| ”Datapro was chosen from a number of vendors to produce a software program to manage a very complicated area of our business. We were impressed with their ability to quickly gain a detailed understanding of our needs, as well as help us refine our business processes in order to better serve our customers. They have developed a software solution that has exceeded our expectations and will pay for itself in no time. They continue to provide responsive effective support in order to ensure that the solution continues to work.” |
- Herb Goldstein, President
Morris Marketing Group Inc. |
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Spam Watch
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You may have recently noticed an influx of spam emails containing a PDF attachment. This is because most spam filter software does not check the contents of PDF files because PDF has become the accepted standard for distributing documents. Spammers are simply inserting content and graphics that used to get blocked by spam filters into PDF documents. Until spam filter software starts checking the actual contents of PDF files, we will all have to grin and bare it and keep on pressing that Delete key.
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One of the most important roles that Datapro plays for its clients is helping them determine the right combination of software for a technology project. So, how does a company determine exactly what software will most effectively fulfill the goals and requirements of a project?
The majority of today’s software solutions, even for very small businesses, include more than one piece of software. With most software now being built upon open data sources and including strong integration capabilities, the right software solution usually includes multiple software components that are tied together to produce a seamless overall solution.
These days, even the lowest cost software packages include robust integration capabilities that allow them to be tightly integrated with other software in a cost-effective manner. Perhaps the best example is Intuit’s Quickbooks small business accounting software, which can be purchased for under $200. Quickbooks not only allows data to be easily exchanged and shared with other software, but it also allows independent programmers to add functions to the software in order to compliment and build upon its out-of-the-box functionality.
When evaluating different software packages, integration capabilities should be seriously considered and evaluated. Even if a company has no integration requirements today, there is a good chance that they will arise at some point in the future. Implementing software without strong integration capabilities will hinder the ability for the software to meet the future needs of the company and may very well render it obsolete.
One of the primary reasons that integration has become so common is that individual software packages are usually no longer able to meet all of the goals and requirements of an organization. As company's start to deploy Internet-based customer-facing applications, they now require their software to go far beyond the traditional areas of accounting and human resources.
When a single software package is unable to fulfill all of the needs of an organization out-of-the-box, the company will often approach the software vendor regarding the customization of the software. However, most off-the-shelf software vendors charge an arm and a leg for customizations (and then include them in the next release of the software which you pay for again via annual support costs). And because customization is not the vendor’s core business, timely development and ongoing support are usually hard to come by. Furthermore, the software vendor may continue to push their own product as the means to fill all of the company’s needs simply because it is in the vendor’s best interest to do so.
Therefore, it is usually easier and more effective to integrate multiple pieces of software than to try and find a single piece of software that will meet all of an organization’s requirements.
It is important to note the difference between software customization and software integration. Customization involves the re-programming of the core functionality of the software and can usually only be done by the original software vendor. Integration is the exchange of data between multiple software systems and, assuming the software has the required integration capabilities, can be done without the direct involvement of the software vendor.
If a single piece of off-the-shelf software contains the majority of the functionality required by a project, it is usually better to purchase the software as-is and integrate it with other software in order to fill in the gaps. The other components can include other off-the-shelf software, custom software, or a combination of both.
When a company’s existing software no longer meets all of their requirements, integration can save significant money by allowing legacy systems to be retained and integrated with other software that can. Due to implementation, migration, training, hardware and other costs, replacing an organization’s legacy software systems is usually a very expensive undertaking.
When determining the optimal software for a technology initiative, companies will often assume that a single piece of software is the best way to go. However, for the reasons described above, the most cost-effective technology solutions that best fulfill the needs of the organization are usually those that include a number of best-in-class software components that are seamlessly integrated to produce the best possible solution.
Datapro Technology Solutions is an IT consulting firm that helps small and medium-sized businesses get the most from their investments in technology.
To find out more about the services we provide and how we might be able to help your business, visit our web site at dataproforbusiness.com or give us a call at 416-977-1991.
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