6 Tech Tips for Empowering Professionals Through Personalized Software Innovations

Regardless of the industry in which you operate, there is a very high chance that you will use some form of digital system at some point.

Whether you need an accounting solution to help you with your payroll requirements or a highly sophisticated warehouse allocation system that enables your picking team to move around the area most efficiently, it’s safe to say that if there’s a market, then some intelligent developers will have created software to assist with what’s needed.

In this post, we will take a look at how to figure out what software your company might need in order to help you make the most efficient use of allocating your budget towards it.

Assess Current Processes And Workflows

Before you jump onto the internet and search “x software for Y,” your time may be better spent considering your current workflows and what any specific software could do to improve overall efficiency. After all, money spent on something that is rarely used or causes bottlenecks in your current way of working is money that obviously could have been spent elsewhere to elicit more productive outcomes.

The first step is gathering your management team and chairing a meeting where you can discuss any glaring or less apparent issues that could be remedied with the right software solutions.

This could be that your accounting team is having trouble using older, legacy software that is installed locally on your office computers, thereby limiting them to the office, or it could be that you have identified some form of inefficiency in an existing process that might be fixed by introducing a new way of going about it. 

The next step is to consider whether an off-the-shelf solution already exists or if you have to get something custom-made for a specific task. While the former could save you a lot of time and resources, you run the risk of ending up with something that is subpar for your requirements, causing you to settle on something that isn’t entirely adequate.

Conversely, custom development software could be more costly initially but will ensure that you have total control over the features you actually need while stripping out those you don’t, and will enable you to integrate it into existing workflows sans any issues that can often plague software that has been developed as a one size fits all kind of solution.

Once you have a good idea of these initial steps, you can move on to a more in-depth conversation with your team members, who will ultimately be the ones using any new software that you introduce.

Gather Feedback From Team Members

Your team is on the front line, and as such, if you introduce new software that causes them strife or bottlenecks that mean they need to work harder for the same results as before, they won’t be happy. Not only this, but it will go against the very idea of introducing the new systems in the first place and eventually cause your operations to degrade.

Therefore, it makes sense to include those who will be using whatever software you introduce to them in the conversion. Depending on the size and scope of your company, you may only need to meet with staff members who will be directly involved with the process (i.e., accounting, marketing, etc). This can result in a far better outcome than going it alone or only discussing your issues with other managers.

You will gain a deeper insight into what your business is lacking since these are the guys and girls who perform the job day in and day out, so gathering their input will give you a considerable advantage and potently save you an inordinate amount of money by ensuring any software you choose perfectly fits the bill.

Research Industry-Specific Software Solutions

Every industry has differing needs when it comes to operation, and while some software can cater to many areas, other options will be laser-focused on a specific sector. In some instances, this is straightforward enough, simply because the solution will be so exact that searching for it won’t take much effort.

On the other hand, it might take a little more effort to ensure you get it perfect. Although we have already used the example of accounting in this post, you will find that something like accounting software will be broadly the same regardless of industry, making the search for this example relatively easy.

However, the more specific your business is, the more likely it will be that you must spend time looking for software that has been designed for your needs.

Consider Integration With Existing Tools

Any software that you opt for must absolutely be able to fit nicely with other solutions you are already using. There is nothing worse than investing a fortune in something and finding that it won’t work with the numerous other solutions you are currently utilizing. In the best-case scenario, it simply won’t work as intended, but in the worst case, you could discover that it interferes with the operational workflow of your company, which causes severe reputational damage. 

Evaluate Software Scalability And Flexibility

Every business, no matter how big or small, has a desire to expand and generate more revenue. While this is an admirable idea, it is almost impossible if you limit yourself to software that specifically caters to your current size and needs without considering expansion.

Therefore, you ought to look to software that can scale alongside you so that you can continue offering your services and products without interruption as you scramble to find new software that can meet demand.

Fortunately, most modern software providers have scalable tiers that you can climb as you require more features and options. Just double-check to make sure that the tiers rise in price in a way that won’t utterly bankrupt you just by adding another x amount of customers!

Check For Customer Support Availability

Just because you’ve reached a point where you believe you have discovered the perfect solution, you still have one more step to take. This is checking how efficient and helpful their customer support is and how much effort the developer has put into their documentation.

The former is vital as it will distance how fast you can remedy an issue if one occurs, while the latter will ensure your IT department can troubleshoot many of the minor niggles that can arise as rapidly as possible.

Choosing suitable software for your business is certainly no mean feat. Aside from the cost of implementing it into existing flows, you must ensure that it solves the problem you’re experiencing; otherwise, the whole process will be for naught.