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Surveys: Email Marketing, Accounting & Project Management SoftwareYou wouldn't hire someone without checking referees, would you? Buying software for your business is no different. It makes sense to hear what experiences others have had with the software. You don't necessarily have to agree with them, but the information helps you make your own decision. As part of our software review process, Software Shortlist gathers input from small business customers on their experiences with each package. That's where you come in... We are now running surveys to gather feedback on 3 key types of software:
If you have ever used or purchased these types of software, please take a few minutes to fill in our surveys. Your feedback helps make our comparison service more reliable for small businesses everywhere. A summary of results will be shared in future editions of The Shortlist. Take a survey now:
Project Management - Punch Above Your Weight
When it comes to delivering high calibre projects on-time, on-budget, anywhere in world ... innovative small businesses can compete with the best of them. In fact, small scale can bring a number of advantages, such as speed, adaptability and close customer relationships, that bigger organisations find hard to match. This is particularly true when the small business makes effective use of the right project management software. A great example is Ben Thompson of Studio Fluid. He recently completed a major packaging design project for one of Italy's largest supermarkets Coop Italia, thanks to the right software: "I was able to manage my team of 3 local, but remotely located designers, communicate efficiently with the client located on another continent, and deliver a product that we're extremely proud of". Ben uses Basecamp by 37Signals to manage his projects, and believes that it "provides me the infrastructure of a larger company, while allowing me to retain the flexibility of a smaller one". Ben also suggests that the right project management software can even help drive sales. He says it is "so easy to understand that I'm even able to get reluctant clients to jump on there with me. And that's exactly the point. The software is so simple and effective that I actually use it as a selling point in every proposal I write". Another advocate of good project management software is Alan Brymer of TheInvestorLibrary who uses Basecamp to prepare for teleseminars he conducts jointly with other presenters. "We tried using spreadsheets and paper lists and it was too cumbersome and difficult for my virtual assistant and I to use". Alan says he "researched and did test trials of over 20 other project management programs" before settling on Basecamp as the right choice for his situation. While Basecamp is one of the best known online project management & collaboration tools, there are a host of others to consider, such as: Clarizen, Zoho Projects, WorkflowMax, ManyMoon, GoPlan, Huddle and many others. A different twist on project management software comes from Amanda Roberts, CEO of Stone Cobra. She runs a small enterprise software business that works mainly for really big customers - Fortune 500 - and previously found that getting access to the customer's own project management and collaboration tools (often MS Project or Sharepoint) was problematic, including delays getting access, VPN configuration issues, limits on licenses, etc. Rather than developing their own project software, Amanda spent a few days researching and doing trials of already available solutions. She selected Clarizen as an online solution to manage both internal and client-facing projects. The choice was heavily influenced by a few powerful features. First, Clarizen offered free client/partner licenses, allowing her to get client staff onto the system at no extra cost and without the hassles of managing licenses. Secondly, Clarizen had features to interact solely by email -- meaning project team members in these Fortune500 clients don't even need to login to a new system; they just reply to email reminders. The net result: Stone Cobra plugs into its much bigger clients quickly and with minimal disruption to the established ways of working. These customer stories demonstrate some important lessons for any small business looking at project management software:
Finally, make sure you invest adequate time to work out which of the many available solutions is right for you. Project management software can certainly help your small business punch above its weight ... but only if you choose one that truly fits your business needs. (c) 2009 Trigora Pty Ltd Online vs On-Premise SoftwareBy Blair Scott: The interesting thing about online solutions is that, although the lingo changes, the concept is not new. For the last 10 years evangelists of the “hosted” solution have been banging down doors trying to get people to believe that you are better off as a business if you don’t have your own IT infrastructure. The different acronyms that the concept has been given over the years from ASP (application service providers) to the current SaaS (software as a Service) are simply iterations of the same fundamental concept. However, this time it’s different! Why? Read the full article to find out The Upside of a DownturnRecessions aren’t all bad. There’s nothing like a shake-up to get people looking at their business, re-examining old assumptions, and changing how they work. This isn’t just our view - recent survey results provide strong support |
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