Tech life | Loosetalks | Confusion to clarity

Confusion to clarity

The confusion begins

iPOTT is the only website in India which lists software... this is old news!! Let's talk the latest. We now have over 3000 software on our website. Guess what? I heard a number of users tell me 'Ohh! You have started to confuse us'. I am not surprised. You have to get into a confusion mode, to think better, to get more ideas and ofcourse to make a clear decision. Seriously, it feels nice to be confused. But how do we move from this confusion mode to a clear mode? Let's talk!

There are some 1600 odd TV brands in the world. 50% of them are available in India. You need to buy one. If your decision is Sony, then there is no confusion. All you need to do is walk into a Sony showroom and pick up what you want. With a single brand though you have many choices, it is still easier to shortlist and buy. But if your requirement is 'any good 29 inches flat TV' and you walk into an Electronic showroom the confusion begins. He has a minimum of 10 brands and 100 models so? Ya, this is what I was coming to; what do you do in this situation ; you have two choices (1) do some ground work, survey, ask friends and land up buying what your friend likes. (2) study the difference between the brands and models, do some fine tuning on your requirement. I want a 29 inch HDTV, flat monitor, preferably wide screen, with flat panel and my budget is XXX. Sounds better! Ofcourse it does.

Towards clarity

Now let's get into business... We get a lot of people mailing us.. 'we are looking for a good inventory management software'. 'I am looking for the best accounting software', these mails have got me thinking and I decided 'it is this month's newsletter topic'.

Now let's go back to basics, is there any software which is good, excellent, best, if yes which one? The white truth is; there is no best. There is no single software that suits everyone's needs, but there are probably several that suit one company's specific requirements. So the question should actually be 'which is the best software for me or my company'.

So how do I tell you which is 'the best' for you or your company? There's an old saying, If you ask the wrong question, you're likely to get the wrong answer. That certainly applies to software product the best. Since I would like to help you select the right software, let's begin with the right question: How should I go about finding the software that is right for my business? Or Which is the best software for my company and my needs are... now life is a little more simpler.

Ground work

So let's now see how we can probably go about: When it comes to software, I suggest we should begin the search with the software features, the promoter & the cost

SOFTWARE FEATURES: Since software contains hundreds-if not thousands-of features, it is impossible to check for all features that are available. So we got to do the reverse. If you are looking for software, it is because you want to digitize some area. Say you want to digitize your inventory management. So ask what you want out of the software. First the basics, you will surely want it to capture inventory, receive items, check out items etc. Normally all software come with basics. Yet, you can still list it out - these are your important features, this wouldn't do. Next ask yourself, which is the most problematic area, in your current setup: Eg: Though you have racks and bins named, still you find it difficult to identify items; all the inventory items looks so similar that most of the time you don't know where to replace it or if the one you are holding in hand is a wrong spare in the right bin. So if this is your problem, then you surely need bar coding feature. It is ok if you don't know what to call your feature, but ask for it. These features which can resolve your problems become your critical features. The focus will remain around the important & critical features and hence we have the first level short listed / filtered software. A handful of critical features is the first step towards the clear decision.

Promoter reliability

Imagine you have a software which meets all your requirements, but you can't reach the Promoter, or it takes 10 calls to get further information, or he can schedule to give you a demo only after 6 months... then what? However good the software is you still have to do a reliability check on the Promoter, please remember you will rely on the Promoter to fix the inevitable bugs, provide support and continually enhance the product to run on the latest platforms and operating systems.

Many first-time software procurement decisions are done without concentrating on Promoter Reliability-focusing only on the software, software cost or both. The continued success & good relations with the Promoter has a direct impact on the continued success of the software product.

Typically the best promoter should be easily contactable, gives you a good response, has a good knowledge base, has enough support staff, in a nutshell can handle you as a customer however typical your needs are. Also important is to see if software selling is his main business. Those that sell software as a sideline tend to be less committed to the software. But we have seen Promoters who are great before they sell the product to you and mess up your life later. There are exceptions everywhere... rely on your intuitions.

THE COST : We have already talked a lot on the pricing related to software (write up 1, 2, 3), let's now see how important is cost when it comes to searching software. You have to co-relate the features and the cost.

Let's say, you need a software with 10 critical features and 5 important features. You have a budget of 5 lakhs.

You have software (1) which meets all the 9 critical features and 5 of the important features. Estimated cost is 1 lakh
You have software (2) which meets all your critical and important features and also gives you 50 other features. Estimated cost is 5.5 lakhs

Now the decision is; should you stretch your budget to 5.5 to get the second software or just buy the first one and use the 4 lakhs for some other IT needs.

This decision basically depends on the following points:

What are the critical features missing in software (1)?
Can you live without it?
If you can't, can you get the Promoter to customize it for you?
What are the 50 other features provided by software (2)?
How many of it will be helpful to you currently?
How many of it will be helpful in future?
How near is your future?

Here is what you can conclude

If of the 50 features, 10% may help you work better, 30% can be used in one years time when the production increases and inventory will triple itself, shortlist the second software.
If this is your first software, if of the 50 features you can use 5% currently and 10% in the years to come, rest not likely, then why consider the Software (2).

It is not reasonable to spend for features which may not be of use to you. Don't let the Promoter over sell or under sell you.

Next co-relate your cost with the size of software. By the way have you done your reading on vertical software? Is the software falling into a-

Low-end software (small software)
Middle-market software
Beginning enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
ERP software (enterprise applications)

When you look at the software range, for a particular category of software, you will be surprised. You can buy software for as little as INR 10K to Crores of Rupees. While there is no absolute definition that distinguishes a low-end (small) from a high-end software (enterprise application) you can consider the following:

Promoters classify the software depending on which size of company the software caters to.
Promoters also vaguely classify software on the revenue of the user company.
The number of users for which software can be geared upto, also determines the size of the application. (ref: software license)

Do not buy low end solutions when you are sure if your users will reach 100+ next year or vice versa.

Conclude

So once you have short listed a few software (not too many … to get into the confusion mode again), you have moved from the confusion mode towards a clear decision. In my next month newsletter, we will talk about 'what next after short listing'. If there are any queries popping in your mind, in the attempt to remove confusion, drop a line to me.

Author: Purnima Varadrajan
e-mail : info@ipott.com
Designation : Chief Executive Officer
iPOTT Softech India Private Limited.