new software in the decision-making process.

Consult your Employees - These people are using your current software on a daily basis, you can ask them for their feedback on what works and what things they would change.

Facilitate your Managers - It is unlikely that your managers will be using the software in the same way as your other employees, they will need to be provided with adequate reporting and analysis tools in order to oversee their teams.

Consider your Customers - While it’s unlikely that you will directly ask your customers about changes to your company’s software, it is, as with any business decision, imperative that your customers are at the forefront when making a decision.

What do you already have?

Before you can decide what you need it is important to review what you already have. Take time to look at your current processes and ask if they are suitably streamlined.

It is also a good opportunity to work through the pro’s and con’s of your current software in order to identify problem areas as well as things you would prefer to keep unchanged if possible. You can assign these things priorities as you list them for example “must have”, “preferred” and “additional”. This will help you and your team to clearly define your expectations of your future software.

Ask others

Now that you have a defined idea of what you need from your software it’s time to perform your own research. It’s easy to access public opinions and reviews online. Take a moment to read these reviews as well as checking what software choices your competitors are making.

You can also ask most software providers for their professional advice, as they are best equipped to help you solve any doubts and queries you may have regarding your software choices. You can also consult with either your in-house tech team or your external IT support partner in order to make sure that security standards will be upheld.

Demo’s and training

Once you’ve decided on your software, see if it’s available as a demo version in order to verify that it fits your company’s needs before you make a monetary investment. 

The final step is to provide your staff with adequate training in the new software to make sure the transition runs as smoothly as possible. Be sure to hold the training in advance so that you don’t have to sacrifice productivity during the first few weeks.