Selecting business software can be a daunting task. The good news is that there are plenty of applications available for supporting most critical business functions. However, at some point you may become overwhelmed with the number of options, features and pricing models. Organizations generally seek technology as a method to increase productivity, solve issues and save money.  Not having a well-defined strategy for purchasing software could result in the purchase of varied software products and services that actually cost you more money in the long term, due to long-term maintenance costs, lack of use or the use of similar systems to fill in the “feature gaps”. You may find that purchasing a more expensive and stable software product will replace several inexpensive and less effective products, which could in turn reduce the time spent maintaining and integrating many ineffective software products. To ensure that you select cost effective software solutions that meet a specific business need, use the following criteria in evaluating software.

1. Why do you need this software application?
The purchase should be closely aligned to an actual business need. Example: We need a centralized tool that would allow a team of up to 50 researchers to collect, validate and report their research data.

2. Identify your priorities.
Your priorities are important in evaluating and comparing the capabilities of various products.  Be specific.  For example,  “It is important that the tool be installed in a central location and available for researchers to enter data ‘in the field’. Also, it is important that we can export data for other uses or to integrate with other reporting tools.”  You may find software packages that offer many features, but do not provide a solution to your primary issues.  However, you should not allow a plethora of less important features (“shiny objects”) to distract you from your solving your more important issues.  Identifying your priorities will help you choose a package that fulfills your most critical need; other less important features should be “icing on the cake.” 

3. Mission Critical vs. Business Critical.
Is this a mission or business critical application? A mission critical application is critical to the proper operation of your business. If the application fails or is unavailable for any length of time, it could be detrimental to your business (ex: financial/banking services). A business critical application is essential for your employees to perform their duties and responsibilities. While it is important that these applications do not fail, a few hours of downtime may not put you out of business. This is important to note as you evaluate vendor credibility, product reliability and support offerings.

4. Vendor Credibility & Longevity.
For obvious reasons, you will want to learn how long the software vendor has been in business. It is also important to evaluate their current customer satisfaction rates. NOTE: This is not to suggest that you should not use software developed by start-ups. However, you should understand the risk to your business if for some reason the vendor does not stay in business. There may be other factors that will make you comfortable with selecting the product, such as extended reference checks and high customer satisfaction rates.

5. Software Reliability.
How often is the software unavailable or offline due to technical issues? On average, how quickly are technical issues resolved? To find this information, you may ask the vendor, browse their support forums or simply contact their existing (and former) customers directly. If this is a mission critical application, you will definitely want to speak with a few of their existing customers.

TIP: Use the criteria noted to evaluate your existing business software. You may find an opportunity to streamline your operations and operational expenses by selecting more effective business tools.

6. Operations Integration.
How does this product integrate with your current operations? Does it replace a manual process? Who will use it? Where? When? How?  Develop a plan for integrating the software into your current operations.   Be specific regarding who will use the system and how they should use it.  This will help you in determining if the software capabilities will meet your existing business need.  For example, if you need staff to access the package while away from the office, you will need to select a package that allows remote  access. 

7. Support Model.
If you or your employees experience an issue using the product, how will you receive technical support? Does the vendor provide phone support or support via email only? What is the standard response-time for responding to technical issues? Is there sufficient documentation and knowledge bases available for self-service? Do you have to pay extra for support?

8. Scalability for Growth.
Does this product remain useful as your business grows? How does the pricing increase as your business grows?   You want to avoid “sticker stock” if it’s necessary for you to add new users and/or features.  Some products offer reasonably priced “lite” or starter versions, however the pricing may increase exponentially if the full/enterprise version is needed.

9. Pricing.
Review pricing once you’ve evaluated the vendor, product capabilities and determined if this is a mission-critical application. The pricing should support the capabilities, scalability, and level of support offered. Also, if it’s a mission or business critical application, you don’t want to trust your entire business in the hands of a start-up offering a free product. Not that free products are bad or useless, but as the old saying goes “you get what you pay for.”

10. How Will You Measure the Return on your Investment?
Does this improve a business process or reduce long-term costs? Before signing any contracts or making a purchase, define how you will measure the return on your investment. Does this product replace another, more expensive, business tool? Does this product improve the speed of a critical business process, thus reducing operational costs? Does this product improve the quality of work or the quality of your product or service offerings?

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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Managing the data files and applications stored on your computer(s) can become burdensome, particularly if you have a large volume of data stored across multiple machines.   Cloud computing services allow you to store and access your data and application files online.  Cloud computing providers provide you with the tools that allow you to easily manage the data stored on their network of virtual servers.   Before jumping into the cloud computing arena, it is important that you understand how the service can benefit your business and fit into your existing environment. A good solution should provide you with the ability to easily manage your files, reduce your maintenance time and costs and quickly adapt and scale as your business changes, without sacrificing security. Provided below are a few uses for cloud computing:

1.  File Storage

Have you have outgrown your physical data storage capacity (USB/external drives, secondary internal hard drives, CD/DVD discs etc.)?   A cloud storage solution would offer the ability to easily scale your storage capacity.  You would upgrade or downgrade the storage capacity as needed without having to purchase or setup additional equipment.

2.   File Synchronization

Do you routinely copy files from one machine to another?  Most cloud storage solutions provide the ability to sync your data across multiple machines automatically.  This reduces the risk of having multiple/distinct versions of a file stored in many locations. Also, some providers provide the ability to access files from your mobile phone.

3.   Data Archiving

Are you required to maintain a history of revisions made to files?  There are many creative uses for cloud data storage, such as a simpler method for storing file revisions in a location external to your primary storage.  This could be a simple method for rolling back to earlier versions when needed without managing a confusing file structure on your primary disk drives.

4.  Collaborative Workspaces

Do you need to identify a shared space for collaboration with your project team?  Cloud computing services could offer a central location for your team to collaborate.  The shared “drive” could serve as the primary “workspace” for the team and eliminate fragmenting files across multiple workstations.

5.   Data Backup & Recovery

Do you need to strengthen your existing backup or disaster recovery plan?  In identifying your disaster recovery plan; you may use a cloud backup solution as an alternative backup location to your internal backup infrastructure. A well managed cloud solution can provide the ability to replicate and restore your systems quickly in the event that they become unavailable during a disaster.

These are a few reasons for using a cloud-based data storage and computing solutions.  Depending on your needs, it may be a perfect upgrade for organizations that need to identify a scalable storage, backup and file sharing solution. However, you should identify your needs first and then select a solution and provider.

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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WhoIsHostingThis.com is a tool that will indicate the hosting provider for any website. They claim to provide more accurate results than similar sites such as DomainTools. It’s one of the more straight-forward tools available. Simply type the desired domain name in the text box on the home page, then click ‘Find Host’. The data provided is a very simple display of the name of the hosting provider (as opposed to vague nameservers or IP Addresses).

Why is this important

1. Learn where popular websites are hosted. Although the tool doesn’t provide the hosting plan (shared vs. dedicated) used by the site owner, it does provide some insight on the hosting provider and their capability for hosting large/popular sites.
2. Report malicious activity such as Denial of Service attackers and website thieves.
3. Learn additional data on your competitors.
4. Perform research on popular hosting providers before transferring your hosting service.

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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Many companies have begun to incorporate social media into their marketing strategy.  Regarding online brand protection, prior to the rapid evolution of social media networks, businesses were mostly concerned with claiming their preferred domain name.  Currently, one of the concerns that business owners face is how to protect and claim their brand across the hundreds (if not thousands) of social media services.   In April, I had an opportunity to speak with Sara Czyzewicz from Claim.io. Sara is the Co-Founder of Olive Interactive, LLC. Claim.io, an Olive Interactive product, allows you to claim your name and protect your brand on 300 social media networks.  Here is the transcript & audio of our conversation.

Audio/Podcast

Transcript

Kishau: I’m really pleased that you were available to give us more information about your product. Tell us more about ClaimIO? Is it a service? Is it a product?

Sara: Absolutely. Claim.io is a service of Olive Interactive, which basically secures your brand or your name across 300 of the top social media and social networking sites. So basically, we register your vanity URL and username as well as upload initial content for your brand.

Kishau:  You’ve said that this is a product of Olive Interactive. Could you tell us more about your company?

Sara: Sure Olive Interactive is an LLC formed in 2008. Myself and Aaron Calenburg are the two current core co-founders. We initially meet and formed this business in Bolder, CO and we have since moved it to headquarter in Providence, RI.

Kishau: Regarding the service Claim.io, many businesses are trimming their budgets and most business owners have two questions when approaching new services: “How much does it cost” and “How does this help me meet my business goals”. Can you provide more information regarding the value for using Claim.io.

Sara: Sure Absolutely, Claim.io is like the social media of domain registration. 10+ years ago it was important to get your name.com, now it’s really important to get your socialmediaURL/yourname; that’s in the URL and claim that username and especially important because if someone claims it before you its really difficult to get it back, if you can even do so. So the prices, you can claim 100, 150, or 300 social networking sites and those go for $129, $179, and $329 respectively.

Kishau:  This is a fixed price point? So those are your packages 100, 150, 300 (social networks)?

Sara: Exactly.

Kishau:  How exactly does the process work? How do you sign up?

Sara: You go to Claim.io and you enter your basic personal or business/company information as well as a profile bio. There’s a short bio and a long bio. Depending on what the social media site allows, we’ll use one or the other, as well as a link to your main website, and a photo of yourself or a logo of your business.

Kishau: What’s your turnaround time?

Sara: Takes about 5-7 business days for the 300 services; so for the 150 or 100 [packages], a little less.

Kishau: When businesses sign up, what do they need to have completed and available in order for you to get this done for them?

Sara: Essentially their profile information which is basically your name and birthday. We will only use that personal information if it’s absolutely necessary for sign up for those sites.  Also, the link back to your website, and the logo of your business, as well as a short and long bio of what your business is or who you are personally will be uploaded on these sites.

Kishau: You mentioned an extended bio, do you simply register the username for the price you quoted, are you actually creating a profile on each service?

Sara:   Many of these sites allow a photo and a link to your website which is great for SEO, and not only are we claiming that vanity URL and that username but we are establishing you on that site so once they go to socialmediasite.com/yourcompanyname they can actually get a brief overview of who you are, your logo and link back to your site.

Kishau: And what happens if your first choice username is not available?

Sara: We actually check up to four usernames. So we check your 1^st and if that’s not available we’ll check your 2^nd; if that’s not available, we’ll check your 3^rd and then your 4^th choice. And then once your order is complete, you get a report saying ‘such-n-such’ usernames were registered on these sites, <usernames> on those sites etc. So if any of them were unavailable, then you’ll see that in your report. If you have any brand name that you want to try to get on another social site which is already registered then you know which ones to go after.

Kishau: How does your company ensure the usernames requested does not violate an existing trademark and how do you protect businesses from identity theft and squatters?

Sara: We do a sufficient amount of research on our clients as they come in to ensure that they actually represent or own the brand that they are claiming. Additionally, it’s very clear in our Terms Of Use that identity squanders will not be accepted or tolerated at all.

Kishau: There are so many social media services available; you’ve mentioned 300 that your company offers.  How did you decide which social media services to include and what are your plans in the future for including new services as they launch?

Sara: So our list of 300 is actually changing on weekly basis almost because it uses social media usage statistics collected from Olive Interactive’s initial product VanityID which basically tracks which social networks are being utilized and which ones are the most popular currently.

Kishau: My last question, just to give our readers a better sense of how they can use your service in their businesses, can you provide some examples of some of the industries that you’ve served?

Sara: Absolutely, we’ve registered friends and usernames for DJ’s and sports teams and individual marketing professionals and lawyers who are representing a company that’s protecting their trademark and it’s all over the board.  Anybody who really has a name or a company name worth protecting.

Kishau: I appreciate you providing this information.  This does seem like a very valuable service for businesses. I would like you to indicate again how exactly they can get started with your service by providing the domain name, spelling it out, and how to sign up.

Sara:  To sign-up, you can go to Claim.io and if you have any questions or just want to say hi, my email is sara@claim.io

Kishau: Thanks a lot Sara! We really appreciate your time and thank you for providing more information.

Many thanks to Sara Czyzewicz, co-founder of Claim.io, for the opportunity to learn more about the service. Visit http://www.claim.io to learn more about their current packages. Also, please note in the comments section if you have used Claim.io or plan to use the service in the near future. ~Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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Life changing? Dramatic. I know. However, stick with me.

The start of the year is a great time to review and adjust your business budget. If your 2009 budget included ongoing expenses for software that allows you to invoice, accept payments and manage your expenses, you may be interested in considering the following web based application for 2010.

The website states that it’s the “fastest way to track time and send invoices.” Before signing up, I initially thought “Sure. That’s what they all claim.” After signing up for a free trial, I quickly began to believe the hype. The user interface is much more effective than the average desktop application with a third party web interface for invoicing. It is unbelievably simple. There are simple tabs for creating new clients, new projects, new invoices, and new estimates. The invoices look professional and include simple buttons that allow your client to quickly pay online. There’s automation included for payment reminders and alerts. It also allows you to create estimates and quotes and have the client review and accept them online. Also, the integration with third party and mobile applications seem to be endless. After using the tool for less than a week, I quickly realized how much time (and money) I’d saved compared to my previous invoicing and time tracking application. Freshbooks is certainly worth a review. Particularly if you are a service provider (www.freshbooks.com).

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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Keyword research is an important step in optimizing your website for search engine placement.  The first step to keyword identification is to develop a listing of the keywords and phrases that your target customers will likely use to search for your product or service.   Then, you will need to research those keywords to determine:

1. The average search volume – how often are people searching on these keywords/phrases?
2. How competitive is the keyword – how difficult is it to obtain top listing?
3. Does the keyword/phrase provide a high probability of driving well qualified leads to your site – is the keyword/phrase specific enough to reach your target audience?

The following are a few free tools that will provide data to assist you in identifying the most effective keywords/phrases.

Google Insights

URL:  http://www.google.com/insights/search/#

Keyword Data Provided:    Search volume, search trends by regions, categories, time frames and other properties.

Wordtracker Keyword Suggestion Tool (Free Version)

URL:  http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

Keyword Data Provided:   Average daily search volume and up to 100 related keywords/phrases to consider.

Trellian Keyword Discovery (Free Trial Version)

URL:  http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/keyword-plans.html

Keyword Data Provided:  Searches per day, Keyword Effectiveness Indicator, Access to Regional data and more (see plans)

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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