History of Business Software

 

The essential motivation for business software is to increase profits by cutting costs or speeding the productive cycle. In the earliest days of white-collar business automation, large mainframe computers were used to tackle the most tedious jobs, like bank cheque clearing and factory accounting.

Factory accounting software was among the most popular of early business software tools, and included the automation of general ledgers, fixed assets inventory ledgers, cost accounting ledgers, accounts receivable ledgers, and accounts payable ledgers (including payroll, life insurance, health insurance, federal and state insurance and retirement).

The early use of software to replace manual white-collar labor was extremely profitable, and caused a radical shift in white-collar labor. One computer might easily replace 100 white-collar 'pencil pushers', and the computer would not require any health or retirement benefits.

Building on these early successes with IBM, Hewlett-Packard and other early suppliers of business software solutions, corporate consumers demanded business software to replace the old-fashioned drafting board. CAD-CAM software (or computer-aided drafting for computer-aided manufacturing) arrived in the early 1980s. Also, project management software was so valued in the early 1980s that it might cost as much as $500,000 per copy (although such software typically had far fewer capabilities than modern project management software such as Microsoft Project, which one might purchase today for under $500 per copy.)

In the early days, perhaps the most noticeable, widespread change in business software was the word processor. Because of its rapid rise, the ubiquitous IBM typewriter suddenly vanished in the 1980s as millions of companies worldwide shifted to the use of Word Perfect business software, and later, Microsoft Word software. Another vastly popular computer program for business were mathematical spreadsheet program such as Lotus 1-2-3, and later Microsoft Excel.

In the 1990s business shifted massively towards globalism with the appearance of SAP software which coordinates a supply-chain of vendors, potentially worldwide, for the most efficient, streamlined operation of factory manufacture.

Yet nothing in the history of business software has had the global impact of the Internet, with its email and websites that now serve commercial interests worldwide. Globalism in business fully arrived when the Internet became a household word.

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What are the Benefits of using Software for Your Small Business?

Having business software for your small business is easy today and offers access to technologies that were previous lay out of reach. It not only gives a competitive advantage but also saves money and time. With no room for human error, they make managing businesses very efficient. Below are some of the common advantages of having software for your small business:

Saves money by using a business software

Business software is an integrated tool that performs the tasks of multitude of applications. This makes the use of multiple applications for various tasks redundant. In terms of money, it means business owners can cancel the licenses of such redundant software. Also, for an entrepreneur who is looking to start a new business, the initial costs are drastically brought down.

When employees can perform tasks like creating quotes and invoices, completing projects, filling in time sheets, creating customer contacts through single business management software, it is obvious that money is saved. Also, most service providers charge according to the usage. So, you can pay according to the number of employees who actually use the software.

Keeps track of progress in your business

Keeping track of progress of projects can be quite a task. You would have to run around asking employees about the status of a project spending a lot of time and effort on it. With your business software, you can simply check the status online as the employees working on the project would be required to update the status on the software. All you need to do is simply sign into the application and check the status.

Allows flexibility

Since the software is web-based, you can access the information about your business from anywhere. The fact that you can access the software from a laptop, smartphone or a tablet, you can now give a thought to that long overdue vacation and still keep a tab of what is happening in the office. It also lets employees take work home or work from home on days when coming to office is not possible. So, the chance of work getting stalled due to inability to attend office is almost zero.

Provides for scalability

Just because you have started as a small business, does not mean you would remain small forever. And when you expand,you would need a software solution that caters to this expansion. The web-based business software solutions can easily cater to increased number of employees and processes instantaneously.

Easily maintained

Since the small business software solutions are web-based, you do not have to maintain a team at your office to maintain the software. Data backup, storage, and upgrades are taken care of by the service providers. You do not even have to install these solutions. All you need to do is log on to the web-based application. Your business would also be using the service provider’s servers, which means you are free from purchasing in-house equipment. You may even be able to get rid of some of the equipment that is lying around in the office.

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Benefits of an Integrated Business Software System

Introduction

Every high-growth business grapples with decisions around the best business system to manage its expanding operations. Proper planning of an integrated business management software system often takes a back seat to short-term revenue acceleration goals. As a consequence, various disparate applications are installed at different points in time in various functional areas, resulting in business process inefficiencies and software integration challenges. But how did these problems arise in the first place, and how can they be avoided?

Architecture of a Typical Siloed Business System

A rapidly growing company can quickly become entangled with a complex application landscape. When starting out, companies first install accounting software such as Quick Books so that they can manage their bookkeeping.

In the quest to acquire more customers, companies then put in standalone opportunity management systems, along with separate systems for resolving customer support issues. Inventory management, order management and fulfillment systems get addressed with disparate software and spreadsheets.

To further increase top-line revenue, many companies will open new office locations and embrace additional sales channels resulting in more sophisticated processes for ecommerce integration, recurring billing, financial consolidation, amongst others. Additional business software to support these processes can take the form of standalone applications from different vendors, homegrown applications, or a variety of spreadsheet workarounds.

Businesses that evolve their systems over time in this manner can find themselves with a poorly planned architecture that handles short-term tactical needs sub-optimally while holding the company back from scaling efficiently over the long term. This tangled web of siloed business software systems, often referred to as a “software hairball”, inhibits flexibility, productivity, and ultimately slows down the company's ability to grow.

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What is the example of business application software?

• word processing 
• spreadsheet
• database
• presentation
• note taking
• Personal Information Manager (PIM)
• business software for Phones
• project management
• accounting
• document management

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Business Software

What does Business Software mean?

Business software is software that is used for business purposes. The term is often used more specifically for software that helps a business to accomplish specific goals through the applied principles that the software supports.

 Explains Business Software

Examples of applied principles for business software include decision support software (DSS), where technology aids in human decision making, and customer relationship management (CRM), where software helps a business to compile and maintain detailed profiles of customers or clients, along with other kinds of enhanced record-keeping. Business software such as DSS or CRM will often apply common principles such as sales force support, transaction automation, algorithmic data mining for sales, or any of many other design objectives. Other business software will focus on supply chains or other practical forms of resource management.

Some experts also define business software by what it excludes. Gaming applications and similar software would not be considered business software unless used in a customer service or demo environment. The definition of business software has changed along with a proliferation of useful software tools for business; today’s vibrant market, including DSS and CRM tools and much more, contrasts with the early days of business software, when many business software applications were simply generic end-user programs labeled as "business use" programs, such as basic spreadsheets or other tools.

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