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Justifying Investment in New Business Software in Tough Times
Buying software for your business in the current economic climate can be a daunting proposition. When assessing the economic feasibility of such investment, you need to build a compelling business case to justify the purchase.
The following steps will go some way in helping you to make a better informed decision.
Understand your business needs
It is essential that you begin by focusing on the goals of your business.
- What are you trying to achieve?
- What are your short term and long term objectives?
- How do you intend to satisfy these objectives?
- How relevant is your current business software to your business strategy?
- What do you need from your software to get to where you want to be?
- What challenges does your existing system pose right now?
- Talk to the users of your software. What are their expectations from the software and how is your current system fulfilling their needs?
Quantify the impact of staying with your current system versus moving to new software.
To do this you will need to carry out a cost/benefit analysis. This will help you determine which alternative is likely to provide the greatest return for the proposed investment.
Identify the potential costs and benefits of implementing and using new software and compare it to the cost and benefits of your current software system (if you have one).
Analysis should take the form of;
- Quantitative data (i.e. measurable data, including the cost of the software, implementation, training, support etc) and,
- Qualitative data (i.e. data with a high degree of subjectivity - difficult to quantify but still an important variable – including the benefits gained from ease of use, targetted marketing campaigns or a structured telesales campaigns, the availability of real-time reporting etc).
For most companies, the primary factor shaping the business case for an accounting software upgrade is ROI (Return on Investment). Companies expect a new system to pay for itself in a very short period of time. This goal is entirely achievable with the right solution. From our experience, the right software for your business will see a return on your investment within a year to 18 months (and we couldn't think of a better way to spend your time preparing for better times ahead!)
Summing Up!
- Summarise how the proposed software solves problems your current system doesn’t.
- Involve internal users of the system to gain consensus and support.
- Show the impact the new software will bring to the whole organisation.
Research and Demo
- Research suitable providers.
- Consider industry-specific accounting packages as off-the-shelf applications can be lacking in valuable information, functionality and flexibility.
- Request a ‘live’ software demonstration to evaluate whether the software fulfills your business requirements and if the provider will be accommodating to your needs. Demos are FREE with no obligation to buy so find out if the new software will benefit your business and achieve all your business objectives.
With all this information documented, you should have a clearer picture of whether an investment in new software makes sense for your business. It is also the only basis on which the success of the project can be measured on completion.
Check out the benefits of Intact.
Request a 'no obligation' demo here.