It’s easy to get swept up in the latest technology and gadgets, but when it comes to picking the right technology for your business, it’s not always about following the trend. ‘Buzzword’ software may look great on paper, but is it the right fit for your business? Will it deliver on ROI or break the bank? These are a few of the important questions we aim to answer in this article.

Firstly, when choosing your software, it’s important to consider exactly what you’re setting out to achieve. Whether you’re managing a small amount of data, a bus-load, whether you want a client-side service or server-side, your choice definitely matters. 

If you’re only managing a small amount of data, choosing the latest tech might be like purchasing a brand new hedge trimmer to cut your hair. It’d do the job, sure, but a nice and cheap pair of scissors would most certainly be the more sensible - and appropriate - option. Similarly though, the vice-versa can be true. Trimming your hedge with a pair of scissors is probably not going to cut it, if you excuse the terrible pun. 

That’s all well and good, but how exactly do you know which software to choose? With such a huge range of available tech, the differences aren’t always as simple and obvious as between a pair of scissors and a hedge-trimmer, but that’s why we’re here.

Firstly, let’s summarise.

There are a few important things you need to consider when it comes to choosing the right technology;

• Firstly, the purpose of the tech. You need to consider carefully whether or not it aligns with your business goals. Remember that terrible hedge-trimmer analogy?
  
  
• Secondly, the ubiquity of the tech, or rather, how widely used the particular software is. A more ubiquitous tech naturally has a wider range of support, and as such, it’ll generally be easier (and thus cheaper) to find competent developers with the necessary experience. Plus, if it’s used by many more businesses, it’s probably set to stand the test of time.
  
  
• And lastly - but definitely not leastly - whether or not your chosen software is open or closed source. This will undoubtedly bring up issues of cost, usability and security. There’s no definitive answer for which is best, but if you’re looking for a cheaper option, open-source is usually the way to go.
  

But that’s far from an exhaustive list.

There are still many other factors that come into play when choosing the right software for your business. Let’s take a look at some examples.

• Let’s say you’re building a system where you need to service a huge number of users outside of your organisation. Here, it’d be best to look at client-side frameworks, so you can take advantage of your clients machines instead of offloading too much stress on your own servers.
  
  
• If the users were inside your organisation, for example a large sales team who need to collaborate, consider a desktop application. This would have the advantage of keeping most of the infrastructure of the application local, so once installed, only raw data is transmitted between the client and the server, leading to a snappier experience all round.
  
  
• In the same vein, responsive-design web applications can allow you to use systems across a variety of devices, without requiring any software updates. The only issue here however is that the user experience can be significantly impacted by a lousy internet connection. Responsive applications are best for those with good internet connections, but would rather avoid installing updates.
  
  
• For heavy calculations, MS Excel is still a great way to go, because it’s so familiar to many. Clever use of macros and VBA (these are advanced features of Excel) can turn simple spreadsheets into powerful and robust tools that almost resemble bespoke software packages.
  
  
• Although not used very often any more, MS Access is still a quick and easy way to deal with small databases, too. It can be very cost-effective if already used by the organisation.
  
  

So, in short, the most expensive doesn’t always mean the best. More often than not, software specifically chosen for your requirements - rather than a catch-all super-program - will not only help deliver a much better ROI, but you may even find that it does the job a little better. What’s not to like?

Still feel none the wiser? Or just need a little help deciding? We’re here to help. Drop us a call or an email and we’ll help you choose the perfect fit.