What kind of applications might your business need? What options can you choose from in these application sets? How might licensing and piracy issues affect the software you choose?
…if someone would explain how to pick the best apps for your business?
Your business will need various types of software to function. In some cases, you may only need one or two basic packages; in others, you may need to bundle together a few applications to get your work done. Assess the available choices here and choose what you need to make a start.
Software checklist
In some cases, the computers that you buy may come with a range of software applications on board. Sometimes these will be full versions, but you may get a 'trial' version to try out before you buy. Other types of application may be purchased or downloaded separately as you need them.
Software options. You have three choices here. You can, for example, buy commercial software packages where you pay for the right (or license) to use the package. You can also use free packages such as open source software where no purchase is necessary. Or you can use online business software applications.
Licensing and piracy. It is illegal to copy commercial software without paying for it. Each product has a licence, which covers what you can and can't do with the software. For example, the licence will limit the number of installations you can make. Using pirated software can also expose you to viruses and deny access to patches and updates.
Word processing. This helps you produce documents such as letters, reports and proposals. You can also use mail merge to personalise mailouts. Examples include Microsoft Office Word 2010 (commercial), OpenOffice Writer (free, open source) and Google Docs (free, online).
Spreadsheets. This is most often used to create financial documentation or basic databases. It comes with a variety of built-in and customisable calculation functions. Examples include Microsoft Office Excel 2010 (commercial), OpenOffice Calc and Math (free, open source) and Google Docs (free, online).
Diary/calendar. This allows you to create and manage diary/calendar entries on your computer. Examples include Microsoft Office Outlook 2010 (commercial), eMClient with Calendar (free) and VCalendar (free, open source, online).
Email. This allows you to send, receive and manage emails. It also often offers additional add-ons such as scheduling, diary and calendar functions. Examples include Microsoft Office Outlook 2010 (commercial), Mozilla Thunderbird (free, open source) and Google Mail and Calendar (free, online).
Web browser. This is the vehicle that allows you to access the internet and to manage your online activities. Examples include Microsoft Internet Explorer (commercial) and Mozilla Firefox (free, open source).
Presentations. This can help you create presentations. Packages nowadays can create both basic static presentations and more complex interactive ones. Examples include Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010 (commercial), OpenOffice Impress (free, open source) and Google Docs (free, online).
Database. This software is used to create, manage and manipulate databases. It comes with the ability to let you produce various reports from the information in the database itself. Examples include Microsoft Office Access 2010 (commercial), OpenOffice Base (free, open source) and Zoho DB & Reports (free, online).
Graphics editing. This allows you to create and edit graphics and often comes with a range of useful desktop publishing add-ons. Examples include Adobe PhotoShop (commercial), GIMP (free, open source) and SUMO Paint (free, online).
Desktop publishing. This allows you to create documents for publishing such as sales and marketing materials. Examples include Microsoft Publisher 2010 (commercial) and Scribus (free, open source).
CRM. This allows you to manage your sales, marketing and service initiatives. Some businesses will use the applications available in general Office packages such as Microsoft Office or OpenOffice for this. Examples of specialist CRM systems include SAP Business Suite (commercial), EBI Neutrino R1 (free, open source), SalesForce.com (commercial, online) and Zoho CRM (free, online).
Accounts. This allows you to set up and manage your accounts and payroll system. Examples include Sage Accounting (commercial), TurboCASH (free, open source) and e-conomic (online, commercial).
