“If you pick the wrong tool, it is so painful to switch”

– Doug Karr

The below questions will help you in making the right decision to choose the first software solution and software companies in Makati, Cube, etc.

? Are your objectives clear ?

From a sole trader to a global enterprise, if you are not clear on your objectives, how will you know if a business software application meets your needs?

Business applications are all about solving business problems and supporting business processes, and so they should be selected to meet clearly articulated and agreed business objectives

Make sure, your business objectives to be achieved, relate to this software purchase? For example:

• Automate time-consuming manual processes.
• Unify business data within a single system.
• Reduce administration costs.
• Improve customer service response time.

Make sure, your project objectives to be achieved, relate to this software purchase? For example:

• The system implementation needs to be done by year-end.
• The total cost of the software needs to be within a departmental budget.
• Move all systems to the cloud.
• Our customers require that their data must be held within a specific country or region.

? What’s the right type of system for you ?

Today there is an unsteady range of business software options (eg. Online HRMS Software, custom ERP software, etc) for organizations of all sizes to consider, including:

• Mobile business apps – for small business and a sole trader with a limited budget

• Software as a Service/Cloud-based systems– run by the vendor and accessed over the web; often charged by the user, per month i.e. subscription-based charging.

• On-premise systems – software installed and run in-house just for your organization.

? What’s it going to cost ?

To get accurate costs to allow meaningful comparisons between solutions it is important that you are very clear as to what you expect to be included in prices quoted. For example:

• Software functionality.
• Services to implement and customize the software.
• Project management.
• Telephone support/ Live Chat
• Training – e.g. onsite training; live online courses; pre-recorded video training.
• Future upgrades, enhancements and legal changes to the software.

It is also important to find out what are the upfront, first year, and ongoing charges.

“If you buy something terrible in order to pay less, it’ll just make more work for you down the road.”

– Benji Markoff

It is your choice as to whether you share information about your budget with vendors, but it could save time and effort for both you and the vendor if you can ascertain whether a solution is completely out of your price range before you add them to the long list for evaluation.

Making the Final Decision

It is your responsibility to be absolutely certain as to who should have been included in the evaluation and who makes the final decision to commit the funds to make the purchase.

“We’re all in this together”

In this blog, we’ve shared ideas and best practices to help you make software purchases which is your business-specific. However, we’d welcome your own feedback and ideas based on your experience of the process to incorporate into future editions of this blog guide……