10 Factors to Consider when Buying a Business Software

When you go about renting or buying your business software, you will need to conduct thorough research to make sure you get the best deal possible. You’ll want to ensure you are getting the best value for your money and spending all the features you really need. For getting the right software, you’ll want to consider several factors before you decide. 

Consulting professionals in the business world, we have put together all the essential factors you need to consider before buying your software.

1. Subscription-Based Software

“When is my software going to be outdated? The term subscription-based software refers to software that requires an annual charge to continue using. This enables a software developer to keep improving the product, releasing updated and improved versions of the program, and providing customer support for the software. Subscription-based software has the benefit of never being out of date since it is updated on a regular basis, typically up to twice a year, and these updated versions are accessible at no additional cost to the subscriber over and above what they already pay.”

Bram Jansen, Chief Editor of vpnAlert

2. Pay For The Right Features

“Carefully consider whether you actually need the features you are paying for. A sales rep might sell you on a package or premium version that includes features that aren’t necessarily of value to a company of your size, business model, market position and a wide range of other factors.” (Markus Albert)

3. Customer Service

“Factor in customer service because you will inevitably need to contact the company with questions and perhaps even complaints. Read comments and reviews on popular software review sites like G2 and Trust Pilot to see how the customer service of the various options you are considering stack up. Do current and previous customers have good or bad things to say about dealing with a particular software provider?”

Markus Albert, Managing Director EatFirst

4. Business Growth

“Will your software be able to keep up with you as your business expands? Long after you’ve paid your money, loaded the program, and entered your first transactions, the decision you make today will have consequences. Rather than adding to your administration, your software solution should accommodate expanding business demands, whether you add people or resources. The last thing you want to be concerned about as your client base grows is whether or not your accounting software can keep up. Investing in an integrated system that integrates all of your accounting, reporting, buying, resourcing, and scheduling processes is a wise decision.” (Ansh Gupta)

5. Customization

“Every company is different and has different demands and requirements, so finding a software firm that can adapt their product for your organization is beneficial. Because one size does not fit all, you should be able to customize your product by deleting features you don’t need and adding those you want. If you’re looking for PIM software, for example, you’ll want to discover one that lets you record all of your product’s key marketing and purchasing data.”

Ansh Gupta, Founder of Empire Crafter

6. Agility and flexibility

“Between the three methods, the speed with which a software solution can be modified to respond to changes in corporate strategy, regulation, or the environment might vary significantly. In a COTS scenario, the user is completely reliant on the manufacturer to release a new version or patch to accommodate changes that affect a wide range of users, such as legislative changes.

“Making adjustments to custom-built software that were not specified during the initial creation of the product might require a long time and effort. Alternatively, if the update is simple to implement and your developers are available and responsive, it could be completed quickly.

“It may be possible to simply alter the application that is created on the platform in the case of the platform solution. Changing the underlying code is a more difficult procedure. As a result, changes may be made rapidly and at a low cost.”

Tommy Gallagher, Founder at Top Mobile Banks

7. Specialized vs. All-In-One

“It is important to consider whether you need specialized or single software solutions. Specialized accounting, warehousing and point of sale systems, for example, all exist because the majority of all-in-one products are little more than glorified Excel sheets. Once you begin to deal with either high volume or complexity, specialized solutions become more useful.” (Trevor Larson)

8. Purchase vs. Total Cost

“You need to be sure you are calculating the price of any business software based on the cost of the initial purchase as well as implementation and support costs. Factor in what kind of IT support you might need to run highly complex programs and whether there will be any training costs associated with getting your employees up to speed on any new software you adopt.”

Trevor Larson, CEO Nectar

9. ERP

“If you are considering enterprise software, a good ERP offering should be able to handle inventory management, warehouse support, shipping integration, and key metric reporting. These are all foundational pillars when evaluating your different software options.” (Brett Welker)

10. Customer Support as a Premium Feature

“Some software providers offer customer support as a feature that you get access to the more you pay. Pay close attention to this when choosing your package or tier, because you could end up spending money on customer support you don’t end up needing or underestimate the amount of customer support you will require while learning a new product or platform and end up having to spend more on the software than you had initially planned or budgeted.”

Brett Welker, CEO Crush the GRE Test