In the last issue, I introduced the term “Application Software” and the need to understand the hardware requirements of individual applications. Consider that you want to run an accounting application as well as an office suite. The requirements of popular accounting programs such as PeachTree and QuickBooks are 1GHz Pentium or better, 256MB RAM (Random Access Memory) and 1GB of hard disc space. While Open Office, a free office Productivity Suite, requires 128MB of RAM and 800MB of hard disc space, this drops to 400MB if you remove the installation files.

You must therefore ensure that not only do you have an adequate processor, but sufficient memory and hard disc space. You must also consider that you are likely to be running your e-mail client, e.g., Outlook, Outlook Express or Thunder Bird, as well as an Instant Message (IM) program, such as Yahoo, Skype or MSN Messenger and, of course, your Internet Browser. These applications, as well as anti-virus and anti-spyware applications, consume your system’s resources, such as processor time and RAM.

You should therefore ensure that your system has adequate RAM to store your programs and data; if your system does not meet the requirements it will be slow and frustrating to use.

Open Office is a free office product that can be downloaded from openoffice.org. This product is available under what is called an Open Source license. Products such as the browser Firefox, Thunder Bird (the e-mail client) are other examples of Open Source Software. We will look at Open Source Software in greater detail in the next issue.

Deciding Which Software Application Is Right For You

As I said before, software and technology can be both an enabler and a differentiator for you and your business. Software may enable your business to operate more efficiently, effectively reducing waste and improving the effectiveness of your processes. It may help your business stand out from competitors who do not yet use technology to such an extent.

You should therefore research and think carefully before purchasing software and review what applications are used by your industry or business sector. There are specific applications for each sector, some may cost very little while others may be quite expensive. Search for and read user reviews and determine which application best meets your needs in terms of:

1. Ease of use
2. Functionality
3. Report features – you not only put data into a system, you will also want to get it out, usually in a report.

Most of the business journals have a technology software review; The Entrepreneur, in particular, publishes an annual review of computer equipment and software.

Make informed purchase decisions; contact a technology professional to guide you through the process. The cost of purchasing the wrong product or trying to make the best of a bad job can have an adverse effect on your business.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 12:30 pm and is filed under business & tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.