Blog Posts
The latest software research, trends, and advice.
Most businesses use one employee (picker) to pick one customer’s order, one at a time. This is called discrete picking . As order volume and complexity increases, so too do picking methods. A well-optimized picking strategy…
Creating an item from thin air may once have seemed like science fiction, but for today’s manufacturers, it’s not only a possibility - it’s become a critical component of their workflow. Bringing parts, difficult-to-build…
Teams tend to prefer the familiar to the unfamiliar - especially when it comes to enterprise systems. The reality is that in order to create significant, measurable improvements in business processes, managing change is…
Running payroll for the first, second, or even third time can be complicated and confusing. If you’re overwhelmed thinking about your employer responsibilities, you’re not alone. Registering for accounts, setting up payroll…
Each year, thousands of nonprofits and government entities contact Software Connect for help selecting fund accounting software. These regular conversations provide us unique insight on market trends and software buyers…
Tsheets recently estimated that buddy punching—when one employee clocks in for a coworker who is late for work—costs U.S. companies more than $373 million annually. Put another way, buddy punching on average costs $298 per…
We’re interested in understanding what motivates buyers at all organizations, including churches. That’s why we commissioned an exclusive survey of church software buyers. We reviewed our recent conversations with 270…
Each year we help thousands of distributors and manufacturers select warehouse management systems . Many high order volume businesses need to optimize inventory logistics, storage, and shipping. These regular conversations…
Radio-frequency identification is pretty nifty. Although the location-tracking tags that integrate with inventory software have been around for decades, new applications continue to appear as the tech becomes more affordable…
In today’s strong economy, businesses large and small are booming. But with growth comes added complexity. Are businesses using accounting software that’s up to the task? At Software Connect, we’re always seeking a better…
Each year thousands of manufacturers contact Software Connect for help selecting MRP software to support their processes. These regular conversations provide us unique insight on market trends and software buyers’ needs. We…
What impact is new technology having on manufacturing jobs in the U.S? Recent software innovations, from material requirements planning (MRP) to manufacturing execution systems (MES) software, have revolutionized the daily…
We speak with a wide range of contractors and construction companies to help in their technology sourcing decisions with construction software . These regular discussions help us spot construction tech trends (mostly in…
Every year we speak to thousands of manufacturers who contact us for advice on software to help manage operations. Through these regular conversations we discover new trends in the industry. In September 2017 we surveyed…
Buying new manufacturing execution system (MES) software is a difficult decision. In addition to being faced with a wide array of commercial products to choose from, MES buyers understand that their product choice will be one…
Many entrepreneurs spend months or even years dreaming about the day that they’re able to grow their business successfully enough to add staff. But once that threshold is crossed, some important decisions are waiting. One of…
How can successful companies evolve past an over-reliance on gut instincts in favor of analytically based decision making? It’s a question of enough importance that it’s created one of today’s fastest growing business…
Competition in the distribution industry is tough. But it’s especially fierce in the office products vertical. Despite the challenges, though, independent distributors of office products are setting an example for all…
Not long ago, the idea of perpetual, real-time software access to customer, work order, and inventory records from the job site was just a pipedream for service contractors. Less than ten years into the era of iOS and…
The debate around open source has been a hot-button tech topic for decades now. But it’s a question that has largely stayed off of the desks of ERP software decision-makers. To this point, open source projects have gained…
Key Takeaways: SMB organizations must embrace cloud accounting or miss out on the competitive advantages of anytime, anywhere application availability. SMBs must also choose the right private versus public cloud accounting…
The positive relationship between reducing lead times and improving efficiency and customer satisfaction isn’t news to manufacturing executives. Lead time reduction has been a primary objective of lean manufacturing…
ERP consultants love to recommend switching platforms. It’s the product they’re paid to sell, after all. So it might surprise you to hear an ERP consultant suggesting that might not always be the best plan. As companies grow…
It’s not enough to simply carry the products that customers want. Especially in competitive markets, success demands more. The stiffer the price competition, the more important each opportunity for operational efficiency…
2016 will go down as a notable year for product development within the Microsoft Dynamics suite of business management solutions. Dynamics GP has already seen a landmark version update previously this year, while significant…
Back in 1980, the following quote appeared in an issue of the Harvard Business Review : Nonprofit organizations are under pressure to make their financial status better understood. Their managers, their board members or…
Non-profit management is different than for-profit management. How could it be any other way? Pursuing a mission—rather than profits—puts an entirely different engine behind what drives organizational success. Responsible…
Most small business leaders don’t spend any more time than they have to thinking about accounts payable work. It’s understandable. Paying the bills isn’t much fun. It’s also one of those purely administrative tasks that…
If you’ve been struggling to decide between a cloud or on-premises software deployment, determining what’s right for you might be as simple as asking the right questions. Small and medium-sized businesses will spend billions…
Got three minutes? That’s all it will take to pin-down the must-haves when it comes to finding software that supports the professional services billing model. Professional services billing gets messy. It’s just the nature of…
Successful businesses don’t stop pushing to outpace the competition. But year after year they also get help from an unlikely source: rivals who take a pass on giving themselves a headstart in the race to sales success. In…
Along with small business success come new challenges. Responsibilities expand beyond what the core team can handle. New employees must be brought on to manage growth. And at some point, keeping up with increased revenues—and…
With data from over 4,000 QuickBooks replacement reviews at our fingertips, we wanted to provide access to something software buyers have never had before: A breakdown of the most popular QuickBooks replacement alternatives…
There’s no question that “better software technology” is becoming a more frequent answer to the big question of how to conduct better business. In fact, it’s a trend significant enough to have genuinely expanded the role of…
Wholesale customers are demanding more product choices than ever before. The answer why is simple. Buyers demand choice because they can. Lower barriers to market entry for start-up distributors and accelerated global…
What does it take to be a good accountant? Traditional answers to that question might include things like: “an eye for detail,” “a mathematical mind,” “an ability to spot patterns,” and “above-average organization skills.” In…
If you contract with a third party CPA, you should absolutely seek out their opinion when purchasing accounting software . But if you rely solely on their opinion, you could be making a mistake. Having spoken with hundreds of…
Global CRM software revenue increased from $16B in 2011 to $23B in 2014. A 31% increase in revenue for a single business is remarkable. When an entire industry vertical increases market share by a third, though, it qualifies…
Being a small business owner isn’t for the faint of heart. But of all the fears and uncertainties small business owners face, a lack of available capital has to be the biggest monster under the bed. For a lot of small…
Everybody loves discounts. Well, everybody except maybe the accountants and order managers at the companies offering the discounts. They’re the one’s who have to deal with what can often be cumbersome back-end challenges…
“It’s not at all what we expected.” Lots of software buyers have told us exactly that when explaining why they needed to replace recently purchased accounting software . Nobody plans to have their software purchase experience…
The same terms appear over and over again in discussions of enterprise social media. Buzz. Brand advocacy. Promotion. Outreach. Engagement. When it comes to enterprise social media, connecting with the customer is priority…
IT said, “No.” What a bummer. You spent hours assembling feature needs, talking to sellers, gathering proposals, and demoing software. You found the perfect accounting software . It has a beautiful interface. The reporting is…
In this article, we take a deep dive into the most-effective strategies for making phone contact with web-lead submissions. Read on for the full details of our in-depth case study or skip ahead to the key findings for simple…
If your company is at the point where you are losing pennies or even dimes on every dollar-earned due to inefficiencies in key businesses processes, there’s no time like the present to make a software change. The hardest…
Efficiency through automation has been the goal of every manufacturing business since Henry Ford. But how do you automate while manufacturing an entirely customizable product? That’s the real question for any growth-minded…
Starting Jan 2016 many organizations will be required to begin providing the IRS with new reports based on the ACA (Affordable Care Act), aka Obamacare. The new ACA requirements will represent a significant additional…
As technology advances and business management techniques continued to be refined, there’s an increased focus on enabling data-based decision making. These days it’s hard to find a company that’s not talking about how to turn…
Craig Violante from King County Housing Authority shares the story of how improved financial software allowed their organization to more nimbly pursue funding, increase efficiency, and deliver more fully on their…
Really? “Drag your good name through the mud?” That’s a bit dramatic, no? It is—but rightly so. If you find yourself leading an ERP selection and implementation project, the reality is that you’re staring down one of the…
No company wants to pay more than they have to in sales tax. On the other hand, pay less than required and you might really end up with some major expenses. Accuracy matters when it comes to sales tax management . But…
What happens after your customers place orders online? Good things? All the time? Let’s get a bit more specific. Are you ever running into post web order submission issues like late shipments, cancellations due to…
Alaska, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Virginia are the states with the largest percentage of their companies investing in new business management software. The data is the result of five years of input from 27,824…
2015 is off to a fast-start in terms of ERP news. A number of new solutions have been released, existing products have been updated, and key players in the market have undergone significant business changes. On January 13th…
The universe of ERP product options is vast. And it keeps getting bigger. That’s great for businesses who want to have choices, but a challenge for decision makers who need to actually understand those choices. The reality…
There’s one voice that’s often conspicuously absent from the online ERP conversation: the one belonging to actual users. It’s easy to find information from developers, integrators, consultants, and the tech media. But to find…
Sales leaders looking to boost sales with an investment in CRM software face a challenge. Here’s the crux of the problem: Every departmental manager wishes they had more resources. Extra head count, superior equipment, new…
Let’s face it. The anonymous company gift exchange doesn’t ever seem to work out quite as well as you hoped. Somehow Fred from the warehouse ends up with the spa gift card, while Patty from HR pretends like she loves her…
It’s something everyone understands in concept. If your firm bills clients as a function of time worked, missing timesheets mean missing revenue. The equation seems simple enough. But missing and late timesheets are common…
What’s the worst part of losing a grip on your contracting company’s job costs ? Billable costs not making it to the final invoice? The difficulty of identifying which jobs are actually making money? The productivity-killing…
Really? The top 10 ways an ERP project is like Thanksgiving Dinner? Thinking ERP and Thanksgiving might be more apples and oranges than long lost brothers? Well, guess again! After reading this list, you’ll wonder how you…
“Would you like to pay extra?” Nobody wants to say yes to that question, of course. But isn’t that how the question of whether to sign up for accounting software updates and support comes off? It doesn’t matter how nice the…
There’s really only two qualifiers for inclusion on our list of the top 100 accounting software features. If a feature appears here, it’s either: Something which every accounting software package simply must have. Or,; and…
TJ Maxx. Home Depot. Albertson’s. None of these credit card fraud targets deserved it, of course. But Goodwill? Goodwill?! Unfortunately, yes. Goodwill is the latest household name retailer suffering a major credit card data…
Recently we surveyed 142 fundraisers about their use of technology and fundraising software . Each of the fundraisers shared with us how successful they’ve been growing contributions. They also described their software…
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” No doubt, many aspects of the bitcoin phenomenon would astound Benjamin Franklin if he were alive today. (Though perhaps not as many as you might…
80,000 businesses already accept bitcoin. And to echo a recent Entrepreneur article , “Why not yours?” It’s no longer an idle question. If the bitcoin question hasn’t landed on your doorstep, it will soon. The Wall Street…
Once upon a time, the idea of attaining a paperless office seemed a bit like the business management version of scaling Mt. Everest. These days we’re all a lot closer to the summit than we might have ever expected. The…
I’ll admit it. The moment I see that “Terms and Conditions” box come up on my screen, I’m hunting down the “Agree” checkbox as fast I can, just so I can get on with it and access the software already. Compared to consumer…
Imagine this: A product hasn’t quite fit the bill. Your customer attempts to return it. But the replacement item is out of stock and the account credit is misapplied. The customer calls to find out what the heck is going on…
How do you break the deadlock in the in-house payroll versus outsourcing debate? There’s no shortage of case studies sponsored by payroll software providers demonstrating ROI from in-house payroll. On the other side of the…
It’s been around since accountants ditched adding machines for Apple II’s. And it’s a feature that—when used correctly—can save your business from some truly nasty predicaments. Ladies and gentlemen, reintroducing your old…
Somewhere between skittish and terrified. That’s about the emotional range of your average construction manager upon learning a major change order is coming down the pike. It’s a bit of a curious thing. After all, change…
It doesn’t really matter what kind of business software you’re considering buying. Accounting, ERP, HR, CRM, supply chain management, project management& you name it. There are certain things you always need to know…
There is a major correlation between achieving business success in the service industry and providing mobile capabilities to field technicians. That’s probably not a controversial statement now that we are several years into…
Consider the following questions: How do you ensure you have the right systems to operate effectively?; How do you evaluate your technology needs?; and How do you choose the right ERP solution?. If you’ve read this blog…
This is Part 2 of our cycle counting series. For Part 1, “Cycle Counting: What Every Inventory Manager Should Know About It,” click here . How accurate are the inventory records? It’s a question you’ve probably asked yourself…
There’s gotta be a better way. No matter how hard you try, there always seems to be some variance between your records and your actual stock counts. Inventory items gets misplaced, misrecorded, or maybe even stolen. A certain…
Well-managed. Quick. Easy. Not the terms that come to mind when you think of your construction billing processes? Then what you’ve got on your hands is a bit of good news, bad news situation. The bottomline is that…
CRM software is becoming a more and more indispensable tool for businesses of all sizes. A 2013 study by Nucleus Research identified that every $1 spent on CRM software yields $5.60 in revenue. Not surprisingly, with even the…
The popularity of remote vendor support of on-premise business software implementations is dramatically increasing. How do we know? Two statistics from our software matching data based on tens of thousands of projects are…
There’s no one single way to evaluate ERP software —every organization and set of requirements is different. But there are a handful of best practices that always must be observed to avoid making a bad choice. In this list…
“Do I need accounting software or an accountant?” It’s a question that many small business owners ask themselves at some point. And given that I’ve spent the last decade helping companies find accounting software , you might…
Migrating data is one of the most mysterious parts of switching systems for new accounting software buyers. Even for experienced buyers who have previously implemented software, the big question remains: How easily will our…
In the non-profit world, an increase in giving isn’t just a number on a ledger. It means more meals delivered, patients treated, classes taught, or programs funded. In other words, it means affecting more of the change that…
The end of XP support isn’t just a technology story. XP’s retirement will also have very real monetary consequences for millions of companies still using the OS. To put it another way—if your company is still using XP and…
“Solution” is a word that draws a fair amount of bad press from the technology jargon police. Some people seem to think it’s fuzzy or puffed up. I don’t happen to agree with those people. I actually use the word “solution…
Retired. Discontinued. Expired. However you put it, Sage PFW ERP and Sage Pro ERP have reached the end of the road as officially supported Sage products. Since nothing raises questions like a product retirement when it comes…
Landed cost tracking doesn’t catch many headlines in the tech press when it comes to the big data and business intelligence revolution—but maybe it should. In many ways, landed cost tracking is the poster-child for how…
The basic aspiration of ERP software is comprehensive support of all business management processes and data in a single system of record. So here’s a question: That being the case, does it really make sense to isolate the…
The web continues to change how businesses engage with customers, as an increasing percentage of transactions move online. Meanwhile, integrated software application suites are revolutionizing business management capabilities…
The idea that we can separate out a process, task, or problem and fix it up with a singular approach is tantalizing. It even works—in some cases and to some degrees. Take the case of manufacturing operations software. For…
One of the benchmark moments for any retail business is when it moves to a software-enabled POS system . For some retailers, it happens the day the doors first open for business. For others it may occur after many years spent…
What is ERP ? It’s a question that’s been answered a million times, if it’s been answered once. And while there’s still no single, canonical definition of ERP, a general consensus has formed. Separating the signal from the…
On September 5, 2013 the New York Times published an article titled “Secret Documents Reveal N.S.A. Campaign Against Encryption .” The article contained an excerpt from a 2013 NSA budget request document for the $250M a year…
If your company is a small business looking to market effectively, the web has some ideas for you. Lots of ideas, in fact! But what if you’re a B2B seller and you’re more interested in figuring out best practices for…
What happens when a paradigm-shifting tech trend collides with what Time Magazine described as the biggest news story of 2013 ? That’s the question for anyone wondering how the exposure of unauthorized NSA communications…
Your inventory data wants to talk. And, here’s the good news: With today’s inventory technology , it’s actually not hard to help it get its way. Contemporary inventory management systems are built to communicate. Consider the…
Here’s a question for you: What’s a “small business”? Think about it for a second. It’s actually a bit tricky to define, isn’t it? It’s definitely the small-town, one-chair barber shop. But what about the ten person…
The federal government can’t quite make up its mind about what constitutes a “small business.” When it comes to the government, “small business” is a relative term. What it means depends on whether it’s being applied to…
“The cloud debate is over.” That’s what a CIO.com article reported almost two years ago now, quoting a major software company executive. I’m not so sure it is, though. At least, not when it comes to the real decisions that…
Are RFID tags the duct tape of the digital age? It seems like it. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are popping up everywhere these days. And as is the case with the versatile adhesive, clever problem-solvers are…
Scalability. It’s a term that pops up in the ERP conversation often—but often with too light a touch. If you’re serious about protecting your software investment, the concept of scalability demands a deeper look. From a…
It’s probably not too controversial to suggest that software can accelerate quality management capabilities. In fact, it sounds a lot like common-sense. But in the world of quality management, common-sense is just a starting…
Tax Form W2 is part of the ‘W series’ of tax forms and is a six-part federal Wage and Tax Statement. This form reports all of the wages earned by employees and taxes that were withheld for that year. Providing the W2 to an…
Every entrepreneur who makes it past the “business plan on a napkin” stage will have some level of familiarity with the income statement. It is, after all, the fundamental report for understanding financial performance over a…
Budgeting, by definition, involves preparing for change. But lately prominent business thinkers are insisting that the very process of corporate budgeting itself is due for an evolution. Increasingly, the call to advance…
High profile product recalls have hit everything from cars to cribs. No product is immune from the possibility of a recall and wholesale distributors in every market niche carry a percentage of the risk exposure. What are the…
Alas. Hidden costs—they’re everywhere. Imagine this: You get a call from a friend. $30. That’s all it takes to see 80’s hair rock sensation Winger live in the flesh on-stage at the local casino theatre. Whether its the flood…
The numbers are in: Senior managers are moving data to the cloud with or without company sponsored software. The digital forensics and security services company, Stroz Friedberg, recently published a survey that found that…
It’s not exactly spilling a secret to say that accounting has a reputation for being slow and boring. And, let’s be honest, get 5 or 10 checks into posting a batch of receivables checks, and you’ll probably second that…
Having recently published our commercial printing accounting software guide , we thought it would be useful to share some software success stories directly from companies in the industry. Today’s profitable commercial…
How big is the mobile technology trend? Big enough that the numbers needed to measure it are calculated in the billions: There are over 1.2B mobile device users globally. Source: Mobify.com ; Global enterprises invested…
With New Year’s resolutions penned, midnight smooches planted, and bowl games watched, human resources professionals far and wide are heading back to work to take on another time-honored new year’s tradition: the annual…
In small businesses, where employees wear many different hats, processes are sometimes just habits formed over the years. @: BlueLinkERP.com, “The Importance of Evaluating Processes During the Inventory Management Software…
For a pretty straight-forward concept, catch weight management generates a fair amount of questions: What is catch weight management?; When is it required?; What processes are affected by it?; What benefits can it provide?…
‘Tis the season for family, food, presents& and confusing payroll administration situations? Could be! Handling holiday pay may be easier than juggling multiple state holiday travel plans or hanging lights on an icy roofline…
I know. Your Twitter feed is jammed. You might even be plotting your next mass unfollow to clear out the junk. So following yet another B2B source on Twitter might not exactly be at the top of your to-do list. But it should…
Congratulations on selecting your new accounting software system! Now the work really begins. The question is who is going install, setup and train everyone on your new system and what is all involved? The good news is that…
Accounting software is a critical tool for any business. But the rapid pace of change can make it tough to stay current. While it may be your job to make sure your company is taking advantage of the opportunities software…
As a financial executive, you bring a wealth of relevant experience to evaluating ERP software . But for a variety of organizational reasons, you may also find yourself taking on the daunting task of considering the technical…
Why do some start-ups “make it?” A lot of credit tends to go to hustle and hard work. Having a great idea at the core of the business doesn’t hurt, either. And, let’s not forget to the value of a great team. But to augment…
Product demos are an amazing tool for software buyers. But it’s important to keep one thing in mind: What you’ll see in your software demo will at least partly be defined by what you’re looking for. Are you looking for the…
“A necessary evil.” If we’re being honest, that’s probably most defense contractors’ answer to the question, “What is the DCAA?” As the organization responsible for vetting defense contractor qualifications, the Defense…
Overcoming the factors that stand in the way of making the most cost-effective software decision is largely a matter of applying a bit of commonsense and basic decision psychology to your ERP purchase. Let’s take a closer…
Have you had the surprise of seeing the line item for implementation services exceed software licensing costs for new ERP software ? If so, you may have looked at it skeptically. You likely wondered if it’s worth the price…
Is your company feeling some technology growing pains? Often times the small business accounting software your company purchased to help get off the ground, isn’t the ideal solution for a growing business. While low-cost…
Searching for business or accounting software for a client can be a lucrative consulting job. Through a bit of organization, you will be able to provide your client with a quality deliverable in return for your billable…
Are you looking for a software solution that’s designed specifically for your niche industry? Do you also want a program that has the largest possible install base to ensure supportability? In an ideal situation, the answer…
Every company is looking to save some money. And, the right software solution can undoubtedly save you money by creating efficiencies. But is it better to add on to your current system by purchasing third party modules or is…
You’ve gotten your software search underway. Now what? You know the main question: Which program is best for me? But there’s another very important one to consider as well: Which company should I buy from? Different software…
Technology is ever changing. One of the biggest buzzwords in relation to software is “cloud” computing. But what does “cloud” computing mean and is it a fit for your company? The reality is that there are several ways to host…
There are lots of reasons to purchase ERP software . But start to poke at any of the reasons you might brainstorm and you’ll find a common driver emerging behind the majority of them: the desire for improved automation and…
There are thousands of so called ERP experts out there. But the truth is no one understands your business like you do. You may be one of the few that has reviewed and evaluated ERP programs extensively before. But, odds are…
An ERP purchase is one of the most substantial and important IT investments your company will make. Choosing the right partner is critical to making sure you meet your targeted return on investment. Add these 6 underrated…
So who will install your software? It’s a question every buyer will face. Some businesses have teams whose sole job is handle new software projects. Perhaps you do too. If so, you know that adding software is much more than…
The worldwide cost of failed IT projects could be as high as 3 trillion dollars , reported ZDNet analyst and columnist, Michael Krigsman. It’s an astounding figure to consider and not the only number related to IT failures…
The “cloud” has gone prime-time. It happened while we were all watching, but somehow it still managed to sneak up on us. Now, one of the fundamental questions surrounding every business software decision always seems to be…
It’s easy to assume that accounts payable fraud is a problem for other companies. But the statistics say it is surprisingly common. In a 2013 study underwritten by J.P. Morgan, the Association for Financial Professionals…