When it’s time to make a choice about software for a particular business task, the first thing that becomes apparent is that there are a wide range of choices available. We’re living in an age of evolution – every time you look, there’s a new way to do something. As a result, business owners are constantly being confronted by confounding decisions and possibilities. How is it possible to make the best choice about the software you include in your business?
We help our clients by working together with them to evaluate software for their purposes. A recent example of this is the work we did on the Better Together Housing project, which included vetting over 15 solutions before we landed on the right one for the job. Here are some of the important principles to bear in mind when evaluating software for your business. If you’d like some help with the process, please contact our team:
Common Software Evaluation Considerations
Budgetary Considerations
To be realistic, you need to ensure you’re working with solutions that are within your price range. You also need to ensure your price range has been properly appreciated. After all, if software is going to become the backbone of your business, it won’t pay to cut corners on cost.
SEO & Online Promotion
Wrasse Industries uses an integrated approach, so we’re interested in how things work together. With anything regarding website design, we’re interested in the SEO implications – a primary consideration is always being found online, as it’s important to utilise solutions that are in sync with your overall online marketing strategy.
Expertise
If specific skills are involved, training may be another time-related consideration to take into account, in the event you have staff managing a system. If one person is responsible and they leave the organisation, a gap may be created in your ability to deliver. All of this needs to be incorporated into planning.
ICT Integrations
It’s useful to proactively keep an eye on the relationships that exist between your existing ICT (Information Communication Technology) and new inclusions. This knowledge can be helpful in making decisions going forwards. This is particularly relevant with website-related functionality improvements.
Ability To Migrate
The ease with which information can be migrated is important. If you need to switch to a new system, the process may be formidable if you’re dealing with large volumes of records. Check to see if prospective methods enable the export of your information.
Audience Considerations
If you’re communicating with people, especially in marketing, the medium used by the audience is the best medium to use, regardless of your personal preference. This principle can be applied to different types of audiences too. Even when the old way was ‘better’, its not valid if nobody is receiving.
Support & Customer Service
How’s the support setup for your prospective integration? While it is cost-effective to push support into FAQ and automatic responses, it’s not genuinely helpful, especially in the middle of a crisis (you can bet that it will be in the middle of a crisis). Check it out before coming onboard. It may be the best investigation you do.
Peer Feedback
Check reviews and feedback. While feedback needs to be taken with a grain of salt (it isn’t always authentic) you can often get an idea of the vibe of a produce or company in this way.
Dependancy & The Cutting Edge
The more your business depends on a system, the more thoroughly you need to be able to trust the solution. Cutting edge options shouldn’t be discarded because they’re not proven, and be assured that newcomers to the industry will be evaluating them. However, like any inclusion, a diligent approach is required.
In Conclusion
For any business, it’s imperative to be forward-thinking. How things are done now (2021) will not be comparable to how they’re done in 2029. 2029 may look a little mysterious at the moment – everything is going to be different, but how? As we make choices about what to include in our businesses, we’re always weighing things up, trying to get it right. At the end of the day, there is little point in innovating just for the sake of it. The simplest way that gets the job done is always the best way.