The world today has grown extremely competitive. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the business world where the competition is fierce and “winner takes it all” is the proverbial motive behind every business striving every day to increase their revenue by improving their efficiency, products, services and/or speed to market. This in turn sparks a rise in demand for digital solutions today that can help companies achieve such efficiency, speed and greater profit margins. These digital solutions come in the form of softwares for businesses, developed and marketed by software development companies like Conaxiom.
Software solutions for businesses come in two broad categories: off the shelf softwares created for business operations and custom softwares built and tailored to a specific business. Both types help organizations immensely by removing human error, automating mundane everyday tasks, increasing accuracy and efficiency, scale up or down operations to meet the changing market, help make informed and smart decisions etc. The software solutions are rapidly becoming the new norm in today’s increasingly digital world.
This article will talk about the top 10 software solutions out there for any business to acquire if they wish. These softwares are specifically designed for use by businesses operating at the enterprise level and are, therefore, known as enterprise software solutions. They perform a variety of functions to aid business operations like marketing, sales, human resources etc. In order to pick out the optimum software for any business operation, consulting software development companies out there, like Conaxiom, is recommended to derive the benefits of a digital solution.
1. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Softwares:
ERP softwares are comprehensive softwares that are essentially an integrated platform for the management of main business processes like sales, inventory, marketing etc. This all-in-one software solution allows businesses to easily manage all their operations in one place, automate processes and optimum use of their resources. There are numerous ERP softwares out there for sale right off the shelf e.g. Microsoft Dynamics. The trick is choosing the right one from these or making the decision between an off the shelf software or a custom built ERP software for your business, both of which can be accurately assessed if you look towards consultancy with a software company. Every business is unique with its very own processes and services/products. In order to increase ROI, efficiency and meet business goals in the shortest possible time, custom softwares are the way to go that would be tailored exactly to the business’s needs and will be customizable to change in proportion with the business.
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Softwares:
Customers are the main source of revenue for every business out there. It stands to reason, therefore, that there must be a software solution to manage, keep up with and retain relationships with customers. CRM softwares are data driven softwares to help businesses do just that. Today, 91% of businesses with ten or more employees are using CRM softwares. The most famous of all CRM software solutions is Salesforce which has been around for the past two decades and still remains the go-to for most businesses today. However, Salesforce, like many other off the shelf CRM softwares, is vast tool and some businesses may not need all of its functionalities but will still end up paying the fixed price for the entire software which defeats the purpose of a business software solution. Therefore, it is recommended for businesses to assess their CRM needs before deciding on an off the shelf software or go the path of a custom CRM software solution tailored to their specific needs. Software consultancy can greatly aid in this decision making process.
3. Project Management Softwares:
Planning, organizing, managing and tracking progress when it comes to a project, all while there is a deadline to meet is an incredibly difficult task without a project management software solution. This makes it immensely easier for teams working on projects to keep track and meet deadlines while also increasing efficiency and speed when it comes to deliverables and aids them in organizing and planning. According to surveys, adoption of project management software is only 22%. This means there is a lot of potential competitive edge to be gained in the market by adopting a project management software solution for your business. Each project is unique and, therefore, the best route is for a custom project management software made specific for your business’s project. It will do that job efficiently. In this department, a custom job is the way to go or you will end up with sunk costs that can never be recovered for an expensive off the shelf software which you will only use in a limited way.
4. Content Management System (CMS) Softwares:
The task of managing web content by any business’s marketing and development departments has been made incredibly easier with these software solutions. They are cheap off the shelf solutions for any business to use e.g. WordPress. They are, however, sorely lacking in providing security and are regularly and easily hacked by cyber criminals. In order to ward against this, custom CMS softwares are the best solution if the business wishes to protect its online presence, digital content and SEO rankings. Custom CMS softwares are secure since they are not open source like WordPress, are custom designed to fit the business and its requirements and have the capacity for an additional security layer if the businesses wishes it. Most importantly, it will make content management by the business incredibly easy which is the main purpose of CMS platforms.
5. Marketing Automation Softwares:
These softwares automate mundane marketing tasks like posting social media content and email marketing. It frees up manual labor to convert prospects into actual paying customers and focus on other more pressing marketing activities. These types of softwares are being used by most businesses out there and the competition is fierce. In order to jump ahead of the rest, leads should be generated and captured fast and relationships with customers have to be established. This can be done with the aid of analyzing customers and their behavioral patterns and trends. While most off the shelf softwares can do that, a custom marketing software will do it better since it will be suited perfectly to your business’s specifications, customers and marketing efforts and will, therefore, generate much better results than a generic software.
6. Human Resource (HR) Management Softwares:
These softwares automate many HR related tasks like leave calculations, talent management, payroll etc. These softwares free up HR personnel to focus on more strategic tasks that cannot be performed by softwares. Custom HR management software solutions are further beneficial since they can generate tailor made reports for that specific business and evaluate employees more effectively when it comes to appraisals. In other words, they can perform more tasks for that business than a generic HR management software off the shelf.
7. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Softwares:
EAM management is the management and maintenance of a business’s physical assets throughout each asset’s lifecycle. EAM softwares help businesses do this by automating many of the mundane tasks like managing inventory, infrastructure, properties, equipment etc. while also complying with government and company regulations. Generic softwares can do this broadly and may be suited to small businesses just getting off the ground but larger businesses or any business that wishes to remain profitable in the long run need a custom EAM software made specifically for their business to track their specific asset goals and requirements which keep evolving in this field in response to changes in the market.
8. Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) Softwares:
This helps companies maintain a secure and safe network with data access from the mobile devices used by employees. In a bring your own device (BYOD) setting (which cuts back on costs since businesses will not have to invest in on premises equipment), EMM softwares perform the task of securing network and data so that it can be accessed by employees on their devices without the occurrence of a security breach or a malware attack by an external actor. However, even famous off the shelf softwares are being scrutinized these days due to security loopholes and weaknesses. In order to ward against this, the safest choice for companies is to opt for a custom EMM software made specifically for their business which will help ward against such attacks or breaches on account of being secured differently than other such softwares.
9. Enterprise Business Intelligence (EBI) Softwares:
These softwares analyze all kinds of data (both structured and unstructured) ranging from small to huge sets to extract useful profitable information for the business which can then be used to make smart and profitable decisions. Good EBI softwares allow for the generation of reports in mere minutes and function well with the existing platforms for business intelligence in that specific organization. However, analytics is a vast field and companies regularly need different forms of analysis done on different data sets and generic EBI softwares do not possess such capabilities and usually require additional plugins that cost extra. In that case, custom EBI softwares are the way to go because firstly they provide all the necessary tools that specific business needs and secondly they protect sensitive data of the company from malicious attacks which standard EBI softwares off the shelf are vulnerable to.
10. Enterprise Internal Communication Management (EICM) Softwares:
This type of software allows teams within a specific organization to share information with each other any time and any place thus fostering team collaboration which is imperative for the success of every business. There are many open source softwares like this on the market that a lot of businesses are using today. However, information is retained by the software and a lot of this information may be sensitive and crucial for the business which is employing the use of this software. With the growing threat of cyber-attacks across the world, using open source softwares is not the best idea. Custom made EICM softwares are the right decision in today’s world in order to protect sensitive data that is inevitably shared on such forums between employees. Moreover, a custom solution will be tailored to meet all the requirements of the business and its employees.
