Project management software solutions are certainly among the tools that, apart from their well-known organizational value, can give your businesses a more professional vibe. PM apps go all the way from scheduling and assigning tasks to tracking performance and handling payments, and that makes them pretty much your company’s best friends. The problem is, the more a PM system can do for you, the more you’re usually expected to pay for it, and that draws back many small business owners who still think pen and paper is a more cost-effective solution compared to purchasing a SaaS system.

Is purchasing a popular project management system a reasonable investment?

In short, it is. Project management software is one of the most ROI-friendly types of B2B tools, and investing in it is usually less painful than facing potential ‘negative costs’ incurred by expensive mistakes and problems with project organization. With neater organization, and having a complete overview of all expenses related to installing an actual system, most businesses conclude that PM systems do save their bucks in the long run.

Another reason why investing in project management software is a smart course of action is that PM apps for small business can actually cost less than you might expect. With could-based SaaS solutions small companies are now able to take control over their key variables and deliver projects on time in a fashion previously reserved only to the biggest market sharks (or make use of what Harvard Business Review describes as the dirty little secret of project management). With bulletproof security, cloud-hosting, and unlimited room for integration, high profile PM systems are not only becoming affordable, but some of them are even completely free to use.

Can free project management software do the heavy-lifting for you?

After analyzing dozens of various free solutions we dare to say it can. Free PM applications are no longer the Excel-like spreadsheets many of us still picture them to be. Instead, they are fully equipped and collaboration-empowered systems where progress is easily visible and understandable to everyone. There are free project & task management systems out there that can store valuable data, track time and expenses, help create project-related content, and of course – take its users to a whole new level of smart budgeting.

Free project management software comes either as a completely free service (usually open source systems where no functionalities are paid), or a freemium package by popular vendors who divide features in separate plans targeting a different group of users. In the latter case, free plans are usually restricted to small teams with defined number of users, or offer a smaller number of projects (up to 10) and less storage compared to larger plans. In some scenarios, free plans will also limit access to a particular type of support, connectivity allowances, or wrap up a completely unique set of features excluding premium capabilities. However, if you’re running a developing team with modest needs, a program like this will very likely cater to all your requirements.

What is the best free Project Management software?

Free project management software is a very diverse arena, and the only downside of having so many products available is not being able to select the right one. To facilitate the process, we’ve listed the most popular free and freemium PM systems you should consider in 2017:

1. Wrike
2. Asana
3. Trello
4. Basecamp
5. GanttProject
6. Hubbion
7. Workep
8. Producteev
9. Gantter
10. Orchard Collaboration
11. KanbanFlow
12. Freedcamp
13. Taiga

If you’d like a side by side comparison of features it’s available at the end of the article.

Wrike

Choose it because of: intuitive 3-pane project views

Wrike won our Best Project Management Software for 2016

Wrike is followed by a well-earned reputation of a premium project management provider, currently available on all geographies, and used widely by both small and established businesses. It combines all necessary features and goes beyond common PM expectations, with an always-evolving stream of latest additions to corporate project planning. It is a one-stop-shop system you can use to plan, coordinate, govern, and execute your projects, while dividing those into tasks, and creating task dependencies. At the same time, Wrike gives your team a well-organized collaborative environment, where they can exchange ideas and opinions, and keep in line with any unexpected changes.

What makes Wrike efficient is the 3-pane project view that presents all important data on a single screen, including details that enable the user to react fast. Functionality is arranged around the preferred hierarchy, which also makes it easy to prioritize assignments, and forecast the most accurate deadlines possible. Tasks can be segmented to subtasks and activities, which helps track the status of each operation, and evaluate the performance of each agent. The nature of the business you’re running won’t matter, as Wrike is designed to meet the needs of practically all industries.

Another important advantage of this system is data categorization, as it allows you to arrange information in folders, and tag those for easier viewing and sharing. The system also comes with a social network-reminiscent activity stream that keeps users notified on recent updates, and allows them to mention each other instead of sending dedicated emails. Creative crews will also benefit from instant URL requests and forms to eliminate miscommunication, and the possibility to turn data into operable intelligence with audit reports.

Last, but not least, Wrike is integrated with a large list of third-party systems and applications for easier data transfer, and hosted completely in cloud to eliminate all installation and maintenance concerns. You can also download native mobile apps for your team, and use the system in the preferred language.

Who is Wrike designed for?

Wrike intends to serve small, medium, and large businesses from all niches and industries. We particularly recommend it to companies delivering moderately complex and time consuming projects, and decentralized teams in need of a single communication hub.

What features are available for free?

Wrike offers a very flexible pricing scheme, with a total of 5 paid plans designed to meet the needs of small, developing, and established enterprises. Small teams composed of 5 users are offered a completely free package, where they can later involve as many collaborators as they deem necessary. From an expert point of view, this plan is one of the most comprehensive free project management suites, as Wrike uses team size instead of premium features to distinguish between its plans, which means the free version covers all important functions, and has just about the same access to support and integrations. Transition to a paid plan is painless, as prices are growing gradually, and there are no recurrent fees to worry about. You can easily get Wrike for free here.

These are the features you will get for free:

• Managing tasks
• Discussions in tasks
• File sharing
• Real-time activity stream
• Spreadsheet view
• iPhone/Android apps
• Advanced email integration
• Basic app integrations

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Alongisde its free plan, Wrike offers:

• Professional Plan for teams up to 15 users ($9.80/user/month)
• Business Plan for up to 200 users ($24.80/user/month)
• Marketers Plan ($34.60/user/month)
• Enterprise Plan (by quote)

All packages collate basic project management & collaboration features, and differ from each other only by the presence of advanced administrative capabilities, creative tools, and dedicated extensions.

Here are some of the features that are up for payment:

• Dynamic Timelines & Gantt charts
• Adobe Creative Cloud extensions
• Notification center & Approvals
• Subtasks
• Advanced filtering
• Time tracking
• Custom reporting
• Resource management
• Requests & Forms
• Branded workspace
• Additional 50 GB of storage

Asana

Choose it because of: collaboration features

Asana is another top provider of digitized project management services, best-known for its intuitive and social media-reminiscent interface. Rated as one of the leaders in our project management category, Asana will certainly help organize and manage projects in any business environment, in particular for smaller teams with up to 15 users that can use the software for free.

Why Asana? The key advantage of this system is enhanced collaboration, as the development team puts forward the importance of balancing project delivery with adequate communication. The tool involves teammates with live streams and instant notifications, and allows them to follow, like, or comment on all updates. To further dismiss usage of third-party software, Asana brings forward private and group chat, allows sharing files of different sizes and formats, and on top of that stores all important communication history for progress analysis. According to Asana, an organized team is everything a company needs to strengthen project management, instead of investing in bells-and-whistles technology that distracts attention from what really matters – delivering work in time.

One can’t say, nevertheless, that Asana lacks the modern and advanced features project management requires nowadays. The tool will provide task relating, following and searching public tasks, prioritizing completion, and change management, all of this to keep the manager in full control of his team. The system integrates with all important email service & storage providers, help desks, content management systems, and HR applications. The same as Wrike, it is hosted in cloud, and secures full mobile access for remote teams.

Who is Asana designed for?

Small and medium businesses looking for a collaborative app for faster project delivery. Remote and international teams are also welcomed to consider it.

What features are available for free?

Asana has a very simple pricing scheme – teams up to 15 users get to use a basic dashboard with all essential PM& collaboration features for free, while larger teams pay amounts $9.99 per member/month. The basic suite covers all projects, tasks, and collaboration functionality, and gives access to top notch customer support and all available integrations.

The basic suite looks like this:

• 15 Team members
• Unlimited tasks
• Unlimited projects
• Unlimited conversations
• Basic dashboards
• Basic search
• Customer support
• Integrations (open API)

What features will you have to pay extra for?

For teams larger than 15 members, Asana offers two payment options: A Premium package that adds SSO, SAML, task dependencies, reports, and priority support to what’s already covered by the Basic plan (costs $9.99/member/month), and an enterprise plan for large teams that includes personalized delivery, provisioning and cross-regional backups, and a dedicated Customer Success manager (priced by quote).

Here are the features you’d need to pay for:

• No team member limit
• Task dependencies
• Reporting
• Custom fields
• Admin controls
• Cross-regional backups & Data recovery
• Customization
• SSO & SAML
• Customer Success Program

Trello

Choose it because of: Entertaining interface

Trello is one of the few business systems that proved project management can be an entertaining experience, mostly due to the cute and recognizable interface most teams find difficult to resist. Instead of the classic project-task-subtask hierarchy, Trello works around a unique board concept, and assigns projects as cards that make categorization even easier than before. The same as Wrike and Asana, Trello is packed with collaboration hints, covers most of their integrations, and functions in cloud. The key difference, however, is that Trello really takes no time to learn.

Small and starter teams should definitely give Trello a try, having in mind that its free plan is not limited to a particular number of users or a defined project scope. We like to think of it as a one-size-fits-all system, because of unlimited customization that becomes visible as you’re moving cards from one board to the other, and make last minute changes for everyone on board to follow. You get to open an unlimited number of cards, create checklists and add comments, measure progress and efficiency, and maintain advanced administrative control of who’s updating and checking your data. The system offers native mobile apps for Android and iOS users, a number of established connections to third-party systems, and developer API and power-ups for custom integration.

Who is Trello designed for?

Creative teams of all sizes and industries, looking for a mobile-friendly system that can accommodate projects with varying timelines and complexity. We particularly recommend it to large teams working on a limited number of time-consuming projects.

What features are available for free?

Following the usual logic of providing a separate plan for users of each market tier, Trello gives small teams and startups the chance to explore it for free. The basic package limits access to premium features and restricts the possibility to exchange files, but nevertheless opens access to an undefined number of team members. This is why we believe large teams with modest management requirements should give this plan a look.

This is what you get for free:

• Unlimited number of team members
• Unlimited boards, lists, cards, checklists, and attachments
• Unlimited collaboration
• One Power-Up per board
• All basic integrations (Box, Dropbox, and Google Drive)
• File attachments up to 10 MB
• Customer support

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Trello offers two paid plans:

• Business Plan for medium teams ($9.99/member/month)
• Enterprise plan for large and established teams ($20.83).

The Business Plan is the so-called premium version of the free package boosted up with security and administrative controls, while the Enterprise Plan targets companies looking to manage several teams with different types of projects. Both plans are paid per month or per year, depending on the user’s preferences.

These are the paid features you’ll be getting:

• Unlimited Power-Ups (Evernote, MailChimp, Google Hangouts, Slack, Salesforce, Github, etc.)
• Control of private and public boards with 2-factor authentication, file encryption, and SAML 2.0
• Personalization with backgrounds and stickers
• Comprehensive legal contract review
• Premium email support

Basecamp

Choose it because of: Experience in the industry

Basecamp fuses project and staff management into a single, simple-to-use system, focused on easy assignment and streamlined results delivery. With over 17 years of digitized PM experience, Basecamp’s team collated the best remote control practices and worked around its clients’ common management challenges to come up with the perfect system applicable in corporate and non-corporate environments. As a result, Basecamp is now available free of charge for teachers and students.

How will Basecamp enhance your project management performance? Unlike systems concentrated on planning and execution, Basecamp keeps a close eye on how projects are completed, and whether they’ve remained within the forecast time and budget frame. This is why the program drills into details, and arranges tasks in due-range to-do lists, giving users the long desired freedom to reorder and prioritize assignments on the last minute. You can also use it as the personalized communication hub of your team, and private document manager that stores all of your vital information. With this in mind, we can also distinguish Basecamp as one of the best reporting tools, which summarizes easily each type of accomplishments, and helps save more time than most PM systems out there.

Who is Basecamp designed for?

Representatives of corporate and non-corporate environments, schools, and other educational institutions whose key factor of choice is experience and diversity.

What features are available for free?

Basecamp is completely free of charge for K-12 teachers and students, and also offers a 50% discount on all plans for non-profit organizations (you need to contact the company to claim a discount). The package you are about to receive wraps up all discussed functionalities, and differs in no way from the company’s paid packages.

These are the features available in the free version:

• Project templates
• Recurring tasks
• To-do lists
• Gantt Charts
• Task History
• File storage & sharing
• Scheduling & prioritization
• Issue history
• Resource allocation
• Instant messaging
• RSS Feed
• Reports
• Forecasting

What features will you have to pay extra for?

In case of Basecamp, prices are not adjusted to the feature suite, but rather to the type of user looking to purchase a package. Basically, the toolkit remains the same in all cases, and the cost depends on whether you’re running a K-12 educational institution (free), non-profit organization (regular prices – 50%), an international corporate team ($29/month for the whole team), a client-oriented business ($50/month for the team), or a large enterprise ($3000/year for the whole team).

GanttProject

Choose it because of: Availability in 25+ languages

GanttProject is a PM desktop application for Windows, OSX and Linux users that is available to download for free. It was designed following the example of MS Project, with the main idea to provide just about the same resource allocation and Gantt functionality to on-budget commercial users. It will also meet the expectations of large and disconnected teams, allowing them to organize work in a personalized manner, export and import a variety of files, or use any of the platform’s free project templates to save some additional time.

The core functionality of this system works mostly around Gantt charts, intending to allow users to organize work in the desired breakdown structure, and create tasks and milestones the way they would when paying for MS Project’s services. The manner of operation is also fairly similar (GanttProject’s considered to be the simpler one), which means users can prioritize assignments, track costs, add notes, and personalize templates with custom fields. GanttProject also makes it possible to draw dependency constraints between tasks, and baselines on which they can compare achievements to plans. In fact, this system is one of the few free PM representatives that generate PERT charts, and allows unlimited export/import of data using open API.

Who is GanttProject designed for?

Teams of all scales and industries (including international ones) looking for a semi-commercial project manager with MS Project functionalities. Sole proprietors are also invited to give it a look.

What features are available for free?

GanttProject is a completely free-to-use on premise application that offers no enterprise plans for commercial users. Visit their official website to download the app, and all functionality will be instantly available to use.

These are the features you should expect:

• Gantt charts
• Tasks & Milestones
• Task dependencies
• Personalized breakdown structures
• Summarizing of progress, dates, and costs
• Dependency constraints
• Baselines
• PERT charts
• Resource allocation
• Collaboration
• Export/Import of data
• 25+ languages
• Open API
• Video tutorials

Hubbion

Choose it because of: Open collaboration with third parties

Hubbion is another free-of-charge task management and collaboration system that covers all basic PM functionality. It targets predominantly small and expanding businesses trying to deliver standardized projects without shelling out huge investments, import and store their active CSV tasks, or collaborate in and out of the team at no cost. While it lacks some of the premium commercial PM features available in paid systems, Hubbion will serve just fine to teams that are still developing their most beneficial practices.

Hubbion allows users to import and arrange their tasks on a single, comprehensive dashboard, and make use of an all-in-one project calendar to determine deadlines and prioritize between them. What is really unique about Hubbion as an unpaid system is the possibility to draft accurate personnel schedules, and efficiently allocate people and resources.

Who is Hubbion designed for?

The target group are small and expanding companies working with standardized projects, including ones interested to involve third-party collaborators.

What features are available for free?

Hubbion is a 100% open source project management application, which means all of its functionalities are available for free. The main features of this software are as follows:

• Quick-View dashboard
• Visually interactive indicators
• Import/Export of active CSV tasks
• All-in-one project calendar
• Prioritization
• Personnel schedules
• Resource allocation
• Email support

Workep

Choose it because of: Automated connection to Google Suite

Workep is a project management app developed for Google Suite users that incorporates and automates connections to all other apps in this suite. Thus, you get to use it in synergy with Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Slides, and Hangouts, and pay absolutely nothing for it as long as you have an active Google account (or open a new one). Workep is not exactly the ultra-equipped and complex project management app enterprises may require, but it is certainly a reasonable alternative for Google users who’d like to complete basic operations in a friendly and familiar environment.

Workep pays most attention to project coordination, and provides powerful and detailed visualizations on how each project is progressing. You can use it to plan and map your workflows in line with the goals you’ve set, and ease some of the burden related to inaccurate budgeting. Since this platform is Google Apps-centered, you will get to integrate your Google Drive files into different projects, sync all your schedules and events with your Google Calendar, and communicate and collaborate with other team members via Google Hangouts.

Who is Workep designed for?

Workep targets predominantly multidisciplinary teams using Google suite apps, and looking to import and execute projects on their standard Google account.

What features are available for free?

With a Google account in place, Workep’s functionality will be available to all users at no cost. The features you will get are as follows:

• Project & Task management
• Integration with all Google Suite products
• Work feed
• Advanced search
• Gantt Charts
• Smart email notifications
• Sendable task URLs
• Email & Live support

Producteev

Choose it because of: Attention to detail

Producteev is a popular free-of-charge project management system known for its detailed task categorization, prioritization, and delegation. It adopts the same streamlined and custom to-do approach of professional and prepaid providers, but yet preserves an organized and uncluttered interface for large teams to navigate easily. You will also like its @mention-empowered news feed, instant on-platform and email notifications, and sharing across an unlimited number of collaborators who get to see and accept changes in due time. Nevertheless, Producteev delegates enough power to the administrator to decide who will be able to access data, and in which role.

This system is an excellent mobile alternative for remote teams, as it is cloud-hosted and usable on all devices and operating systems. It also comes with a large list of integrations, among which Slack, Zapier, Trello, Box, Dropbox, and many other prominent names.

Who is Producteev designed for?

Freelancers, small, medium and large teams interested to govern and restrict access to project data to key collaborators. Producteev is suitable for all niches and industries, as it allows enough customization to accommodate unique projects and tasks.

What features are available for free?

Producteev has one of the best free project management offers on the market, as the only features you’d actually pay for are personalized 24/7 support, and customization & branding. All core PM & collaboration functionality, on the other hand, comes for free.

These are the free features offered by Producteev:

• Unlimited users
• Unlimited projects
• Unlimited tasks & subtasks
• Apps for iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac & Web
• Real time updates & push notifications
• Assign, mention & add followers to tasks
• Organize with labels & priorities
• Set task due dates & reminders
• Filter by people, project, status & more
• Track activity of projects & tasks
• Attach files from your device & DropBox
• Email in tasks from your inbox
• Export tasks with one click
• Support community

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Producteev offers a single paid plan (Pro Plan) available at $99/month for the whole team. This plan offers the very same features available in the Basic plan, plus:

• Personalized 24/7 support & response
• Customization – Logo, contact information, and network colors

Gantter

Choose it because of: MS Project integration

Gantter is another free-of-charge PM application designed to work in synergy with Google Drive, but also one that connects easily to Microsoft Project. It is available absolutely for free, and intends to facilitate the scheduling of your MS projects. Despite of its appealing interface and modest collaboration capacity, Gantter is still is a smart choice for planning complex projects, such as building, construction, design, IT implementation, and many more.

The best way to look at Gantter is as a simplified, web-based version of MS Project where you can schedule, create, edit, and track tasks without paying enormous license fees. The system can also boast with automated updates, effort-driven tasks, calendar configuration, and of course the MS Project-specific native Gantt web repository.

Who is Gantter designed for?

Small and medium project management teams looking to expand their MS Project database with a personalized scheduling tool. Individuals may also find it interesting for their commercial and non-commercial planning.

What features are available for free?

All of Gantter’s functionality is absolutely free of charge, and there are no upgrade fees or recurrent charges to worry about. All you need to do is to subscribe for their service, and your free package will look like this:

• Project management
• Task management
• Gantt charts
• Automated updates
• Configurable calendar & scheduling
• Collaboration
• Google Drive integration
• MS Project integration
• Real-time views
• Phone and email support

 Orchard Collaboration

Choose it because of: Ticketing

Orchard Collaboration is one more example of how great open source systems should look like, as it covers all project management and collaboration functionality a small teams needs to hit off. At the same time, Orchard Collaboration can assume the role of a dedicated ticketing & help desk system, and help build a lasting relationship with customers while working on their projects. Combined suites like this happen to cost thousands of dollars per year, but Orchard Collaboration fuses all of their essential capabilities at literally no cost.

With Orchard Collaboration, you can customize the sub-sections of your projects, and open an individualized activity stream for each. It will also be easy to plan and set milestones, trigger common discussions on the cardwall, and arrange permissions for each project to let users follow/unfollow the issues that matter to them. Orhard is also able to categorize issues and queries per project/task, and consequently assign them to the right person in the team.

Who is Orchard Collaboration designed for?

Small and startup teams looking for on-budget solutions that cover project management, collaboration, and customer service.

What features are available for free?

In short, all of them. Orchard Collaboration is free for both commercial and non-commercial usage, and offers the following features:

• Activity streams per project
• Custom sub-sections to projects
• Customizable dashboard
• Cardwall discussions
• Milestone Setting/planning
• Follow/Unfollow issues
• Permissions & controls
• Wikis per project
• Workflow management
• Content management
• Ticket management (Automated assigning, automated email responses, commenting & discussions, flexible sharing, custom fields, etc.)

KanbanFlow

Choose it because of: Pomodoro time management

KanbanFlow is an intuitive lean project management tool focused on measuring performance, and giving users the full picture of how their projects are progressing. Applied in larger teams, KanbanFlow uses the Pomodoro time management method to evaluate the performance of each agent, tracking the exact time needed to complete a task, and comparing it to its importance status. This way, companies find it easier to prioritize between projects and assignments, and plan their work in advance.

The system arranges projects as cards with different level of importance, and allows the user to combine them in Kanban boards using a simplified drag-and-drop mechanism. Getting lost is practically impossible, as KanbanFlow puts in place a variety of search filters ready to depict the right information.

What places KanbanFlow right next to top notch vendors in the industry is its capacity to turn Gmail, Outlook and other providers’ emails into recurring tasks, and do so right from the comfort of your mobile device. The company offers REST-based API to easily connect their system to third-party providers from almost any technical platform.

Who is KanbanFlow designed for?

Teams of all niches and sizes interested to segment time-consuming projects into comprehensive units, and gain better visibility into their progress.

What features are available for free?

KanbanFlow’s most popular plan is the free plan, where most of its sheer productivity is provided at no cost. The plan is not limited to a particular number of users or projects to manage, and wraps up a decent portion of Kanban management to cover for small and medium teams.

This is what KanbanFlow offers for free:

• Automated email tasks
• Kanban board
• Copying and customizing of your boards
• Time tracking with Pomodoro support
• Analysis and improvement of your workflows
• Real-time collaboration
• Data import/export
• File attachment and sharing
• Advanced search filters
• Swimlanes
• Tracking subtasks
• Revision history
• REST-based API
• Customer support

What features will you have to pay extra for?

KanbanFlow’s free plan is usually good to go, as it covers most of what each project team is looking for. As your team grows, however, you will find it painless to migrate to a paid plan, as there is only one option (Premium) for only $5/user/month.

This is what the Premium plan adds to the Basic one:

• Instant support
• Premium boards
• No setups, longterm commitments, or installation fees

Freedcamp

Choose it because of: Customization

There is no free PM software compilation where Freedcamp doesn’t appear, and for a good reason. The simple, yet effective project manager gives an unlimited number of users the possibility to create and manage an unlimited number of project, and spices up with unlimited storage without charging a single cent. It is most suitable for freelance designers and creative businesses where effective delivery depends on the available estate for all of their great ideas.

Freedcamp looks and performs magnificently, designed as a scratch board that will keep your sticky notes under control and arrange them on a searchable Kanban board. Turning creative mess into order is also due to its collaboration power, as Feedcamp specializes in easy communication, unlike products that make users waste time exchanging files via third-party software.

Who is Freedcamp designed for?

Freelance designers and creative teams of all sizes that could use a personalized and highly customizable project management system.

What features are available for free?

Freedcamp’s basic plan is designed for single users and small teams looking to manage simple and short projects, and which already have in place another system that will cover their CRM, billing, and invoicing needs.

This is how the free plan looks like:

• 10MB file upload size
• Shared file management
• Tasks
• Discussion boards
• Calendar with Google integration
• Time Tracking
• Team Milestones
• Messaging board
• Passwords Manager
• Personal Task Manager
• Subtasks
• Unlimited users, projects, and storage
• Access to our on-demand “Getting Started” Webinar
• Support response within 3 business days

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Next to the Free plan, Freedcamp also offers three professional plans – Lite (developed for group projects, charges $3.99/month for the owner and $0.99 for every additional user); Business (developed for small and medium teams looking to save time, charges $8.99/user/month); and Enterprise (developed for large teams interested in top notch features, support, and security, price is determined by quote). The main differences between these plans are gradual access to support (2 days for the Lite plan to 4 hours for Enterprise), availability of CRM and invoicing features (starts with the Business Plan); and dedicated migration assistance, retrieval and security (Enterprise Plan).

Here are the main features available in the paid plans:

• Read-only guest access
• Issue tracker
• Gantt charts
• Team Wikis
• Billing & invoicing
• CRM
• White labels
• Data backup & intrusion detection
• 99.9% uptime

Taiga

Choose it because of: Agile SCRUM methodology & gamification

As developers like to put it, Taiga is the tool that will make users love their projects. Looking at its appealing interface, one would definitely agree with such statement, especially after checking its agile methodology that makes it applicable in any industry or business environment. The platform is completely cloud-hosted, and free-of-charge under the condition of making projects open to the public. Thus, it is ideal for medical and engineering teams working on common and publicly supervised projects.

What is indeed unique about Taiga is that it supports Scrum, an iterative and incremental agile software development methodology that is widely used by product developers to manage their projects. The system also leverages Kanban methodology to divide and organize project development (any sort of project) into stages.

Who is Taiga designed for?

Diverse commercial and non-commercial teams up to 50 members looking for an easy and non-traditional project management system that will meet their specific needs.

What features are available for free?

Taiga’s Seed Plan is available for free, where users can create 1 public project, and yet work on a variety of public ones. The operable tools remain the same as in all paid plans.

Here are the details of what it includes:

• 1 private project
• Unlimited public projects
• 25 collaborators for the private project
• Unlimited collaborators for the public project
• Project collaboration
• Bug tracking
• Scrum
• Kanban Board
• Gamification
• Integration
• Email support

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Taiga offers three paid plans to choose from, depending on the number of private projects and team members about to be involved. The lowest plan is Sprout ($19/month for 5 projects); followed by the Root Plan ($29/month for 10 private projects), and the Leaf Plan ($69/month) for 20 projects. The operable tools and technical features remain the same in all plans, including the free one.

COMPARISON OF MAIN FREE FEATURES

The post Best Free Project Management Software to Consider in 2017 appeared first on Financesonline.com.

It doesn’t take to be a qualified accountant to acknowledge the long-term benefits of digitized finance management. In fact, accounting & finance systems helped businesses reap so many automation benefits that actual accountants fear the possibility of their work being completely replaced by artificial intelligence. Feasible or not, this revolutionary idea is already shaking the corporate world, where the value of full financial control is no longer directly connected to the cost of achieving such.

Is purchasing an accounting system a reasonable investment?

While there is no universal rule to as how much you’re supposed to spend on accurate accounting, running a business at the dawn of its development (and with no resources for expensive experiments) are no valid excuses to skip a system altogether. Both on the accountant’s and the accounted’s side, a personalized finance management system is absolutely necessary for making your end service trustworthy, and as your business grows, you will certainly experience the need to invest in a power-up system.

Plus, one can hardly say it is ‘too early to invest in accounting software’, having in mind that certain finance management applications already pushed their way towards the peak of enterprise software usability in the US in recent years. For instance, Statista.com claims that most of the enterprise software application revenue between 2011 and 2016 is ascribed exactly to ERP systems.

Global enterprise application software revenue in 2011 and 2016, by segment [Credit: Statista.com]

Can free accounting software do the heavy-lifting for you?

They may not always be the most advanced, cross-geography finance assistants, but free accounting systems can still do efficient work to make your corporate life much easier. To start with, most of them are hosted in cloud and impose no setup or maintenance fees, and operate around a familiar chart-based interface to exclude training as well. This may as well be the reason why cloud accounting and financial management applications formed even 52% of all frequently used business systems in 2014, as reported by the Cloud Accounting Institute. This number, as you already guess, went way beyond this threshold by 2017.

Frequently used applications in 2014 – Benchmark study (Cloud Accounting Institute)

What to expect? All basic accounting & finance management operations will be covered, and ready to use by a usually limited number of team members that is usually still enough for small companies. What could be a downside to these systems is limited storage, or access to reliable support, which often offers access only for premium users. However, investing some time to look for a reputed provider should eliminate all similar concerns.

Free accounting systems are either offered at completely no cost, or offered as free basic, lite packages of premium finance tools designed for a limited number of users. In some cases, the number of users and available storage will be the only criteria to distinguish between their functionality, but most of the time, vendors choose to arrange features in a basic/premium fashion for users to quickly find the plan that works for them. All the essential features are usually covered by the basic plans though.

What is the best free accounting software?

Luckily for sole accountants and developing teams, there are many free and freemium accounting systems that can keep your finances under control. For most of the preimum systems, transition to a paid plan (should you need it as your company grows) is also made painless with affordable prices, annual reductions, and refund guarantees.

In order to help you narrow this list down to only a few suitable choices, we’ve listed what we think are the best free accounting systems to check out in 2017:

1. Zoho Invoice
2. Wave
3. ZipBooks
4. Odoo
5. Expensify
6. Express Accounts
7. Invoice Expert
8. GnuCash
9. Compiere
10. Turbo Cash
11. Mango Billing
12. Roboeyelabs
13. OnCloudERP
14. XTuple PostBooks
15. Money Manager Ex

1. Zoho Invoice

Choose it because of: Impeccable reputation

Zoho Invoice won our Expert’s Choice Award for 2015

Zoho Invoice is a premium billing & invoicing system, and member of Zoho’s worldwide-popular business productivity suite. With all essential accounting functionality packed in a single system, Zoho Invoice offers one of the best free-of-charge alternatives for small and developing businesses. Reliable and in-time support also makes the system a rare catch in the arena, having in mind that similar extras are often limited to premium users only. Their system won our Expert’s Choice Award for 2015.

Why choose Zoho Invoice? Many businesses acquired Zoho accounting services despite of being able to afford a more expensive solution, and that’s exactly due to the company’s devotion to simplicity. Zoho Invoice is one of the least cluttered accounting systems out there, and involves no complex setup, maintenance, or upgrading on the user’s behalf. This accounting solution empowers users to create, manage, and distribute personalized invoices in a variety of currencies and languages, and thus minimizes error-prone human interference in large and sensitive transactions.

There is more to Zoho Invoice than decimal precision though – our experts also recommend it because of the streamlined integration with popular payment gateways, thanks to which customers complete their payments all from a single platform. The system will afterwards track and record your finances (including reimbursable expenses), and store them in several secure locations to ensure no data is lost or damaged. To make matters even better, Zoho Invoice comes with an open API infrastructure, which makes it easily connectable to any third-party system or application.

Who is Zoho Invoice designed for?

Sole proprietors, small and developing businesses looking to streamline invoice delivery in a secure and well-connected system. Particularly recommended to users of other Zoho Products.

What features are available for free?

According to the category experts, Zoho Invoice offers one of the best payment-free accounting suites, where price is not directly dependent on the availability of premium features. Basically, free Zoho users will be able to create, manage, and deliver the same invoices as premium ones, and get access to the same integrations and customer support. The plan, nevertheless, is designed for single proprietors and accountants working with as many as 5 clients per month. If you want to try it out you can easily sign up for free here.

These are the free features offered by Zoho Invoice:

• Attach files to invoices
• Attach unbilled projects and expenses while creating invoice
• Calendar view of timesheets
• Client portal for users
• Collection of reports
• Integration with Authorize.Net, Paypal, and PayPal Payflow
• Invoice templates
• Multi-language & multi-currency
• Recurring invoices
• Time tracking
• Snail mail
• SSL encryption & two-factor authentication
• Expense management
• Uploading of expense receipts
• RESTful API

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Next to the free plan, Zoho Invoice offers three paid packages for larger teams:

• Basic (1 user, 50 customers; $7/month)
• Standard (3 users, 50 customers; $15/month)
• Professional (Unlimited users, unlimited customers ; $30/month).

The number of users and customers is the only differentiation factor, while the feature kit looks absolutely the same in all packages.

2. Wave

Choose it because of: Payroll management

Wave is an absolutely free-to-use accounting system, currently employed by over 2 million freelances and small businesses around the world. It is often referred to as the most popular open source alternative for finance control, with a suite that looks very professional, and has a lot of resemblances to high-profile, expensive accounting suites.

Designed to cater to the needs of small teams and startups, Wave is simple, and strives to eliminate all distractions related to chasing payments, tracking expenses, managing employees, or handling taxes.

In a fashion similar to Zoho Invoice, users can trigger Wave to create and deliver professional and appealing invoices, get paid in time, and track finances all along their transactions. Wave will also give them a straightforward possibility to collect payments from credit cards, which will work fine on the customer’s end as well.

For a free system, Wave also has an appreciable organization capacity, as it displays information on comprehensive dashboards, and allows users to pull off detailed reports on their financial activities.

Another important highlight of the system is payroll management, as it makes it possible to calculate salaries, and uses direct deposits and pay stubs to make sure those are covered in time. The same as Zoho Invoice, Wave is ready-to-use on all devices and operating systems, and comes with open developer API to help you design your own integrations.

Who is Wave designed for?

Sole accountants and proprietors and small teams looking to deliver invoices, manage expenses, and complete payroll & taxation calculations in a single system.

What features are available for free?

Wave is an open-source accounting system, and offers all of its features for free. There are no paid upgrades, recurrent fees or unexpected expenses to worry about – all you have to do is to create an account, and the following features will be available to you:

• Accounting & finance control
• Customizable dashboard
• Custom reports
• Billing & Invoicing
• Lendings management
• Direct payments
• Payroll & expense management
• Time tracking
• Taxation
• Open API

3. ZipBooks

Choose it because of: Data intelligence

ZipBooks is a simple, yet powerful accounting & invoicing solution for individuals and teams, developed to organize their finances and turn their data into operable intelligence. This system works around strengthening financial control, but also focuses on delivering professional and well-structured service to end customers. Hence, ZipBooks will allow accountants to send professional, elegantly designed invoices, get paid via credit cards or PayPal accounts, or trigger the system’s auto-billing when looking to reduce their workload.

ZipBooks organizes information in a color-coded scheme, and helps companies save time with simpler reconciliation. At the same time, it keeps an eye on their expenses, tracks account payables, and follows closely each and every of their transactions. What our experts point out to be the highlight of this system, however, is data intelligence, as ZipBooks is one of the rare free-of-charge accounting solutions that drafts insights on profitable customers, and compares performance between several competitors.

Who is ZipBooks designed for?

Both single users and corporate teams looking to complete complex accounting operations, and then use their financial data for smarter forecasting.

What features are available for free?

ZipBooks is a freemium system, with a great free Starter plan for unlimited invoicing and bookkeeping. Some of the top rated and most advanced features of this software (PayPal integration, analytics & Business Health score, for instance) are included in the free plan, and application is not limited to a number of users. The robust knowledge base is also available to non-paying users.

These are the features offered in the Starter plan:

• Unlimited users
• Unlimited invoicing
• Unlimited bookkeeping
• Unlimited vendors & customers
• Unlimited recurring invoices with auto-bill
• Connect & manage bank
• PayPal & credit card payments
• Analytics & business health score
• Invoice quality score

What features will you have to pay extra for?

ZipBooks provides three different enterprise pricing packages for prepaid users, where the basic invoicing & bookkeeping suite remains the same, but each plan comes with additional, advanced analytic features. The plans are:

• Smarter ($15/month)
• Sophisticated ($35/month)
• Services ($125/month).

These are the main features exclusive to ZipBooks’ paid plans:

• Unlimited bank connections
• Time tracking
• Auto-import of expenses into customers’ invoices
• Team collaboration & secure sharing
• Advanced intelligence
• ZipBooks Scholar (personal bookkeeper for tax saving analysis and monthly reports)

4. Odoo

Choose it because of: Inventory management

Odoo encompasses sales and project management in a single tool, and enriches them with a variety of MRP, POS, and e-commerce functions to deliver a universal solution that can help all businesses manage all types of operations. Furthermore, the system goes a step ahead integrating every sales channel you can think of, which combined with its powerful inventory management, makes for the best business management solution to be found on the market these days.

Odoo breaks the image of traditional ERP systems, mostly because it is highly modular: there are over 1000 modules to start with, and the user is free to add more while using it. As integrated as it is, Odoo will never compromise the benefits it initially delivers, regardless of the app you’re using to cover your business processes. What is more, Odoo is a highly customizable and flexible system you could easy adjust to the specific needs of your business.

Who is Odoo designed for?

Small, medium, and large companies looking for an all-in-one business process management solution that combines the best of ERP, sales, accounting, marketing, and project management features.

What features are available for free?

Odoo offers a free basic plan for 1 app that is suitable for up to 50 users. The transition to some of the other two plans is painless, and covers all the apps you need. Plus, all of the essential sales and ERP functionality offered by the provider is available in the free plan.

This is what you will get:

• Website Edition
• Accounting
• CRM
• MRP
• E-Commerce
• eSignature
• Inventory Management
• Marketing
• Point of Sale
• Project Management
• Sales Management
• Automated Stock Update
• Automated Calendar
• Automated Invoicing
• Leave Management
• Timesheets
• Reporting
• 1 App
• Suitable for up to 50 Users
• Cloud Hosting

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Alongside its complete free plan, Odoo presents:

• Online Plan (€20/user/month)
• Enterprise Plan (€25/user/month (minimum 5 users).

The capabilities of the three plans are pretty much the same, and what makes the difference is the number of users, deployment options, customization access, and customer support.

These are the extra features deriving from the paid plans:

• More than 50 users
• Mobile apps
• Customization
• Premium support
• Implementation service & assistance

5. Expensify

Choose it because of: Travel expenses management

Expensify is another affordable choice for money-matter control we warmly recommend to starters and low-tier market users. There is a lot to say in favor of this expense-friendly system, as it offers many benefits situated around a transparency maintenance mechanism. Expensify is an excellent choice for businesses looking to improve finance control, maintain summaries of several accounts at once, balance debt-to-income ratios, or particularly handle travel expenses.

Expensify will also automate expense reporting, as it is automatically integrated with several payment modes, credit card providers, and financial transaction institutions. It puts in place an advanced GPS technology to track and record miles of your employees’ business trips, and calculate instantly any type of reimbursement. There is also arate exchange calculator and currency converter for international trips. Companies also appreciate the numerous CRM, ERP, and eCommerce integrations that help them blend expense management with other sales or accounting operations.

Who is Expensify designed for?

Teams of all sizes and industries looking to manage travel expenses and make their financial operations more transparent.

What features are available for free?

Expensify offers a basic free plan for teams with undefined number of members, which comprises of all essential accounting functionalities, and doesn’t limit receipt storage. Free users, however, won’t have access to the system’s direct integrations with accounting, ERP, and business intelligence software.

These are Expensify’s free features:

• Realtime expense reports
• Corporate cards
• Direct deposit reimbursement
• Basic approval hierarchies
• Candidate reimbursement
• Advanced Tax Tracking
• Automatic accounting sync
• Automatic Reporting & submitting
• Automatic approval
• Automatic reimbursement
• Duplicate expense detection
• Credit card import
• Auditor access
• 10 free SmartScans per month
• Free mobile app
• Unlimited receipt storage

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Expensify offers two paid plans:

• Team – $5/user/month
• Corporate – $9/user/month

Paid plans add integrations to third-party software, premium support & assistance, and several advanced expense management and security features.

Here are the details:

• Unlimited SmartScans per month
• Online next day ACH reimbursement
• Direct integration with QuickBooks and Xero
• Advanced policy enforcement
• Corporate card reconciliation
• Direct integrations with NetSuite, Intacct, Dynamics, and more
• Custom report exports
• Multi-level tagging

6. Express Accounts

Choose it because of: Inventory software integration

Express Accounts is NCH Software’s professional accounting & bookkeeping program for small companies. The platform is absolutely free for teams up to 5 members, allowing them to easily track payment and deposit transactions, pull off detailed balances and reports to examine their operations’ health, and use those reports to facilitate the work of their official accountants. The very same functionality is offered to paid users, who nevertheless get to distribute the system among more than 5 users.

For free, small-biz users, Express Accounts offers a dedicated free application they can download for their local and mobile devices. The same as in the premium on-premise scenario (Windows and Mac OS), the free plan fuses accounts payable and accounts receivable to facilitate all types of financial analyses, while also protecting data in several backup locations. The bottom line of the system’s popularity is its Inventoria integration, thanks to which both paid and unpaid users get to manage inventory data in all aspects of their business.

Who is Express Accounts designed for?

All users, from startups to professional accounting teams, looking for finance management systems that account for their stock and inventory data. Ideal for startup sales teams.

What features are available for free?

For teams up to 5 users, Express Accounts is available absolutely for free. These teams get to use a dedicated desktop & cloud application that combines the best features of this professional, traditionally locally hosted suite. As their business develops, teams can always painlessly migrate to a paid plan, and download a full version on their local devices.

These are the features to expect from a freeplan:

• Accounts payable
• Accounts receivable
• Sales management
• Generation of professional quotas, invoices, and sales orders
• Bookkeeping
• Analyses & 20+ Financial reports
• Mobile access

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Users interested in the premium version of this system should contact the vendor for a personalized quote. The feature suite they’re about to get offers pretty much the same functionality offered by the free plan, but adds up several advanced capabilities:

• Profit & loss income statements
• Inventoria integration
• Running multiple businesses on a single installation
• Employee productivity management
• Automatically integrated data backup

7. Invoice Expert

Choose it because of: Customer management

Invoice Expert is another free-to-use solution which combines inventory management with invoicing & billing capabilities. Users get to choose between a neatly designed Lite Edition (teams with up to 100 customers and products) and the professional Advanced Edition with unlimited customers/products and a personalized invoice designer. In both cases, users are liberated from paying hidden fees and support charges, and can upgrade easily without re-entering their information.

The system is designed to serve the billing, invoicing, and inventory management needs of diverse industries, including retail stores, internet-based businesses, and professional service providers, and comes equipped with a beautiful customer service and management suite. Quoting, as well as the personalized invoice designer are only some of the top notch featured offered to premium users, which make the system unique compared to much more expensive accounting vendors. Invoice Expert is also known for its various networking and connectivity options that help it blend easily in any software environment.

Who is Invoice Expert designed for?

Retail stores, internet-based businesses, and professional service providers interested in accounting systems that cover customer management. On-budget teams are invited to consider it because of its one-time purchase license.

What features are available for free?

Invoice Expert’s Lite Edition is available for free, covers all of the above discussed  invoicing & billing capacity, and yet doesn’t restrict the number of users or available storage. Nevertheless, unpaid users get to manage only 100 customers/products, and have access to forum support instead of technical email assistance.

Here are the main free features:

• Inventory management
• Billing & Invoicing
• Customer management (100 customers)
• Product management (100 products)
• Multiple invoice templates (no personalized designer)
• On-premise deployment
• Online forum support

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Invoice Expert offers a single premium plan (Advanced Edition) for an unlimited number of users. The plan covers everything included in the Lite Edition, but enables users to manage an unlimited number of customers and products and to use a personalized invoice creator. For this plan, customers will also have access to premium email support, rather than simply relying on the online forum. The Advanced Edition costs $69.95 (one-time download license), and is due to a 30-days refund policy in case the user is not satisfied.

This is how the Advanced Edition differs from the Lite Edition:

• Unlimited customers
• Unlimited products
• Premium email support
• Personalized invoice designer

8. GnuCash

Choose it because of: Double-entry accounting

Gnu Cash is one more of our top suggestions for free accounting-finances systems, available for GNU, Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, BSD, and Linux users. The easy to use, yet powerful and flexible system is available in several different languages, and customizable enough to adhere to international accounting standards. It is particularly recommended to large and international teams looking to solve financial issues without spending a fortune to make that happen.

The system makes it possible to track stocks, bank accounts, incomes, and expenses with unparalleled ease, as its interface is reminiscent of a standard checkbook where users can manage their accounts and pull off accurate reports. What experts point out to be the central capability of this software is double-entry accounting, thanks to which GnuCash matches and reconciliates QIF, QFB and HBCI transactions. GnuCash is also fully equipped for all main financial analyses, and produces professional profit reports with graphs and charts.

Who is GnuCash designed for?

Small, medium, and large businesses interested in getting a complete, end-to-end finance solution for free. Particularly recommended to international and outsourcing businesses managing transactions on several geographies.

What features are available for free?

GnuCash is a completely free accounting system, which means that once users download it, they’ll get access to all of its capacity without worrying about maintenance or recurring payments. Thanks to GnuCash’s utmost flexibility, your finance management needs will remain covered even when your database grows, which means there will hardly be any need to replace it with a paid system.

These are GnuCash’s main features:

• Professional accounting principles
• Bank accounts tracking
• Stock, income, and expense management
• Double-entry accounting
• Stock/Bond/Mutual Fund Accounts
• Reports/Graphs
• QIF/OFX/HBCI Import, Transaction Matching
• Scheduled transactions
• Financial calculations
• Checkbook-style register
• Quotes
• Multiple languages
• Multiple currencies
• Data storage & exchange

9. Compiere

Choose it because of: Enterprise resource planning

Compiere joins the list of smart accounting solution in the role of an easy-to-use ERP, which won’t only control resource flow in small and medium companies, but also handle warehouse management, and automate as many manufacturing processes as you have in place. Its configurable structure makes it what experts like to call ‘an end-to-end solution for differing industries’, and one of the most modern and adaptable finance planning systems you could possibly get for free. The company also offers an Enterprise Edition of their system under the form of a model-driven platform, where customers get to customize everything from their multisite ERP to performance management and visual dictionaries.

Compiere will be a great solution for companies looking for an ERP tool that also covers customer service & management, and can be applied in the role of a sales-oriented CRM that keeps track of all customer interactions. For analytic purposes, Compiere will also provide all types of standard financial reports, and offer a detailed business view layer.

Who is Compiere designed for?

Experienced companies looking for global-ready ERP tools to manage their inventory and customize their manufacturing processes. The free version is also suitable for sole proprietors.

What features are available for free?

For unpaid users, Compiere is available as a cloud-hosted desktop application which covers all essential ERP and manufacturing control functionality. The number of users and available storage is not limited.

• Finance control
• Multisite ERP (warehouse management, manufacturing, materials management, purchasing, order management, global financial management)
• Performance management (management dashboards, business view layers, and standard reports)
• Data dictionary
• Dynamic Web services
• Sales
• eCommerce
• Customer history
• CRM (Sales, Service, and Web store)

What features will you have to pay extra for?

The key difference between Compiere’s free and enterprise edition is customization, as paid users get to modify and turn the platform into a model-driven and highly adaptive business suite, and select a preferred deployment method (on premise or in cloud). Advanced pricing is calculated by quote, and the company offers some of the best annual subscription reductions.

These are the main paid-for features:

• Customization
• Visual Dictionary Edition
• Extensive functionality with little to none IT expertise
• Access to application source code
• Deployment by choice (web-based or on-premise)
• Data backup by Consona

10. TurboCASH

Choose it because of: Point-of-sale features

TurboCASH is another master of the free and open-source accounting arena that is easy to configure and adjust to any corporate environment. Rather than a simple invoicing database, TurboCASH can be used as an advanced point of sale & cashier system that compiles all standard benefits of double-entry accounting. The architecture of this system is desktop-oriented, but TurboCASH still enables data migration and supports import/export of transactions as CSV files.

With more than 30 years of experience arena, this successful sole proprietor project has gathered a large community of business users, researchers, and consultants that could help you learn more about the system, or maximize its potential to the benefit of your financial operations. Professional users and large teams can also check the attractive freemium package and make use of its advanced capabilities for only $60 a month.

Who is TurboCASH designed for?

Predominantly sole accountants and consultants, or proprietors running small retail businesses. Large teams are also invited to check the freemium package.

What features are available for free?

Most of TurboCASH’s basic accounting and invoicing capabilities are available in the open source plan, which the user can download from their website and run immediately upon installation. The plan is not limited to a particular number of users, and they get to create and distribute as many invoices as they need.

This is what is included:

• Inventory
• Invoicing
• Cashbook
• Debtor credits
• Full reports
• Repeating entries
• Multi language
• Report drill down
• Rollback database
• Open source data
• Tax compliant for 80 states
• Access to user community

What features will you have to pay extra for?

TurboCASH offers a premium subscription package for professional consultants and corporate team covered either monthly or annually (costs $60/month). Next to the features offered in the free plan, Turbo Cash 5 will provide:

• CSV, SQL, Firebird
• Cloud applications
• World class general ledger
• IFRS & GARB accounts
• Access to premium consultant services

11. Mango Billing

Choose it because of: Due date management

Mango is a time& billing solution for small and medium businesses with an excellent, fully-equipped free package. You should consider it because of of its capacity to help you attain control over your expenses and due dates, set up & maintain accounting assignments, and draft custom timing reports. The system is also well known for its Outlook-styled spreadsheets and calendars, and unlimited access to data from both desktop and mobile devices.

How exactly will Mango improve your billing and time effectiveness? When all recurring tasks are set up and inserted in the system, it arranges them perpetually in cycles, so that once a task is completed, a date for the next one is appointed automatically. If you wish so, you can categorize tasks and dates in a different way, and get a 360-degree overview of date ranges at any moment. Mango Billing is often referred to as the best reporting app in the accounting world, and that’s right because it gives you unrestricted freedom to pull off stats at any moment.

Who is Mango Billing designed for?

Mainly sole accountants and finance consultants, or teams up to 15 users. Focus on it for basic billing operability, or if interested to improve time management.

What features are available for free?

Mango Billing offers 5 pricing plans in total, the only difference between them being the number of users and clients included in each package. The free plan, for instance, wraps up all of the system’s well-reputed billing and timing functionality, but is reserved for single users with as many as 2 clients per month.

This is what you get for free:

• Time & Expense Tracking
• Retainer Management
• Accept Credit Cards
• Quickbooks Integration
• To-Do Lists
• Dashboards
• Firm-wide Centralized Scheduling
• Outlook-Style Calendars
• Recurring Appointments
• Reminders
• Filters
• Sync with Outlook and Google Calendar
• Mobile access

What features will you have to pay extra for?

The features offered in Mango’s paid plans are exactly the same as the ones in the free plan, with the main difference that these packages are available to larger teams serving more clients. You can choose between the following plans:

• Solo Plan (1 user, unlimited clients, $19/month)
• Basic Plan (4 users, unlimited clients, $59/month)
• Pro Plan (8 users, unlimited clients, $99/month)
• Enterprise Plan (15 users, unlimited clients, $159/month)

12. Roboeyelabs

Choose it because of: CRM

If looking for a free system that fuses accounting and CRM into e streamlined unit, look no further than Roboeyelabs. This smart system combines all essential accounting features such as accounts payable and accounts receivable, billing and invoicing, cash management, purchasing, revenue recognition, and expense tracking, and integrates with Xero and QuickBooks to support users’ marketing efforts.

The uniqueness of the system, nevertheless, derives from the presence of a neatly designed CRM kit that pulls in customer data for accurate sales pipeline creation, and helps discover and convert business opportunities. Your bookkeeper will love how easy it is, having in mind that it automates invoice creation and delivery, and operates fully in cloud to avoid any upgrade or maintenance concerns. The best part, of course, is flexible pricing, which combines a free plan, and easy migration to any of the paid options starting as low as $1 a month.

Who is Roboeyelabs designed for?

Small and medium sales team that use invoicing as a mechanism for collecting customer data and improving customer relationships.

What features are available for free?

Roboeyelabs’ free plan is called Bronze, and combines the best of the system’s accounting and contact management features without restricting the number of users or customers. What free users will lack in this plan is sales management capacity, including pipeline creation and end-to-end lead management. Rest API for open connectivity are absent from the free plan.

These are the main feature you won’t be paying for:

• Contacts
• Quotes
• Invoices
• Bills
• Products
• Payments
• Transactions
• Reports

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Unlike most freemium accounting systems with a huge gap to surpass between unpaid and paid plans, Roboeyelabs makes migration an easy and painless process. There are only two paid plans that add up sales and social CRM functionality, and the most you will pay to get those is $2 a month (Silver Plan is available for $1 a month, while the Gold one costs $2/month).

• These are the features to expect upon payment:
• Pipeline & Opportunity management
• Lead management
• Customization
• Email notifications & alerts
• Social CRM
• Rest API

13. OnCloudERP

Choose it because of: Reliable resource allocation suggestions

OnCloudERP is another freemium cloud-based platform designed for resource planning. More particularly, it was developed to serve small and medium businesses operating in retail, manufacturing, and trade; and help them address core business planning challenges such as purchasing control, management of diverse accounts, store & sales management, manufacturing, and even CRM. The system is also equipped for accurate data analytics, and able to produce appealing and functional reports.

OnCloudERP delivers some of the most detailed data insights businesses could possibly acquire for free, and supplies them recent and reliable suggestions needed to make smarter decisions. It is also one of the most secure EPR platforms to consider, as it is hosted in Google Cloud, and thus able to guarantee that sensitive corporate data won’t be accessed or misused by unauthorized parties.

Who is OnCloudERP designed for?

Small to midsize businesses looking to plan and allocate resources in any of the following sectors: manufacturing, retail, and trading.

What features are available for free?

OnCloudERP’s functionality remains the same in the paid and unpaid packages, but you should have in mind that the free-of-charge StartUp Plan is intended to use by single companies, and thus offers only 1 GB of storage and limited customer support.

These are the features you would acquire for free:

• 1 company
• 1 GB storage
• 1 concurrent user
• Limited records
• Linkage between different transactions
• Drilldown
• Data management
• Real-time validation
• Emailing of invoices, orders, notifications, and receivables
• Reporting (Trial Balance, Balance sheet, Stock Ledger, Outstanding)
• Email priority support

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Other than the StartUp plan, OnCloudERP offers two moderately-priced plans for larger teams and professional users:

• Standard – $10/user/month
• Enterprise – $15/user/month

The core ERP functionality remains the same in all plans, while they mostly differ in terms of usability and access to support (number of companies, number of concurrent users, storage, access to Rest API, etc.)

These are the main features you would have to pay for:

• 2/5 companies
• 5/10 GB of storage
• 10/20 concurrent users
• Multi-roles
• Enable email OTP
• Telephone/chat support
• REST API

14. XTuple PostBooks

Choose it because of: Business process management

XTuple PostBooks is an open-source accounting, ERP and CRM system designed for Mac, Linux, and Windows users. The main idea of the company was to create a fully-featured and well-integrated accounting system companies could use to manage a larger portion of their business processes, and to make such enterprise-level functionality available to startup businesses.This is how the system is now available for free, while professional users and large teams get to choose between the vendor’s different Enterprise, Distribution, and Manufacturing editions.

Alongside combining the best-in-class accounting, ERP, CRM, and sales features, PostBooks is also an internationalized platform that supports multiple languages and currencies, and is thus applicable on all geographies. You can also use it to track meaningful metrics and pull off all sorts of finance reports, as you have access to an open source report writer (Open RPT) at no cost.

Who is XTuple PostBooks designed for?

Small and developing businesses that could use a complete business process manager to handle their accounting, sales, ERP, and CRM needs.

What features are available for free?

PostBooks is a special XTuple edition for small businesses that combines the best of the system’s functionality in a single, unpaid package. Upon need, customers can contact the company and require a quote-based CPAL Open Source Initiative (OSI-certified Common Public Attribution License), or a commercial license for unlimited customer support.

These are the main PostBooks features:

• Accounting (general ledger, accounts receivable and payable, bank reconciliation, financial reporting)
• Sales (quotes, order entry, sales reporting, shipping)
• CRM (universal address book, incident management, opportunity management, to-do lists, project management)
• Purchasing (purchase orders, receiving, vendor reporting)
• Product Definition (items, infinite-level bills of material)
• Inventory and Distribution (multiple locations, other advanced warehouse features)
• Light Manufacturing (work orders, strong support for make-to-order)
• OpenRPT open source report writer
• Operating system/platform-agnostic
• Multi-language and multi-currency
• Mobile access

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Corporate users should visit the official website, and give a look to some of the premium xTuple packages: Enterprise, Distribution, Manufacturing, or Commerce.

15. Money Manager Ex

Choose it because of: User-friendliness

Last, but not least, we have Money Manager Ex, an easy to use, cross-platform finance software for starter and professional users. The key value of this system is its ability to follow your finances, and detect exactly where, when, and how your money was spent. The industry you operate in won’t matter – Money Manager Ex blends easily in any corporate structure or individual finance planning environment.

Think of Money Manager as your personal finance management application, which works well on all device and operating systems, and gives you a friendly interface to run and track transactions smoothly and effortlessly. The platform is absolutely free of charge, and available for instant download to Windows, Linux, MacOS, and Android users. On their official website, you will also find a number of video tutorials that will help you set it up, and make the most of what its features have to offer.

Who is Money Manager Ex designed for?

Mostly individuals interested in acquiring a personal finance planner. Nevertheless, small companies managing a limited number of simple transactions should also give it a look.

What features are available for free?

Money Manager Ex is completely free to download, and offers no payment plans or recurrent and maintenance fees to worry about.

These are the key features available in this system:

• Intuitive and simple interface
• Checking, credit card, savings, stock investment, assets accounts
•  Reminders for recurring bills and deposits
•  Budgeting and cash flow forecasting
•  Simple one click reporting with graphs and piecharts
•  Import data from any CSV format, QIF
•  Does not require an install: can run from a USB key
•  Non-Proprietary SQLite Database with AES Encryption
•  International language support (available in 24 languages)

COMPARISON OF MAIN FREE FEATURES

The post Best Free Accounting Software Solutions to Consider in 2017 appeared first on Financesonline.com.

Accounting software gathers under the same roof all systems and applications dedicated to managing and processing financial data. Accounting professionals and bookkeeping teams use these programs to govern accounts and automate systematic operations, while certain systems are also enabled to record accounting data, measure indicators, and report on the company’s financial activity.

Does your company need an accounting system as well? According to Forbes contributor Bernard Marr, the trend of accounting and bookkeeping technology becoming vital to corporations is orchestrated by accountants themselves to address time-consuming paperwork and cost ineffectiveness. Applied in a business setting, account software eliminates critical bottlenecks such as inaccurate audit information or noncompliance with internal and legal standards and requirements.

This article intends to answer the question “what is accounting software?”. Beyond the simple definition of accounting software, we will help you understand the purpose of accounting software in the management of your business and shortlist your options once you start looking for your ideal system. These are the topics we are about to discuss:

1. Examples of accounting software
2. Benefits of accounting software
3. Types of accounting software
4. Features of accounting software
5. Factors to consider
6. Pricing of accounting software
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

What are examples of accounting software?

• FreshBooks – A fully-featured and simple client invoicing and time-tracking system used by more than 5 million businesses around the world. Ideal for freelancers and small businesses looking to fast track their sales cycle, and keep their processes in line with standards and regulations. Well integrated and mobile friendly. If you need a reliable FreshBooks alternative check out our other comparison articles.
• Xero – A handy asset for managing different accounting operations, preferred by sole accountants and small business teams. A competent accounting management system that works in line with businesses’ rules and priorities, and manages money in and out of their budgets in a way that will coincide with their goals and long-term missions.
• QuickBooks – Available in several different editions, QuickBooks caters to the accounting needs of any company. Being a worthwhile Xero alternative it offers a vast array of insights and organizational capabilities which will help companies keep accounting data organized, including their overdue items, payable bills, accounting notes, and contacts’ data, and standard accounting operations. Also popular for great Profit&Loss reporting.
• Wave – Top accounting system for small and developing businesses that also offers a free package. A solid QuickBooks alternative that combines accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning into one compact and straightforward package, and you can integrate it with many third-party applications for seamless data migration. Wave is likewise fully-optimized for mobile usage.
• Zoho Books – The accounting app of a reputed software family, designed to help small businesses handle their finances and stay on top of their financial operations. It offers an array of unique accounting features, including cash flow statements, P&L, Balance sheets, and many more.
• Adra Acccounts – A powerful reconciliation management software that provides businesses with the platform to match their transactions in a blazingly fast manner without compromising accuracy. This transaction matching tool improves efficiency while bringing down costs and saving you and your business precious time that you can channel on other matters.
• Envoice – An automated invoicing software that simplifies your invoicing processes, making it easy and quick for you to generate and deliver invoices to your clients and get paid faster than ever.

There are many other examples of accounting software that are popular and reliable. For more ideas and alternatives, check out our list of top 10 accounting software solutions to consider in 2017.

FreshBooks, a very popular accounting solution

Why use accounting software?

It’s important that you ask yourself the question of why use accounting software at all. Well, finance professionals find accounting software to be the companies’ most valuable asset that cuts costs and drives productivity. With an appropriate system in hand, companies automate bookkeeping tasks and draft in-time tax-friendly reports, but what is most important, they can forecast expenses and develop a smarter investment strategy with this system.

These are the key benefits of accounting software:

1. Simplification. Accounting systems put finance control in the hands of a non-accounting audience, as they are designed to give numbers a meaning, and to perform automated calculations. With little to no training at all, the business owner can complete all accounting operations and comply with legal standards from his own computer (mobile device), and without paying an external party to keep his budget in the loop.
2. Cost savings. Accounting and finances systems automate core calculations and administrative procedures, and take control of your revenue framework so that you won’t have to outsource finance management to an external expert. In parallel, they also reduce costs related to printing and distributing documentation, and store sensitive data in secure and monitored locations.
3. Full financial transparency. From an accountant’s or an auditor’s point of view, the highlight of good accountancy systems is that they avoid costly and recurring human errors. In the business scenario, calculating inaccurate totals or failing to report data in time can lead to a crisis, and that’s where automating calculations is most useful.
4. Accurate forecasting. It’s one of the main advantages of accounting software. Understanding in detail the patterns and trends of your financial performance is something that would take ages to complete without a solid system. Accounting software gives numbers a meaning, helping you understand where to cut expenses or where to invest more. With a clear overview of your current financial state, you will find it easier to develop smart strategies and allocate resources the right way.
5. Productivity. Should a business owner have to choose a single suite of digitized services to improve performance, his first option should definitely be accounting software. These systems drill deep inside the most cumbersome, day-to-day tasks of companies, collect, organize, and analyze their most sensitive data, and what is most important, make smarter use of their money.
6. Tax compliance. Many of today’s top accounting systems are dedicated to payroll assistance and reporting, and adhere to tax regulations automatically. Once you’ve activated them, they become your number one source of tax and audit information; they store all the important details for you to maintain a transparent workflow.
7. Improved relationships with customers. One could argue that accounting software has little to do with how customers are served, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. Most accounting systems nowadays (regardless of their main functions) work around effective billing and invoicing, and prevent all sorts of delays and miscommunication. They are also easy to personalize on the business’s behalf, and thus, make company performance appear more professional and credible.
8. Security. Financial data is the company’s most valuable information and must be prevented from falling into the wrong hands or getting lost by mistake. That’s exactly what accounting & finance systems do for their users, prevent accounting from being jeopardized in any way, and keeping an extra copy in case you need to retrieve them. In most cases, you will get to build your internal security structure, and decide who will have access to sensitive data.

A quick look at reporting in Zoho Books

What are the types of accounting software?

Depending on the type of operations, accounting & finance systems fall under four different categories. Note that there are also comprehensive accounting suites designed for enterprises that combine the best features of each category. Here is a brief overview:

Billing & Invoicing systems

Billing and invoicing systems complete companies’ basic, day-to-day tasks, including check writing and informing customers on their due payments. They are important to preserve control over the accuracy of accounting figures, and make service look more professional and credible to the end-recipient. On the company’s side, billing and invoicing tools help document finance activity and prepare it for authorization and validation.

Examples: FreshBooks, Zoho Books, and Zoho Invoice

Payroll management systems

If looking to preserve control over your account payables and account receivables, you should be looking for payroll management systems that will handle it all. These tools were developed to perform an array of different tasks, including calculating employees’ salaries, cutting deductions, depositing the salary directly into staff members’ bank accounts, producing tax forms and payslips and more. On the long run, they will secure your financial transactions, cut expenses, and help prepare detailed reports.

Examples: Xero, Zenefits, AccountEdge

Enterprise resource planning systems

This is one of the most important accounting software categories that combines all systems used for product planning, material purchasing, inventory management and control, distribution, accounting, marketing, finance, and HR. The latest ERP solutions also offer modules for CRM and business intelligence, so that the company can learn from its own practices and prepare better strategies in the future.

Examples: Intacct, Brightpearl, Odoo

Time & Expense management systems

These apps were designed to help expedite billing cycles and approve expenses on the go, and are usually configurable enough for any business to adjust them to its operation pace. The core rationale behind them is to help collect payments faster, and detect slow and ineffective practices that were not visible before. Their biggest advantage is being able to produce detailed graphical reports on how time and resources are being used in each company.

Examples: FreshBooks, Zoho Expense, Expensify

Xero offers its users a wide range of accounting features

What does accounting software do?

How does accounting software work exactly and what features does it offer? There are many different ways in which accounting software can optimize your business, depending on its main features and objectives. From simplified invoicing to complex tax reporting, accounting systems come with all sorts of extras that are not even feasible without an appropriate system.

So, what does accounting software do? Here are some of the features of accounting software:

1. Accounting – Accounting is the main component of each system in this category, and the one you should be looking for first when choosing a reliable solution. What we have in mind by ‘accounting’ is general ledger, fixed assets, accounts payable & receivable, and bank reconciliation. These are, of course, the basic and most important ones, while advanced systems have much more bells and whistles to offer to their users.
2. Billing & Invoicing – There are accounting systems exclusively devoted to billing and invoicing, but most of them still treat similar operations as an integral module of any finance operation. Thus, they let customers automate mundane collections, adjust operations to new and effective payment methods and industry standards, and prepare accurate and in-time invoices for their clients.
3. Budgeting and Forecasting – This is also a common bundled module in most accounting systems, which calculates and interprets finance performance for the current year and helps estimate the budget of the upcoming one. Using it, companies can prepare their estimates, and set up feasible and optimistic sales targets.
4. Management of fixed asset – Both as a separate tool or an inclusive module, fixed asset management helps manage financial data much more accurately. The module combines features such as audit history, cost records, depreciation calculation, resource allocation and many more.
5. Payroll management – With an array of payroll features, you will be able to calculate and process employee payments, prepare and print their checks without delays, and respond to all active legal and tax commitments without errors. There will be systems out there exclusively devoted to payroll management, used by enterprises and high-tier performers to remind them of their financial obligations.
6. Project accounting – Project accounting software is usually packed in separate systems that represent the accounting version of vertical industry software. They are mos welcomed by construction operators and software developers, where both costs and applicable rules differ from one project to the other. The main capability of this software is to estimate and handle overheads and costs related to labor, material, and equipment, in line with all other features frequently met in accounting systems.
7. Fund accounting – These features are to be found in accounting software designed for government agencies and nonprofit organizations, and include tracking donation expenditures, grant management, GASB (governmental accounting standards board) regulations, and a special suite of financial reports.
8. Inventory management – Inventory management is a specific toolkit developed for stock control, and where you will find all necessary tools to give your business a higher shelf-life product line. This means you will be able to control the availability and movement of your products, and avoid all sorts of delivery issues such as overstocking or understocking.

Wave is a reliable, and free, accounting solution

What should you consider when getting an accounting system?

Of course, the answer to this question depends mostly on the specific needs and priorities of your business, but there are several critical criteria each system has to meet to be worth the money you’re investing. Here are few thoughts on what you should be looking for:

1. An integrated invoicing module. Regardless of the core operations your accounting system should complete (inventory management, for instance), and if possible, you should always acquire a system that offers at least some basic billing and invoicing functionality. This way, you will spare yourself the trouble of purchasing additional software or migrating data to another system.
2. Customization. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ accounting system (in fact, this is one of the most diversely targeted software category), and the reason for that is that each company runs specific finance calculations and adheres to a different set of rules. If you’re unable to find a specific system that matches your business model (and that will hardly ever happen), look for a flexible program you can adjust to your operations, and which is able to grow in line with your business.
3. Ease of use. There is nothing simple about accounting procedures and calculations, so the least your new accounting system should do is to give you an intuitive environment to work in. This means information should be arranged neatly and functions should be available on a single dashboard, and you should complete operations within minutes following a navigation pattern you already know.
4. Security. As we already pointed out, accounting systems play around the business’s most sensitive data, namely the numbers it depends on. In order to ensure that making calculations and sharing data within the system is bulletproof, choose a reputable vendor, and check security mechanisms in advance.
5. Connectivity. At the point where you’re buying an accounting solution, you will already have an array of software pieces to put up with it. In order to avoid changing your entire software infrastructure for the needs of a single program, do things the other way around – get a system that integrates with the tools you have, or, in the best scenario, offers open API for you to connect it with any system you want.
6. Mobile usage. Mobile-ready accounting systems are no longer a luxury only enterprises can afford, so why not choose one for your needs? Most popular vendors nowadays offer native Android and iOS apps for their users, where operability is just about the same as with the desktop version of the system.
7. Pricing. The software logic applies again: The more a system can do, the more it will cost, so if you can afford a fully-featured and ahead-of-its-time suite, go for it! You should know, nevertheless, that quality accounting systems can be purchased on a fraction of that price, and some of them are even available for free.
8. Reliable support. Most accounting software vendors pride themselves with knowledgeable and fast-to-respond teams, but truth is you won’t know how efficient they are before you’ve actually had an issue to submit. To prevent some bitter disappointment for the money you’ve invested, test support in advance.

How much does accounting software cost?

Accounting is not exactly the cheapest and small-biz friendliest software arena you will come across. Much of its premium functionality and instant technical support is still reserved for enterprises, but that doesn’t mean a quality system cannot be found below that line.

In general, accounting & finance systems come with flexible monthly/yearly subscriptions or single time quote-based licenses, while some of them are also available for free (or offer an unpaid package for small teams or such looking for basic functionalities). The gaps between different plans are usually formed by differences in available features, number of users, available storage, and access to support.

Here are the cost of accounting software of popular vendors:

• FreshBooks – Offers three affordable plans in total, starting with the Lite ($15/month to bill 5 active clients), followed by Plus ($25 for 50 active clients) and Premium ($50 for 500 clients). Annual savings may apply to each offer, and a 30-days free trial is also available.
• Xero – Xero’s enterprise pricing starts at $25, the Starter Package where you get 5 invoices, 5 bills, and 20 transactions. The other two plans are Standard ($50/month) and the Premium Plan ($60/month).
• QuickBooks – QuickBooks offers a variety of payment plans, depending on the intended application and size of the business where it is going to be applied. Their main accounting suite is available at $10.36 (Simple Start for basic invoicing); $18.86 (Essentials, for billing and multiple users); and $23.97 (Plus for tracking inventory and printing 1099s). All plans offer annual savings and a free trial where you can test their features.
• Wave – Wave is one of the best accounting systems that can be acquired for free, as all basic accounting functionality is available at no cost, and the customer would only have to pay card processing and payroll fees in selected countries.
• Zoho Books – Its pricing scheme is similar to FreshBooks’, with a Basic plan for 1 user, 25 contacts, and unlimited invoices priced at $9/month; and followed by the Standard Plan ($19/month for 2 users and 500 contacts) and the Professional Plan ($29/month for unlimited users and unlimited contacts).
• Brightpearl – Brightpearl is a popular and very powerful accounting systems that charges users annually. Once you’ve selected the desired plan, you’ll have to pay some of the following annual licenses: £3,780/year (an Entry package for 3 users and 800 orders);  £9,600/year (High Growth package for unlimited users and 2000 orders); or  £16,800 (the Established package for unlimited users and 5000 orders).
• Intacct – Intacct is one of the currently most-popular ERP alternatives on the market, tailored to meet the needs of any business. The system is priced on quote basis, which means that you should contact the vendor, and get an individual package prepared to meet your needs and financial possibilities.

What are the potential issues with accounting software?

The trend of designing industry-specific accounting systems. If facing a choice between a general, standardized accounting solution and one that has been developed to meet the specific needs of your industry, choose the latter. Note, nevertheless, that in most of these cases you won’t be relying on years of reputation to support its quality, so make sure all features you need are there, and do so in advance.

Scalability and customization. Due the fact that accounting is a non-creative matter on its own, there is little developers can do to make the digitized process more engaging than the usual. Thus, accounting systems won’t be the most thrilling and open-to-configuration apps you’ve ever used. What could be a good course of action on your behalf is to choose a customizable solution, and make sure you can implement your rules and business specifications inside. This will also ensure that you won’t have to replace the system as your business starts developing.

Lack of integrations. When looking for a solid accounting & finance system, make sure it has an open infrastructure that supports third-party integrations, or at least that the connections you need are already taken care of. Don’t settle for nothing but the best, as developers nowadays are more than aware their tool has to work in line with sales software, business intelligence systems, CRMs, project management apps, and a variety of other services.

What are the latest accounting software trends?

A central position for workflow automation. Accounting software developers are now focused on what more can be done to facilitate accounting, basically giving accountants and finances experts a break, and getting more of the heavy lifting off their shoulders. In technical terms, this means that workflow automation is rising, and soon there will be no data entry of operation that won’t be automated.

Deployment no other than in cloud. It sounds almost incredible that all that complex accounting machinery companies took months to install will now become history, but that’s how it is. The new trend is cloud hosting, as it is a safer, faster, and considerable more affordable alternative.

Introduction to Optical Character Recognition. Optical character recognition is the newest of accounting technology’s fancy widgets, used to eliminate all boundaries and get rid of paperwork. Before you know it, all printed materials will be transformed into digital and operable data, and manual checks will be part of the past.

The post What is Accounting Software? Analysis of Features, Types, Benefits and Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

Tracking orders and inventory levels is difficult to imagine without the proper software nowadays, be it that you’re running a small, local store or an international corporation. Rather than the spreadsheet packed with products and amounts (as most of us perceive it to be), inventory management software is a valuable source for accurate product documentation, and our closest guarantee to saving money while keeping customers satisfied.

Is buying an inventory management system a reasonable investment?

In short, inventory management systems are dedicated data control hubs that investigate the presence/absence of valuable fixed assets, manage and document delivery, and help make more accurate forecasts for any type of production. Highly productive businesses can rely on such systems to limit their expenses, and direct money towards more profitable operations. According to Robert Lockard, Huffington Post writer and employee of the popular inventory management service Fishbowl, there are many critical advantages to shifting to digitized inventory for any business. Among those, he discusses instant shipping and customer satisfaction, anti-theft security, and preventing expensive products from becoming outdated and spoiled.

While it is true that a small team is able to complete inventory operations by hand, it is highly questionable whether involving intellectual effort into batch ordering can pay off in the long run. Managing assets the good old way involves a variety of labor costs and time consumption small businesses can’t really afford, especially knowing that no team is 100% confirmed to avoid costly mistakes. Another important circumstance is anticipating customer base growth (and we all do that!), and reaching a certain point where managing orders is no longer possible without automation.

The good news is – inventory management can be, but won’t necessarily be, a painful software investment – there are systems that will actually govern your stock for free!

Can free inventory management software do the heavy-lifting for you?

Unlike similar business automation software categories, inventory management is not exactly the small-biz friendliest market you will find out there. As expected, tools able to eliminate the uncertainty of future demand, evaluate trade-offs, and come up with critical investment decisions in our, as Harvard Business Review likes to put it, age of big data, can, and most probably will break the bank.

So, how reasonable it is to expect a free inventory system to fine tune the strings? For the sake of truth, little has been done to simplify ordering & shipping services and to make those accessible to low-tier market participants, but from an expert point of view, what was done was done pretty fine. There are several solid free inventory management software solutions that deserve a second look, especially if you’re just sailing into the world of digitized stock control.

How do these systems look? One of the feasible scenarios is to get a system where functionality applies just fine to all available packages, but you get to implement it for fewer users or manage less products/services than expected. In cases like these, it is highly likely that you won’t get to integrate the system with all services you need, or will have access to, roughly speaking, second-hand support compared to premium users. With a local business and only few products to distribute around, this scenario will make absolute sense.

The second and probably preferable option you’ve got is to opt for a completely free system where all functionality is offered at no cost, and the number of users, storage, or access to support is unrestricted altogether. That is, of course, once you’ve examined their features and made sure they are compatible with your needs.

What is the best free inventory management system?

It is easy to get lost looking for an affordable inventory management solution, because of the huge functionality gaps between them. Even with a clear list of priorities, choosing the right app happens to be a daunting experience, which is why we listed and compared the top 10 free inventory management software solutions for 2017.

Here they are:

1. Ordoro
2. inFlow
3. Lokad
4. PartKeeper
5. RightControl
6. Delivrd
7. Ornavi
8. ABC Inventory
9. Stockpile Inventory Management
10. Skyware Inventory

1. Ordoro

Choose it because of: Dropshipping management

The leader of our freemium inventory management software listing is Ordoro, often referred to as the most intelligent shipping system for small and medium businesses. Ordoro has what it takes to handle a variety of shipping, dropshipping, and inventory management requirements, and guarantees error-free performance regardless of the amount of supplies it is going to be used for.

When using Ordoro, a supplier has the unique possibility to compare the rates of different shippers, negotiate UPS and Fedex rates, and acquire deals to resemble in the final price of their products and thus become more competitive. As expected, Ordoro will also make it possible to brand service upon need, use your own logos, and draft personalized summaries for your upcoming decisions.

The true value of the system, however, is not fulfilled but unfulfilled orders management. The highlight of this system is dropshipping control, as you can assign items as drophipped SKUs and still get to use the service for the rest of your products. In the meantime, you can assign new suppliers and run reports on your performance, catering to the one main priority of your work – keeping end customers satisfied.

Who is Ordoro designed for?

Ordoro is developed to serve sole proprietors and businesses all the way from small startups to international enterprises. It is particularly recommended to businesses with wide product palettes, and such working with several suppliers and shipping service providers.

What features will you get for free?

Ordoro is a freemium inventory management service with a total of six SMB and enterprise pricing plans. Our experts consider its free plan to be one of the best unpaid inventory alternatives, having in mind that the two main functionalities of the system (return labels and split shipments) are packed inside, and so are the basic features. The plan, however, is offered to single users with no more than 50 orders per month.

This is what you will get for free:

• 1 user
• 50 orders per month
• 1 sales channel
• USPS, UPS, FedEx, Canada Post shipping
• Batch create shipping labels
• Split shipments
• Return labels
• Tracking number writeback

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Next to the Free plan, Ordoro offers 2 more basic plans with setup assistance and advanced functionalities ($25 and $75 per month), and three professional packages ($99, $199, and $299 per month) for larger enterprises in need of premium dropshipping, SKUs, and admirable business analytics.

This are the extras available in the paid plans:

• Unlimited users, orders, and channels
• Autosync
• Comprehensive training & setup assistance
• SKUs
• Dropshipping
• Business analytics
• Kittings

2. inFlow

Choose it because of: Simplicity

inFlow is a popular, desktop-based inventory management system for small and medium businesses. You can use it to fill and distribute customer orders, reorder your stocks, generate invoices and purchase orders, and to create customized reports. As such, inFlow is applicable in a variety of industries, including wholesale, retail, eCommerce, manufacturing, healthcare, governing and administration, and many more.

For much of its functionality, inFlow resembles a traditional, old school inventory management dashboard, but plenty has been done to modernize its functions, and yet preserve the same, easy navigation companies are used to. For instance, the Sales, Purchasing, Inventory, and Reports, as well as General and Settings modules can still be accessed using a Windows Start-like button, and most main tasks can be completed on the main screen, but during the years, this system was enriched with functions such as line graphs, pie charts, cash in and cash out, net cash flow, customer and vendor payments due, cost value, and many more.

Who is inFlow designed for?

Small and medium teams looking for a simple tool to track their inventory. Particularly recommended to first-time inventory management users.

What features are available for free?

inFlow is another example of freemium inventory management software where premium functionality is not restricted to paid packages. Instead, paid and unpaid plans are distinguished depending on the number of managed products, customers, and reports, available storage, and data protection mechanism.

This are the features included in the free plan:

• RFID enabled
• Barcode compatible
• Cost tracking
• Customizable pricing models
• Inventory forecasting
• Inventory optimization
• Inventory overview
• Purchase order management
• Reorder management
• Supplier management
• Shipping management
• A total of 100 products and clients (combined)
• 13 reports
• Multi-user mode
• Phone, email, live chat, and forum support

What features will you have to pay for?

Next to the Free Forever plan, inFlow offers two paid plans for more products and customers:

• Regular Plan – $399/license
• Premium Plan – $799/license

Here is what they add up to the free plan:

• 25/30 reports
• Unlimited products/clients
• Document customization
• Restricted access rights & user logins
• Bill of materials & work orders
• Count sheets

3. Lokad

Choose it because of: Inventory optimization

Designed predominately as a business intelligence system and quantity supply chain for commerce operators, Lokad makes use of your data and turns it into valuable intelligence for inventory optimization and fraud detection. The system assumes the role of an accurate demand forecaster, and delivers top Excel reports needed to automate all types of reordering processes. It is hosted in cloud, which means that your data will not only become understandable, but also accessible from all devices and locations.

As our experts like to put it, Lokad is the ‘polishing layer’ of your already existing inventory management scheme, used to perform statistical analyses, and handle intermittent demand patterns that are frequently observed in the commerce world. The company is also known for providing excellent commerce transaction support, and delivering hands-on assistance for as many multichannel order management software systems (MOMs) as your company’s working with.

Who is Lokad designed for?

Small, medium, and large businesses trying to make their inventory management processes more optimized and transparent, and to make stock decisions based on facts.

What features are available for free?

Generally speaking, Lokad’s no-expiry free plan wraps up most of its inventory intelligence features, but being a part of the company’s Bare Metal pricing module, this version is only offered as downloadable software with no access to support. Same goes for the three basic plans in this group, while for professional users, Lokad is offered as SaaS and includes expertise for various industries.

Here are the details of Lokad’s free Bare Metal plan:

• Probabilistic forecasts
• Reorder quantities
• Ordering constraints
• Inventory performance reports
• Data import/export
• Script everything
• Automation & Scalability
• Community support
• Integrations

What features will you have to pay extra for?

In the case of Lokad, the difference between its Basic Bare Metal Plans and the premium plans is access to support and expertise, while the core of its functionality remains the same in all cases. Other than the Free plan, users can opt for any of the Bare Metal plans:

• Basic 1 for $150/month
• Basic 2 for $450/month
• Basic 3 for $1,350/month

Or the dedicated industry supply chains with expert support:

• Ecommerce for $2,500/month
• Retail Networks for $10,000/month
• Manufacturing for $5,000/month
• Aerospace for $10,000/month

4. PartKeepr

Choose it because of: Part data parameters

PartKeepr is an open-source inventory management application developed to help companies reorder items in their stock, and always have a clear overview of the products they have at disposal. With a blazing fast search function, and a variety of part data parameters being tracked, PartKeepr is the master of its skill, namely helping companies streamline relationships with distributors, and keeping their customers satisfied.

The system doesn’t limit the number of users in charge of inventory management, and allows companies to control as many items, distributors, and manufacturers as they currently have. Each addition/removal from the stock is immediately tracked and documented, alongside with prices, users, and optional comments. Users will also have the possibility to configure their minimal stock levels, and use advanced filters to quickly find any items in their database.

Who is PartKeepr designed for?

Teams of all sizes and industries looking to manage part inventory data, and preserve full control of their stock items.

What features are available for free?

PartKeepr is a completely free system where the number of users, managed items, or storage is not restricted. These are the main features to expect:

• Unlimited users
• Unlimited stock items
• Unlimited storage
• Search filters
• Drag-and-drop dashboard
• Part data parameters
• Octopart integration

5. RightControl

Choose it because of: Centralized warehouse management

RightControl, as indicated by its name, helps preserve full control over your stock and inventory. This well-known Losoftware product is ideal for centralized warehouse management is perfect for freelance and small-biz service providers, but can also be tailored to cater to larger performance due to its unlimited size ventures and functionality.

Why choosing RightControl? This modern and simplified system puts in place accurate invoice management, constant stock level monitoring, order management, barcode scanning, and enterprise-level reporting mechanisms for you to enhance stock control. It is cloud-hosted and easy to access from any device/operating system, and integrates will all popular packing & shipping management tools.

Who is RightControl designed for?

RightControl works the best for freelance and small-biz service providers interested to bring all inventory management operations under the same roof.

What features are available for free?

Unless you’re looking to manage more users with specific task access, or to control kit items and bills of materials, all key RightControl functionality will be delivered to you for free. The unpaid package is called Lite, and includes the following features:

• Inventory management
• Stock level monitoring
• Order management
• Barcode scanning
• Packing & shipping
• Contact management
• Invoicing
• Dispatching
• Return management
• Reporting
• Mobile access
• 1 terminal per licence
• 1 user per terminal
• 10 inventory lines

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Other than the free package, RightControl users can choose between:

• Solo Plan (£0.99/month)
• Pro Plan (£4.99/month)
• Workgroup Plan (£19.99/month)

The software features remain the same in all packages, while the main difference is the number of users (1 for Solo, 3 for Pro, and 10 for Workgroup), terminals, and inventory lines.

6. Delivrd

Choose it because of: Order fulfillment

Deliverd is a free-of-charge inventory management and order fulfillment application for eCommerce site operators and online retailers from Amazon and eBay. Its main function is to keep track of the products in your stock, and cover end-to-end each stage of the fulfillment & delivery process making sure customers are happy with what they get. Even for large shop operators, Delivrd will eliminate the hassle related to sourcing products and services, selecting the right pieces, and then packing and delivering them to the location in question.

What will Deliverd’s inventory management do to enhance your business? The very first moment you receive products from the distributor, they are accounted for in your database, and thus easy to count or open to any distribution idea you might have. You can count them regularly, and respond only to the orders for products you have available. The system is also equipped for barcode printing & scanning, sourcing-to-shipping monitoring, profit & loss analysis, and shipping management.

Who is Delivrd designed for?

Small, medium, and large eCommerce operators and web store owners on Amazon and eBay. It is a reasonable alternative for each business looking to control sourcing-to-shipping processes.

What features are available for free?

Deliverd has one of the best shipping & order fulfillment plans that can be acquired for free. All main inventory and shipping features are available in this free plan, but users will be limited to manage up to 25 products per month.

This is how Deliverd’s free plan looks like:

• Single inventory location
• Create product catalog, up to 25 products
• Count, receive and issue stock
• Low stock level alerts
• Serial Number Management
• Inventory transactions history
• Email support

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Deliverd offers only one paid plan next to the free one (Advanced Inventory Management & Order Fulfillment – $49.99/month) which offers pretty much the same functions, with the difference that you can use it for an unlimited number of stock instances and products, and benefit from several advanced features.

Here are the features you would have to pay for:

• Unlimited number of inventory locations
• Unlimited products
• Transferring stocks
• Purchase order management
• Sales order management

7. Ornavi

Choose it because of: Business process management

Developers described Ornavi as a job management tool, right because it combines a lot of business management processes, monitoring, and HR practices in a single hub from where users can also maintain inventory and purchase control. Plus, it is one of the most innovative systems of its kind, always trying to please users with trendy features and automated updates. It is hosted in cloud,  and thus available on all devices and operating systems.

What should you expect from Ornavi’s inventory management module? The system offers simple, yet powerful stock management capabilities, such as importing suppliers’ price lists, rapid quote generation, and multiple units due for monitoring and management (boxes, metrics, etc.).  A separate part of this system is dedicated to purchase orders, where you get a clear view of your minimal stock levels, store manufacturer information, auto-generate orders for shortfalls, and record both lists and prices for each item.

Who is Ornavi designed for?

Small and medium companies looking for an affordable, yet complete business process management system that will also cater to their inventory and purchase management needs.

What features are available for free?

Ornavi offers three pricing plans to meet the needs of different users, and the good news about them is that the content of the chosen plan is not directly linked to its price. What you are about to pay (or skip paying) is the number of users, available storage, and support. For the free plan, for instance, you can involve 3 users for 5 active jobs, and benefit from 250 MB available file storage.

Here are the details of the Free plan:

• Job management
• Clients and suppliers
• Quotes
• Timesheets
• Invoices
• Purchase orders
• Inventory and stocks
• Reports and business tools
• User management
• 1 concurrent login
• 3 users
• 5 active jobs
• 250 MB file storage

What features will you have to pay extra for?

Ornavi offers two paid plans with features identical to the ones of the free plan, but which are reserved for larger teams in need of more storage, and dedicated customer support. You can choose:

• Standard Plan (£19/month for unlimited users, unlimited  jobs, 5 GB storage, and full support – phone & email)
• Professional Plan (£49/month, that adds up 25 GB of storage and more than 10 concurrent logins)

8. ABC Inventory

Choose it because of: Customization

ABC Inventory is Almyta System’s free inventory management system you can download and use right from their official website (EXE or ZIP), without creating an account. The system collates all basic inventory control functionality required by small and medium businesses, and one which won’t limit the number of records or workstations. As soon as you put it into action, ABC will track each stage of your inventory’s lifecycle, and let you create purchase orders for suppliers as soon as the product has been delivered to the customer.

The main advantage of this system is extensive customization, as its neat modular organization gives users the chance to tailor the commercial version to their needs, and make it more business-specific. ABC Inventory will also allow you to maintain multiple warehouses at once, and govern as many separate companies as you have in place. What is best, you get to use the system in several different languages, and operate with multiple currencies whose rates are updated automatically.

Who is ABC Inventory designed for?

Sole entrepreneurs, small and medium commerce operators interested to manage multiple warehouses and create purchase orders for free. Particularly recommended in specific industries looking to modify and customize their workstations.

What features are available for free?

ABC Inventory is a completely free-of-charge system that won’t restrict the storage, or number of managed companies or warehouses, and will also provide the possibility to configure workstations and make them more specific. There are no hidden fees and recurrent costs – all you have to do is to download the system, and let it handle all of your inventory management needs. The only restriction is that the free, noncommercial version is available to single users only.

This is what ABC Inventory has to offer to its users:

• Single user
• Multiple companies and warehouses
• Multiple languages and currencies (autoupdated)
• Multiple workstation configurations
• Reports
• Purchase orders for inventory and fixed assets
• Supplier catalog
• Warehouse appointments and port-to-port operations
• Inventory master lists
• Inventory reservations
• Cost quotation
• Barcode scanning
• Sales/Shipping orders
• Free work orders
• Fixed asset management
• Bill of materials

What features will you have to pay extra for?

ABC Inventory doesn’t offer any paid plans to consider. Larger companies with more complex requirements, nevertheless, should consider contacting the vendor for a commercial version of the product (adds up advanced functions, reports, and forms technology) or consider a different system such as the Almyta Inventory Distributor.

9. Stockpile Inventory Management

Choose it because of: Tiered access model

Stockpile is Canvus’s most popular inventory management application that makes stock control a breeze at no cost. Designed exclusively for startups and small businesses, Stockpile Inventory Management has one of the easiest-to-use interfaces, and is also well known by its innovative development policies which please users with trendy features day by day.

But ease of use is not all there is to Stockpile. The system can be used to add inventory, record sales and manage returned and damaged goods, take returns, or report on all inventory-related activity. The highlight is saving time, as the system uses a tiered access model to administer multiple locations, manufacturers, physical areas, or even custom preferences. At the same time, Stockpile Inventory Management is one of the very few systems where the number of users, locations, and managed products is not limited.

Who is Stockpile designed for?

Startups and small businesses looking to save time by accessing and administering multiple locations simultaneously. Sole proprietors should give it a look as well.

What features are available for free?

All of Stockpile’s functionality is available at no cost, and all you have to do is to open an account on their website and get started. These are the features you should expect:

• Unlimited users
• Unlimited locations
• Unlimited products
• Unlimited storage
• Inventory management
• Tiered access model to govern multiple locations at once
• Reliable technical support

10. Skyware Inventory

Choose it because of: Item history

Skyware Inventory is an open-source inventory tracking system for small to mid-sized businesses from various industries. It was developed with the idea to provide a clean, web-based alternative to professional and expensive inventory management apps, and thus combines the best of traditional and modern inventory tracking features. The system is very intuitive and easy to use, but access help and technical support is nevertheless provided for novice users.

The functionality of this system is divided in two main modules: Inventory management and Item History. On a single dashboard, users will be able to add and track multiple inventory items, govern and follow their transactions, and guide and exchange important order documentation. Skyware Inventory is also one of the rare stock management systems allowing users to draft detailed custom report on their performance.

Who is Skyware Inventory designed for?

Solo proprietors, small and medium businesses looking to track multiple inventory items at a fraction of the price (or for free).

What features are available for free?

Skyware Inventory is an absolutely free system when managed by a single user. Additional users can be included at any point of time for as much as $10 per user (one-time fee).

These are the main Skyware Inventory features:

• Inventory management
• Add & Follow transactions
• Transaction totals
• Document management
• Multiple inventory items
• Reporting
• Export lists
• Page links
• Filters
• Access help & support

COMPARISON OF MAIN FREE FEATURES

The post Best Free Inventory Management Software Solutions to Consider in 2017 appeared first on Financesonline.com.

While it is difficult to find a single, universally applicable definition of learning management software, we can certainly refer to it is the common name for all digitized systems designed for e-Learning utilization. The main purpose of learning management software systems is to allow companies and educational institutions to administer, organize, and control their learning processes, but also prepare, distribute, and monetize original and goal-centered content. LMSs can also be observed as centralized performance monitoring centers from where educators and HR managers collect valuable progress information.

How to choose a good LMS system? The LMS arena is a very diverse one, meaning that you will come across simple document management apps, but also fully-featured and scalable training & performance systems. In few words, a solid LMS is expected to become your centralized source for educational information, from where you will create content, offer development and training to multiple beneficiaries simultaneously, organize classes, and monitor and evaluate their progress. In the ideal scenario, you will be able to adapt all modules to your needs, document and record data, and complete at least some basic administrative and accountancy tasks. The best way to understand how does a learning management software work is to preselect apps that cater to your needs, and test at least some of them until you find the perfect solution.

In order to help you understand how does learning management software work, we collated the most important details and tips you should be acquainted with before initiating your search. This article will tackle:

1. Examples of LMS
2. Benefits of LMS
3. Types of LMS
4. Features of LMS
5. Factors to consider when buying a LMS
6. Pricing of LMS
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

What are examples of learning management software?

• TalentLMS – A comprehensive and easy-to-use LMS suitable for business and educational usage, popular for an array of unique features such as gamification, course selling, video-conferencing, and much more.  If you need a reliable TalentLMS alternative check out our other comparison articles.
• Docebo – One of the currently most reliable learning management solution, developed to facilitate employee training, deliver and track customizable types of eLearning activities. It is available in 30 languages, and functional on all operating systems.
• Litmos LMS – Salesforce partner and leader in the LMS arena, known for secure data exchange and inexpensive and dedicated corporate training. A worthwhile Docebo alternative particularly recommended to small business teams and sole coaches looking to sell content.
• Edmodo – Popular social learning platform for K-12 students and teachers that pays special attention to monitoring and rewarding performance. Its ease of use and gamification features make it more than welcomed in primary schools and within small learning groups.
• Schoology – A smart system designed for distribution of academic content, and focused on enhanced collaboration and developing quality practices both locally and globally.
• Looop – A robust and user-friendly learning management system (LMS) created to help you design the perfect online learning environment for your workplace. It’s a solid Litmos LMS alternative.
• SAF School Management Software – a comprehensive school administration software that combines learning tools and capabilities into a single package. It allows you to create and deliver positive learning experience for students, improve teaching productivity and create avenues for parents to become more engaged.
• Skolera ULP – a learning management and school management platform integrated into a single package. This simple and straightforward solution combines all the core capabilities of an LMS and SMS, making it easy for teachers and school administrators to deliver an enhanced learning experience for their students while being able to get families more involved with the progress of their children.

In action: Creating courses with TalentLMS

Why use a learning management software?

It is difficult to collate all benefits of a learning management software in a single post, as these systems came to be more important than anyone could have pictured at the dawn of their development. In short, LM software makes sense because it is one of the relatively few affordable types of computerized software that make blended learning possible, allowing you at the same time to prepare remote teams and to monetize your efforts regardless of where you are located. When applied in a corporate setting, LMS help turn companies into tech-savvy organizations, and use onboarding as a competitive edge that attracts (and retains) the most talented performers on the market. Last, but not least, leveraging LM technology helps develop better and more efficient practices, as you will have a detailed overview of how success-oriented your work was so far.

These are the main advantages of learning management software:

1. Centralized learning management. Learning management systems bring sources, materials, learners, and coaches all under the same roof, providing them a virtual learning environment they can access regardless of their location. In such way, coaches can deliver content and evaluate performance in a more consistent manner, and design more successful training modules.
2. Generate and distribute quality content. LMS systems come equipped with incredibly powerful course creators, where teachers and coaches can combine data from several different sources, attach media content, and engage users with feedback forms and interactive practices. Thanks to the very same system, they will be able to categorize that content in custom modules, and share it easily with large and remote groups.
3. Teach and manage remote groups of learners. The reason why digitized learning management was saluted with all honors by the learners’ community was its power to make certified training easily accessible worldwide. Now, academics and coaches find it easy to distribute and sell content on all continents, or use a virtual classroom to train lots of international participants at once.
4. Facilitate access to information. The majority of well-reputed LMSs are hosted in cloud, which means that data is stored on an external server and made available with nothing but internet connection. With a dedicated account, all learners will be able to download and exchange content using any of their mobile devices.
5. Save time and money. Neat documentation and administration make learning management systems a reasonable and smart alternative to traditional classrooms and content distribution, and so does streamlined access. Now that learners don’t have to cover expensive training fees and coaches are distributing content with a single click, learning online ‘threatens’ to become the leading way of learning altogether.
6. Automate evaluation. Learning is a competitive environment by default, which is why it is important to make this process as transparent as possible. LMSs make this happen by introducing automated evaluation mechanisms, as well as gamification features, rewards, and other incentives for learners to do the best they can.
7. Monetize learning content. As an independent coach looking to share experience with targeted beneficiaries, you will find LM systems to be the fastest and most cost-effective gateway to profit. You can use them to prepare engaging courses, promote those via high-traffic channels, organize live sessions, and even charge/bill your customer from the very same platform. Basically, LMSs can be your private cloud office on a minimal rent.
8. Retain & manage talent in corporate environments. By default, we all associate them with schools, but the ideal settings to benefit from an LMS system is the business one. Large and established corporations run all types of in-cloud and homegrown learning platforms to train their employees on the budget, and to develop efficient onboarding practices.

An overview of Docebo LMS

What are the types of learning management software?

There are few roads to take to distinguish between learning management systems, including such following the deployment logic, intended usage, or covered functionality. The easiest way to understand the difference is to look at the core operations they can perform:

Content preparation & distribution systems

Designed for easy creation and distribution of courses, these intuitive systems offer handy text editors, multimedia boards for instant attachment, and unlimited sharing possibilities. They are also well known for the large number of import/export integrations, neat categorization & search filters, and open contribution boards for in-group editing. They are the preferred choice of coaches and agencies looking to sell courses online, but will also do a good job for teachers injecting some creativity to their work.

Examples: Schoology, Moodle, Blackboard

Corporate training & talent retention systems

Offered on premise or in cloud, these fully-featured learning machines do everything from vacancy distribution to recording and promoting top performers. Enterprises use them to ensure one-step access to training materials, organize online classes for remote workers, support and share a database of corporate files, or even track the progress of each employee to reward and retain talented team members. From an employee’s perspective, this means that the employer is investing in his/her skills, and uses an impartial mechanism to see what they can do.

Examples: Litmos LMS, Bridge LMS, Zoho Recruit

Tools for management of schools and educational institutions.

These are the classic learning management platforms designed as virtual classrooms, where teaches and coaches can hold lectures on various topics, distribute content, and set up different grading mechanisms. With fancy tools such as web conferencing, quizzes, and multimedia content, these systems help turn teaching into a two-way street, and make the most of what students have to offer.

Examples: Edmodo, Schoology, TalentLMS

Dashboard of Litmos LMS

What does a learning management software do?

The features of a learning management software will once again depend on its intended usage, as a simplified course creator for teachers will certainly look differently than the software used by multinational companies to preselect their candidates. Nevertheless, there are several features to be found in most quality LMSs:

1. Self-registration portals. Regardless of whether you’re selling content online or wish to organize a free training session for your team, a self-service portal is needed to facilitate access for all interested learners. Without wasting time, you will get a list of interested and qualified participants and understand their background and their interests, and also allow them to have access to content without you being involved in the process.
2. Course funnels and roadmaps. Another way in which LMSs facilitate training is with course funnels and roadmaps. They are usually designed to help learners find their way fast, and organize information in intuitive sections to help users find what they need.
3. Course & material databases. The core idea behind developing learning management systems was to bring training materials together in a single library, and give users the unlimited possibility to access them. In the best case, your learners will have 24/7 desktop and mobile access to your library, and a collaboration panel to comment and exchange files.
4. Online lectures and workshops. The unique thing learning management systems do is the organization of live courses and webinars for remote attendees, where they can also make a contribution and be efficiently rewarded for their performance.
5. Storage & file exchange. Solid LMS systems rarely impose storage limitations (unless it is distributed so between users of different plans), and allow unlimited sharing and downloads without using third-party software and email services.
6. Evaluation toolkit & Gamification. It would be completely wrong to assume that LMSs lack the human approach of grading and honoring performance, as the teacher/coach is invited to include his own grading modules,and let the system do the heavy-lifting instead. In such way, he can detect negative and positive patterns, and improve the quality of his work. Needless to say, the system will organize this data and store it for any type of reporting purposes.
7. Customization. The ideal LMS should also be flexible and scalable, meaning that you can easily implement your usual mode of teaching and grading, and have a tool able to support sudden influx of new learners or customers for your courses. Customization will also help make content more personalized, and allow automated modifications that otherwise take days to complete.
8. Analytics & Reporting. Not every LMS will offer an analytic module, but in case it does, look no further. This means that your course and participant records will all be gathered in a type of electronic diary, from where you can access them any time, and pull off important stats to examine the health of your teaching/learning practices.

What should you consider when getting a LMS system?

Your new LMS is about to do a really important job, so make sure you’ve made the right choice. Truth is once you start looking you’ll be overwhelmed by trendy bells and whistles, but the factors that really matter come down to this short list:

1. Course management. Get a trial or a live demo to explore the course management features, including the capacity of the creator, method of categorization, and open channels for distribution. This will be of vital importance to ensure learners get only the best content at the end of the road, and you get to reap the fruits of your hard work.
2. Progress tracking & evaluation. An important tip when choosing LM software is to pick applications that actually track and evaluate progress, as that’s the essence of why LMSs cost more than usual document management or web conferencing apps. What matters even more is to check whether those evaluation mechanisms coincide with your line of practice.
3. Data access. Make no compromise for unrestricted data access  – Each participant you’ve empowered to access the database should be able to do so, any time he/she wants, and from any device or operating system. Same goes for you when making quick updates on the go.
4. Ease of use. Despite of being created to facilitate learning, these systems happen to be too complex for both learners and teachers. Driven by the idea to come up with the ‘ultimate learning machine’, developers may overwhelm you with features you don’t need, so just pick an intuitive tool everyone can use.
5. Integrations. In order to easily import/export data and share content on social media, pick a system that integrated with the main tools you’re using. In the best possible case, get an open API tool and build your custom connections.
6. Pricing. LMS vendors charge all the way from symbolic amounts to thousands-of-dollars subscriptions, and that often has little to do with the functionality involved. Rather than going for a fancy plan just because you can, stay on the safe side and get a tool that was actually designed for your needs.
7. Reliability of support. Support accounts for a large portion of what you’re paying to get your LMS, both when you’re using it and when you’re not. For the sake of making a smart investment, test the tech team of your vendor in advance.

Here’s how Edmodo’s interface looks like

How much does LMS software cost?

The cost of a learning management software system usually depends on the features it provides or the beneficiaries it targets, as there are systems where all education and nonprofit packages are offered for free, while corporate ones withstand payment. Most vendors draft separate plans for learning teams of different sizes and industries, while they are also such that consider several different criteria, and wrap up a quote once requested. Some LMS systems, nevertheless, are offered for free.

Here are few examples of how LMS pricing works:

1. Small-biz friendly: Litmos LMS is ideal for small businesses and on-budget institutions as it offers a Basic plan priced only $2/month; and a pro plan for 100-150 users priced $3/month.
2. Freemium systems: TalentLMS – Offers a flexible pricing scheme adjusted to teams of all sizes, with a Free plan for teams up to 5 users; a Small Plan for $29/month; Basic Plan for $99; Plus Plan for $199; and a Premium Plan for $349.
3. Monthly, annual, and custom subscriptions: Docebo offers some of the most diverse LMS software pricing schemes, with monthly plans priced between $230 and $600/month; and annual licenses starting at $2,300. Custom quotes for enterprises are also available.
4. Free systems: Edmodo is the perfect example of a free, yet powerful LMS developed for the needs of teachers and students.
5. Custom pricing: Schoology is a quote-priced LMS where users have to contact the vendor directly and share their details to get a personalized plan for their needs.

What are the potential issues with LMS software?

Limited flexibility to import/export files. The problem that may arise with importing and exporting data is that coaches rarely have a full insight on the software used by their clients. Instead of changing the system last minute, or hiring professionals to build custom integrations, make sure your future LMS has all connections you rely on in your everyday work.

Limited support. Support is a wide term, so make sure you know what you’ve been offered with. With some LMSs, this will mean 24/7 live chat center and a dedicated telephone line, but with others it will be resending the same tickets and getting a response after a week. Therefore, test the team in advance, and resort to software directories and forums for first hand information.

Lack of TinCan and SCORM certification. SCORM-certified LMS solutions are the best option you’ve got to reuse and protect the content currently featured in you database, so make sure your new app supports it.

What are the latest LMS software trends?

eCommerce features of learning management software developed for easy monetization. Although they were not specifically built to let you monetize your courses, more and more popular LMS are introducing eCommerce and marketing modules. This means that you can easily promote and sell the course you’ve created, and ideally get paid and invoice clients using the very same platform.

Web conferencing. It is really difficult to imagine an LMS in 2017 without an appropriate webinar tool, as live lectures also require active participation and input from the learners. Web conferencing makes it possible to connect and teach remote teams, and even breaks the stigma of digitized learning being perceived as ‘ the less professional way’.

LMS for recruitment. This is a trend that applies specifically to corporate and talent management LMSs, which are introducing modules for efficient recruitment and automated applicant evaluation. If you’re on the hiring side, you can now get yourself an LMS that preselects good candidates on your behalf, and help you develop a personal onboarding approach for each of them.

The post What Is Learning Management Software? Analysis of Features, Types and Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

Business intelligence software or BI software is a suite of tools designed to source, sort, consolidate, analyze and present complex data into digestible reports for insights. In this article, we’ll go beyond the question of what is business intelligence software and explain in detail the different aspects of this profit-driver solution.

Companies use business intelligence for strategic goals including the following:

• Identify SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
• Measure KPIs
• Deploy resources cost-effectively
• See relationships between datasets for more informed-decisions
• Plot business health across overall goals
• Generate insights for quick decisions

Another advantage of business intelligence software is that it leverages big data and cloud-computing to simplify complex data analysis and helps companies adopt business intelligence practices across departments. Today’s BI solutions are easy to deploy, use and integrate with existing systems. They can be standalone applications or as part of an enterprise suite like ERP, CRM and ecommerce systems.

Beyond the definition of business intelligence software, we’ll walk you through the key aspects of these tools in our guide. Specifically, you’ll learn the following:

1. Examples of Business Intelligence software
2. Benefits of Business Intelligence
3. Types of Business Intelligence
4. Features of Business Intelligence
5. Factors to consider
6. Pricing of Business Intelligence
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

The market shift from IT-led to business-led analytics is spurring the growth of BI software. Typical users of BI solutions today are business owners, senior executives, managers and frontline staff like sales, support and purchasing. This cross-departmental shift makes BI software both a strategic and tactical tool.

What are examples of business intelligence software?

BI solutions come in various forms. Some act as standalone applications while others are part of an enterprise suite. Some are targeted at large enterprises, still others are primarily for small businesses. To give you an idea how they are packaged, here are some examples of business intelligence software that are popular on the market:

1. Sisense – A leading BI software known for robust features and advanced technologies like its InChip engine and single-stack architecture. If you need a reliable Sisense alternative check out our other comparison articles.
2. GoodData – Features a growth-centric advanced analytics ideal for finding new revenue streams or understanding customer behavioral trends
3. Looker – A data discovery app with intuitive data exploration tools that let users build and share reports on the fly. It’s a solid GoodData alternative.
4. Tableau – A highly visual BI platform with extensive access across devices from PC to iPad, this software leverages its Tableau Service for smooth data flow across platforms
5. Domo – Features a wide range of self-service BI tools with extensive data connectors and social collaboration features which make it a worthwhile Looker alternative.
6. Klipfolio – This simple yet very powerful business data platform that allows businesses to turn their company data accessible and visible to their people, with all information updated constantly for real-time accuracy.
7. Engtics – a behavior tracking, engagement, and analytics suite that helps you view and assess your users and how they relate to the performance of your products, websites, applications, and more.

Sisense is a leading BI software known for its InChip engine and single-stack architecture

Why use business intelligence software?

Now that you know the answer to what is business intelligence software it’s also important to understand why you should use one.

IDC predicted that big data and business analytics will grow to $187 billion global market in 2019, an impressive 50% jump from 2015. Clearly, more companies today understand the myriad benefits of BI solutions across the organization and overall business competitiveness. Here are the main benefits of a business intelligence software:

1. Gain insight for growth. You can optimize business intelligence for sales opportunities, lead generation, market analysis, customer segmentation, etc. Combining relational database and multidimensional data models with real-time data and cross-departmental collaboration, you can manipulate huge volumes of data and surface insights in almost unlimited ways.Among others, you can identify growth areas, assess supply and demand, measure product viability and determine your market position. Moreover, data is sourced in real-time and analyzed through collaboration, further enhancing your market knowledge. For instance, customer-facing staff like support and sales can share feedback updates with top-level management, giving the latter an accurate picture of current market behavior.
2. Address urgent issues. Crises can be immediately addressed if you have the right information. BI solutions feature ad hoc reporting that let you input data and generate insights in minutes, if not seconds. You can take a more informed action before a crisis further escalates.Through a wizard interface, these solutions let you locate and extract critical data off volumes of datasets and generate reports on the fly. This alone saves you time from mindlessly browsing through databases. Does a social media rant affecting your whole market or is it limited to a segment? Which branch has inventory surplus you can reallocate to a needy branch in the next hour? How much a sudden current event set to impact on your project? These questions need answers now and a BI solution makes that happen.
3. Ground data is immediate. Instead of waiting for weeks or months to collate and process raw market data from frontline departments like sales, marketing and support, you can now access real-time ground movement. BI solutions are equipped with powerful multidimensional analytics that can be simultaneously used by teams. Data is dynamic and moves with market events as they happen.Moreover, because many BI solutions today are intuitive for non-tech users, data analysis is widely adopted across the organization. Ground data sourced by your frontline employees can be immediately cleansed, sorted and added to the central repository, empowering the company with the latest information. Likewise, most BI solutions feature collaboration tools that allow sharing of insights and best practices.
4. Get the big picture. Dashboards and scorecards are typical features in BI solutions. They give senior executives a bird’s eye view of the company’s overall performance. Metrics can be customized to align with your key performance indicators and reports generated in real time.With dashboards you can plot the business health across a threshold range. Automatic alerts can be triggered if you reach a minimum or maximum tolerance within the range. Meanwhile, scorecards can be set to deliver periodic snapshots of your company’s progress vis-a-vis its goals. Metrics and milestones are customized to align with your objectives and overall strategy.
5. “See” the future. The more advanced BI solutions feature predictive analytics and forecasting that enable you to anticipate future outcomes. These tools leverage historical, recurring and current patterns to churn out calculated forecasts. The ability to anticipate events lends to your company agility and flexibility, critical factors in highly disruptive industries like tech, retail and entertainment.

So, the next time someone asks you,“Why use a business intelligence software?” lay down these clear benefits, instead of simply discussing the features of business intelligence software.

Looker is a data discovery app that let users build and share reports on the fly

What are the types of business intelligence software?

How does business intelligence software work? The answer, it depends on its type. One of the best ways to define the types is by the purpose of business intelligence software. Generally, BI solutions fall under three main functions, which are, again, either packaged as a standalone application or part of a suite.

Data management

A BI can primarily function to clean your existing data. Raw data is messy and disparate. It needs to be prepared for processing such as for analytics or reporting. A data management BI software uses a standardized approach for indexing and archiving. This tool ensures you get clean, accurate raw data to process and that you are conducting an apple-to-apple comparison.

Likewise, this BI software type follows ETL processes (extract, transform and load) to gather data from various sources and load them into a target platform, such as, spreadsheets, data containers and data warehouses. Most top BI software solutions include data management as a major feature.

Example: Sisense, GoodData

Data Discovery

When users say BI software today, they’re likely referring to its data discovery function. This is where real intelligence is unearthed, when data silos are mined and consolidated for patterns and insights.

Most BI solutions are data mining tools capable of integrating with different business systems and datasets. These include spreadsheets, mailing lists, reports, website content, etc. BI software funnels their data into a centralized platform, where processing takes place and the output literally, the “business intelligence” asset.

Most data discovery BI solutions feature an online analytical processing, which is often considered as its own classification. But OLAP is really just the “processing” part of the broader data discovery spectrum. It needs other data discovery tools, such as, relational database, predictive analytics, semantic analytics and report writing to churn out intelligent assets. Together, these tools parse data, carve huge datasets into digestible bits and present them in meaningful reports.

Example: Looker, Tableau, Domo

Reporting platform

Some BI solutions focus on how data is presented intuitively that they become popular among non-technical users like senior executives and managers. These solutions offer visualizations that simplify complex data, dashboards that highlight KPIs, report writers for customize outputs and scorecards that display overall business health with a measurable numerical value.

Example: Sisense

GoodData features a growth-centric advanced analytics ideal for finding new revenue streams

What does business intelligence software do?

How does a business intelligence software work? Business Intelligence solutions come with myriad features but. in general, they let you accomplish all or some of these processes:

• Compare, match different outcomes via A/B or multivariate testing
• Forecast outcomes through predictive modeling
• Surface insights off patterns or relationships
• Present cause-effect scenarios

When comparing, try matching the main features of a business intelligence software, which should include all or at least some the following:

1. Online analytical processing (OLAP) or business analytics. OLAP runs the gamut of data preparation, processing and delivering outcomes for reporting. At the core of BI solutions are OLAP tools that enable you to analyze multidimensional data in real-time or simultaneously with other analytics processing.
   For example, a user aggregates the company’s sales data by location, while another one uses the same data source and mashes it with  real-time online purchases. The same dataset is used interactively by two users with different purposes.
   A great BI software should allow you to perform the three OLAP operations: consolidate or roll up disparate sources; drill down to details; and slice and dice. Generally, the more ways you can isolate data from a dataset (called OLAP cube) and view it, the more flexible you can interpret data. When reviewing BI solutions, you’ll come across terms like data mashups, data unification and complex business queries, which are OLAP functionalities.
2. Reporting and querying. Reporting and querying is another key feature of BI software–how complex data is sorted and generated. Integration is key here to tap into external sources. Likewise, mobile access for query and reports lets you leverage the flexibility afforded by  cloud computing and real-time data.
   Generally, business intelligence reporting falls into two types: customized and ad hoc. Customized reports let you sort data subsets, arrange the order of data points, and use specific metrics that matter to you. On the other hand, ad hoc reports are quick data outputs generated by the solution during an urgent situation to help you, among others, make on-the-spot decisions.
   In both instances, reports can be presented as quick lookups or in drill-down details and can be shared across the organization.
   Meanwhile, advanced BI solutions today feature intuitive querying that enables users to surface complex data even without SQL writing or coding skills. OLAP automatically prepares the datasets for every new query. This ability, in fact, allows companies to adopt BI tools organizational wide, beyond the traditional realm of the IT department.
3. Digital or visual dashboards. Data visualization is the end-stage of reporting and, in fact, one of the most identifiable elements of BI solutions. Executives and non-technical users often regard BI through this lens, enabling them to generate charts, graphs and dashboard widgets. Advanced visualizations include geospatial reports, heat maps and funnels.
   In many ways, visual dashboards are the sum of the BI solution’s capabilities. Behind the chart or graph are the OLAP, reporting-querying, integration, customization and other features at work.
   Although BI solutions have varied visual dashboards by color, location, clusters and any other metrics, they usually feature sharing and commenting capabilities.
4. Integration. Integration is also a key factor in answering–what does a business intelligence software do? BI solutions rely on different data sources to churn out meaningful and deep insights, so integration is key. In fact, many vendors tie up BI tools with other business applications, such as, CRM, salesforce automation and shopping cart software.
   Integration can be native (with vendor’s own apps), pre-built (arrangement with third-party apps) or via API (with your own apps). Many top BI software solutions integrate with key business applications like CRM, sales, accounting, content management, and project management.
   But not all have API integration that allows you to develop apps for the software. If you’re a developer, there are BI solutions with open API, along with Ruby, Java and JavaScript support.

Tabeau is a highly visual BI platform with extensive access across devices from PC to iPad

What should you consider when buying business intelligence software?

Most BI software solutions are web-enabled and leverage SaaS capabilities, so let’s skip the standard cloud benefits, such as:

• Real-time data
• Collaboration tools
• Role-based access
• Mobile access
• Scalability  

Likewise, we have a section on the cost of a business intelligence software, so we won’t touch pricing here. Instead, we focus on four essential aspects that differentiate a good business intelligence software from a great one.

1. Accuracy of reporting tools. Reporting is standard in BI solutions but they’re not created equal. While data accuracy largely depends on the integrity of raw data, how data is processed matters, too. Although most BI solutions allow for simultaneous and multidimensional analytics, the devil is in the details.
   Check the software’s OLAP capabilities, specifically how many ways it can source, sort, aggregate and present data. The more extensive the OLAP tools the more specific, comprehensive and, ultimately, accurate the data. You’ll need to closely scrutinize the software and find out its slice-and-dice capabilities.
   Make data accuracy your topmost comparison metric. All your forecasts and reports–and your company’s health–will depend on this factor.
2. Clarity of outputs. Another key factor that should influence your purchase decision is how the solution churns out clear, concise, easily digestible reports. Visualization is the game-changer here considering that busy top-level executives or non-tech users are the software’s main users.
   A solution that can simplify complex details with the least clicks or technical requirements is likely the better BI software. Quick look-ups with drill-down options, dashboard widgets, templates, rules and customizable metrics are some of the key features that impact clarity of insights.
3. Ease of use. We pick out ease-of-use from standard cloud benefits because of the high learning curve associated with BI software solutions. They have plenty of moving parts that can be demanding for the casual user.
   It’s not to say the more simple the solution the better. Rather, consider intuitiveness as the main factor. Some of the features that can improve user experience include: drag-and-drop mechanism; collaboration features; reliable tech support and self-learning database; toggle view; filter data; and self-service visualization.
4. Data Environment. The top business intelligence solutions offer a wide range of integration the further to extend their data environment. Not only do they support various data sources, but they also allow multi-platform access to users.
   Even as the BI solution integrates with other business systems like CRM, ERP, salesforce automation, content management, help desk, office apps and ad networks, it should also be accessible through various OS, devices and deployment models, such as: Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, Mac, on-premise and cloud-hosted.
   Furthermore, if you have a resident I.T. team, consider getting a BI solution with an open API. Your tech team will have greater flexibility to develop apps that further enhance the BI software. On this note, check also if the software supports Ruby, Java and JavaScript.

Domo features a wide range of self-service BI tools including social collaboration features

How much does business intelligence software cost?

BI solutions are priced just like any other SaaS or on-premise software. Cloud BI solutions are packaged in monthly or annual price points based on features scope, integration and customization. Where fixed plans are unavailable, pricing is by quote for a more customized bundle. Licenses may apply for on-premise deployment or private cloud-hosted.

Here are the pricing of some of the more popular business intelligence solutions:

• Sisense, GoodData, Looker. Most comprehensive BI solutions are available by quote only
• Tableau. Has small business and enterprise plans, starting at $35 per user/month. Its Professinal edition costs $70 per user/month featuring advanced analytics.
• Domo. Offers a free app plus a fixed plan at $175 per month. Domo also has a by-quote enterprise edition.

What are the potential issues with business intelligence software?

Despite its clear benefits BI solutions are not without issues. Here are the common problems associated with BI software:

1. Inaccurate data leads to wrong forecasting . Too much dependence on BI software can lead to clunky data gathering. Sales may feed the system with guesswork just to comply with management’s requirement. As a result, BI software churns out misleading or inaccurate reports. 
2. Unused or under-utilized complex and expensive BI tools. Some BI solutions have comprehensive set features in an attempt to cover the whole range of business analytics. But not all companies need to cover the whole nine yards, leading to some of these sophisticated tools unused or underutilized. Partly, the BI solution becomes a liability as its cost isn’t optimized.
3. Steep learning curve. Because it involves complex analytics and uses data sources managed by different teams, BI software has a higher-than-average learning curve among SaaS solutions. It has a lot of moving hardware and software parts like multiple-stack architecture and predictive analytics. Likewise, it leverages frontier technologies like multidimensional analytics, big data and OLAP. These technologies are fast evolving that both vendors and users have to play catch-up.
4. Difficulty in rollout among large enterprise. In a survey of 2,500 users by Bi-Survey.com, one in ten enterprise Bl system rollouts take a year or more to implement. However, small businesses only take one to three months, according to the survey.

Some of the reasons cited for the slow pace among large enterprises are incompatibility with legacy systems, varied user requirements and corporate politics. The study suggested that  incremental rollouts marked by success stages can make BI software adoption faster and smoother.

What are the latest business intelligence trends?

1. Deconstruction of dashboards. Dashboards are becoming a collection of building blocks more than a whole structure by itself. BI solutions notwithstanding, they are turning to widgets, indicators, filters, etc. to present quick look-ups rather than a complete picture at once. Time is essential and users across the organization are gaining precise control over analyzing data that matters just to them and when they matter.
2. Deep learning. More investments are pouring into deep learning after the initial traction on artificial intelligence. As deep learning technologies march on, we will see more of their application on BI software, primarily on image recognition and machine translation.
3. IoT. It’s a staple of consumer technology fantasy, but internet-of-things is legitimately happening. We can see advances in algorithms, sensors and integration that drum up predictive analytics. The same technology will further enhance OLAP capabilities in BI solutions.

The post What is Business Intelligence Software? Analysis of Features, Benefits, Types & Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

HR management software has become an indispensable asset in almost every corporate environment. Even small and medium businesses are letting go of the idea that HR systems are the costly, fancy additions they don’t really need, as the long term gain of leveraging HR technology saves much beyond the limit of what they’d spend to get a product.

There is no unified definition of HR management software that could cover all advanced aspects of this technology, but by default, it compiles all recruitment and workforce management systems used to improve business efficiency. The purpose of HR management software is to combine different human resource and administration processes in a centralized location, from where the manager can also assign tasks, monitor and evaluate progress, and reward the best performers in the team. Basically, HR software takes you a step ahead in improving decision making, and does so on a lite, competitive price.

How does HR management software work? Despite of the HR products arena being one of the most diverse software landscapes, almost all HRIS packages come down to a defined set of management goals. They usually cover:

• A recruitment module used to prepare and distribute vacancy announcements
• A dedicated hub for preselecting and evaluating applicants
• An easy assign-and-schedule mechanism for a 360-degree overview on your workforce
• An array of monitoring and evaluation tools that come particularly handy in large and remote teams.

Most of the time, HR systems are packed with custom roles and permissions, and offer a user-friendly interface that doesn’t take time to learn.

How to choose a solid HR system for your company? The process won’t be easy, as you’ll be offered apps of all categories, starting with simple spreadsheet management and ending with fully-featured enterprise-level workforce governance. To help you understand which is the right HR tool for you, we listed all important all aspects and details to keep in mind. In this article we will will discuss:

1. Examples of HR management software
2. Benefits of HR management software
3. Types of HR management software
4. Features of HR management software
5. Factors to consider when buying
6. Pricing of HR management software
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

What are examples of HR management software?

While there are hundreds of various HR software solutions available on the market some of them are well known and trusted, so it’s advisable to start your research with those. Below we’ve listed some of the leading solutions worth checking out:

• BambooHR – One of market’s most popular and comprehensive HR suites, offering a unique Applicant Tracking System that administers all aspects of the employee’s life cycle, and provides the necessary personnel visibility. It won our Best HR Software Award for 2016. You can sign up for BambooHR free trial here.
• Zoho People – A member of a leading productivity suite developed to centralize HR operations, and provide a collaborative environment for employees to share ideas and suggestions. It’s a solid BambooHR alternative for small and medium businesses.
• Workday – SaaS enterprise-cloud solution for human capital management, packed with advanced payroll management functions, and ready for quick task accommodation. Suitable Zoho People alternative for time tracking and project management.
• ADP Workforce Now – Web-based HR application for medium businesses with core capabilities such as talent management and benefits management. Its administrative kit is compliant with annual reporting requirements for IRS forms 1094 and 1095.
• UltiPro – Quality HR provider that focuses on talent management, payroll management, and tax compliance, but also suitable for recruiting, onboarding, and scheduling employees.

In action: Creating an employee profile with BambooHR

Why use HR management software?

HR software streamlines workforce management processes, and is thus able to make the most of your team’s potential. It is applicable in all business settings to streamline recruitment, screening, hiring, and evaluation, and works particularly fine for talent finders and recruitment agencies that connect talented professionals with their future employers. Even among beginner teams, HR helps develop healthy management habits, as it puts in place detailed performance evaluation unlike any similar system.

Which are the main advantages of HR management software?

1. A 360-degree overview of your employees and their skills: The main thing each HR system does is to centralize employee information, and help you develop smarter courses of action when assigning tasks. Thanks to these systems, employees get detailed profiles with all of their information and assigned duties, and are able to update those themselves to save you some additional time. Basically, when a task is ready to go you will always know who can do it the best, and when it will be completed.
2. Efficient recruiting: Both core and operational HR systems offer easy recruiting modules, as they help you prepare vacancy announcements and distribute them on different job boards, and then preselect and evaluate only those applicants who meet the criteria for that post. Onboarding is also made easy, with a searchable and user-friendly database that helps retain talented performance in your team.
3. End-to-end workforce management: With a good HR system in place, you can forget about confusing spreadsheets and email miscommunication. The system brings all HR-related operations under a single roof, which means you can assign tasks, follow up progress, or even reward participants from a single, cost-effective solution.
4. Enhanced collaboration: Most HR systems nowadays provide users with a dedicated communication panel, where they can follow recent updates, comment on tasks, or share ideas. In the ideal scenario, the searchable database of working materials is accessible to everybody and from any device, and allows unlimited file sharing between members of the team.
5. Accurate evaluation and appreciation: Any expert out there can confirm that talented employees’ dissatisfaction is a leading cause for job abandonment, right because top performers don’t feel estimated, and see no chance to improve where they’re working. A good HR system helps monitor the progress of each, and develop quality practices for appreciating good work, and giving the best employees the reward they deserve. On the opposite side of the axis, the system also helps unveil negative trends and patters, and helps you understand how an employee can be helped and advised.
6. Payroll management: Top HR management systems are at the same time full steam accounting and expense management machines, where you can govern the benefits of your employees, deduct leaves and confirm tax compliance. Instead of delivering such sensitive tasks to an expensive third-party provider, you can now complete them yourself from a system that has full insight of your data.

What are the types of HR management software?

In order to categorize any system, we need to understand how does an HR management software work, and which operations it was developed to complete. This is the standardized way to divide and classify HR systems, other than their pricing, available deployment method, integrations, and similar criteria.

Depending on the features of an HR management software, it can fall under any of the following criteria:

Core operations HR systems

Most HR systems belong exactly to the core operations category, as it fuses the three fundamental pillars of employee management: personnel tracking, benefits administration, and payroll management. Automating such functions is the very basic functionality required by any business, and yet one of the most tedious parts of manual workforce management about to be eliminated.

Examples: BambooHR, Zenefits, UltiPro

Strategic HR systems

Strategic HR management systems pay more attention to hiring, and help the user attract and cultivate talent, and provide the best possible onboarding for employees. These systems usually come with corporate learning management kits, applicants tracking and recruiting tools and retention mechanisms, and are predominantly purchased by employment agencies and professional recruiters.

Examples: Zoho People, Zoho Recruit, Breezy HR

End-to-end workforce management kits

These software tools help schedule and monitor workforce once hirees are inserted in the system, and do a pretty good job evaluating their performance. They track time, expenses, and attendance, comply with all applicable labor laws and standards, and integrate with an array of accounting and BI tools to help turn HR data into operable intelligence. More often than rare, workforce management vendors offer premium packages that cover all three types of HR functionality.

Examples: Workday, ADP Workforce Now, Kronos Workforce Central

Zoho People is a popular HR management solution

What does an HR management software do?

In order to understand a system’s performance in detail, we’re going to give a look to the main features offered by all popular HR vendors. Keep in mind, however, that most popular HR systems nowadays are packed with brand new widgets and extraordinary functionalities that give them a competitive edge against other vendors. The need for those, as expected, will depend on your industry and the type of team you’re governing.

Here are the HR features you should be looking for:

1. Performance evaluation. Your HR system should be the centralized location from where you supervise the work of your employees, track progress, and set goals for them and the team.
2. Employee scheduling. Using this feature, you can easily schedule shifts and attendance, and keep track of who is doing what at any moment of time. This will improve your assignment practices, improve cooperation between departments, and soothe the effect of  bumpy changes in the schedule.
3. Time tracking & Attendance management. Most businesses trigger this function to manage absence, and make sure it won’t affect their regular line of work. Certain solutions will also  monitor accrual and usage of PTO and sick days, or provide rules-based mechanisms with alerts and notifications.
4. Recruiting & Applicant tracking. With modules such as this one, the manager can store and evaluate applications, monitor candidates, and perform accurate background check. The very same module will often generate tools for efficient onboarding and access to materials.
5. Learning management. HR systems are not all about cultivating workforce and directing its performance. What they do even better is to retain talented performers, by giving them a chance to learn something new and to develop. Needless to say, this makes every team more competitive, as top workers know they will be rewarded for the effort they invest.
6. Payroll management. It is questionable whether an HR system would make sense without a benefits and payroll management kit, exactly because handing payment dues is the most tedious and error-prone part of an HR manager’s work. Good systems will thus provide employee benefits including paid time off, insurance policies on medical/dental/life, and 401k participation, and also manages employee 401k contributions, salaries, bonuses, as well as health other deductions; calculates taxes; and cuts paychecks. You should also check whether they are enabled for direct deposits, and whether they work in line with tax rules and labor standards valid in your region.
7. Analytics & Reporting. In the best possible case, your HR system will be able to process the inserted data, and help you pull off all desired stats without using a third-party app.

Factors to consider when you buy HR management software

1. Compliance with labor laws and tax standards. When choosing your new HR system, settle for nothing more but an organized platform you know would never cause serious interference with your authorities. This means working in line with tax provisions and labor standards valid in your region, and exportable reports you could use to document and evident your activities.
2. Customization and scalability. Another factor that will influence your decision is the flexibility of the system, as we’re all ideally looking for the tool where we get to craft our own working processes. This matters particularly to evaluation mechanisms and recruiting practices, but also ensures we own a tool that can grow in parallel with our workforce.
3. Ease of use. Always observe your new HR system as a front and back end service, and make sure it is intuitive enough not to stand in your way or the way of your employees. In the best possible case, your team won’t need any training at all to understand how the system works.
4. Moderate pricing. While it is true that the best features are reserved for premium users, quality HR systems can be found even for free. Therefore, check whether it makes sense to invest in a prime-brand and high market-tier product before you’ve done it.
5. Reliable support. A large amount of what you’re paying to get your HR system is reserved for obtaining technical support, so make sure you check their reliability and knowledge before you’ve purchased their services.
6. Integrations. Connectivity matters to any type of software, but for HR apps it is simply indispensable. Scan the list of associated software for each system you’re considering (accounting and LMS apps in particular), and see whether it will be easy to implement the new tool in the same infrastructure. If possible, get an open API system and connect it to all apps you’re using.

A brief look at Workday’s dashboard

Pricing of HR management software

The cost of HR management software depends on the features that are included in different plans, as well as deployment and access to support. Some programs limit the number of recorded employee entries for basic plans, while in other all premium functionality is available for little to no payment. Here are the enterprise pricing options available:

• Small-biz exclusive. Planday is a popular employee scheduling system designed for the needs of small and medium businesses, with only two pricing plans offered for €2 and €4/month.
• Flexible pricing schemes. Zoho People offers even five pricing packages tailored to teams of different sizes. Pricing starts at $9 for 5 employees, followed by the Basic plan ($19), Standard ($49), Premium ($99), and Enterprise ($199).
• Free systems. Zenefits is an open source HR& benefits management systems where all functionality is available for free.
• Custom pricing. BambooHR offers custom plans tailored to the specific needs of its users. Contact the company for more details, and get your personalized quote.

Latest trends

1. The arrival of gamification. Soon enough, it will be an impossible mission to find a quality HR system without a promising gamification toolkit. Developers nowadays pay attention to how performance is going to be rewarded, and work around smart application tracking systems that will depict both positive and negative trends for the company.
2. Video conferencing. Recruiters using modern HR systems will also be able to interview clients online, or hire home-based employees and track their work. This will help develop better and more transparent recruiting mechanisms in future, and save much of the time and expense involved in training and preparing candidates.
3. Mobile HR management. The mobile access software trend didn’t surpass HR management, as most of these systems are now hosted in cloud, and available on all devices and operating systems. Managers nowadays find it easy to control large and decentralized systems, right because they have a smart task allocation and collaboration system in place.

Potential issues

1. Scheduling inefficiency. As good as they may have become, HR systems still require some serious human input in order to come up with quality results. Automating workforce management offers plenty of benefits to large and busy teams, but may also cause catastrophic errors that are difficult to fix.
2. Change management. A zone where HR systems may really fall short is change management, and there’s where even the best initiatives are derailed. HR software may provide the insight necessary to prevent problems, but won’t be of that much help to examine their exact organizational impact.
3. Privacy concerns. Privacy breaches are not rare while using HR systems, as all of your employees’ work is screened in detail, and may easily become the object of a misuse or any other dishonest practice.

The post What is HR Management Software: Analysis of Features, Types and Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

What is ERP software? Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP solution is a suite of applications that manages core business processes, such as sales, purchasing, accounting, Human Resource, customer support, CRM and inventory. It’s an integrated system as opposed to individual software designed specific to a business process.

Using a centralized database, ERP helps businesses collect, store, manage and interpret data from various business units. Likewise, ERP is used to automate back-office tasks and streamline cross-departmental workflows. When optimized, the solution can drive efficiency, lower costs and increase profitability.  

In this article, we’ll guide you on ERP fundamentals beyond the definition of ERP software to aid you in your purchase journey. We’ll answer basic questions as:

• What does ERP software do?
• Why use ERP software?
• How does ERP software work?

Specifically, you’ll get the big picture on the following:

1. Examples of ERP software
2. Benefits of ERP
3. Types of ERP
4. Features of ERP
5. Factors to consider
6. Pricing of ERP
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

The ERP Landscape

ERP used to be accessible only to large enterprises because of the capital hardware required like servers and multiple workstations, and dedicated teams to handle its complex deployment, upgrades and maintenance. However, Forrester predicted that SaaS ERP deployment is accelerating as a mainstream delivery model with cloud vendors chipping away chunks of the market from legacy developers.

Today, SaaS technology enables vendors to offer lightweight ERP solutions to small businesses. Modules are sold separately or bundled as a plan, while hardware and technical maintenance are managed by vendors. The features of ERP software may be pared down or limited to a couple of functions. Still, small business can now reap the benefits of ERP software. 

Companies typically utilize all facets of ERP or choose a combination of modules. Modules often address a main business area, such as, inventory management, accounting, payroll, human resources, marketing and product planning. The more robust ERP solutions feature CRM and business intelligence, but, expectedly, are pricier.

What are examples of ERP software?

• Brightpearl – a retail management ERP that focuses on order management, inventory, accounting, customer data and reporting. If you need a reliable Brightpearl alternative check out our other comparison articles.
• Intacct – one of the most popular cloud accounting solutions for small and medium businesses that features ERP capabilities via integration, such as, financial management, wholesale distribution and retail management.
• Netsuite ERP – a fully integrated ERP targeted at fast-growing companies that require scalable financial management, fixed assets, billing, order management and inventory management.
• Odoo – among our examples of ERP software, Odoo is uniquely open-sourced, but it’s also a commercialized ERP aimed at companies with an IT development team; it can integrate with third-party apps for MRP, POS and ecommerce.  
• PeopleSoft – an Oracle-owned HRM-focused ERP that specializes in workforce forecasting and HR-related business strategies.
• MobilityeCommerce – an integrated marketplace and ERP solution offered as a SaaS for distributors, wholesalers, drop shippers, and companies that sell on a global scale via online marketplaces such as Walmart. Sears, Amazon, eBay, and more.

NetSuite – a popular ERP software brand

Why use ERP software?

Beyond answering the question of what is ERP software, you should also know why you need it. The purpose of ERP software is to increase efficiency, streamline processes and promote a culture of collaboration in the organization. The result is costs are minimized and productivity increases leading to a better bottom line. Let’s break down the advantages of ERP software. 

Increase efficiency

Business processes like accounting, sales, marketing, production and inventory are integrated in one ERP platform. It’s easier to collect and access data across the organization, streamlining cross-departmental workflows.

Likewise, ERP automates day-to-day tasks like manually entering data or generating reports. Repetitive processes are eliminated, freeing teams to focus on their core deliverables. For instance, marketing can run a daily web traffic report without bugging tech; or, accounting can instantly access the week’s sales stats without chasing the sales director.

ERP also provides managers and key stakeholders with  quick look-ups. Dashboards allow decision-makers to glance at key performance indicators across the organization. If they want to investigate more, managers can drill down to details in a few clicks.

Promote collaboration

ERP breaks down walls between departments. Data silos are integrated and a process superhighway links local workstations together. This setup allows teams that used to operate in a vacuum to easily collaborate with other teams inside the ERP platform.

Moreover, SaaS ERP further extends collaboration between remote teams and headquarters through the internet. Offshore business units are now within earshot of their mother unit. A culture of collaboration drives innovation and teamplay and, in general, makes businesses more competitive.

Make accurate forecasts

The only worse thing about the lack of forecast is a wrong one. Forecasts shape strategies; thus, it’s crucial organizations get the real picture. Using a centralized database, ERP lends to a company’s disparate business solutions a standardized process, ultimately, enhancing data integrity.

ERP reporting tools use advanced filters and analytics to sift data for inconsistencies. Features of ERP software like deduplication also ensures data is updated and duplicate-free. With data integrity intact, managers can generate reports with realistic forecasts. Similarly, estimates are within a sensible range of outcomes.

Moreover, advanced ERP solutions with business intelligence tools use machine learning and predictive algorithm that allow users to dig deep into big data. Companies with complex data sources can leverage ERP for hidden insights and gain a competitive edge.

Lower operational costs

A company can also leverage ERP to cut down costs. When processes are streamlined and key metrics are closely monitored, disruptions, delays and breakdowns are anticipated or its impact better managed.
Manufacturing and distribution are especially vulnerable to disruption. But with ERP allowing production, engineering, customer service and other business units to work closely together using real-time data, resolving sudden problems is faster. Operating costs are kept within budget.

Increase data security

ERP solutions have firewalls and restriction controls to guard against data breach. Having a single data warehouse means access points are tightly monitored and security is concentrated. Likewise, user permission rules give admin the flexibility to lock in sensitive data without limiting user access to other information.

Admin can also quickly de-active access of terminated employees, while grant permission to new ones. ERP solutions also display user activities, so admin can easily spot unauthorized actions or suspicious activity patterns in the system.

Comply with regulations

Many ERP solutions feature built-in regulatory process standards and compliance reporting to help businesses meet myriad business requirements. ERP solutions subscribe to reporting protocols for aspects like financial accounting, product regulations and data security.

SaaS ERP benefits

SaaS ERP brings to the table more competitive advantages like:

• Scalability – add more features as your business grows without instaling a new system
• Mobility – access ERP data and tools anywhere, anytime via internet
• Flexibility – integrate existing apps to ERP or export ERP data to business apps
• Low capital outlay – minimum budget only for hardware, software, setup
• Maintenance-free – vendor takes care of patches, updates, troubleshooting, downtime

What are the types of ERP software?

The fluidity of ERP dynamics and diversity of factors affecting it make it difficult to classify the category. It can be grouped by functional levels, business size and deployment. To simplify the types, ERP can be grouped as follows:

1. Generalist ERP. Many legacy and cloud ERP solutions are generalists. They adapt to processes across industries. These solutions have strong customization and integration to match varying industry requirements. It’s also not a surprise given its large market generalist ERP vendors are also one of the largest.
   Examples: Oracle, SAP, Netsuite
2. Vertical ERP. These are industry-specific ERPs. Often, vertical ERP vendors are startups or smaller companies that try to focus on a niche, such as, construction, supermarket distribution or retail fashion.
   Examples: Microsoft Dynamics AX, Brightpearl, Epicor Retail
3. Small business ERP. These are off-the-shelf cloud or on-premise ERP solutions. Often, the ERP is modularized with pared-down features. Instead of delivering a fully integrated system, small business ERP serves one or two business processes and leaves out the others. For instance, it features HRM and accounting function only, with add-on options for CRM, inventory or supply chain management. For this, small business ERP is also referred to as lightweight ERP.
   Example: PeopleSoft
4. Open-source ERP. Open-source ERP solutions are still a tiny fraction of the total ERP market. But solutions like Odoo ERP lend to companies with resident tech teams the flexibility to develop and integrate their own apps into the ERP. For developers, open-source increases usability and user adoption because the ERP can churn out highly customized processes.
   Example: Odoo

Odoo – an open-source ERP system

What does ERP software do?

ERP can be fully integrated or customized to specific processes. A typical ERP system covers key business processes and consists of the following modules:

• Financial management
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Sales & Marketing
• Human Resource Management (HRM)
• Manufacturing
• Supply Chain Management (SCM)
• Inventory
• Purchasing

The more advanced ERP today also include business intelligence, asset management and e-commerce. Also, ERP can be vertical with industry-specific features for, among others, retail, healthcare, government and nonprofit. Let’s break down the basic modules and how they serve your needs.

1. Financial management. This module manages your capital inflow and outflow. It covers standard Accounting & Finance transactions like expenditures, general ledger, balance sheet, bank reconciliation, tax management and payments. The module also generates financial reports for different departments and business units.
2. CRM. The CRM module helps you to boost customer service and, eventually, profit per capita. It manages leads, opportunities and customer issues. Likewise, it provides a 360-degree profile of your customers by consolidating data like their social media activities, purchase history and past interactions with support reps. In an ERP setup, CRM is closely integrated with Sales module to fast track conversions.
3. Sales & Marketing. The module handles sales workflows like sales inquiries, quotations, sales orders and sales invoices. The more advanced ERP also features taxation rules and shipping tracker. The Sales and CRM modules work together to speed up the sales cycle and earn the company more profits.
4. HRM. This module features standard HRMS tools like time tracker, timesheet, and database for employee records, job profiles and skills matrix. HRM module may also include performance reviews and payroll system. The latter is closely integrated with the financial management module to manage wages, travel expenses and reimbursements. Some ERP solutions also feature a training or LMS function under HRM.
5. Manufacturing. This modules is sometimes referred to as Engineering or Production. It helps businesses make manufacturing more efficient in areas, such as, product planning, materials sourcing, daily production monitoring and product forecasting. Some of the key functionalities in this module are: Bill of Material, Master Production Schedule, Shop Floor Control and Sales & Distribution Plan. The module is tightly integrated with SCM and Inventory modules especially in areas like product planning and inventory control.
6. SCM. This modules covers key aspects in your supply chain including purchase order management. It manages product flow from production to consumer and, occasionally, vice-versa for returns or recalls. A key feature of the SCM module is process automation, which streamlines your entire supply chain and makes it adaptive to sudden market shifts.
7. Inventory. Also called material management module, it helps you measure stock targets, standardize replenishments and other inventory goals. It uses product serial numbers to track and locate items in your organization. This module is closely integrated with the Purchase module.
8. Purchasing. This module manages the processes involved in materials procurement. These include: supplier listings; quotation requests and analysis; purchase orders; Good Receipt Notes; and stock updates. As such, it functions closely with SCM or Inventory modules.

What are the factors to consider when choosing ERP software?

Suppose you already weighed the cost-benefit ratio of getting an ERP and you’re convinced it’ll drive overall profitability. You now need to consider these key factors to ensure you optimize its ROI.

1. Upgrade vs. replacement. Evaluate first if you need to get a new ERP system or just an upgrade. Many ERP solutions today are modularized; you can simply integrate a module, for instance payroll, with your current applications. This way you minimize disruption and costs.
   But if your ERP system is ten years or older, it may be wise to replace it. You can leverage today’s ERP solutions for mobility, integration, scalability and deployment options. Similarly, machine learning, predictive analysis and advanced reporting are pushing ERP to the next level.
2. Customization. Aside from ensuring the ERP processes match your key business workflows, look closely at your departments. They may have different priorities and culture, which may even be contradictory. For example, Marketing spends, while Accounting saves or Production lives by daily output, while Sales lives by monthly quota. All these lead to myriad workflows that won’t fit into a one-size  solution. Look for an ERP solution with customization tools, localized dashboards and configurable workflows, among others, that allow departments to define their goals and set the ERP based on their parameters.
3. Reporting and dashboards. Go beyond spreadsheet and PDF exports. ERP solutions today feature advanced reporting that can generate compliant financial statements based on your region. The latest ERP reporting tools also allow in-system query and smart filters coupled with real-time data. Likewise, look for agile and ad hoc reporting to quickly adjust to evolving business needs and disruptions. Dashboards, on the other hand, should let you mash up quantitative vs. qualitative data at user, role and department levels. Look for the standard dashboard function of displaying KPIs with drill-down links.
4. Integration. ERP should work seamlessly with your existing business applications. There are a number of  integration points you need to consider from top to bottom. These include system-to-system (example, ERP to your existing CRM or HRMS), module-to-system (example, ERP payroll to your existing HRMS) and file transfer capabilities (example, exporting/importing PDF, JPG, DOC, CSV files). An ERP with flexible integration can work with existing infrastructure, expand its functionalities or, in fact, replace it while ensuring smooth records and files migration.
5. Training and setup. On-premise ERP solutions need to be installed by someone with technical knowhow. If you lack a tech team, make sure you understand your service level agreement or SLA.  Installation is often charged separately from license, but some vendors offer all-in bundled plans. For SaaS ERP, setup is as easy as activating an account to access the vendor’s server.
   Likewise, ERP is more complex than most business solutions, so it requires user training. Does your vendor provide this service? Whether bundled in or exclusive to the plan, the kind of training you’ll receive should suffice for average users to adopt the system.

Intacct – another popular ERP you can consider

How much does a ERP software cost?

Most ERP solutions are priced by quotation for customized features. The cost of ERP software is usually based on factors like number of users, modules, installation, add-ons, maintenance and training. Let’s take a look at the price model of some of the most popular ERP solutions today.

• Brightpearl – has three plans starting at $4,900 per year and as much as over $20,000 per year for the premium plan; an enterprise plan is also available on quote basis.
• Intacct – starts at $400 per month with mid-market system as high as $10,000 per month
• Netsuite ERP – by quote based on modules, users and add-ons and charged monthly
• Odoo – offers a free app, plan starts at $26 per month with an enterprise plan at around $33 per month.
• PeopleSoft – by quote only.

What are the potential issues with ERP software?

Unsupported applications

If your business is using dozens of productivity apps, introducing a plug-and-play ERP won’t be that smooth. The more existing applications you have in place, the narrower your options to find a fully integrated quick-install ERP solution.

Unless you plan to discard existing applications, you need to assess ERP integration for each of these apps. It’s time-consuming and, even if you’re lucky, you’ll find the best ERP falling one or two apps short in compatibility space.

In such case, getting an ERP with an open API ensures your developer can tweak the system to integrate your current apps.

One-size-fits-all doesn’t cut it

Plug-and-play, off-the-shelf ERP solutions work well with small businesses with straightforward processes. But for large corporations with subsidiaries in different places, a uniform system quickly runs into bumps in a diverse environment. Variations in factors like culture, policies and regulations make it difficult to implement an overarching infrastructure. The result is either the ERP suffers low user adoption or an expensive system is left in an abandoned company warehouse.

Many large enterprise today are trying a two-tier ERP approach to address their organizational complexities. A corporate ERP is used by headquarters, while another ERP system is used by the subsidiaries.

Security risks

ERP aspires to cover the whole nine yards of operational and financial tasks. This overarching infrastructure, in fact, lends to ERP its strengths: shared files, integrated and automated processes, central database and a collaborative platform. They drive efficiency and lower costs.

However, the same single architecture is its source of weakness. the classic all-eggs-in-one-basket risk. The wider the scope of ERP the more access points it has, the more chances of internal data breach. Although firewalls and encryption mitigate this risk, the fact is all your data is attached to this system superhighway.
Poorly designed ERPs heighten even more the security risk. Incompatible applications can lead to crashes. Limited reporting tools force users to import external files, leading to a firewall break. Moreover, a disgruntled tech employee can wreak large-scale havoc. Delayed updates or old system version also exposes all your data to hacks.

The good news is, ERP vendors are fully capable of putting up security checks and controls. After all, any breach is a death kiss to their business.

Lack of compliance

Most ERP solutions are designed for financial compliance, so the problem is less of a technical shortcoming and more of how the ERP is implemented. When an accountant is not part of the ERP project, it’s easy to gloss over financial compliance. The CEO or CIO is focused on streamlining processes to drive efficiency.

Without the auditing and regulatory knowledge of a CPA, financial regulations can easily be overstepped, including GAAP requirements and Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) protocols for US-based public companies.

The issue can easily be addressed by including a certified accountant in your ERP project team. She can verify if the configuration, controls and processes are compliant and recommend audit controls, where necessary.

What are the latest ERP trends?

The hype around Internet-of-Things and artificial intelligence notwithstanding, ERP trends revolve around predictable tech developments. This niche is playing catch up to other SaaS solutions, possibly due the more complex setup of ERP. The following are trends that are gaining traction among ERP vendors, both legacy and startups.

1. Mobile ERP. Some ERP solutions now offer native apps for iOS, Android and Windows. Most of these however are pared-down version featuring only the most important KPIs like sales, leads and web traffic. Still, this means you can remain connected and productive outside of the office.
   But mobile access can be a double-edged sword. Security risk is heightened when sensitive data is accessed anywhere and via a device not issued by the company. A good mobile ERP allows a separate user permission to help you manage who can access company data on their phones.
2. Social ERP. Billed as ERP 2.0, social ERP adds social media data like Twitter and Facebook profiles and posts into the system. The integration is mainly a CRM initiative as businesses leverage online customer engagement, brand mentions, public data, friend network and likes and shares to gain tacit customer knowledge. An IFS North America and Affinity Research Solutions study pointed out a number of social ERP benefits, mainly to increase customer engagement and, ultimately, conversion rates.
3. SaaS and On-Premise Hybrid. ERP, because of its complexity, has a lot of grey shades in between SaaS and on-premise. There are companies that prefer a hybrid approach, integrating cloud inventory management into their on-premise accounting-centric ERP or a cloud payroll into a local HR-focused ERP. From a cost and process perspective, this strategy makes sense, driving vendors both legacy and startups to offer hybrid ERP. For example, Oracle isn’t replacing its on-premise licensing, but co-opting it with cloud solutions. Similarly, Salesforce, a pioneer enterprise cloud platform, offers integration with legacy on-premise solutions like SAP and Siebel.
4. Two-tier ERP. Large multinational companies are favoring a two-tier ERP approach. In this setup, two ERP systems are in place, tier 1 at the corporate level and tier 2 at the subsidiary level. This strategy is borne out of the limitations realized by big corporations in building an overarching ERP system across a multi-country organization replete with stark regulatory, cultural, geopolitical and market differences.

The post What is ERP Software? Analysis of Features, Types, Benefits, Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

The wisdom many small businesses wish their ‘bigger brothers’ would unveil to them is how to leverage the power of big data. It is an eternal debate: are you lacking the numbers to be successful, or the competence to understand the numbers you already have? This question is vitally important to both small businesses and large enterprises.

Indeed, business wisdom is an abstract and fairly expensive gift to own, but it is no longer the gift of the privileged few. In our attempt to persuade all businesses to consider a BI future, we will once again turn to the most productive data processing solutions, pinpointing those that are applicable in diverse business environments. This time, we also try to recreate use scenarios and address common businesses’ problems, so that you too can picture a day at the office without  miscalculations. In this article we’ll cover 15 best business intelligence tools for small and big business that we think are actually worth your time.

How different businesses leverage
the power of BI technology?

Business intelligence tools for small business

Small and medium businesses are just as entitled to data intelligence as established enterprises, and that’s a fact that can be traced back to the beginning of business as such. Think, for instance, of street merchants centuries ago – the ones who concluded that casting shade on their wares with a canopy helps sell more during warm days, then relied on this information to earn some extra money. Why would it be any different today, when instead of few local customers and a canopy, you have thousands of data sources to orchestrate your moves?

The answer to what you’re supposed to do to boost productivity hides in what you’re already doing, and even more often in what you’re not.

Credit: Gartner Methodology

It is true – IBMs and the rest of BI pioneers have taken technology far beyond a modest company’s reach, and enabled it to analyze what will happen, rather than what has already taken place. According to principal BI Leader consultant Wayne Eckerson, data intelligence systems of today are analyzing millions of customers per day, depicting fraud in thousands of parallel transactions at a time, and foremost keeping track of where customers are going before they actually get there. But before these and similar works of the future frighten SMBs off, let’s share an interesting fact: the BI weaponry is the same regardless of the audience you’re targeting, and all it takes is to know how to use it.

In fact, you may find it easier to adopt a BI tool with a small business to govern, as you’re not tracking trends and using intelligence as an advantage over your billion-dollar competitors.

With a small and medium business in place, you need a BI system because:

1. These systems are becoming easier, more affordable, and even free
2. They help you increase your market share
3. They make efficient use of your resources, as limited as they may be
4. They enable you to target new audiences
5. They protect your data from unwanted manipulation
6. They help you provide professional and trustworthy service
7. They depict business opportunities and pinpoint negative trends
8. They make it possible to earn out of the office

Business intelligence tools for big business

Forbes’ market estimation and business intelligence research of 2015 revealed that a vast percentage of prominent business leaders expect big data to have a pretty similar effect on business operations as internet did altogether. They were in their full right to do so, with an analytics market estimated to reach $6.5 billion in seven years, money coming foremost from the side of cloud-hosted analytic services targeting fast-moving consumer goods businesses. Four years have passed since, and results weren’t, to say so, notably discouraging.

Credit: Forbes

Consequently, big market players are investing massively in ultra-powerful business analytics tools, not only because of their vast databases and active presence on the markets, but also due to emerging trends that are difficult to predict. Framed into a single sentence, big businesses need BI tools to gain the most with the least of resources, and make sure no market imbalance prevents that from happening. In a certain way, they also use their sales metrics to cast a web on market opportunities, and target audiences they weren’t able to reach before.

With a big business in place, you need a BI system because:

1. It processes vast amount of data that would take ages to analyze manually
2. It dismisses all sorts of actionable intelligence boundaries, including locations, server logs, and access to different markets
3. It helps them personalize sales regardless of the number of customers they must attend to
4. It saves time and resources
5. It provides instant and real-time answers in critical moments
6. It makes corporate information accessible 24/7, and from a variety of devices
7. It protects sensitive and enclosed corporate data
8. It helps make accurate predictions for the future

Now, let’s take an indepth look at what we think are 15 best business intelligence tools for small and big business. We’ll walk you through all the important aspects of each product, highlighting its unique strengths and features, pointing to specific applications and discussing any drawbacks you should consider.

1. Sisense

Sisense won our Best Business Intelligence Software Award for 2016

It took a while before luxury hotel booking company Magellan Vacations got grasp on Sisense functionality, all along challenged to provide real-time feedback for agents, and involve non-technical users into analytical processes and reporting. With their service being phone-based and highly personalized, and their database unstructured and often modified, they found traditional methods for tracking sales metrics and closure rates simply inapplicable. It was at that point that CEO Andrew Vignuzzi gave Sisense a chance.

Sisense was not Magellan Vacation’s first choice, but rather the system that saved them from hiring staff and reporting at the rate of $80,000 per year. Ever since they deployed it, they’ve been reclaiming time and cost effectiveness in their IT department, touting Sisense as the most user-friendly system they could have possibly chosen. They are now able to manipulate data on the fly, provide real-time feedback for their agents, and coach and counsel them in line with the company’s goals. Better yet, they drill deep into the performance of each agent and department, share insights in a snap, and prepare custom reports instead of sticking to any inapplicable approach.

Sisense is currently rated as the top BI solution in our ranking and it was distinguished with our Best Business Intelligence Software Award for 2016. The vendor offers a very good free trial plan for any users interested in trying out the key features of their tool. You can easily sign up for Sisense free trial here.

BARC BI Survey 2016: User & Use Case Demographics for Sisense

What is unique about Sisense?

1. Single-Stack architecture: A single tool that helps you collect, prepare, organize, and analyze data
2. In-Chip Engine & Proprietary technology: Running ad hoc queries and receiving answers on dot (no need to prepare data whenever a new question arises).
3. Optimal use of computational resources: No need to hire professional analysts, maintain complex hardware, or make excess IT investments
4. Minimal TOC: The platform requires no DBA and manual mashups, an there are no special scripts to learn. You will also skip investing in data warehouses and professional maintenance services, as all data analysis operations are conducted in the same system.
5. Joining diverse tables and charts coming from multiple sources: Sisense’s unique power is that it automatically recognizes and brings together charts and tables from different data sources, and then combines the data contained in them without you preparing it.
6. Data crunching for beginners: A customer-oriented and intuitive interface that takes no time to learn, and no size limitations.
7. Effective use of CPU cache memory: Sisense handle terabytes of data rows and thousands of users per day without compromising the quality of performance. You will get results from ad hoc and concurrent queries of rapidly changing data within seconds.
8. Diverse data granularity: Regardless of the complexity of your data models, Sisense will allow you explore, filter, and drill down inside them, and customize the visual environment independently.
9. API-first approach for developers: Sisense emphasizes on scalability, extensibility, and security, which makes it ideal for ISVs, OEMs, and customer-oriented and embedded analyses. Using its suite of RESTful API, you can integrate Sisense in any JavaScript application you’re using.
10. A 90-minutes real test-drive for prospective clients: Sisense is the only BI system you can test with actual rather than sample data. Entrust them an actual business case, and they will solve it in 90 minutes.

2. QlikSense

Frank Kneefel, Finance & Control manager at Deloitte Netherlands, believes that in a 24/7 world driven by loyalty and transparency, accurate information is both free and scarce to afford. Before he discovered QlikSense and decided to give it a try, he was afraid of Deloitte’s highly complex reporting environment, and struggled to bring in a unified approach for audit, consulting, tax and risk management analytics to save the company both time and money. For a worldwide service provider renowned for diversity, affordable and unified productivity management reporting approach sounded like Utopia.

Then, the hero arrived. QlikSense’s flexibility, user-friendliness, and analytic powers turned out to be just what Deloitte needed. With it, the company brought its multiple data sources under the same roof, including diverse Excel files and SAP warehouse data. Within a month, they new reporting app was set and ready to go, and consultants were able to save an average of 10 hours reporting hours per month. As time was passing by, and Deloitte’s upper management was more and more fascinated with the effects of QlikSense, they also instructed the creation of two new apps: One for tracking human resources, and the other for forecasting customer/market behavior.

Development Trends: 2015

What is unique about QlikSense?

1. Full spectrum of visual analytics: QlikSense adopts a platform-based and self-data discovery approach, and puts in place centrally deployed analytics that are easy to adjust as your business grows.
2. Externally governed assets and data modules: QlikSense encourages natural data exploration, and solves in such way the eternal problem of non-intuitive self-service analytics of complex data modules.
3. Columnar data stores. Qlik offers an engine able to concentrate on a pre-defined suite of columns, and run calculations on those instead of processing the whole table. The system is also equipped to calculate aggregations and compute dimensions instantly.
4. Automated associative indexing. Once again, the Qlik engine maps and collects chosen data from multiple sources, and automatically maintains the desired associations. The engine is also capable to recognize important data you may have missed considering in your analysis, and highlights it in gray.
5. Data compression. QlikSense is one of the very few discovery and BI systems that compress in-memory data to even 10% of its initial size, helping you complete your operations much faster than expected.
6. Intelligent searching. You can start using QlikSense by importing the simplest and most natural analytical operations, and the system will guide you from there on, as it offers multiple advanced possibilities for all data sources.
7. Buildable platform. As a developer, you will find it very easy to design a personalized QlikSense application, as the platform offers open standard APIs and mashup extensions.
8. Mobile-first. QlikSense’s design is fully responsive on different mobile devices, and thus deployable everywhere and for everyone. Its interface will easily adapt both to the device and the interaction method it uses.
9. Policy-based security rules. Thanks to its security APIs and customizable  Qlik Management Console, you will be able to adjust security rules and precautions to your need. Sharing is also based on a self-service model, which means there is little chance your data will end up in the wrong hands.
10. Positioned in Gartner’s Leaders Magic Quadrant  for 7 years in a row. Qlik’s powerful technology based on competence of vision and fast execution has placed this system among Gartner’s BI leaders for 7 years in a row.

3. Microsoft Power BI

In the past 7 years that Metro Bank has fore-fronted London’s market, much changed within the institution’s modus operandi. What remained unchanged though, is devotion to surprise and delight, given that Metro Bank’s key targeting strategy relies on being praised and recommended by satisfied users. Having confirmed the efficiency of Microsoft products, they made the smart assumption that Power BI could be the right system for them to examine the quality of customer interaction.

Bruce Rioch, Microsoft Technologies & BI director at Metro Bank, couldn’t be more satisfied with the system. As he explains, the system allowed his team to provide innovative and personalized service for all customers, and turn them into fans. It is the exact visually-appealing, dynamic, and user-friendly tool every developing company needs, and has thus brought a number of critical benefits. With it, Metro Bank tracks its call center operations, including customer demographics, call times, and call volume; analyzes online customers’ behavior via their mobile and internet banking services, and pulls off unique customer dissatisfaction reports to help plan workload more adequately. What they like the most about the system are rich data visualizations, and regular feedback from Microsoft’s specialists that helps them make the most of this tool.

Wide selection of Chart Types

What is unique about Microsoft Power BI?

1. Non-technical and IT-free performance. Power BI changes the conception of analytics being reserved for busy IT departments, and makes complex operations accessible to non-technicians. Even without experience, you can connect it to any data source, and summarize the findings in any type of report.
2. Microsoft’s DAX query language. Instead of Excel’s cumbersome formula language, Microsoft Power BI relies on Power Pivot to develop and execute analytic measures, and thus has a comparably shorter learning curve than any other BI or discovery system.
3. Power Query data sharing. Power Query is the system’s best known feature that helps eliminate many data loading concerns – data is imported automatically, and can easily be sorted, filtered, and modified before you’ve loaded it to Excel (for instance, taking back a month-old data from a 10-years old database). You can also connect Facebook and oData files, and share them as separate workbooks.
4. Desktop app built into Excel. Another unique possibility offered by this system is that you can download a dedicated desktop app to build your Excel summaries and visualizations. Using the Power Query, Power Pivot, and Power View extensions, you will also be able to combine large data sets and share them easily on the web.
5. Drags in all of your enterprise reporting packages. With a total of 7 years game of game-changing experience, Power BI eliminates the need to use external, enterprise-grade applications to prepare reporting suites. The system is connectable to each and every data source, so you can basically use it to report on any matter.
6. Simple and free sharing. The traditional way to manage report sharing is to include such in expensive and premium packages, but that’s not the case with Microsoft BI – This system allows users to email reports directly from the platform, and embed them on any web page.
7. Making use of all data sources. Power BI doesn’t restrict connectivity – you can process data coming from Salesforce, MailChimp, Google Analytics, QuickBooks, Azure, oData, local libraries, and even Facebook.
8. The largest number of customizable visualizations. With Power BI, you can arrange your data in all types of charts including Bubbles, Table Heatmaps, Tornado Charts, Tadpole Spark Grids, Aster Plots, Histograms, Cards, and many more.
9. Cost-effectiveness. Many companies choose to launch their BI journey with Power BI, exactly because of the cost-effectiveness of this system. Power BI’s desktop app is free, and so is the web-hosted version for data up to 1 GB. Transition to a paid plan is also made painless, as you can add data for only $10 per month.
10. Curated data & Personalized views. Keeping an analytic team satisfied with Power BI will be very easy, as the system packs content in line with individual requirements. Each member will get a personalized dataset where he can only see the business metrics that matter to him.

4. SAP Crystal Reports

For a leading business outsourcing provider with revenues of nearly $9 billion, imperfect business intelligence solutions are simply unacceptable. Automatic Data Processing, Inc (ADP) has more than 60 years of payroll and tax administration experience, and a very diverse sales management process that was practically impossible to frame in a single automation solution. Darrin Farnsworth is the company’s sales automation projects manager, who’s witnessed first hand the problem of not being able to create a one-size-fits-all report. Before testing out SAP Crystal Reports, he remembers accepting duplicates and excess report databases as something ‘one has to live with’.

Luckily, SAP Crystal Reports worked around what the company has long given up on, and transformed it into reality: ADP is now using it to standardize its reporting procedures, a process that may take a while, but will eventually be completed. Ever since the tool was first deployed and implemented, ADP’s agents are able to run reports on the schedule, update data and inspect the pipeline by sharing information, and integrate the tool easily with Salesforce to allow painless data migration. SAP Crystal Reports has also helped them to improve data quality by 15% and team coverage by 10%, and retrieve and manage scorecards in less than 30 minutes per day. Divisional project managers, on their behalf, report being able to save even 60 minutes of reporting time on daily basis.

Reporting in SAP Crystal Reports

What is unique about SAP Crystal Reports?

1. Richly-formatted reports in 24 languages. SAP Crystal Reports imports data from a variety of sources, and helps you create a number of different interactive reports in even 24 languages.
2. Intuitive tools. SAP Crystal Reports offers an array of intuitive design tools for you to create detailed and precise report layouts. This way, you can save time adjusting templates and wizards, and set your own parameter values and rules for sorting customers. Designing reports is further accelerated with automated creation of hyperlinks, instant barcodes, and a single panel for all parameters.
3. Compelling data mashups. SAP Crystal Reports is integrated with SAP Crystal Dashboard to help you convey information in a compelling way, as for example What If scenarios. You will also be able to use Adobe Flash dynamic charts and graphs, and embed Adobe Flex for executing business decisions.
4. Flexible deployment. With SAP Crystal Reports, you can deploy and share your reports in a variety of ways (new data access, data-driven publishing, SDKs, SAP Crystal Server, XML exporting, Salesforce.com drivers, email, and so on.).
5. Highly embedded technology. SAP Crystal Reports is a very useful system from OEM perspective, having in mind that it is embedded in many popular software systems and technologies including CA and HR.
6. Best fit for developers. The system also integrates with programming technologies such as Java and NET., so that your developers can write their codes in a language familiar to them.
7. Early detection of changing conditions and trends. SAP Crystal Reports present broad business insights where data is regularly updated, which means you will be able to detect both negative and positive trends in time.

5. IBM Cognos Analytics

If you ask Cincinnati Zoo’s BI specialists and c-level executives, one of the most critical benefits of business intelligence software is securing an interactive, self-service environment for organization-wide access and exploration of data. As a middle-sized company, nevertheless, you may be challenged to pursue those benefits because of upfront costs and difficult implementation. With disparate and complex data coming from a variety of sources, you may as well have given up by now. But Cincinnati Zoo did not.

Sometime in late 2007, Cincinnati Zoo officials realized that with 1.3 million visitor per year, they do have a story to tell, but business analytics were still an abstract term to them. Manager Lucas and his team knew about IBM Cognos Analytics, but were under the false impression that they could not afford it. So, they contacted IBM specialist either way, and discovered that the company does offer a solution for their budget. Among other things, they sought to gain membership and admission analyses, and use customers’ demographics for their marketing and segmentation strategies. IBM Cognos did not only make that possible, but a team of specialists was assigned to them to help them discover new opportunity area. Cincinnati Zoo is now regularly upgrading to newer IBM Cognos versions – so far, they’ve identified long-running promotional programs, and they save $40,000 a year on targeting the right prospects with their discount strategies. The zoo also reports dramatic revenue increase (86% in only 3 years), and 411% higher ROI rates.

IBM Cognos Analytics: Predictive Analysis

What is unique about IBM Cognos Analytics?

1. Self-service analytics. What IBM Cognos Analytics is best known for is self-service analytics, thanks to which employees can upload and analyze data maintained by the IT department without necessarily relating their operations to what others in the company are doing. The same procedure applies for ad hoc and enterprise reporting, which means that you won’t have to purchase an enterprise-first tool as your business develops.
2. Accurate and safe reporting. IBM Cognos Analytics is a self-service-analytics-first system, and emphasizes on secure and certain reporting. As the administrator, you will get unparalleled capacity to set and adjust safety rules, and govern data access.
3. Intent-based process modeling. With IBM Cognos, even non-technical users can pull data together and understand the indicators being presented to them. The system works independently to interpret both the attributes and their intent, and then searches for data sources that will match those attributes, and prepares possible scenarios.
4. Cross-department predictive analyses. IBM Cognos utilizes a variety of sources to analyze current and past information, and predict further events. The same system can be used for online analytical processing, thanks to the point-and-click interface that helps users skip requesting information from other departments.
5. Query Studio. One of the IBM Cognos modules we find to be most useful is Query Studio, which is in fact a simplified reporting functionality that provides instant answers to important business questions. As simple as they are, these mini reports still come equipped with useful charts and diagrams.
6. Event Studio. IBM Cognos Analytics comes with a special notification tool that detects the occurrence of business events and exceptional circumstances based on the condition of your data. Notifications can be sent via email, or be published on the company’s live portal.
7. Extendable functionality. To make your IBM Cognos suite even more powerful, you can make use of several add-ons such as Go!Search, Go!Dashboard, and Go! Office. The widgets will help you add Microsoft Office components in your system, and perform full-text search of your documents and published content while connected with Google’s search engine. Go!Dashboard, on the other hand, provides access to a Viewer Portlet where all reporting elements are displayed as interactive and changeable units.

6. Google Analytics

Looking for successful Google Analytics stories, Airbnb’s one will certainly attract your attention: As it turns out, the popular property & vacation management platform was ‘one BI system away’ from improving data vendor collection by incredible 90%, as well as reducing dramatically its tag deployment time. Their choice was what would be a natural choice for many of us: A reputed system with proven capabilities and member of the world’s leading productivity suite – Google Analytics.

Airbnb was challenged by tagging complexity, as they use a large number of website tags, including unique ones for AdWords accounts and vendors interested to measure conversion. The breaking point for them to implement a BI solution was realizing that they operate with even 88 different audience lists and over 100 tags. An individual add-on for each type of report could have solved their problem, but it would also break the bank doing so.

What did Airbnb do? Being familiar with Google’s products, they opted for Google Analytics and Tag Manager as affordable and straightforward solutions for their problems. They were immediately able to cut tagging time from days and months to hours, and thus implement brand new and more intelligent marketing strategies. Now they can use more third-party vendors, launch new advertising programs on any platform, and collect vendor data for 90% of conversions at once.

Google Analytics: Statistics

What is unique about Google Analytics?

1. World’s best audience insights. The reason why Google Analytics’ main target group are online retailers is that the system actually discover where users are coming from, and defines what they’re looking for. You will be able to understand their preferences and behavior, and easily compare conversions to your goals. What makes Google Analytics even more special is audience demographics, as the system divides visitors according to their age, gender, and location.
2. Information coming from multiple channels. While analyzing where your customers are coming from, this platform will examine: URL redirections, organic search, paid search, referral, social media recommendations, and effective email campaigns.
3. Shaping a marketing strategy. Once you’ve understood your audience, you can unveil easily the marketing channels that are driving most of you traffic, including the possibility to distinguish the parts of your website that are most attractive. This will help you shape smarter placement decisions.
4. Sets important data first. With GA, you can personalize your dashboard and prioritize widgets that showcase a particular metric, including pie charts, timelines, or combined dimensions. This way, the platform will be able to recognize important data, and examine it first.
5. Bounce-rate examination. GA makes it easy to distinguish between top-performing and worst-perfroming website content, based on the bounce rates measured for each. This way, it profiles pieces users click on the most, and pinpoints pages and elements that need improvement.
6. Ease of use. The friendly and intuitive dashboard is what Google Analytics is best known for, and so is the affordable pricing scheme. This is why even first time bloggers with no BI experience find it easy to track the metrics of their site, and improve their targeting strategies.

7. Domo

Mastercard is currently running the world’s most successful and fastest payment processing network, undertaking the complex task of connecting financial institutions and consumers, merchants, businesses, and governments in almost every corner of the world. With siloed data and outdated reporting, the company started looking for a system that will analyze, optimize, and apply data to their planning efforts all at once. As VP Curt Fournier likes to put it, Mastercard was in desperate need of a single source of truth.

Before Domo made its big arrival in Mastercard’s daily office operations, users had to log in on multiple different platforms, and pull in data from all of them to plan a campaign successfully. With Domo, all data is stored in a single place, and accessible to all entitled users. Fournier adds that Domo has also optimized the company’s marketing efforts by measuring customer engagement, and uniting customer insights for different regions and products. One of the biggest benefits of this system is certainly the possibility to gather and observe social media data, and use it to organize and drive a modern business towards success.

What is unique about Domo?

1. Two generic types of data flows. Domo offers GUI-based and SQL-based data flows. This means that you can choose to master its ITL processing interface (known as Magic), which will enable you to process, but also join, and stack column-based data, or use MySQL when transforming 1-3 millions of data rows, and Redshift when processing a larger number of them. SQL users can also mix local and cloud data to model specific business scenarios.
2. Cut for collaboration. The functionality of Domo will be adjusted to the role of the user, which is how the system became known for contributing to BI, finance, sales, and marketing departments. Access to data is consequently role based, and depends on whether you’re an Admin, Privileged Member, Editor, or Participant. Information, on the other hand, is arranged in Cards, and it is the Card owner (creator) that assigns these roles. To overcome misunderstandings, Domo allows users to share dashboards and metrics, customize links to frequently used resources, and chat in separate messaging bars.
3. Hundreds of data connectors. When you use Domo, you can import data from LinkedIn, Facebook, Dropbox, Google Analytics, Adobe Cloud, Box, Hadoop, QuickBooks, Salesforce, Workday, Open Database Connectivity, and many more.
4. Social sharing with Domo Buzz. With Domo, you will not only be allowed to share data cards with colleagues, but also submit them to group discussions and make presentations alike PowerPoint ones. All details of shared content are automatically updated, and you don’t have to worry whether your colleagues are on the same page. This way, Domo confirms providing one of the most powerful storytelling features on the market.
5. Sophisticated visualizations. Domo’s data dashboards are predominantly graphical, which means they work with charts, tables, pies, graphs, and similar elements, but you can also visit Appstore/iStore and get predictive analytics and machine learning support.

8. BOARD

Mexico’s branch of Volkswagen is one of their largest production plants, and employs over 65,000 full-time workers and 49,000 supplier employees and engineers in Silao and Puebla. Before 2015, all of these people operating on 3.6 million square meters were managed with disconnected, inflexible, and dauntingly long Excel sheets, while the firm’s predictive analyses were completed using several different applications. As expected, duplicate data and mistakes were not uncommon to the company’s annual plans.

Looking for a flexible PA & performance management system that can solve this problem, Volkswagen was recommended to try BOARD, as it was one of the very few systems that combined BI and predictive analytics with FP&A and strategic and financial performance management. They also considered it because of the inbuilt ETL, thanks to which no coding skills were required to manipulate data. The very first year, BOARD helped VW launch successful financial planning applications for their Marginal Contribution Calculation program, Integration programs, Input Consolidation, Variation Analysis and Reporting. They are using it to collect and process financial information coming from global systems in Germany, and to work with a fully-organized repository of all Mexico end users. Recently, they also implemented BOARD’s Variation Analysis and Reporting module, thanks to which they’re producing and delivering more than 20 standard reports to VW’s headquarters.

What is unique about BOARD?

1. All in one. BOARD is the only BI & CPM platform that combines performance management with data discovery, business intelligence, and analytics.
2. Building planner applications. Unlike similar BI systems, BOARD orients most of its efforts into facilitating planning, which may as well be the core reason to choose it. This is how it works: you import and populate data into so-called BOARD Capsules, and the system synchronizes them with pre-populated dimensions to ensure that each change will be reflected in them.  This way, you can model the business logic of your operations without a single line of code.
3. Automated processing. BOARD will not only collect and organize data from different sources, but also immediately suggest the most appropriate analytic model for it. The reason is that BOARD discovers dimensions, codes, descriptions, and hierarchies absolutely independently.
4. Maximal development speed. Experts recommend BOARD because of its HBMP in-memory technology, and dynamic data-fast tracking models.
5. Proof of concept. Before you’ve made your purchase, you can visit BOARD’s official website and ask for a POC (proof of concept). The system will then handle an actual business case to show you firsthand how it can be useful to you in the future. According to the company 95% of all submitted POCs so far have been successful, which is probably why the company records incredible 97% of renewal cases.

9. Dundas BI

SIEMENS’ Visual Analytics Group is in charge of end-to-end reporting solutions and all internal BI needs of the company. Given the size of SIEMENS’ organization, the BI experts found it very difficult to provide an actionable solution that works equally well for all departments, not disturbing at the same time the balance stroke between upper management governance and self-service capabilities. What they needed to solve this problem was a program that can handle all of their logistic processes, customer service, and financial reporting, and enhance in parallel time the experience of self-service users while browsing for metrics.

The best fit for their needs was exactly Dundas BI, due to its unique set of capabilities and seamless integrations. They chose it also because of its modern and user-friendly interface, great in-memory capabilities, fast turnaround times from ideas to finished dashboards, dedicated support, and affordability. Dundas BI helped solve some of their biggest problems, including the introduction of a single BI environment used by thousands of people working on 35 different projects. A unique benefit, as pointed out by visual analyst Christoph Malassa, was answering the question of why supply rates were different in different regions, and how each of the patterns affected the organization. Thanks to such data, Siemens is now saving 25% scrap costs, and has reduced cycle times by even 12%.

What is unique about Dundas BI?

Dundas BI: Uncovering hidden relationships

1. Custom scripts for user interactivity. Process designers recommend Dundas BI because of its easy navigation and built-in filtering, as they are allowed to build custom interactions with hover-over click actions, forward/back actions, buttons, etc. Each attribute or property on a Dundas dashboard can be modified by the user, and he can create his own templates for consistent styling.
2. Data correction. A distinctive aspect of Dundas’ storytelling is that it corrects data mistakes and wrong estimations. It will follow the latest status of your business to add more accurate numbers, values, and patterns, so that there is no need to check work twice.
3. Large screen automated displays. With Dundas BI, you will be able to configure the duration of dashboard views, the same as with PowerPoint. All slideshows are directly connected to the live view, which means viewers can comment and ask questions during the presentation.
4. Recommendations & Data brushing. Dundas’ smart engine provides viewers with suggestions on related visualizations, and also ‘brushes’ data that has already been presented in a different visualization. This way, users know whether the data they’re looking at is relevant to the action they’re trying to perform.
5. Uncovering of hidden relationships. Dundas BI uses special relationhsip diagrams to showcase explicit connections between different data points. The function is supported with Sankey diagrams to exhibit the distribution/loss of values in different flows.
6. Flexible mobile platform. Dundas BI is built on the latest HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS standards, and thus displays and acts perfectly on all mobile devices. Efforts were made to provide the best possible mobile experience, which means that the user can scale and resize screen sizes up to his own preferences.

10. Birst

Toshiba-owned medical systems company Vital ‘blames’ Birst for their ongoing success. The number-one provider of medical visualization technology for clinicians has a fairly complex production line, which makes it very difficult for the team to manage their sales pipeline, and to make accurate forecasts. To do so, they needed a powerful sales analytics product that manages orders and tracks opportunities, making sure that no important indicator is left undocumented.

In the attempt to find that product, Vital investigated and tried several applications, but concluded Birst was the only complete BI stack that doesn’t require additional IT resources (and will thus support their growth without any financial risk!). Thanks to its data collection powers and integration with Salesforce and NetSuite, Birst is estimated to cut Vital’s employee productivity costs by more than 50% each year, and praised for using a special Automated Data Refinement & Adaptive User Experience technology to save the time that was otherwise invested in combining and distributing data. The system is actively used by the sales department, where it helps recommend products and services and predict duration from opportunity to cash.

What is unique about Birst?

1. Automated data refinement. Birst collects, combines, and refines data rapidly to the attention of non-technical users, thanks to its automated data refinement, live access, and query federation technology. Legacy or discovery systems, on the contrary, have to do so with complex manual processes, or extract data scripts from third-party tools.
2. Global views. Birst enriches local data with networking, end-user, and quality global views, which means you won’t have to blend data via siloed sandboxes and extracts.
3. Networked BI architecture. Birst links automatically all of your independent virtual spaces to ensure analytical consistency wherever in the company’s value chain that data later appears. This is also not the case with traditional legacy systems, as they eiher ensure consistency with a single instance, or require you to schedule multiple checks for the same modle.
4. Adaptive Open Client interface. Birst’s adaptive UX supports different analytic styles, including basic dashboards, reporting, mobile discovery, visual discovery with Excel, and many more.
5. Always-On virtual spaces. This feature allows you to see and track value, virtual spaces, instant movements and upgrades of data accounting at the same time all system downtimes and manual changes.

11. Looker

Back in the days, no one at DonorsChoose.org could have foreseen the popularity of their non-profit organization, or assume that maybe, some day, they’ll have to rely on operable intelligence to make a decision. Becoming aware of their own success story, executives also understood the need to make data publicly accessible, and to obtain real-time data insights pulling in info from a variety of sources. The very same system that would respond to their needs was also the one that ought to take care of their complex partnerships, and help them develop useful decision-making practices.

The insights Looker provided were simply astonishing: The non-profit recorded a 65% increase in lifetime giving for donors who’ve been sent a ‘thank you’ card upon donating, and discovered that transferring reporting to an automated systems saves as much as 400 hours of manual reporting a year. The organization was also able to prepare a poverty breakdown pie by school, and redirected 80% of projects toward helping low-income educational institutions. Meanwhile, they received 292,000 new requests for school supplies and 227,000 requests for technology, as they were able to depict and pinpoint the hottest trends in US education.

What is unique about Looker?

1. LookML. Looker is best-known for developing an easier approach to data analytics, namely a brand new database query language call LookML. The language operates like a simplified version of SQL which is reusable and modular, and thus way easier to learn for first-time users.
2. Workbook analytics. Looker adopts your company’s unique business logic. Connect it to any of your relational databases (BigQuery or Redshift, for instance), and it will automatically generate a data model based on your schema.
3. Support for SQL window functions. Window functions are not-that-well-known SQL functions designed for users to rank customers based on specific behavior without adhering to complex self-joints and first-time variables, or even concatenation hacks that may require them to transfer data to a third system.
4. A variety of field parameters. With Looker, you can define fields with a number of field parameters, including dimensions and dimension groups (manipulation-prone columns and tables), measures (alike aggregate SQL functions that provide row information), and templated filters (unique to the user, he can create new ones upon need).
5. 70% trial-to-win rate. The possession of a modern exploration language and comparably easy adoption ensured Looker a trial-to-win rate of even 70%, compered to the 11% average measured for the SaaS industry in general. This is also the reason why Looker often appears high on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, and has a total of 90% early user adoption which is almost impossible in the BI sector.

12. Tableau

What Arby’s Restaurant Group was searching for back in the days was a reliable retail analytics system. They imagined their ideal tool to map retail success from the field, focusing in particular on trends for retaining customers in time of renovation and casual closing. For the purpose, that system should be able to combine supply chain visualizations, maximize cost efficiency, and provide intelligence on sourcing and warehouse management. In short, they were looking for Tableau.

How did Tableau help the restaurant group? The system put in place improved decision making on material usage, as it integrated data across several applications. Thanks to it, the company was able to order supplies in line with its demand trends. Another invaluable benefit was managing risk, and comparing their performance to internal and market expectations to wrap up a deficiency percentage and tackle it accordingly. Arby’s Restaurant Group also relied on Tableau’s warehouse management kit to gain visibility into the efficiency of individual employees and shift groups.

What is unique about Tableau?

1. A pioneer of drag-and-drop analytics. Tableau was among the first BI systems to present intuitive analytic dashboards where users can manipulate data with a simple drag-and-drop mechanism. Where it is today, Tableau also counts as one of the most innovative products on the market, constantly presenting new features and functionalities, and following trends.
2. Choosing between a 32-bit and 64-bit runtime version of the product. Generally, the choice of a version to deploy will depend on your operating system, given that the 64-bit version is the preferrable option that addresses larger chunks of memory and improves speed.
3. Dashboard-to-dashboard interactions. With Tableau, you can copy different dashboard elements and transfer them to other workbooks, which gives you plenty of iteration and development possibilities. For instance, you can combine the work of different analysts on a new, seamless dashboard.
4. SAML authentication. The newest version of this system can be delegated to SAML authentication, an open source method that makes it possible to create single sign-on on experience. This makes Tableau connectable to any third-party app/system, and usable in all of your departments.
5. Web authoring on mobile devices. Tableau will not only display data on mobile devices, but allow you to modify existing views, analyze data, and save new versions with a dedicated app..
6. Tableau Public. Tableau offers a free version for Windows and Mac users with 10GB of storage, unlimited users and visualizations, personalized profiles, and social media sharing.

13. Woopra

AppLovin executives like to call Woopra the ‘turnkey solution’ that helped them address the right customer needs at the right time. As VP Andrew Karam explains, Woopra helped the company reach customer satisfaction rates nobody could even suspect were possible. Saying so, he refers particularly to 2012, when the business was in desperate need of effective marketing decisions for mobile consumers. Back then, however, only few systems had the expertise needed to develop and distribute the marketing signals in question.

Woopra was not a lonely solution on the table. Karam also considered older and larger analytics providers, but found them overly complicated and expensive to use. Woopra, at the same time, offered an unbelievable friendly interface that turned each of his employees into a super-user. Before he caught up on what had happened, Woopra delivered a deep understanding on customer interaction, and turned a finger exactly towards the problem AppLovin should address. Thanks to it, Karam was no longer expected to weed through website log files to understand the changes and their effects, and got a historic log on all activities that helps him make smarter decisions.

Overview: Anonymous Customer Analytics

What is unique about Woopra?

1. Anonymous customer intelligence. Woopra is often described as a top eCommerce intelligence alternative, and has much to do with the platform’s close interaction with AdWords, and the possibility to track anonymous web & mobile visitors before they’ve identified themselves.
2. Dedicated features for a variety of industries. With detailed and beautiful customer profiles, Woopra works well in all niches, but it is particularly useful for trade, finance, banking, travel, gaming, media, and automotive businesses.
3. Communication with visitors. Unlike traditional customer intelligence systems, Woopra allows the user to communicate with his visitors, including the possibility to launch a live chat and exchange information.
4. Time tracking. Another skill Woopra has mastered over the years is real time tracking, with a dedicated pane for live visitor stats. In this pane, you can see the page your new guests have visited, their location, their operating systems and browsers, and much more. It is also the place where you can trigger a live chat session with the visitor.
5. A mission-control interface. Woopra deviates from the traditional menu-submenu concept to adopt a full-customization approach for any type of customer related operations. Each and every segment of the pane can be moved and transformed, and the user is in full control of what is being presented to him.

14. Zoho Reports

Worldwide Express is a reputed global logistics company that employs hundredths, and processes volumes of data each day. Under circumstances such as those, users are not only allowed to be capricious with their business analytic solution, but rather expected to do so. That’s why Any Milligan, WE’s VP of Marketing & Business Analytics took a while to choose Zoho Reports.

Asked what she liked the most about the system, she responded pretty clear: the efficient interface and the robust features. Zoho Reports inherited quite a mess within WE’s outdated proprietary combinations. The challenge was to take reporting down from hours to minutes, including the generation of complex and specific summaries that won’t be shared the old, insecure way. Both WE’s transactions and employee numbers have long outgrown the power of their toolkit.

How did Zoho Reports help? Today, this system processes over 100 million rows of data coming from multiple sources and locations, and does so seamlessly because all agents can access it any time and from any device. Being as user-friendly as it is, Zoho Reports doesn’t impose additional difficulties on employees, but rather inspires them to be creative, and to think of new ways to reach out to customers.

What is unique about Zoho Reports?

Overview: Databases

1. Member of a large productivity suite. Zoho Reports is a perfect alternative for current Zoho suite users looking to enhance their software infrastructure with an intelligent analytic tool. Well-integrated and easy to use, Zoho Reports is a also a good alternative for first-time users and such that have no BI experience so far.
2. Automated & scheduled data import. Zoho Reports unites your data wherever it may be located, including local databases, online feeds, cloud storage services, emails, flat files, and web applications. The system connects with SQL and NoSQL databases, and import files in Excel, CSV, HTML, JSON, XML, text, and other formats. It also works in synergy with all Zoho products.
3. Data blending. Zoho Reports not only collects, but also blends and merges data from different sources, as for instance marketing spend data noted in an Excel spreadsheet and sales points coming from your CRM system. Once put in action, the system completes such combinations with a single click, so that you can meaningful reports within minutes.
4. Excel-like formula engine. Zoho Reports will provide you an extensive library of statistical and mathematical functions alike those you find in Excel, but also let you import ones of your own to extract the exact business metrics you need.
5. Small-biz friendly. The ease of use and flexible pricing offered by Zoho Reports makes this system suitable for small and medium businesses and even sole service providers. Enterprises are also more then welcomed to try it, having in mind its columnar backend technology that can process 100s of millions of data rows.

15. Chartio

Reuters TV is one of today’s most popular and trusted media, which daily prepares and distributes dozens of gigabytes content worldwide. Just recently, they enriched their complex data infrastructure with Chartio, deeply convinced it was the system that can help them solve data problems. By problems, they had in mind the multiple data collection sources, including Segment, Amazon S3, and Amazon Redshift. What they needed was a hub that will gather all of this information and put it together, instead of categorizing it manually in Google Sheets as the analysts used to do.

Chartio arrived at the right time to provide a holistic content view on all readers, making it possible for Reuters to make critical content decisions at a glance, as well as to cut marketing spend down, and to focus on media sponsorship. Thanks to it, analysts are able to work on harder data science questions, and to optimize their content recommendations algorithms. The biggest benefit according to Riaan Ahmed from Growth & Analytics was the creation of a simplified data schema, and making analytics understandable across a wider range of technical aptitudes.

Overview: Database Variables

What is unique about Chartio?

1. Continual updates of old data. With no access to actual data information, every business is risking making a wrong decision. Chartio solves this problem by updating existent graphs with fresh data. You can also make and memorize snapshots of each update, and keep track of all changes you’ve made.
2. Dashboard variables. With Chartio, there is no need to break data manually and create separate charts, as the system offers a dashboard variables function which can make all variables editable. This way, you can easily extract the exact portion of information you need instead of looking through the entire report.
3. Capturing inconsistencies. Chartio gives CEOs and executives the unique possibility to see how a particular chart was made, so that they can confirm the accuracy of the data inside. You just need to open the chart, click on Activity, and follow a live presentation of all recent adjustments made by the creator.
4. Payment gateway integration. Chartio works in synergy with three prominent payment gateway providers: Stripe, Square, and Recurly. You can also use it with a variety of business productivity systems, among which Asana, Basecamp, GitLab, Shopify, Trello, Taboola, and so on.
5. Secure data connections. You can connect Chartio to all of your databases and tools, including Amazon Redshift, Google Analytics, Google BigQuery, MySQL, IBM DasbDB, Hadoop, Oracle, Mongo DB, HPE Vertica, FiveTran, Microsoft Azure, and many more.

The post 15 Best Business Intelligence Tools For Small And Big Business appeared first on Financesonline.com.

Payroll administration is one of the most important business processes your company performs, yet one of the most cumbersome and time-consuming daily activities. It doesn’t generate direct revenues, so keeping this process to bare minimum in time and cost means savings and more efficiency to your business. This is why you need payroll management software, so you can focus on income-generating strategies and daily core tasks.

The American Payroll Association estimates that payroll automation reduces costs from invoice and paycheck errors by 80%. The system requires little input from you, usually just wage details and work hours. Wage calculations, tax withholding, deductions and other backend processes are managed by the system.

What is payroll management software? To find out, keep on reading. When you finish reading this guide, you’ll gain a full understanding of the system beyond the definition of payroll management system. You’ll appreciate the benefits of payroll management software and its most important aspects. You can use this newfound knowledge to aid your purchase journey and select the best option for your business. Here are the key points you’ll learn in the next few minutes:

1. Examples of payroll management software
2. Benefits of payroll management software
3. Types of payroll management software
4. Features of payroll management software
5. Factors to consider
6. Pricing of payroll management software
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

What are examples of payroll management software?

Here are a few examples of payroll management software:

1. BambooHR – An HRIS-integrated payroll management. Winner of our Best HR Management Software Award. It caters to small and medium companies. It has flexible core system and pricing model packaged with custom features allow users to set fields, tables and tabs, create user groups and integrate with related systems like applicant tracking and payroll. You can easily sign up for BambooHR free trial here.
2. Xero – An accounting-integrated payroll management designed for small business that need to integrate payroll with online accounting. It’s a reliable BambooHR alternative that includes pension and finance management, as well as core accounting, inventory, bank reconciliation and purchase orders.
3. Wave – A free small business online accounting with professionally templated invoices, estimates and receipts. Being another solid Xero alternative the solution offers credit card payments, income and expense tracking and deposit and pay stub payroll.
4. UltiPro – An HCM-integrated payroll management with payroll administration, tax management and compliant features. The solution features advanced underlying technologies as artificial intelligence and machine learning to personalize system activities.
5. Gusto – A standalone payroll management system built for the small business owner. The solution also integrates with benefits and HR functions like employee onboarding, time-off tracking and document management.

BambooHR is an HRIS system with an integrated payroll administration feature. It allows custom settings and integration with applicant tracking.

Why use a payroll management software?

Why use payroll management software? Payroll management software lends to your business automation, data centralization, templates, integration and customization that, together, deliver the following major benefits. Here are more scenarios of the purpose of payroll management software, the better you appreciate this system beyond answering the question–what is payroll management software?

1. Save time, avoid errors. Payroll processes are time-consuming and error-prone when manually done. A misplaced “0” or decimal point can wreak havoc to your finances. Moreover, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which the US Congress had passed in response to financial malpractices like the Enron and Tyco scandals, added complexities to regulatory compliance, including payroll, to ensure data integrity. You can turn to payroll automation to avoid inaccurate financial statements and penalties. It syncs and consolidates employee data and regulatory rules and automates calculations, leaving no room for an oversight.
2. Pay employees correctly. Paycheck mistakes not only waste your time, they build distrust and can harm employee morale. Even when mistakes are honest, they damage your reputation and, worse, can fuel demoralizing rumors. Payroll management software keeps calculations consistent and accurate. It automatically factors in key items like salary grade, benefits, expenses, allowances and deductions when processing wages.
3. Pay taxes correctly. If your employees and contractors are spread out across the U.S. or you have offshore teams, tax compliance will bog you down. With nearly 10,000 tax jurisdictions in the U.S. alone, withholding federal, state and local payroll taxes comes in myriad forms and ways. Most payroll automation have built-in location-based tax calculations and reporting or, at least, a system lets you preset tax rules. Automation makes it easy to compute taxes owed and paid per employee, while templates speed up submission of scheduled reports to regulatory agencies. And when a tax law changes, most vendors immediately update their systems. You’ll find payroll management software a necessary tool to avoid costly late payment penalties.
4. Build transparency. Disputes are settled quickly and clearly with drill-down access to timesheet, benefits, agreements and other related data. Payroll systems can break down records to granular level and pinpoint with accuracy the points of dispute, be it leaves, absences, expenses, adjustments, collective labor benefits and other wage-related items.
5. Quick access to employee data. Payroll automation centralizes employment data, such as, contracts, CBAs, performance records, leaves, timesheets and conversations. Users with system permission can quickly access the related data from various devices or platforms. In fact, keeping staff records in one place has other merits beyond payroll, for instance, for job evaluation or opex costing.
6. Customize reports. Whether payroll is attached to HR or accounting, payroll automation can customize reports based on rows &  columns, fields and other rules. You can define what items go into a report, for instance, payslips, benefits, expenses or current or historical data. Generating recurring reports is easily standardized and scheduled with smart alerts.
7. Added security. The simplicity and ease-of-use of today’s cloud payroll solutions allow you to manage payroll internally. Relying on a third party to handle salaries exposes sensitive data. With payroll management software, employee data are accessible only to you and your authorized staff.

Xero integrates payroll with online accounting core functions for small business.

What are the types of payroll management software?

Payroll management software can be classified by: deployment (cloud vs. enterprise), business size (small business vs. enterprise) and target market (general vs. industry-specific). There is another way to distinctly classify payroll software, one that may impact on your workflows.

1. Integrated payroll management. Payroll, accounting and HRM have overlapping processes.; thus, often, payroll management is integrated as a module in accounting software, HRM or an organization-wide business system like ERP. It can be a standard feature or separately charged as an add-on. An integrated payroll management covers the core tasks like payroll processing, income tax calculations and paycheck printing.
   Examples: BambooHR, Xero, Wave, UltiPro
2. Dedicated payroll management. These are standalone apps that go beyond core features with specialized functions as time-tracking & attendance,  customized reporting, benefits management and even a tax planner. A good dedicated payroll app should easily integrate with other HRM and accounting systems. This type of payroll system is popular among payroll services and small businesses.
   Examples: Gusto, Intuit Payroll, SurePayroll

What does a payroll management software do?

What does payroll management software do? Payroll management software automates, streamlines, standardizes and centralizes payroll processes. Specifically, the following features of payroll management software accomplish the myriad aspects of payroll, from calculating wages and taxes to planning employee benefits and managing attendance.

1. Payroll management. Wages are automatically calculated based on your preset schedule: daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. This, in fact, is one of the main advantages of payroll management software. The module consolidates wage-related items like attendance, salary grade, benefits, reimbursements, leaves, advances, withholding taxes, terms and policies, etc. to compute wages. Most solutions need only to be manually set up with your rules, then the system takes over the payroll process. It can be customized along multiple pay and benefits structures and further configured for specific employees or contractors.
2. Leaves management. The module allows employees to submit leave claims and monitor their leave balance, while managers can review such requests and notify employees of approved or declined claims. The module also calculates accrued leaves for wage calculation.
3. Expense management. Expenses, deductions, loans, advances and other employee costs are entered, tracked and calculated in this module. Some payroll systems feature a loan ledger to account for all approved employee loans. This module may also handle reimbursements based on approved expenses.
4. Benefits, bonus management. The module manages various benefits claims, including CBA,, allowances and other employee perks. Some solutions feature a knowledge base of benefits where employees can select and submit a claim.
5. Income tax & deductions. This feature processes pre- and post-tax deductions. It helps you comply with various state and federal taxes and social security requirements. The system automatically does the calculations based on latest regulations. The more advanced payroll management solutions provide tools for income tax projections, TDS estimates and annual tax-saving investments.
6. Time and attendance tracking. Standalone payroll management software may include timesheets or a time-tracking feature to manage attendance. This module tracks absences, increments, leaves and attritions and sync these data with wage calculations. Some advanced features let you manage multiple shifts and transfers and biometric integration to show real-time clock-in/out.
7. Reports, payslips, forms. This is another key feature, which generates payroll reports like salary statements, benefits reports or leave summaries. Employees can also access this platform to check or print payslips. Likewise, payroll forms can be printed like 941, 943, 944, W2 and W3. Regulatory forms such as Form 16, Form 12BA and Form 12C may also be downloaded and printed.
8. Record-keeping. Payroll management software also acts as a central repository of employee records and related documents. This feature usually include document management to handle files like offer letter, experience letter, employee profiles, organizational charts and applicable statutes for labor, tax and occupational safety.

Wave is a 100% free, offering credit card processing and small business online accounting tools like invoice and receipt scanning.

What are the factors to consider when getting payroll management software?

How does payroll management software work? It depends on many factors. Payroll management software comes in various packages. Some are bundled with HRM, ERP or accounting system, while others are independent solution. Before committing to a plan, consider the following key factors to ensure you’re getting the best value off your budget.

1. Cloud vs. on-premise. As with most business processes, payroll management can be cloud or on-premise. The list of pros and cons is long for both versions. Cloud has low capital outlay, regular updates, easy setup, near-zero maintenance, readily available support, multi-device accessibility, flexible features and price points. But it commits you to a perpetual monthly cost and sensitive data are stored in servers you don’t have control. On the other hand, on-premise requires: huge investment for licensing and servers; in-house technical talent to install and maintain the system; and downtime for upgrades. But data stays with you and there’s no recurring costs. We have an article that details cloud vs. on-premise comparison, which applies to your other business processes, too.
2. Total cost of ownership. License fees or monthly subscription isn’t the only cost that comes with payroll management software. Read the fine print and check for hidden fees. Common costs that can quickly bloat the budget include: core features that are separately charged; setup fee; system upgrade; per-user fee; per-paycheck fee; training fee; and support fee. Also mind lock-in terms, which may strap you down with features you’re paying for but don’t need.
3. Regulatory compliance. Make sure the payroll system support tax laws, social security requirements and applicable local regulations. These include the ability to set the right wage deductions, adjustments and generating required reports for different government agencies. Likewise, a good payroll solution automatically upgrades the system for tax changes, so your processing is consistently compliant.
4. Key features. Focus on key payroll functions that meet your unique requirements. For example, how do you pay employees? If via direct deposit make sure the system allows bank synchronization; if through paychecks look for software that prints checks. Other key features include: tax withholding (does the system support local laws?); pay period (daily,weekly, monthly?); and supplemental payment (does it support bonuses and commissions? contractual service?).
5. Scalability. Your payroll management system should stand the test of time and match your growth pace. Look ahead in five years and anticipate what features you’ll be needing. For fast-growing companies, these can mean more users, more employees, more branches, possibly offshore units and other additional operational elements that impact on payroll. In general, cloud payroll systems are more flexible at scaling up features, alongside the corresponding price tiers.
6. Integration. If the payroll solution isn’t part of a larger system like ERP, HR or accounting, it must at least integrate with them. As your business expands payroll processes get more complex and will need to integrate with other applications, such as, sales ledger, recruitment, timesheets and reporting tools . Aside from system integration, you’ll need to think of compatibility with business and productivity apps you’re using. File export-import should work with standard formats like PDF, JPEG, DOC, CSV and TXT. Integration with cloud storage is also a big plus for backing up records. If you think you need multimedia, look for systems that accommodate videos and graphics.

Gusto is an independent payroll system that can integrate with benefits and HR modules for onboarding, document management and time-off tracking.

How much does a payroll management software cost?

Payroll management system is priced differently by vendors, but there are underlying similarities. For example, many vendors charged by number of payee or user. If it’s accounting-integrated system, price may depend on number of invoices or quotes. Payroll management as a feature can also be charged separately as an add-on. Here are examples of the cost of payroll management software.

1. BambooHR – Pricing is by quote to match your needs with the right set of features.
2. Xero – It offers three price points starting at $25 per month with its most expensive plan at $60 per month. Its basic plan allows only for five invoices, quotes and bills and twenty transactions, while its premium plan has no limit on the same items.
3. Wave – It is 100% free for invoicing, accounting and receipt scanning features. The vendor charges for payroll services in select countries.
4. UltiPro – Pricing is by quote only.
5. Gusto – It charges by number of users at $6 per month, on top of a base subscription at $39 per month. The basic price includes access to all features.

What are the potential issues with payroll management software?

1. Incompatibility with other systems. This is perhaps the stickiest issue and can wreak havoc to your automation plans. Not all payroll systems are designed to work with other systems like HRM, ERP and accounting software. Imagine your frustration to find out your payroll system can’t manage employee records you’ve stored in another application. Always check for integration–how the system works with the apps you’re using–when looking for the best payroll management solution.
2. Non-compliant features. Payroll management processes like in accounting are tightly regulated by local, state and federal laws. The system must comply with regulations in an accurate and timely manner, which includes correct withholding taxes, deductions and reporting to relevant agencies. Likewise, the system has to be regularly updated for tax law changes or new regulations. Non-compliance costs you a lot in penalties and surcharges and wastes your time.
3. Sensitive data in third-party hands. As with other cloud solutions, the issue of storing sensitive data like employee information and payroll details on vendor servers always rears its ugly head in cloud vs on-premise debates. But if the vendor is reputable and established security shouldn’t be an issue considering the alternative: how equipped and qualified is your company to secure its data?
4. Incomplete features. Some payroll management system focus only on core functions as payroll administration and attendance. They leave out non-core but tools that may be key to your workflows. For instance, you may need check printing, real-time reporting, benefits planning and biometrics integration. The problem is exacerbated when you have an existing accounting solution with incomplete payroll features. Should you get another payroll system? In such case, you’re better off looking at the big picture, maybe consider an ERP that addresses all your business processes.
5. Too much features. Conversely, a small business with basic payroll needs may end up paying for a fully integrated system. Payroll is often a feature in bigger systems like accounting, HRM and ERP. Make sure you pay only for the features that you use to keep this operation expense at the minimum.

What are the latest payroll management trends?

How does payroll management software work in the future? Let’s look at some of the trends shaping the category in the next few years.

1. Hybrid solution. Where before the debate is on in-house vs. outsourcing, there is an emerging trend among companies to combine both. They turn to cloud payroll management to input data, while depend on the vendor or a payroll service provider to process and deliver payroll on time and compliant to existing laws. This trend is evident in vendors like Wave, which offers a free app and relies on payroll services for revenues. Startups are attracted to this setup to gain control over their data while freeing them up from headaches of day-to-day administration.
2. Mobile and self-service payroll. Mobile payroll apps let employees access their pay details and relevant data such as holidays, accrued leaves and attendance. Employees can also print payslip or keep a digital file of it.
3. Data-driven. Payroll management is becoming an instrument for data-driven strategic decisions. As it involves major costs and critical resources (talents), companies are turning to the huge volumes of data payroll management systems generate to find patterns and insights that help shape strategies and drive the company’s overall competitiveness. For example, the system can churn out employee turnover rate or overall company mood using leaves and absences as metrics, even if the system is not designed for business intelligence tasks.
4. Machine learning. The technology is creeping its way into consumer gadgets (IoT) and, now, business solutions, payroll management systems notwithstanding. It’s a self-learning algorithm that studies your daily actions in the system and use these to refine procedures, navigation and UI.

The post What is Payroll Management Software? Analysis of Features, Types and Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

Inventory and warehouse management systems are becoming essential in retail, wholesale, service delivery, and many other industries, helping the company keep track of its produced assets, and distribute them accordingly to all interested customers. The definition of inventory management software brings together all tools that help prevent products from spoiling, eliminate costly mistakes and thefts, and most importantly – keep all customers satisfied.

What does inventory management software do? What modern businesses find to be the most competitive advantage of inventory automation technology is the possibility to plan ahead, and prepare for sudden sales spikes or drops by monitoring trends and referring to historical records. With organized and categorized stocks, you will also enhance your effectiveness, and pull off important stats whenever you need them. Regardless of the complexity of your stock or number of products you’re distributing, a warehouse management tool will be a valuable addition to your software infrastructure, and one of the fastest way to meet your employees’ and customers’ expectations.

So, are you ready to purchase your first inventory management system? Better yet, have you decided which type of warehouse software you need? This category offers both simple catalogs and complex listing systems, which is why you should always compare several solutions before jumping on the bandwagon. Another thing you should definitely do is to check the guidelines we collated in this article to go beyond answering–what is inventory management software? Then use your newfound knowledge to find the ideal system for your needs.

This article will discuss:

1. Examples of inventory management software
2. Benefits of inventory management software
3. Types of inventory management software
4. Features of inventory management software
5. Factors to consider
6. Pricing of inventory management software
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

How does an inventory management software work? Let’s check that together:

What are examples of inventory management software?

• TradeGecko – Winner of our Best Inventory Management Software Award. A top-listed inventory specialists’ choice for  cloud-based and automated delivery of asset management services. Ideal for multi-channel and multiregional wholesalers and distributors who find it handy to manage sales, supply chains, and customer relationships from a single location. You can easily sign up for TradeGecko free trial here.
• Zoho Inventory – Popular inventory management solution for small and large companies, used to automate their order and inventory management, and to keep track of delivery in order to make smarter business decisions. It also includes a powerful analytic and reporting kit, and out-of-the-box features such as inventory replenishment for avoiding stock-outs.
• Brightpearl – Another recommended multi-channel retail management system that is a solid TradeGecko alternative and helps businesses handle orders, inventory, customer data, accounting and reporting. It offers an advanced sales management kit, and integrates with all popular marketplaces and payment gateways. If you need a reliable Brightpearl alternative check out our other comparison articles.
• SellerCloud – An eCommerce and inventory management solution used to manage the full scope of multi-channel selling. From inventory and warehouse management, publishing listing to marketplaces, to order processing and shipping, as well as accounting integration, the software does all the work needed.

These, nevertheless, are not the only reliable, end-to-end inventory management solutions you should consider this year. There are plenty of other examples of inventory management software. For more alternatives and ideas, check our list of top 10 inventory management software solutions.

An overview of TradeGecko’s dashboard

Why use inventory management software?

There are many benefits of inventory management software deriving from the usage of quality inventory management software, including accurate distribution of products and services, prompt customer service, and faster and more secure deal closure. In the ideal scenario, your inventory management system will be cloud-hosted, well-integrated with third-party management software, and available to use on mobile devices for the needs of large and decentralized teams.

Here are the main advantages of inventory management software, and the answers when your manager asks–why use inventory management software?

1. Centralized storage. The more stock locations you have to govern, the more difficult it becomes to manage orders and direct products to the right customers. With an adequate warehouse tool in place, you will be able to track the availability of all products and services, and thus maintain customers promptly informed on the status of their orders.
2. Efficient stock operations. Good inventory management is the founding pillar of any healthy retail business, as it saves both the time and effort needed to manage stock manually. With a collaborative system in action, your employees will no longer write daily reports and run back-and-forth through them to give customers an answer, but rather have data ready and regularly updated on their devices.
3. Enhanced sales productivity. Many companies report significant improvement of their closed deal rates upon implementing their first inventory management solution. This is so because accurate inventory prevents you from losing customers, and minimizes common human mistakes such as reporting products out of stock and referring clients to different stores.
4. In-time delivery. The core benefit of using inventory management software is being able to hit delivery deadlines, and preventing customers from waiting ages for their shipment to arrive. Advanced programs will even involve them in the process, giving them a realistic picture of the status of their order, and allowing them to track the product’s movement from purchase to arrival.
5. Adjusted order frequency. Despite of distributors perceiving stock shortages to be the worst possible scenarios, we’d ascribe that attribute to overstocks. Leaving products to waste or paying for their storage and maintenance is where businesses lose the most of their money, and that’s why inventory management software is so useful. Being able to track their actual stock supplies, companies can re-order from vendors in the right moment, or adjust the order frequency in a more suitable manner.
6. No more hidden costs. Another competitive edge of good inventory systems is that they adjust easily to sudden spikes in your sales, and you get to tweak them in line with sudden spikes and drops. For the purpose, you won’t have to pay extra storage fees, while in the best possible scenario you will also get a product that prepares, packs, and ships products for you.
7. Satisfied customers. With personalized service and accurate responses at any moment of time, your customers will be more satisfied than ever. They will be able to track the status of shipped orders, without facing the risk of a late notice that the product they expect is no longer available.
8. Integration with back office systems. Another way to recognize a quality inventory management system is to examine its connectivity to back office applications, in particular accounting and ERP systems which process stock related data. The best option is to purchase an open API system, as it allows custom connections to all service providers, and usually comes with the best technical support.
9. Accurate planning and forecasting. Inventory management systems help you plan ahead and become more proactive, as they track the status of your products, manage negative trends and opportunities, and retrieve vital historical data to predict the progress of your sales. In fact, inventory tools are most of the time packed with analytic features that free your time, and still pull off all important indicators that measure your productivity.

Contact management dashboard of Zoho Inventory

What are the types of inventory management software?

There are many different ways to group and categorize these systems, but defining a type will almost always depend on the intended use and purpose of inventory management software you’ve selected. The mode of work and features of inventory management software will also play a role while placing a tool under any of the following categories:

1. Manually-managed inventory systems. Inspired by spreadsheet technology and packed with status updates, these systems are ideal for startups and small companies transiting from fully paper-based stock management. Manual inventory systems are simple, and focus foremost on ordering and tracking a limited number of similar products. Sometimes, they will even be devoted a different aspect of sales management, and offer inventory as a separate module. Complex calculations are still dependent on formulas entered by the user, which means that human-caused errors remain a peril, and may cause serious output inaccuracies.
   Examples: Brightpearl, SellerCloud, Ordoro
2. Barcode scanning systems. The biggest achievement of inventory management technology is without doubt barcode scanning, as it allows companies to process a larger number of items, and pull in data directly from computerized cash registers and POS systems. Incoming inventory is updated automatically, which means agents always have their ordering and purchasing information ready to use. What is even better is that these systems are not confined to an exact number of warehouses, but rather let inventory move unobstructed, and facilitate in such way packing and shipping procedures. Note that there are many systems that provide barcode scanning as an integrated feature, which is why you can skip purchasing a scanning-exclusive system.
   Examples: Zoho Inventory, TradeGecko, Skubana
3. Advanced radio frequency systems. Radio frequency systems (or as they’re also known RFIDs) are the biggest guarantee of the efficiency and productivity of your inventory management. They automate warehouse control end-to-end, and thus target large enterprises with thousands of orders to move on a daily basis. These systems mark products with fixed tax readers used to follow their movement, and eliminate in such way the whole concept of controlling several warehouses at once. Such powers, nevertheless, make these systems way more complex and expensive than the traditional ones, which is why we don’t recommend them to developing businesses.
   Examples: TradeGecko, Stitch Labs, Skubana

Sample sales credit report on Brightpearl

What does inventory management software do?

How does inventory management software work? The best way to understand how does an inventory management software work is to look at its most prominent features. In this category, however, this may turn out a more complex task, as inventory systems are significantly different both in form and function.

Still, there are several important functions that appear in most systems; here are reliable features of inventory management software:

1. Categorization of products. With this feature, you can migrate products between different groups and channels, and make them easily searchable by type, name, price, date, supplier, popularity, and many other filters. Better yet, the feature ensures full stock control, as it allows you to forecast demand, and make accurate orders from your vendors.
2. Order management. Thanks to inventory management software, retailers can manage their sales and purchases from the same system, track orders and control stock levels, and even bill and invoice their clients. A good idea here would be to check whether the system integrates with third-party accounting tools.
3. Automated ordering. What companies like the most about inventory management systems is that they eliminate time waste, and limit the manual efforts needed to bill and track projected sales. This is made possible by multichannel stock management technology, which optimizes sales in every retail environment where it is applied.
4. Barcode scanning. This is the most popular and desired inventory feature that allows exchange of electronic data, and thus caters to the needs of global retailers and large companies. Scanning also allows electronic tracking of order data, and helps retain full inventory , warehouse, and shipment control.
5. Regularly updated product information. Inventory management systems treat data as a dynamic variable, and make sure you will stay in control of it for as many items or services as you are selling. Basically, it gives you a simplified and less time-consuming way to process the usual sales information, this time keeping all members of your team updated about it.

Insertion order form on SellerCloud

What should you consider when getting an inventory management system?

Before you’ve made an actual decision and invested your money, there are few important considerations we would like you to pay attention to:

1. The scalability of your new system. With only few products in stock and a small, organized team to run, it may not seem essential to purchase a high-tier inventory system as your pioneer tool of this kind. Yet, keeping in mind how expensive warehouse control tools can be, we advise you to look for a scalable and flexible system that will grow in parallel with your sales activity. More importantly, make sure you’ve chosen a product that can resist sudden sales spikes/drops without requiring additional fees to cover for those.
2. Quality management of customer relationships. While this doesn’t entail an obligation for inventory systems to do CRM, it certainly involves a possibility for you to engage customers in the tracking process, and give them personalized access to the progress of their order. The sooner you’re able to respond to their inquiries, the more satisfied they will be with your service.
3. Reliable customer support. Once again – inventory systems are not exactly painless to afford, and you must make sure you’re given everything you’ve been promised in advance. If possible, choose only reliable systems where your data is secured and calculations are 100% accurate, and even more importantly – test customer service in advance! You never know the bugs and problems you may experience in future, so make sure there is someone on the other side of the line that can take care of those for you.

How much does inventory management software cost?

The cost of inventory management software usually depends on the features and capabilities it provides, but may also be restrictive in respect to the number of users and products you get to involve. Certain warehouse control providers may also limit access to tech support to premium users, and require additional fees for users to cover in case of storage shortage.

Pricing schemes, on their behalf, vary from scalable, multi-plan offers to custom quotes, while there are also completely free inventory systems developed for sole producers and very small teams. Here are few examples of how inventory management pricing works:

• Odoo – Designed to make enterprise-level ERP and inventory management benefits accessible to small companies, Odoo is available for free.
• TradeGecko – This system is recognizable by its flexible pricing schemes, as  there are several plans with different feature suits to meet the needs of each company. The Basic Plan is available for $79/month, followed by Business ($199/month); Business Premium ($359/month), and Enterprise ($799/month).
• Brightpearl – Developed for the needs of high-tier and established enterprises, Brightpearl swaps monthly plans for annual subscriptions, and charges amounts between £3,780/year for the Entry License and £16,800/year for the Established one. A tailor-made custom plan is also available for the biggest companies interested to manage an undefined number of orders per month.
• Zoho Inventory – Zoho Inventory offers a pricing scheme similar to the one of TradeGecko, but yet adjusted to the needs of startups and very small companies. The lowest, Basic plan is available for only $29/month, followed by Standard ($79) and Professional ($249).
• SellerCloud – SellerCloud is a representative of quote-priced inventory management systems, where each user receives an individualized plan that meets his needs and payment capacity. For more details, you should visit the company’s official website, or contact sales support.

Sample pipeline profile view on Odoo

What are the potential issues with inventory management software?

While it is absolutely true that warehouse control helps direct products to the right place in the right time, there are also few downsides you should be aware of:

1. The foreign currency risk. Retailers operating with more than one currency must check whether their inventory management system is equipped to meet their needs. The problem that may arise is that while importing inventory and paying for it in a currency different than your own (higher, in most cases), you may lose money. Because of the difference, you will eventually end up paying more for the inventory than you originally predicted, unless you’ve bought the transaction currency in advance. If you purchase and sell products using the same system, solve this issue on time.
2. Thefts. Solid inventory management systems do reduce the possibility of theft and fraud, but you can’t expect them to eliminate it completely. Involving more employees that have access to the system and can govern inventory on their own may make it difficult for them to steal, but it will also make it difficult for you to identify the person responsible once such thing happens.
3. Inventory damage. Because of the fact that inventory management systems take most of the order management burden on their shoulders, some managers get a bit spoiled, and expect these tools to handle even operations that are not in their capacity. What we have in mind is not paying attention to how inventory is controlled and protected from damaging, and whether all rules and regulations have been taken into account.

What are the latest inventory management software trends?

1. Generating specialized documents. Inventory management systems are becoming more and more capable to generate a wide range of important accountancy documents, including expense statements, personalized invoices, checks, and purchase order confirmations. In the best scenario, they will also pull out automated reports on low stock amounts, and notify all team members about it.
2. More efficient analytics. In near future, we should expect inventory management systems to become even more reporting-savvy. More and more tools are equipped for ERP reporting, spares management, tracking of stock expiry periods, pilferage control, and accurate demand forecasts.
3. No systems different than RFIDs. Like them or not, RFIDs are becoming a common place in the inventory management sector, slowly but surely eliminating their manual and semi-automated competitors. In the years ahead, inventory management systems will be able to locate individual products or even product components, monitor their quality, and tag them with special microchips that help track their movement without associating them to a particular warehouse.

The post What is Inventory Management Software? Analysis of Features, Types, Benefits and Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

With little of companies’ management being computerized in the past, it didn’t take much for a business to ascribe the failure of projects to non-coordination. Perilous tactics were nearly always associated with miscommunication and obstructed access to data, and little was done to relate tasks across different teams.

Despite of it, enterprises seemed reluctant to the idea of using any system other than a homegrown, believing that was the only way to manage specific operations and protect the integrity of their data.

Interestingly enough, in its Pulse of the Profession report from February 2017, the US Project Management Institute reports that companies are wasting $97 million for every $1 billion invested, which accounts to 20% less than what they found in 2016. Their conclusion was that project success rates have grown significantly, both when evaluated comparing traditional means and business maturity levels to intent.

The question here simply imposes itself: Given their inability to determine objectives and develop execution procedures, how did managers get where they are?

Pulse of the Profession Report – 2017

To answer this question, we will once again look at PMI’s report: The revolutionary advancement of 2017 is that 83% of executive leaders understood the value of project management, and 95% of them are willing to test out a single, cloud-hosted system instead of building and maintaining few of them. In short, cloud-hosted project management is now touted as the most cost-effective option for any business, with lots of customization tricks that would help adopt it.

This article lists the top 20 online project management tools you should consider in 2017, selected considering their unique features and usability characteristics. These systems are all user-friendly and project success-oriented, and meet well the needs of small and large businesses.

Are online project management tools better than locally-hosted ones?

Project management software: The hidden costs of on-premise deployment

Why choose an online project management tools to manage your projects? In his article on the Learning consortium for the creative economy, Forbes contributor Steve Denning concluded that all firms hold a different position in the project management journey, and would adapt only to practices that meet the context of their operations. With this in mind, recommending one option over the other would be walking on thin ice. Unless, of course, there is an outcome that outweighs the risk:

• Unobstructed access to information – With a team scattered worldwide, you will benefit from unlimited access to project information and file sharing.
• Facilitated onboarding – Cloud-hosted project management tools involve a much shorter learning curve than their on-premise counterparts, as users can log in with their password, and use the program independently from other team members.
• Focus on collaboration – Cloud-zoned PM tools usually provide a number of useful collaboration features that make the process more effective. Their nature is participatory and transparent, and everyone can follow positive and negative trends.
• Configuration – PM systems of today are remarkably flexible, and allow you to coordinate very specific projects and tasks. You can add and track changes as they happen, and keep schedules functional instead of losing hours on coordinating assignees.
• Affordability – Due to the lack of a complex installation procedure, storage and extensive servers, cloud hosted PM systems are affordable and subscription-based, and require little to no maintenance on your behalf. Some of the most popular online PM applications are offered for free.

Here’s our list of top 20 online project management tools:

1. Wrike [ start free trial ]
2. Asana
3. Taskworld
4. Basecamp
5. Zoho Projects
6. Smartsheet
7. Nutcache
8. Bitrix24
9. Clarizen
10. Trello
11. Podio
12. JIRA
13. Teamwork
14. ProWorkflow
15. Easy Projects
16. KanbanFlow
17. dapulse
18. Projectplace
19. Mavenlink
20. Taiga

1. Wrike

Wrike won our Best Project Management Software for 2016

The leader of this list and best rated project management app in our database is Wrike, reputed for its detail-attentive task control and extremely collaborative nature. This software won our Best Project Management Award for 2016. If you want to try it out on your own the vendor offers a great free trial plan. You can easily sign up for Wrike free trial here.

There is plenty to like about Wrike, including the prioritization of assessments, flexibility provided to multi-functional groups, and uptight progress monitoring. With its 3-pane view, you will have an instant view of important data, which can later be submitted to analytics and audit reports on progress and external threats. Another thing that makes Wrike special are advanced forms and requests which help reduce costly errors, meet deadlines, and improve progress visibility for your stakeholders.

Wrike’s Compact Dashboard

What is unique about Wrike?

1. Breaking large goals into manageable pieces. With Wrike, you can organize your work in core building blocks and set a due date for each. You can add as many tasks as you need, and combine easily all of the projects into folders and other structural units. This way, you can track both individual and overall progress.
2. Dynamic request forms & automation. Wrike’s automated and dynamic request forms facilitate delivery, and allow you to gather all necessary information and assign the right tasks to the right individuals/teams.
3. File management with live editing. Focused on collaboration, Wrike makes it possible to upload, edit, and share various file formats and save those automatically. The system will provide an overview of each edited version to track who has done what, and how he has done it.
4. Gantt-charts and visual timelines. Wrike uses Gantt charts as visual timelines where you can set real time dependencies between tasks, and adjust them in line with the planned schedule.
5. Balanced resources and recalibration. Another interesting thing Wrike is enabled to do is to balance and manage resources, and to track performance using workload views. With an open view on all important processes, the user will be able to recalibrate at any moment of time.
6. Time tracking and budgeting. You can also use Wrike to plan the time and expenses needed for each task/project, and compare those to possibilities and expectations.
7. Live activity stream for real-time collaboration. Wrike’s live activity stream is reminiscent of social media’s news feed, and thus provides instant status updates to the attention of concerned users. This way, all members in the team can keep tracks of what is happening, detect early inconsistencies, and avoid misunderstanding.
8. Team reporting. Wrike offers a unique, easy-to-use reporting wizard that gives users the chance to build analytic templates from scratch. All of these interactive reports can be shared within the team, with notifications scheduled for each update.
9. Multi-layer data protection. Wrike protects data with enterprise-grade mechanisms and a variety of IT controls, which  give you the peace of mind that sensitive corporate information won’t end up in the wrong hands. To start with, you can centralize control of user access by leveraging the identity directory, put in place role-based editing, and have information stored in exceptionally resilient data centers with SOC1 and SSAE 16 certifications.
10. Availability in various languages. Alongside English, Wrike offersa dedicated Chinese version, and dedicated support in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Russian, German, Italian, and Dutch.

2. Asana

Asana is another very well-known PM & collaboration system which provides a social-media reminiscent and friendly interface. Teams like the live activity stream that keeps them informed on changes and updates, and the possibility to launch private/group discussions from the comfort of the very same dashboard. In project management terms, Asana’s developers point task relating and change management as the highlights of their platform, reminding users that they also offer some of the best customer support available in the niche. With Asana, customers will also benefit from a dedicated success program, and develop new project management & collaboration tactics.

An overview of Asana’s UI

What is unique about Asana?

1. Turning conversations into actionable tasks. As Asana’s developers like to put it, the program turns chaos into order, and that’s mostly due to its private and group conversations that can easily be turned into tasks. Everyone in the team can track progress and edit files, or follow status updates through a social media-reminiscent activity stream.
2. Subtasks, task dependencies, and columnar project structures. Asana controls the progress of your projects end-to-end, tracking in the meanwhile each task and conversation. The system allows you to track your tasks and projects up to completion, and to generate amazingly detailed progress reports.
3. Dedicated smart inbox. Asana gives you the possibility to use any email service provider you like, but what is indeed unique about it is the dedicated smart inbox where users receive only relevant notifications. These emails can be turned into tasks automatically.
4. Custom tracking fields. Another beautiful feature are custom tracking fields, which allow the user to track any indicator that matters to him, including leads, bugs, job applicants, etc.
5. Private projects vs. Collaboration with third parties. Asana doesn’t only provide you with team pages and individual conversations between agents, but also gives you the possibility to share and comment work with guests, partners, and third-party collaborators.
6. Premade templates. Asana offers an array of premade templates you can use to add new workflows to the system within minutes. Thanks to the custom fields, you can also create your own templates from scratch.
7. An assigned Customer Success Manager. Asana’s team will assign you a dedicated Customer Success Manager to help you deploy it, and share some useful advice on how to plan and execute projects. The company is also known for premium, 24/7 support, including prioritization of your tickets in case of emergency.

3. Taskworld

The power of Taskworld lies in being able to transform abstract ideas into active and prosperous tasks, and making effective use of your company’s human capital and creativity. At the same time, it can become your team’s collaboration hub, where suggestions are exchanged instantly, and decisions are made with all factors considered. The system is available in several languages to cover as many geographies as possible, and comes with reasonable per-user pricing and a reliable support team to add value to your investment. You can easily sign up for Taskworld free trial here.

Taskworld Time Machine

What is unique about Taskworld?

1. Visual task boards. Taskworld helps large teams stay organized with visual task boards. These boards help good ideas convert into active tasks, and align all team members towards a common goal. Within these boards, you can set due dates and monitor the progress of each performer.
2. Complexity points for each task. Taskworld uses special task points (0-5) to evaluate complexity, and organizes and categorizes tasks according to the results, instead of expecting you to prioritize them.
3. Checklists and tasks in multiple locations. With Taskworld, you will be able to divide large tasks into manageable checklist units and items, and then assign each of them separately. On the opposite, you can group related tasks and subtasks in larger units, and update them in multiple projects at a time.
4. Multiple assignees. In Taskworld, there is no limit to as how many people you can assign for a particular task or checklist. The tool will provide you with a dedicated activity log where you can follow the changes made to those tasks in chronological order.
5. Dedicated support and training. Taskworld is particularly recommended to inexperienced and starter teams, as the company offers an array of free demos and tutorials, and a 24/5 knowledgeable telephone/email support team to answer all of their questions in the preferred language. On their website, you will also find a detailed user guide to task management.

4. Basecamp

Basecamp in Action

What Basecamp does the best is bringing complex projects down to well-organized assignments, where users can delegate tasks, chase deadlines, and monitor progress on the go. The product prides itself with 10 years of industry experience and millions of users who simply adore its simple and compact operations. We recommend Basecamp mostly because of its myriad of effective monitoring tools, innovation in reordering tasks, and campfires allow you to use pings and chat with individuals and groups in real time, and reach fast consensus for every important decision.

What is unique about Basecamp?

1. All-in-one. Basecamp brings together your projects, clients, and internal communications, and becomes a single source of truth for your company. It is centralized and well-structured, and gives you  a 10,000ft view and complete control of everything that’s happening within your company.
2. Proficient discussion boards. Basecamp reinvents the whole concept of teamwork with 100% proficient discussion boards, and offers dedicated messaging boards, Campfire chats, to-do lists and schedules, and automated check ins. This is how the system eliminates all need to use third-party software for in-team collaboration.
3. Project milestone schedule. With Basecamp, you will be able to consolidate your team around tasks that genuinely matters, set up realistic and feasible milestones, and schedule deadlines. The system’s interface is very friendly and easy to navigate, and won’t cause any troubles for users finding the information they need.
4. To-Do lists. One of Basecamp’s 6 most appreciated and core functionality features is the To-Do list, which allows users to personalize their dashboard and prioritize tasks in a manner that is convenient to them. On the manager’s behalf, this help track the progress of each agent and hold him/her accountable.
5. Automatic check-ins. The automatic check ins are there to let agents produce daily, weekly, or monthly summaries of what they’ve done, by clicking on a single button.
6. Cross-team and cross-project reports. Basecamp offers a variety of standard and custom reports to summarize key activities, which not only reflect what has been completed so far, but also inform on the project’s current status and upcoming deadlines.
7. Universal applicability. Basecamp is one of the most versatile project management systems on the markets, and provides just enough configuration tools to help users tailor it to their needs. Hence, the system is applicable in diverse teams and industries, and available on all devices and operating systems.

5. Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a straightforward PM and task management system that divides your large and complex projects into manageable units, and schedules recurring tasks, dependancies, and subtasks according to your deadlines. Once projects are accomplished, Zoho Projects gives you access to in-depth insights displayed in understandable charts and graphs, so that you could report on your activities, track opportunities, and capture eventual drawbacks. It also offers a very small-biz friendly pricing scheme. You can easily sign up for Zoho Projects free trial here.

Zoho Projects in action: Project Planning

What is unique about Zoho Projects?

1. Project planning & coordination. Zoho Projects helps you break down complex projects to tasks, task lists, and milestones, and obtain refined control by creating your own subtasks, recurring tasks, and dependencies. With its handy Project coordinator, you can easily stay in line with recent updates, go back to important posts on your favorite social media, and make use of all resources you have available.
2. Timesheets. Zoho’s timesheets are unique because they allow your team members to log both billable and non billable working hours, and generate invoices based on this information.
3. In-depth reporting tools. Zoho Projects also offers an in-depth business analytics suite for you to gain insight into your team’s progress, and produce efficient and accurate reports. For the purpose, the system integrates with Zoho Reports, and makes it possible to embed reports and dashboards across websites, applications, and blogs.
4. Issue tracker. With Zoho Projects, you can log your issues and then track each of them until it is tested and removed. In the meanwhile, you will be invited to define your custom workflows and use only your business rules, and track code changes made using Bitbucket and GitHub.
5. Document management. Zoho Projects allows you to create, distribute, and edit all files, spreadsheets, and presentations related to your projects. File management is also advanced, as it is the admin who should govern access and give team members the right permissions to edit files within the system.

6. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a popular enterprise project management system designed to meld ease of use with complex timeline management, and enriched with all necessary tools to facilitate purposeful communication. Rather than focusing exclusively on projects, Smartsheet enables you to plan and monitor corporate programs and core business operations, organize events, and track the success of your marketing campaigns. It is very flexible and fully automated, and works impeccably on any device, browser, or operating system.

Smartsheet in action: Task tracking

What is unique about Smartsheet?

1. Member of a reputed productivity kit. Smartsheet is not simply a project management system, but rather a compact productivity & work management suite that controls core business operations. It keeps all comments, notes, and project data within a centralized location, and allows agents to communicate at any moment of time.
2. Project standardization & Task tracking. Smartsheet uses Gantt charts to visualize and format projects, and allows you to prepare standard templates for your specific workflows. Editing is as easy as drag-and-drop, and activities are constantly compared to long-term goals to ensure maximal productivity.
3. Program Rollups. A unique feature provided by Smartsheet are operational rollups, thanks to which you can easily customize your system for managing requests, projects, processes and reference lists. The same, reusable reports can be applied to track progress and analyze data.
4. Strategic planning & budgeting. Smartsheet also specializes in resource management, helping you assign the right task to the right person, and estimate the time and budget needed for each project.
5. Robust base of training resources. Smartsheet is often referred to as a very beginner-friendly system, and that’s because of its large base of tutorials and training resources which are available for free. A knowledgeable support team will also be at your reach 24/7 to ensure you get all assistance necessary to accomplish your projects.

7. Nutcache

Nutcache was developed to add value and efficiency to different quite-to-collection processes. You can use it to plan, manage, and execute projects, but also draft expense reports, bill and invoice customers, and modernize your time tracking methods. The system gives you flexible time management–tracking time by duration or using start/end values, as well as using multiple timers to track projects simultaneously. The software also generates reports with graphical indicators and deep insights to help you get a quick overview where projects are heading. It is also one of the most secure PM systems that guarantees 100% data protection. You can easily sign up for Nutcache free trial here.

What is unique about Nutcache?

1. Expense management & Budget milestones. With Nutcache, you will be able to dedicate a portion of your budget to each project, and make sure expenses remain within the frames of that budget while following the project’s progress. The system will also allow you to manage and distribute human resources, and drill into details to find out how much was spent on individual tasks. At the same time, you can compare the level of profitability of your projects to the amount invested in them, and get a clear overview on the adjustments that should be made.
2. Customizable project workflow. You can adjust the collaborative boards to your team’s preferred project management methods, and tailor workflows to your needs. With the multiple percentage milestones and alerts, it will be more than easy to assign team embers and time logs against your projects.
3. Flexible billing & invoicing for consultants. Another feature than makes Nutchache unique is to bill a project depending on worked hours and expenses, and distribute and manage estimates and  invoices directly through the platform.
4. Notes & comments for clients. Nutchase’s advanced alert & notification system ensures that everyone will be on the same page with updates and changes, referring in the case also to third-parties, clients, and guest collaborators.
5. Security safeguards. With Nutcache in your toolkit, you can have the peace of mind that all your data is protected from loss, misuse, and incorrect alteration. The system performs backups on a daily basis, and stores information on external OVH servers in 17 different locations.

8. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a compact PM, collaboration, and CRM suite that takes into account all parties involved in large and complex projects. The key functionality of the system revolves around time management and time planning features, which will not only help you meet your deadlines, but also to produce detailed and accurate reports. You can use it to coordinate projects, schedules, and tasks, and benefit from its CRM & communication platform to involve customers whenever they’re concerned. With up to 12 users on board, you can use Bitrix24 absolutely free of charge.

Bitrix24 in action: Scheduling

What is unique about Bitrix24?

1. Combined project management, sales governance, and CRM. The reason why Bitrix24 is considered suitable for enterprise-grade projects is that it combines PM with sales automation and CRM, offering also other productivity add-ons you can consider to enhance its application. The compact suite offers even telephony services, document management, and HR control features.
2. 35+ collaboration tools. Bitrix24’s developers perceive streamlined collaboration to be a logical precursor of successful project management, and will thus give you more than 35 collaboration tools. You will have a variety of open communication channels, mail servers, social media integration, chat, video, and many more useful features.
3. HR tools. Bitrix24 can also be used as an HR and workforce management tool, as it offers a centralized employee directory, leave/time off management and active schedules and directories, knowledge management, and forms and requests. The system will also handle recruiting, and provide employees with an advanced self-service portal and automate routing processes.
4. Sales management. Bitrix24 will meet all of your sales force automation needs, as it offers a dedicated contact management, invoicing, and analytics suite, and supports multiple languages and currencies.
5. Documents management. Bitrix24 is also well-known for its document management features, including network drive mapping, automated syncing and in-place editing, as well as versioning control and history.
6. Dedicated call center. The telephony suite was designed to enable you to make national and international calls on mobile and landline numbers through this platform, as well as to receive such without installing any additional software/hardware.
7. Unrestricted communication with customers. With Bitrix24, it won’t matter which communication channels your customers use (email, telephone, social media, instant messenger, web form, website live chat) – the system supports all of them, and saves interactions in a single database.
8. Flexible deployment. Depending on what you need, you can choose to deploy Bitrix24 on premise, or use it in cloud.

9. Clarizen

Clarizen is a unique combination of mighty project management and high-quality social collaboration feature that aligns your team and directs your ideas towards execution. It is cloud-powered and incredibly easy to deploy, which is why more than 2,000 businesses in 75 countries worldwide are relying on its functionality. There are many particularities that make Clarizen a suitable alternative for any business, including a separate and flexible timeline for each project/tasks that adjusts easily to real-time anomalies. The program is meant to serve both operational and functional managers, and to improve their performance communication to a level which would ensure detailed and accurate planning of each project before it has been rolled out.

Clarizen in action: Project Delivery Dashboard

What is unique about Clarizen?

1. Configurable workflows. Clarizen can be easily customized to fit the specifications of your business, and is able to automate repeatable processes, workflows, and alerts. With this in mind, we recommend it as a suitable alternative to any success-oriented team, regardless of the niche or industry.
2. Automated demand management. The system makes it possible to automate and repeat how you create projects, plan initiatives and capture good ideas. This way, you will be able to skip daunting administrative tasks, and focus on what genuinely matters to you and your team.
3. Sizing, scoping, and estimation. Depending on whether you’re managing short or multi-year, cross-functional projects, Clarizen will help you organize, size, score, and estimate each of them.
4. Stakeholder collaboration. A unique feature offered by Clarizen is stakeholder collaboration, which helps you avoid working in silos or facing miscommunication problems. This time, you can centralize interactions within a single collaboration platform, and align internal and external communication.
5. Progress management. Clarizen specializes in progress management, and therefore makes it possible to track and upgrade accomplishment, and make changes instantly visible. This way, it will help you avoid double work and unprojected cost overruns.
6. Centralized document repository. Clarizen keeps all of your documents stored in a single database, and gives you the possibility to create and manage interactive presentations. Using it, you can also manage progress and approvals related to phase gate deliverables.
7. Risk assessment and monitoring. With Clarizen, you can centralize and organize risks and mitigation plans directly from the project overviews. The system is also equipped for change and scope management, and keeps financial data under control.

10. Trello

Trello is what we like to call a user-centered software system, as it offers one of the most engaging and highly interactive interfaces on the market. What is most specific about it is its unique board-and-card methodology, and almost unlimited configuration tricks that help it adopt even the most complex and specific projects. What is more, Trello connects both individuals and teams, and provides a variety of social interaction features that make collaboration more enjoyable. It is also one of the most cost-effective and best-integrated tools on this list.

Trello: Dashboard

What is unique about Trello?

1. Project management with boards and cards. Trello works around a unique concept of arranging projects/tasks as boards and cards, and leaving task dependencies entirely up to your needs and wishes. The interface is friendly and easy to navigate, and therefore suitable for small and inexperienced teams.
2. End-to-end collaboration. Trello unites a variety of communication channels in order to transfer corporate communication within a single system. With it, your team members can follow changes and status updates, add comments, attachments, or ideas, and even add labels and checklists.
3. Team grouping. Focused on collaboration, Trello helps teams collaborate and stay organized, and will allow you to group different employee units to build the dream team you’ve always desired. What is specific about the system is also team grouping,
4. Public and private boards. With Trello, you can create as many boards, cards, and teams as you wish, and add as many people as needed. You can choose to make any number of teams or boards public or private.
5. Power-Up connections and developer API.  Trello’s Business Class features include Power-Ups which connect Trello to services like Google Drive, Evernote, GitHub, and Salesforce, to name a few. You can get the ability to sort and filter boards, advanced security features, administrative controls, and all the benefits of Trello Gold. If you are looking to use Trello in your own app, extension, or plug-in, there’s a free, public Developer API for you.

11. Podio

In short, Citrix’s Podio functions as a PM-dedicated enterprise network open to various types of communication and task contribution. It is just cut for the needs of large and decentralized teams looking to track common projects and participate in them, and also helps keep short-term output aligned with long-term goals. We also recommend it because of the complete flexibility it gives you when defining content structure, reports, and overviews, and variety of company intranet and CRM features that make it a real catch for your money.

Podio – Dashboard

What is unique about Podio?

1. Granular admin capabilities. Podio offers granular admin capabilities to give managers control over who has access to which workspace, and which adjustments have been made on different projects and tasks.
2. Tailored processes and custom structure.  Another way in which Podio boosts the effectiveness of PM teams is by allowing them to tailor and accommodate each unique phase, stage, or business operation.
3. Data visualization. Podio is also well known for real-time data visualizations, and creation of interactive dashboards that showcase progress and reveal trends. The feature is particularly useful to sales teams and companies interested to give customers a full overview of their project’s progress.
4. Connected CRM. One of the several handly add-ons offered by Podio is the CRM one, a compact contact management suite that tracks leads and sales, and empowers real-time communication. File sharing extensions are also available.
5. Unlimited storage. With Podio, there are no restrictions to as how many projects you can manage and control. Storage is not limited, and doesn’t depend on the plan you’ve chosen.

12. JIRA

At the moment, JIRA is used more than 51,000 customers worldwide including top brands like eBay, Spotify, Cisco, and LinkedIn. The agile and effective project management platform uses both Kanban and Scrum methodology to boost project success, and also integrates with GitHub to connect issues to commits. Its dashboards are flexible and personalized, and a possibility to use a special Query Language (JQL) with simple autocomplete to develop advanced queries is also provided. At the same time, JIRA offers flexible deployment options.

JIRA – Portfolio Roadmap

What is unique about JIRA?

1. Scrum & Kanban boards. JIRA works with both Scrum and Kanban methodology. Agile teams, for instance, can use Scrum boards to stay focused on delivering iterative and incremental value, or flexible Kanban boards to obtain full visibility into what’s next so you can continuously deliver maximum output in minimal cycle time.
2. Out-of-the-box reports. Rather than standardized reports, JIRA will give your team access to several out-of-the-box reports with real-time, actionable insights, as well as the possibility to create such on their own.
3. Agile roadmap planning. Jira offers an agile portfolio management add on you can use to forecast feasible and realistic roadmaps, and to make data-driven and informed decisions.
4. Rich APIs and 100,000+ add ons. There are more than 1,000 case plug-and-play add-ons you can purchase from Atlassian’s marketplace. The system’s open API architecture, on the other hand, will allow you to connect this system with virtually any third-party system or application.
5. Disaster recovery. JIRA stores your corporate data in several secure locations, and backs it up regularly to ensure you can easily recover it in case of a disaster.

13. Teamwork

Teamwork was designed for medium and large corporate teams working simultaneously on different projects, and thus belongs to the group of feature-rich systems that facilitate data access, and make metrics more understandable to differing-experience users. With Teamwork, you can organize your projects, teams, resources, schedules and more with ease and speed, and make sure everyone in the team is in line with changes and updates. Below the friendly and seemingly simple interface, nevertheless, you will discover a powerful risk-and-benefit analyzer, and one of the most sophisticated forecasting mechanisms in this industry.

Teamwork – Dashboard

What is unique about Teamwork?

1. Comprehensive project management. Teamwork uses Gantt charts to let you organize your projects, teams, resources, and  schedules with ease and speed. You can create milestones, mark events on a special calendar, and keep track of all important changes and updates. All projects are categorized and assigned to a particular group of people, where everyone gets a different role and access permissions.
2. Task estimates and dependencies. Teamwork will allow you to plan workload in advance, and add estimates and progress notes for each task. You can also include task dependencies when an activity specifically requires the completion of another one.
3. Full milestone management suite. Teamwork makes it possible to link tasks and task lists to specific milestones, and distribute responsibility by assigning the same milestone  to several people. Each milestone is categorized, described, scheduled in a calendar according to its due date, and connected to a smart alert system that will remind the people in charge of it.
4. Data backup. Teamwork will protect your data from all types of unwanted intrusion, and back it up on a daily basis using MySQL.
5. Customization. With Teamwork, you will be able to customize everything – the system allows you to use your custom domain, tailor logos to make them more business specific, configure touch and favicons in line with your brand’s identity, and even customize color themes, shortcuts, and links. An interesting possibility is to create and use your own templates instead of the system’s premade ones.

14. ProWorkflow

What ProWorkflow specializes in is in-detail project visibility and control, be it that you’re running a small, medium, or even large business. The system organizes all critical information on a user-friendly and personalized dashboard, from where the user can perform several unique operations such as bulk task editing, workflow management, or drafting special reporting templates. What you will also like about ProWorkflow are quotes and invoices, which make the system ideal for managing all types of workflows and operations.

ProWorkflow – Notification Settings

What is unique about ProWorkflow?

1. Flexible task management. ProWorkflow offers flexible task types and a variety of customizable templates you can use to make your project operations more business-specific. Due to the possibility to configure workflows and prioritize tasks upon need, ProWorkflow is often considered to be the ideal branding PM solution.
2. Quotes & Invoices manager. The functionality of ProWorkflow can be enhanced with a number of handy add-ons and plugins, among which the optional Invoice manager for direct billing, and the quoting plugin designed for sales teams.
3. Time-tracker widgets and add-ons. Another interesting ProWorkflow plugin you should consider is the time tracking widget, which will not only facilitate time sheet entries and per-hour billing and reporting, but it will also enhance the professionalism of your service delivery.
4. Contact management. ProWorkflow can also be used for CRM purposes, as it helps organize and manage contacts and contractors. Several HR features are also in place to facilitate performance management, and hel you keep track of your employees’ progress.
5. Smart reporting. ProWorkflow offers both standardized and custom, ad hoc reports to meet the needs of every business.

15. Easy Projects

Just as indicated by its name, Easy Projects does a magnificent job facilitating portfolio and task management, using WBS, Gantt, Earned Value, Agile methods, and similar best-of-breed tactics and practices. The company also provides the possibility to extend its original toolkit with advanced functionality modules, such as CRM, resource management, finance managements, help desk, and other attractive plugins. The best-known features of this system are Dependencies creation, Resource Loading, Critical Path, Guest Portals, and many more.

EasyProjects in action: Time-tracking

What is unique about Easy Projects?

1. Interactive project management. Easy Projects has one of the most compact project management tools to be found in the niche, right because it combines effective Gantt charts with portfolio management features, resource loading, and What If scenario simulations that help estimate the project’s duration and budget.
2. Critical path & Multiple dependencies. Easy Projects makes it possible to set up custom dependencies, so that the change in a particular task would be promptly reflected in a related one. You can also enable multiple different links between tasks, and use the Critical Path feature to identify and display hidden connections.
3. Monitoring your projects’ financial health. With tools and widgets such as budgeting, internal costs, projected profit, and customer billing & invoicing, Easy Project help obtain full project accountability, and monitor the financial health of every operation.
4. Engaging and informing customers. An interesting possibility offered by Easy Projects is to involve customers directly into the process of project management, by posting messages and providing them free access and regular communication. The guests will be able to submit their own work, edit existing files, change requests, and track the progress of each operation. Features such as status reports and audit logs will help hold individuals accountable for each change made in the system.
5. Enterprise-grade data protection. Easy Projects is powered by Microsoft Azure Cloud, and certified as ISO 27007, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 1, SOC 2, FedRAMP, and UK G-Cloud compatible. Data is encrypted and regularly backed up, and access is governed with internal roles and permissions.

16. KanbanFlow

KanbanFlow is  one of the most popular lean project management systems used to plan, execute, and analyze corporate projects. It is able to automatically convert emails into tasks, create board templates for repeating tasks and projects, and track and manage time using the Pomodoro methodology. It also offers one of the most intuitive and easiest-to-learn interfaces, which makes it suitable for beginners and inexperienced teams. Pricing starts as low as $5 per month.

KanbanFlow: Activity Log

What is unique about KanbanFlow?

1. WIP limits. In order to simplify your PM processes, KanbanFlow gives you the chance to restrict the number of tasks you can add to your custom columns, which will end up forcing you to accomplish what is due rather than moving deadlines ahead and adding new assignments.
2. Subtasks, recurring tasks, and swimlanes. With KanbanFlow, you can divide your tasks into subtasks, and track the progress for each of them. You will also be able to split boards into swimlanes, teams, products, business areas, and other custom units to avoid any type of confusion. The possibility to create recurring tasks for routine operations is also provided.
3. Timer & Pomodoro statistics. KanbanFlow uses a Pomodoro technique timer, as well as the usual stopwatch timer to track the time needed to accomplish a particular task. Upon wish, you can also log time in manually, and draft timing reports at any moment.
4. Real-time collaboration from any device. KanbanFlow will keep your team members updated, connected, and engaged regardless of their location. Its advanced collaboration features are open to use from any device and operating system, including the possibility to search for files or share such yourself.
5. Multiple useful integrations. KanbanFlow is one of the best integrated Kanban-based PM systems that can be used in synergy with all email service providers. It supports files from all leading formats, and comes with an open API architecture which lets you connect it to whatever business app/system you may be using.

17. dapulse

There are many great things to share on dapulse‘s functionality, the main one being its specialization in is streamlining discussions and contributions, and keeping all team members on the same page to ensure highest-level performance. It offers a modern suite of scheduling tools for project and task management, thanks to which the company eliminates arcane paperwork, and minimizes the risk of detrimental human errors. You will also appreciate its flexibility, as daPulse follows each change in your item’s status, appoints and modifies dates, and preserves the spotlight over the agent in charge of completing a particular action.

daPulse’s compact dashboard

What is unique about dapulse?

1. A unified dashboard for all projects, tasks, and team members. With dapulse, you can add projects, tasks, to-dos, and milestones on the very same dashboard, and observe instantly who’s doing what, and how your work is progressing. The interface is very intuitive and leaves no room for confusion, which helps you plan workload much ahead that you’d do with other tools.
2. Easy communication with mentions and notifications. dapulse will make it easy to communicate with team members in context. With it, you can add communication rows to your board (called pulses) and mention and engage individuals and entire teams in real time.
3. Visual planning and evaluation of the team’s bandwidth. dapulse’s highlight is definitely visual planning, as the system makes it possible to visualize all of your team’s work on a single screen, and instantly evaluate their bandwidth and make blitz decisions. This way, you will be able to assign the right tasks to the right people, and hence meet all of your deadlines.
4. Client invitations. With dapulse, you will not only engage and involve team members, but also external parties and clients directly concerned by the success of your project. The system will first invite clients as guests, and then share the progress and stats of the project via email, phone calls, or even online meetings.
5. Fully searchable database. You will have just enough labels and filters to search anything you want, including recent file versions and updates, images uploaded by your colleagues, and new assignments. Basically, whatever file/info enters dapulse, it will immediately be stored in the database and turned into operable intelligence.

18. Projectplace

Projectplace is another of our project management award winners, best known for its huge potential to bring teams together and to boost collaboration getting things done in a timely and effective manner. The intelligent application provides secure and scalable features for task management, reporting, collaboration, as well as time management for all sorts of customers from small businesses to large enterprises. Instead of wandering across programs with different functionalities, you will get to store and analyze information under one roof, in this case a platform which handles everything, from the beginning of the planning process until the accomplishment and delivery moment.

What is unique about Projectplace?

1. Advanced project control and reporting. With Projectplace’s Gantt charts, it will be easy to set up realistic goals and keep projects within the desired time and budget framework. The system is designed to facilitate planning and decision making, and combines the best PPM and project execution tools.
2. Document management. Projectplace stores and manages your project files in a secure, well-structured, and easy-to-access environment, and allows you to share those with any concerned party, be that a user of the system or an external collaborator.
3. Feedback from document reviews. What makes Projectplace even more special is the possibility to send document reviews to internal and external users, and keep changes and comments united in a single location. The system will also provide access to a built-in approval workflow which reveals when a change was made or requested.
4. Kanban boards. The methodology Projectplace developers chose to ensure agility is Kanban, a very  transparent and visual approach that will engage and motivate all of your team members. Kanban boards also make it easier to track deliverables, be those related to a single project or many of them at the same time.
5. Online meetings. Projectplace’s collaboration suite is well-known for its online meetings, as using this system you can work simultaneously on all assignments. Projectplace will allow you to share your screen with up to 100 participants, and keep everyone updated with handy alerts and notifications.

19. Mavenlink

If looking for a simply and budget-friendly solution that can handle your long and complex projects, look no further than Mavenlink. The system combines advanced project management, resource planning, collaboration, and a variety of unique financial management tools. It keeps track of your conversations, assets and resources, and counts as one of the leading PM apps used to track and  manage expenses.

Mavenlink – Activity Feed

What is unique about Mavenlink?

1. Project planning. Mavenlink uses Gantt charts to track the status of each task and deliverable in real time, and to adjust the project budget to all resource changes. You can use it to build realistic project plans, create assignments, and schedule resources by volume and permanency.
2. Cost control. Mavenlink is fully equipped for profitability management, and keeps you in absolute control of your resources. The system automatically connects expenses and invoices to the project/task they’re affecting, and provides real-time margins and financial reporting data unlike any other PM system.
3. Project accounting. Mavenlink is an excellent alternative for project accounting, as it tracks both time and expenses, and makes it easy to input financial details. The tool allows you to generate per-hour invoices, weigh different milestones, calculate sales taxes, integrate change orders, and much more.
4. Business intelligence. Another way in which Mavenlink facilitates decision making is by providing the right data insights. It will reveal your projects’ status, profit margins, utilization stats, and time & expense data, and provide you with a custom reporting engine and templates built by professional experts.
5. Team collaboration. As expected, Mavenlink will also pay attention to your team’s collaboration needs, and make it possible to start conversations, upload files and exchange information, and eliminate in such way all approval delays and versioning difficulties.

20. Taiga

Taiga is a project management platform for agile developers and designers and project managers who want a beautiful tool that makes work truly enjoyable. It is intended for smaller (fewer than 50) teams of developers, designers, project managers and other agile methodology practitioners in fields from marketing to engineering and beyond. You can use it in cloud or deploy it on your server, and benefit from its open API architecture to connect it to other systems and applications.

Taiga – Scrum methodology

What is unique about Taiga?

1. Agile Scrum methodology. Taiga uses Scrum’s iterative and incremental development methodology, and breaks product backlogs into manageable chunks committed to a certain number of team members with the right skills and resources.
2. Epics multiproject & User stories. Taiga allows you to combine user stories into larger objects called Epics, used to access and plan multiple projects at once. Epics are also used to establish/ track related and hierarchical relationships between different stories and projects.
3. Multiplatform importers. With Taiga, you can also import and manage projects already active in other platforms, including JIRA, Asana, Github, and and Trello.
4. Wiki space for project documentation. taiga will also provide some wiki space for your project documentation, where you can add and directly edit wiki pages, and upload browser content.
5. Social management. Taiga gives your team members the chance to collaborate, share opinions, and assist each other when accomplishing specific tasks. There will be both private and public timelines, where members of other teams can track the progress and updates for all projects.

The post Top 20 Online Project Management Tools To Manage Your Projects appeared first on Financesonline.com.

What is appointment scheduling software? And how does appointment scheduling software work? Let’s start with a definition:

“Appointment scheduling software solutions are tools that allow professionals and businesses to better manage the scheduling of appointments and bookings. This type of software is also known as appointment booking software and online booking software.”

Companies use online appointment scheduling software to automate scheduling tasks. The system can be used to arrange meetings and appointments. Top features you can expect in such solutions include:

• Appointment reminders
• Employee and customer management
• Calendar integration
• Payment processing
• Revenue processing
• Mobile compatibility

You can also use this type of software to update scheduling tasks and improve your company’s efficiency.

Both desktop-based and web-based appointment scheduling platforms include:

• Integration with employee and customer data
• Calendar system linked to a main database
• Ability to evaluate calendar data
• Permissions method

Customer appointment management (CAM) is an advanced type of appointment scheduling software used by large companies with a mobile workforce. Its main function is to automatically schedule and route home service appointments.

Leading vendors mostly offer their solutions under the SaaS model.

This article intends to answer the question “what is appointment scheduling software?” Beyond the simple definition of appointment scheduling software, we will help you understand the purpose of it in the management of your business and shortlist your options once you start looking for your ideal system. These are the topics we are going to discuss:

1. Examples of appointment scheduling software
2. Benefits of appointment scheduling software
3. Types of appointment scheduling software
4. Features of appointment scheduling software
5. Buying factors to consider
6. Pricing of appointment scheduling software
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

What Are Examples of Appointment Scheduling Software?

1. Calendy — Calendly is a simple, easy-to-use, yet powerful scheduling software, which aims to save time, accelerate sales, and improve service quality.

It eliminates the old-school way of using email and phone tags for scheduling appointments, calls, interviews, demos, and more. It allows hot prospects to connect right away, and ensures staff don’t lose them to phone and email tags.

It works simply and beautifully. All you need to do is to set your availability preference, share the link with clients, colleagues, etc., and let them pick a time for the event, which is automatically added to your calendar.

It’s more efficient and simplified compared to traditional appointment scheduling solutions, and it makes it easy for users to setup, use, and manage the scheduling of appointments and more.

2. Checkfront — Checkfront is an online booking and customer management solution. It comes with many useful tools and also supports integration with many popular online services to make the reservations and bookings quick and hassle-free.

To make management easier for you, Checkfront will also facilitate payment processing, and make sure you have the necessary analytic tools to make the best use of your data.

Checkfront was first launched in 2009 as an application with the aim to easily integrate the relevant websites and services, and make the process of bookings, reservations, and payments easy for the online buyers.

The application got a lot of positive response in no time and the application that was founded by two people turned into a company that continuously evolved the application into a full-fledged booking and payment management system.

3. Appointment Plus — Business operations these days always seem to be in a hurry. Therefore, automation becomes an important factor in business models. Appointment Plus is one such software that helps you to schedule appointments and it manages everything related to it.

Appointment management is a key component to modern businesses. Whether they are interviews or meetings, you need to manage clashes, reminders and other similar aspects which can be a bit daunting.

Appointment Plus gives you that luxury of easily and quickly managing these aspects and it becomes more of a digital secretary to you. At the moment, Appointment Plus operates in more than 16 countries of the world.

Some renowned businesses from across the globe have been using this software which is why it is one of the leading software services in this domain. Regardless of how big or small your business might be, Appointment Plus has effective and efficient solutions for all.

4. Bookeo — Bookeo delivers a set of online scheduling and appointment management solutions for various types of business and individual users.

While Bookeo originally catered to small businesses and individual professionals such as photographers, car washing services, therapists, and more with its basic appointment scheduling tool, the product soon expanded to include more customer and business types.

Aside from Bookeo Appointments, Bookeo has developed two separate products intended for instruction-based businesses and tourism and travels — Bookeo Class & Courses and Bookeo Tours & Activities — respectively.

The former is an ideal online reservation and booking platform for art classes, yoga sessions, cooking schools and more. On the other hand, the latter is perfect for guided tours, charters, and escape rooms to name a few.

5. YouCanBook.me — YouCanBook.me is a booking platform that allows customer bookings straight into the calendar, and integrates seamlessly with Google and iCloud Calendar. If offers a personalized scheduling page, allowing customers to easily book their appointments and be notified about them when the time arrives.

Users can link the software to their Google or iCloud Calendar or even both. At the same time, this platform is fairly simple to setup. The user needs to connect a Google/iCloud Calendar to the YCBM account, and set the required features.

You can then control your availability through your calendar and publish the new booking grid to your website, Facebook page, or send it by email. This allows customers to book an appointment according to their convenience.

You’ll automatically get detailed notifications when a customer makes a booking and the booking would also pop straight into the calendar. Customers can also reschedule their bookings, which will update automatically in the calendar.

6. Acuity Scheduling — Acuity Scheduling is an easy-to-use and user-friendly scheduling solution in which clients can quickly view real-time availability and book their appointments accordingly.

This saves businesses from most of the headaches and mix-ups related to manual scheduling. Its powerful calendar coordination features automatically notifies you when an appointment is booked, and allows checking schedules from mobile devices.

It supports Google Calendar, iCalendar, Outlook and Office 365. The solution is particularly effective for small and growing businesses that are competing against bigger companies in their industry.

It allows sending customized and branded reminders, confirmations and follow-ups for a more personalized customer experience. Customers can also make online payments while booking an appointment through PayPal, Stripe, Square, Authorize.net and Braintree.

It can be integrated with a number of other online services, including Zapier, Quickbooks, MailChimp, etc., for greater flexibility and scalability.

6. FreeBusy — a simple scheduling and calendar management application that lets you share your availability across multiple calendar platforms to help you, your clients, families, and loved ones set the perfect time for a session or a meeting. With FreeBusy, you can connect and synchronize multiple existing calendar applications and then let your clients and loved one see your available time, enabling them to match their available time with yours.

All your calendar applications show your availability in real-time. Whenever one takes a slot of your time, the system automatically updates to reflect the changes made to your schedule. Setting appointments is a breeze as everything is automated and is based on your availability.

7. 10to8 — 10to8 is an appointment-scheduling system that simplifies most HR managers’ average workload. This software service helps significantly in automating day-to-day activities, thereby giving your business a much more professional look and performance.

The software offers some highly flexible features which can fit according to the size of your business, which is why we believe 10to8 caters to the need of both small and large companies.

Basically, the scalability options in this software make it an even more attractive offer to all types and sizes of businesses. With 10to8 in your toolkit, it will be incredibly easy to improve customers’ experience, and allow them to make, manage, or cancel bookings around the clock.

The system is also an excellent alternative to enable attractive booking forms, send automated email reminders, follow your appointment history, and build lasting and high-quality customer relationships. Whether you are at the office or at home, you can set and maintain schedules with this web-based software.

Several renowned businesses have been 10to8’s customers, which says a lot about its credibility and efficiency. What both experts and satisfied customers believe to be the distinctive advantage of this system is its neat and friendly interface, which requires no complex training sessions.

Why Use Appointment Scheduling Software?

What’s the purpose of appointment scheduling software? What are the advantages of appointment scheduling software? Here are four key benefits we can cite:

1. It helps you attract and retain customers: Your customers will find it easy to schedule appointments for your services and thus enjoy a better user experience. They can schedule an appointment anytime, anywhere and don’t need to wait for normal business hours. Thus, appointment scheduling software can help you market your services more effectively to attract new customers as well as retain existing ones. Surveys show that a good percentage of customers wish to schedule appointments online compared to other means.
2. It enhances revenue: The software automates the scheduling work which helps your employees concentrate on generating more revenue by servicing more customers every day. It integrates smoothly with electronic payment gateways which speeds up the billing process and helps your company get faster payments.
3. It boosts staff efficiency: Service professionals are busy with multiple customer appointments during peak hours. If they do not use appointment scheduling software, they may end up double-booking appointments, which can cause customer frustration and reduce efficiency. The software helps with easy scheduling and rescheduling, and your employees can confirm appointments with customers to ensure they don’t waste time.
4. It minimizes no-shows: The software tracks forthcoming appointments and automatically sends phone, text, or email reminders to customers about their appointments. Certain apps even let customers confirm appointments through these reminders. This helps to minimize no-shows and allows companies to better utilize their employee time.

What Are the Types of Appointment Scheduling Software?

Appointment scheduling software can be offered as:

• Desktop applications: These are licensed and installed on the user’s hardware. These systems have robust features and reporting, and can be customized. But a negative is they don’t normally offer an online portal for employee or customer access. Installed apps need to be maintained, supported, and upgraded by the end user.
• Web-based systems (SaaS): These are offered by a third-party provider as a hosted software solution. A major benefit is customers have the convenience of booking and scheduling their own appointments over the web.

A type of software within this category is called Customer Appointment Management (CAM) Software. This is a kind of appointment-scheduling software used by large mobile workforces. It automatically schedules and routes in-home service appointment arrivals. CAM software uses proprietary algorithms that identify mobile employees’ work patterns to accurately forecast a service technician’s time of arrival and reduce a customer’s waiting time to 60 minutes. These SaaS systems are easy to deploy and use and allow flexible pricing packages.

What Does Appointment Scheduling Software Do?

1. Deal management and promotions: You can create promotions and deals that are valid for given timespan on employee calendars to attract more bookings.
2. Acceptance of online payments: Some apps provide integration with electronic payment gateways so that you can collect payments when customers book appointments.
3. Staff scheduling: Business owners can effectively manage employee work hours by monitoring their calendars in real time.
4. Customer scheduling: Customers can see the calendars of all the professionals in a company so that they can book an appointment with an employee they prefer.
5. Automatic reminders: You can send reminders to customers about upcoming appointments by notifying them via email messages or SMS texts.
6. Calendar management: Users can create meetings or appointments on their calendars and share them with others at multiple locations. This feature may also include synchronization with third-party calendar apps such as Google Calendar used by others.
7. Real-time automated scheduling: The platform can confirm or deny an appointment immediately when a booking request is made, depending on availability. It can also handle a waiting list of appointments that can be replaced if an existing booking is rescheduled or cancelled.
8. Online booking: Customers can book, reschedule, or follow up on appointments over the Internet by utilizing an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Some apps help users to make online bookings that automatically synchronize across multiple devices.

What Should You Consider When Buying an Appointment Scheduling System?

Appointment scheduling software helps users to manage scheduling bookings and appointments. If you are looking for a suitable appointment scheduling program for your needs, you have come to the right place. This buyer’s guide provides you helpful pointers on the essential things to look for in a good quality software solution.

Get to Know Each Product With Free Trial

A good way to start is to try out the free trials of the best appointment scheduling software services. This will help you learn more about their features firsthand and gauge if they suit your needs. You can check out if the following popular appointment scheduling tools offer a free trial: Calendy, Checkfront, Appointment Plus, Bookeo, YouCanBook.me, Acuity Scheduling, and 10to8.

Consider Your Industry or Targeted Businesses

The best appointment scheduling software can be used to schedule different types of tours, special events, workshops, and classes. They can be helpful in a range of industries including:

• Education (e.g., universities and tutors)
• Field service (e.g., house cleaning and pest control)
• Food service (e.g., caterers and restaurants)
• Auto maintenance (e.g., car washes and mechanics)
• Financial services (e.g., accountants and tax consultants)
• Fitness and recreation (e.g., personal trainers, yoga studios, and gyms)
• Health and beauty (e.g., salons and spas, medical practices)

What’s the Cost of Appointment Scheduling Software?

1. Calendy — Individual users can benefit from a free basic version of this system. For businesses, however, Calendly offers a premium plan [$8/user/month (billed annually) or $10/user/month (billed monthly)] and quote-based enterprise pricing.
2. Checkfront — Checkfront offers four subscription-based enterprise pricing plans that vary according to the number of accounts, added features and integrations, and the number of reservations you have per year. Pricing starts at $49/month and goes up to $499/month.
3. Appointment Plus — There are four enterprise pricing packages available. For yearly payment, customers get a two month free service. Pricing starts at $49/month and goes up to $199/month or more.
4. Bookeo — Depending on the activities they offer, companies can choose between several SMB and enterprise pricing packages. For Bookeo Appointments, prices start at $14.95/user/month and goes up to $39.95/user/month. For Bookeo Class and Courses, prices start at $39.95/month and goes up to $119.95/month. For Bookeo Tours and Activities, prices start at $39.95/month and goes up to $119.95/month.
5. YouCanBook.me — The basic YouCanBook.me package is free, but we encourage businesses to consider the company’s enterprise pricing offer. The Single Pricing Plan is $10/calendar/month or $108/calendar/year or $192/calendar/2 years.
6. Acuity Scheduling — Acuity Scheduling offers several SMB and enterprise pricing plans, including a free basic one. Aside from the free forever plan, pricing starts at $10/month and goes up to $34/month.
7. 10to8 — They offer several enterprise pricing plans for users to choose from, depending on the number of appointments and staff logins. Give the details a look, and select the most suitable option for your business. Aside from the free forever plan, prices start at $25/month and goes up to $150/month.

What Are Potential Issues With Appointment Scheduling Software?

Integrate Your Different Systems

Small businesses with fewer employees tend to use multiple systems for CRM, customer communications, managing payments and invoicing etc. They can gain a lot by integrating the various software applications on a single platform to enable easy sharing of data. Companies should consolidate the different functions into a single scheduling system with robust features to enhance efficiency and productivity.

Test the System

It is advisable for you to thoroughly test the system and make sample appointments so that your employees get to know the booking process. This will also help you to view how the settings appear to your customers and modify them if required.

Don’t Launch Too Soon

You could land in a soup if you launch your online scheduling system too fast. First, ensure you get your employees, services, and resources configured and ready before you allow customers to start using the software for booking.

What Are the Latest Appointment Scheduling Software Trends?

The following evolutions are noteworthy in the ongoing development of appointment scheduling software:

Greater Mobility

Customers are increasingly using tablets and smartphones to make online bookings. In fact, the Safari browser for mobile devices is becoming more popular than Internet Explorer which is used on desktops. This is because iPhones and iPads have become widely used devices to make online appointments.

Less Free Systems

Many vendors are no longer offering online booking software for free. They have realized that it does not make financial sense to offer free service as they need sustainable revenue to continuously improve the system and provide free customer support. However, you can subscribe to a good quality appointment scheduling system at an affordable price.

Increased Adoption

More and more service-based companies in all geographic regions are using online booking systems. Businesses are aiming to boost revenue and reduce costs by using this software. Plus, they also wish to save time and improve their employees’ productivity with appointment scheduling software.

The post What Is Appointment Scheduling Software? Analysis of Features, Types, Benefits and Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

What is the definition of collaboration software?

Collaboration software was described in 1990 as “intentional group processes plus software to support them.” Today, collaboration software leverages existing technologies to enable groups to communicate, share, coordinate, cooperate, solve problems, negotiate, or even compete for the purpose of completing a task. Collaboration software, also known as collaborative software or groupware, allows the managing, sharing and processing of files, documents and other types of data among several users and systems anytime and anywhere.

What is the purpose of collaboration software?

The main purpose of collaboration software is to enhance productivity of individuals in a group or team within an organization in order to achieve a particular goal. With this type of program, users can coordinate tasks and create individual workspace then have workflows and data added to it. The primary user who created the workspace can allow others to access, view and make changes, and whatever modifications are made on data and files are synced across all users. This ensures that everyone involved is on the “same page” and has the latest version of the current project.

There are two dimensions to collaboration software technologies and they relate to time and location.

Time

• Real-time or synchronous – users do tasks together at the same time.
• Asynchronous – users work together at different times.

Location

• Face-to-face or collocated – users do tasks together in one place.
• Distance or non-collocated – users work together from various places.

There are many components and aspects to collaboration software. This article will go through the most significant areas such as:

1. Examples of collaboration software
2. Benefits of collaboration software
3. Types of collaboration software
4. Features of collaboration software
5. Factors to consider when buying
6. Pricing of collaboration software
7. Potential issues
8. Latest trends

What are examples of collaboration software?

1. Wrike – Award-winning software designed to improve the speed and efficiency of work in both co-located and distributed groups. It enables multifunctional groups to collaborate and get things done effectively from a single location, allowing them to schedule, prioritize, discuss, and keep track of both work and progress in real. If you need a reliable Wrike alternative check out our other comparison articles.
2. Asana – One of the most popular project management tools for team communication and collaboration. It can create projects and tasks within the projects, and follow the progress of those tasks from various browsers and devices. Among its advance features are task relating, searching public tasks, prioritizing completion, and change management. 
3. Dapulse – A smart collaboration and communication app and a reliable Asana alternative that specializes in streamlining discussions and contributions, and keeping all team members in sync to ensure highest-level performance. Its comprehensive progress display feature and advanced scheduling tools for task management eliminates paperwork and reduces human error.
4. Clarizen – An enterprise-grade solution that combines project management and high-quality social collaboration features to boost team performance. It can streamline and automatically prioritize budgets, projects, resources, portfolios, and tasks to make sure that critical information and resources are always managed properly.
5. Slack – A messaging app that brings all your communication together in one place with its real-time messaging, archiving and search functions. It’s a great Clarizen alternative that offers built-in internal and external sharing options, and advanced search, filters and sorting to ensure you get and share the right files all the time.

Wrike: one of the best collaboration apps for projects

These are not the only reliable collaboration platforms you should consider. There are several collaborative programs available in the market. For more alternatives and ideas, check out our top 10 list of collaboration software solutions.

Market share of top 10 collaboration software vendors as of 2015

Source: appsruntheworld.com

What are the benefits of collaboration software?

There are a number of benefits of collaboration software that can result to a more efficient and effective completion of tasks and goals. Understanding what does a collaboration software do will help you justify its implementation in your organization and bolster its adoption with your employees. The successful execution of good collaboration software will afford you many advantages. Why use collaboration software? Here are four good reasons why.

1. Save time – Time is gold, and in a business that is tantamount to money. The more you save time, the more you save on unwanted expenses, and the better it is for your organization. Collaboration among employees makes possible the quicker completion of end goals that wouldn’t otherwise be achievable in other ways. Embracing collaboration methods cuts disparate, uncoordinated work on a particular project from different contributing members and saves not only time but also resources and efforts. If you are looking to cut costs on projects, collaboration software can help in that respect.
2. Enhance project management – Keeping a handle on a project, a team and its members and their progress is never easy work. Coordination and communication is of paramount importance if you want a project completed. Collaboration is one of the most optimal means to guarantee that you get the most out of your team. It opens lines of communication and makes sure everything is on track in order to avoid mistakes and confusion that can delay projects.
3. Strengthen team relationships – One sure-fire way to build effective working relationships among employees is to have them work together to complete tasks and projects. Collaboration programs are designed to do that, making it easy for teams to work almost like a concerted unit with a singular purpose. This makes teams comfortable and confident in working with one another when it comes to completing common objectives.
4. Improve organization – The process of keeping things and tasks in order has always been a problem for businesses. It is typical to lose track of what has been done and what needs to be done in project workflows simply because everything is a mess. Collaborative programs assist in maintaining order and managing the stages in workflows through open communication and coordination among concerned individuals and team.

What are the types of collaboration software?

There are three main categories of collaboration software based on their functional capabilities. Knowing how does collaboration software work can be gleaned from the tools employed.

1. Communication – Helps in the exchange of communication between groups. The most common communication tools that are used are systems and applications for email hosting, file sharing, project management and a website or online platform that can be readily accessed. Research findings have shown that file sharing is the most common and needed feature in collaboration software. Example tools: email, voicemail, instant messaging, VoIP or video calls
2. Conferencing – Allows real-time collaboration among members. Groupware software tools make possible real-time discussions among project members through a virtual meeting room with a moderator who oversees the sharing of information. These online meetings are helpful when there are important matters to be decided on by project members who are in various locations. Example tools: video conferencing, IM conferencing, online forums, social media group chats, community boards, application sharing
3. Coordination – Assists in group activities, schedule and deliverables. Coordination software solutions are used for complex interdependent tasks to realize a common goal. Typical systems applied here are for time management, project management and online proofing so that team members are aware of deadlines, are properly coordinated, and can monitor the status of projects. Example tools: calendars, time trackers, spreadsheets, client portals, alerts and status updates

Slack: a popular collaboration and communication tool

What does collaboration software do?

The office that we know of has evolved mostly because of leaps in technology. Business organizations are no longer limited by boundaries. Whereas before you had to be physically in the office to collaborate with co-employees to keep projects going. Now, you can be in another part of the globe or be right at home and still contribute to workflows, be in touch with team members, and keep track of how work is progressing. Technology has produced the telecommuting and mobile workforce, and collaboration software has much to do with it. Consider these statistics:

• The number of regular work-at-home employees grew by 115% since 2005.
• Half of the total US workforce holds a job that is compatible with at least partial telework.
• 3.7 million US employees now work from home at least half of the time.
• Surveys of Fortune 1000 companies show that employees are not at their desk 50-60% of the time, making these companies rethink their personnel spaces to accommodate an expanding mobile staff.

Just what does collaboration software do that has impacted the professional business setting? We go over some features of collaboration software that have made remote work the new normal.

1. Internal Communication System -Teams need an efficient communication system to be able to stay on task and not miss crucial aspects of ongoing projects. With many tools built into collaborative apps that allow all forms of communication – email, IM, voice, video – as well as mechanisms to review and retrieve conversations and discussions, team members are assured of uninterrupted coordination and kept in sync.
2. File Sharing – Like communication, the ability to share files, documents, data and all other forms of media is one of the most important features of collaboration software.  Many groupware now carry robust document management systems, providing you and your team members a convenient means to share, access, view and retrieve files.
3. Content Creation – Several all-in-one collaboration platforms offer content creation functionality that allows producing and publishing content both for internal and external audiences. This is useful for inbound marketing activities like creating blogs and informative content to attract new audience and enhance your business’ online presence.
4. Powerful Search – Finding old files, previous conversation or past blog post are facilitated by the robust search feature of collaboration software. What was previously a time-consuming process, now you can use tags and search filters to find what you’re looking for in quickly and efficiently.
5. Personal and Group Calendars – Keeping track of numerous meetings, events and other important matters that need your attention is a sure headache-inducer. Personal as well as group calendars are integral features in most collaborative platforms to help you and your team members stay attuned, involved and present at all times, wherever they may be.

Size of collaboration software market worldwide 2015-2020

Source: Statista 2017

What should you consider when getting collaboration software?

Getting and implementing collaboration software is a critical business decision. It is important that you assess certain factors and requirement in relation to your business. You would not want to waste time and money on a full-featured collaboration package when, for all intents and purposes, all you need is a good internal communication system. But you also have to be forward-looking and anticipate the time when your business has boomed, the number of your employees has risen, and the multiple tasks at hand have grown to near unmanageable levels. Future-proofing your business now with scalable collaboration software will keep you ready for future challenges.

Here are some factors to keep in mind when getting collaboration software:

1. Needs – Many collaboration platforms can provide that gratifying instant solution to many management and collaborative issues. But you have to gauge your specific needs before you jump right into a collaborative software environment. How will it address existing problems? What can the software actually do and how does it perform? Is it cloud-hosted or on-premise? Will your data and files be secure? Once you have determined the specifics based on your parameters and got a clearer picture, then you can move on to the next important factor.
2. Features – The software should carry all the basic set of features that you require for it to be an effective productivity tool for your collaborating employees. The features must be easy to use, responsive, and robust enough to get things done. They must add efficiency and improve user performance, and not be a burden to users. To get a first-hand experience on how features work, you can avail of free trials usually offered by vendors. For additional information, you can also read actual customer feedback and the reviews by industry experts.
3. Cost – This is always a major consideration since a purchasing decision will rely heavily on your budget. Your investment must be reasonable and must take into account the product’s long-term value and the appurtenant maintenance expenses. Likewise, will it need a hardware upgrade? Ultimately, the advantages of collaboration software should be worth the cost of acquiring it.
4. Support – A reliable technical and vendor support is a must. Trainings, tutorials and a knowledge center should come with the software. There must be regular updates and improvements to keep the software always in top condition, and the user always having a peace of mind.

Asana: another tool for efficiently managing your projects

How much does collaboration software cost?

The cost of collaboration software varies from vendor to vendor and is usually based on capabilities and features it provides. Many offer free plans for a small team while others offer flexible pricing options depending on feature sets, number of collaborators, file storage capacity, customization, branding function, integration with other apps, and advanced security, among others.

Here’s a brief look at how leading collaboration software stack up when it comes to pricing.

Wrike

• Free – for a team of 5 users
• Professional – $9.80 per user/month
• Business – $24.80 per user/month
• For Marketers – $34.60 per user/month
• Enterprise – by quote

Asana

• Free – for a team of 15 members
• Premium – $9.99 per member per month
• Enterprise– by quote

Slack

• Free – no limits on time or users
• Standard – $6.67 per user/month
• Plus – $12.50 per user/month
• Enterprise – $49 to $99 per user/month

Dapulse

• Basic – $5/month
• Standard – $8/month
• Pro – $12/month
• Enterprise – $24/month

Clarizen

• Enterprise Edition – $45 per user/month
• Unlimited Edition – $60 per user/month

Trello

• Free
• Business Class – $9.99/month
• Enterprise – by quote

What are the potential issues with collaboration software?

A couple of drawbacks have been noted with collaboration software. These should be given careful consideration when acquiring a collaborative solution for your company.

1. Cost – As you may have noticed in the preceding section, collaborative solutions don’t come cheap. Unless you settle for a free plan that has fewer functionality and limited number of users, collaboration software is a major investment. Adding in the cost of setup, maintenance and possible hardware upgrade, then you are looking to set aside a sizeable budget for this type of system. Good thing there are pricing options offered that carry certain feature sets to meet your particular needs.
2. Security – No data is ever secure from the best hacker. We assume you don’t own priceless data that everyone wants to get hands at, hence basic security for your files and documents would be enough. In any case, you can opt for more stringent security measures by talking with the product vendor or third-party security service providers to set up more authentications, permissions and other security protocols, although these may entail separate costs.

What are the latest collaboration software trends?

Tech-based solutions for companies are largely influenced by technological progress and data-driven business situation. The following are some of the directions that collaboration software is charting.

1. Real-Time Collaboration. Although this is already one of the centerpiece features of collaboration platforms, there is a growing need for easier and more robust collaboration and communication tools in the light of the currently expanding remote workforce that are globally-dispersed. Collaboration software is evolving to include full-featured mobile capability, more powerful workflow management, and capacity to share bigger files. The idea is to eliminate potential roadblocks and allow teams to get together quickly anytime they need to, no matter what device they use, and wherever they may be.
2. People-centric Collaboration. Software developers and vendors have come to realize that their product should work for people who use them and not for companies who buy them. After all, the net effect of productivity from the speedy completion of products through collaboration software benefits not only the team members who use it but ultimately the company they work for. Vendors will strive to keep improving their collaboration products to help people work even better.
3. Handling Big Data. With big data comes the need for speed. Current collaboration solutions already offer large storage spaces for files, but they may need to amp up storage as company data accumulate day in and day in. Their platforms should also have the matching speed and capability to handle the sharing of large data.
4. Collaboration Bots. They are presently used to automate messaging and chat software, but they may soon find their way to collaboration software to automate tasks and run areas in project workflows. This will make the collaboration process even less time-consuming.

The post What is Collaboration Software? Analysis of Features, Types, Benefits and Pricing appeared first on Financesonline.com.

In a popular 2016 article called The Curse of Collaboration, an Economist contributor positioned this business phenomena right next to what developed firms could name as their ‘godliness’. We can all think of ways to justify such a claim, including the author who discussed cases where businesses fail due to one specific reason: misinterpreting the cost of enabling a free and frictionless method of communication.

According to Peter Gray and Rob Cross (associate professors at the University of Virginia’s Business School), up to 85% of effective office time is spent on ineffective communication, i.e. attending meetings, telephone conversations, and distributing emails across the network. Their rough estimation is that the lack of streamlined collaboration costs enterprises an estimated $1 million of their annual profit, which in a small business scenario converts to a considerably lower, but equally harmful number.

[Credit: Business2Community]

Why are collaboration systems so important?

Put into perspective, intelligent collaboration technology is companies’ safest bet for achieving key goals, as it accelerates effective interactions within remote and decentralized teams, and keeps everyone on the same page. Modern collaboration apps allow unlimited sharing, and come equipped with social media-reminiscent news feeds for quick and instant updates. The ease of use is promptly combined with powerful content and document management, as the information users share is usually information they create inside the very same platform. In the meanwhile, the system keeps access under control, and boosts brainstorming and active collaboration until the end customer is absolutely satisfied.

Research: Importance of Collaboration Software [Credit: SlideShare Blog]

1. Wrike
2. Slack
3. Asana
4. Zoho Projects
5. Trello
6. Confluence
7. Samepage
8. Microsoft SharePoint
9. Evernote Business
10. GoToMeeting
11. Yammer
12. Podio
13. JIRA
14. Clarizen
15. IBM Connections
16. Workfront
17. Teamviewer
18. Hiver
19. Smartsheet
20. Noodle

1. Wrike

Wrike won our Best Project Management Software for 2016

The first alternative we’re about to suggest is Wrike, a very popular collaboration system offered in 28 languages, but also the current leader of the Collaboration and Project Management Software categories, and winner of our Expert’s Choice as well as Best Project Management Software awards.

Devoted to large and creative teams, Wrike does a considerably good job enhancing transparency and accountability, and cutting the time needed to develop a product or to deliver a complex project.

It is also well-known by its social media-reminiscent activity feed, automated form requests, and hassle-free sharing that make it ideal for large and decentralized teams. Its high customer satisfaction rate of 99% indicates that Wrike will also meet your customer support and connectivity expectations, including the availability of API information which helps you build custom integrations.

Pricing is very flexible, as for groups up to 5 users Wrike is offered entirely for free. The vendor also offers a great free trial plan if you want to check out the key features first. You can easily sign up for Wrike free trial here.

What is unique about Wrike?

Instant 3-pane views for all important data. In Wrike, all group projects are presented in 3-pane views for instant action: the left pane exhibits the hierarchy between tasks and subtasks, the middle one focuses on the project you’re currently working on, and the right one provides all task details.

Neat file organization for easier sharing. Wrike specializes in arranging project data, and allows you to tag files and enclose them in special folders to avoid duplication. All changes are automatically reflected wherever the file may appear in the system, which enables accurate and fast exchange between collaborators and clients.

Activity stream with engaging mentions. What makes Wrike really special is the activity stream, which resembles quite accurately the news feed of social networks with @-mentions and easy tagging. This way, each collaborator will stay in line with tasks that concern him/her, but also be able to follow the overall progress of the team.

Task timelines for accurate prioritization. Wrike’s task timeline helps you to prioritize important tasks. To clarify a task, you can attach files, show pictures or tables, and cross-link to other tasks. In short, subtasks give you a clear idea of how much work needs to be done, by whom, and by when.

Performance charts. Wrike offers a total of 8 report templates that make it possible to pull off stats on individual and group performance. The performance charts, for instance, give you a visual look at how your project tasks are coming along against their deadline over a time graph, and who is in charge of any particular subtask or detail.

Reduced administrative burden for creative teams. With Wrike, it takes a single request to initiate a creative journey, and make the best of your team’s capacity by letting the system handle administrative details for them. All requests will be available via URL so that even non-Wrike users can access them, and will support file uploading for better visibility and context clarity.

Advanced forms that reduce miscommunication. Another problem Wrike will eliminate is miscommunication, as the system offers advanced forms and requests for teams heaped with emails, chats, and meetings. There are several type of premade and easy-to-customize requests, such as New Project Requests, Issue/Change Requests, Proposals, Creative Briefs, and many more.

A large number of useful integrations. To make data import/export easier, Wrike connects with a variety of thrid-party systems and applications, among which Jira, Dropbox, MS Project, Zapier, Salesforce, Google Drive, and numerous email and marketplace service providers. Its open API architecture will also allow you to build your own custom integrations.

A free plan for teams up to 5 users. With small teams with no more than 5 users, Wrike offers a lifetime free plan that wraps up all important collaboration features and integrations. Migration to a paid plan is also made painless, as Wrike’s pro packages start from $9.80/user/month.

2. Slack

Slack is another role model of how successful collaboration ought should look when put on a screen, and a very good example of a mobile friendly and clutter-free team app. What our experts appreciate the most about this system is customization, as you can tweak in as many of your complex teamwork assignments inside, and not compromise at the same time the way in which your team likes to cooperate. Communication is organized in open channels, users are entitled to private and group messages, and can make calls directly from the application. In the meanwhile, Slack will organize and store your team’s files, and make sure that they won’t get lost or fall into the wrong hands. The company also offers a dedicated enterprise version (Enterprise Grid) to meet the needs of large and complex organizations.

What is unique about Slack?

100% focus on collaboration. Slack may not have the top notch project management power of Wrike, but it is certainly a number one alternative for streamlined and hassle-free communication. All features in this platform are devoted to easy collaboration, including team conversations, private messages, calendars, and so on.

Multiple open communication channels. What Slack is best known for are its open communication channels, which can be devoted to any topic, project, task, event, or even team. These channels provide full transparency on how each operation is progressing, while for private and sensitive information users can also create private channels.

Direct messaging. Why expecting collaborators to use email providers and third-party chat apps to stay in contact? Slack makes this easy by allowing them to send messages to each other, and include as many recipients as they need. All conversations are stored in the system for further use.

Voice and video calls. Voice and video calls are probably Slack’s most attractive features, as team members can easily call each other without abandoning the platform. It will also take them a single click to share the screen they’re working at, and get some first-hand assistance from their colleagues.

Drag-and-drop sharing. How easier could it be? With Slack, you can simply drop a file of any format within the system, and it will become instantly available to all participants in your channel. Your colleagues can then make comments, leave notes, star or rate the file, and use it as a reference later on. Keep in mind that Slack integrates with your Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box account, and will therefore make your database instantly searchable.

Customizable notifications. Slack will keep you notified on all support requests, error logs to leads, code check ins, or assistance  requirements, and you will also be able to trigger custom notifications upon need.

Powerful indexed searching. Slack indexes the content of all your conversations, files, and notifications, and keeps them in a single database from where you can search them within seconds. Available also to Android and iOS users, Slack will make your data accessible wherever you are.

3. Asana

Many experts and reviewers refer to Asana as the ideal and most advanced collaboration system, and it doesn’t take more than a glance on its dashboard to agree with them. Asana is simply packed with modern collaboration widgets and attractive looks, and adjusts easily to teams working in different industries. It is best known for its Smart Inbox that eliminates the need to use third-party apps, the ease of use, and the variety of project management features which make it a decent alternative to our leader Wrike. Asana also has a free plan available, which despite of being relatively limited in terms of features, still secures top notch collaboration for teams up to 15 users. Let’s check what Asana has at stake for your business.

What is unique about Asana?

Focus Mode features for improved concentrations. Asana will help you prioritize tasks and complete important ones first, as its Focus Mode to create, categorize, and schedule projects in a special calendar, and track only assignments that matter to the user.

Simplified sharing. With Asana, you can attach various file formats, and share project-related documents with your team without having to use emails or third-party communication channels. At the same time, projects and tasks can be starred or tagged as favorites, so that the seeker won’t have any trouble locating them in the database.

Smart inbox. Asana’s best known feature is the Smart Inbox, which makes it possible for the user to receive only important information and updates, instead of the tones of unwanted correspondence that may confuse him. All messages and notifications arriving to the inbox can instantly be converted into actionable tasks, and a meeting can be triggered with a glimpse of an eye to clarify all irregularities.

Meetings with third-parties. As you’d expect from an advanced collaboration system, Asana makes it possible to organize and launch instant online meetings, and helps in such way delocalized and remote teams. What makes it really special, however, is that depending on the permissions assigned by the admin, users can invite concerned third-parties to join the meeting without dedicated Asana accounts.

Team Pages. Asana will keep an eye on all messages and conversations, and store them within so-called Team Pages from where you can retrieve them any time. These pages are often managers’ favorite tools, as they see exactly how a project was developing, what was shared and commented, and eventually – what went wrong with it.

Time tracking with Harvest. Harvest is one of Asana’s multiple useful integrations that makes it possible to follow the time needed to complete each task, and estimate the progress of each collaborators. Next to it, Asana integrates with all leading email service providers, document management apps, PM systems, and so on.

Customer Success Managers. Asana’s premium users get a special type of assistance. They will be assigned a dedicated success manager to help them develop quality collaboration strategies, surpass difficulties, and deploy and use the system in line with their business specifications.

4. Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects tackles collaboration through the prism of simplified project management. The popular addition to Zoho’s well-known productivity kit is also one of the easiest and beginner-friendliest apps of this type, hosted in cloud, cheap, and liberated from all maintenance and updating concerns. You will appreciate the seamless communication environment it provides (both for collaborators and external parties), the tight connections to different Zoho suite products, and quite powerful document management module that takes care of your files. The system is, however, predominantly focused on project management, and it is this set of features where it shines the most.

What is unique about Zoho Projects?

End-to-end project management. Zoho Projects uses Kanban methods and Gantt charts to provide you with tasks, tasklists, and milestones which help bring large and daunting projects down to manageable units. Subtasks and recurring tasks are also available for refined control, and users are entitled to relate tasks for each project they’re involved in.

Seamless collaboration with coworkers and external parties. What makes Zoho Projects a preferred option for corporate collaboration is the possibility to involve third-parties into the process, namely share files with them, and invite them to give their opinions. Teams and partners scattered worldwide will have a single location to work together, common calendars, private and public conversation panels, and Intranet pages.

Chat rooms. Zoho Projects takes live chat and team messaging to a whole new level, with its interactive chat rooms. There will be no need for your employees to use external systems, as they can resolve issues on dot, and go back to their conversion transcriptions at any point of time.

Accurate reporting. The same as other Zoho products, Projects is fully equipped for analytic purposes, and allows you to pull off some interesting stats and reports. For the purpose, it integrates with Zoho Reports, and embeds dashboards across websites and blogs to make them easily accessible.

Ongoing engagement with Project Forums. Satisfied users would recommend this system also because of the Project Forums, which keep conversations going at all times. The forums are active 24/7 playing the role of a news feed, which means you can post stuff, share images and files, and ask for assistance from your entire team.

5. Trello

Trello is definitely one of the best-looking PM and collaboration apps on the market, configurable to the extent where you’d forget you did not develop it exclusively for your team. Indeed, Trello doesn’t take much to become a company’s favorite software asset, but there is much more to it than the attractive interface: Trello is a seamless board for sharing and communication, an easy labeling system that gives you all information at a glance, a branding and productivity platform, and a hub for multiple friendly teams that like to be in sync with what’s happening in their organization. From the project management perspective, Trello uses a unique card mechanism that doesn’t adhere to any traditional rules, which means it should be your top choice for managing specific, one-of-a-kind projects.

What is unique about Trello?

Projects arranged in cards and boards. Trello doesn’t restrict your freedom to as how you wish to manage you projects and tasks. As specific as they are, you can create unique cards for each and arrange them in boards instead of classic categories. Then, you can assign easily the people in charge of each board, and make it possible for them to follow developments on a single dashboard.

In line-editing and drag-and-drop functionality. In-line editing keeps things in your team organized, as the cards can be placed in lists to track the progress of a project, assign categories, or just keeps things neat. It also makes it possible to share a file within seconds instead of using a dedicated message to do so. You can even drag-and-drop users inside a card to let them know what is happening.

Instant notifications. Trello is an intelligent system that creates and distributes notifications in real time. These notifications alert users when new tasks have been assigned, or when updates and changes were made on the project.

A variety of advanced collaboration features. To make collaboration seamless and successful, Trello will provide you with checklists, live news feeds, comments, labels, tags, due dates, instant attachments, and many similar features.

Very mobile friendly. The vendor offers dedicated Android and iOS versions of this system to give users an impeccable mobile experience. All data is thus made accessible from different locations, and all operations are easy to complete out of the office.

Non-compromised data security. Trello keeps your data secure and private. You have full control over who sees your boards. All data is sent over a secure, SSL/HTTPS connection, the same encryption technology used by banks. The vendor keeps encrypted, off-site backups of your data in case of disasters.

6. Confluence

Confluence is one of Atlassian’s best known collaboration products that has plenty to offer to busy and disorganized teams. As the company likes to put it, this product changes the way in which your organization works, and gives you a modern environment to cooperate and exchange data. The system offers an enterprise-first design for planning and execution, and makes it easy to publish, organize, and access company information from a single database. This way, it becomes a single source of truth for your team and your customers that also provides contextual feedback and features that help you hit the mark. Confluence is currently trusted by over 35,000 companies worldwide, many of which belong to the Fortune 500 list.

What is unique about Confluence?

Tapping into the company’s collective knowledge. What Confluence does the best is engaging literally everyone in the team, and making use of their creativity and potential. It collects feedback, encourages discussion, and taps into your company’s collective knowledge with the help of threaded comments, likes, and mentions.

Easy access to all files. Confluence keeps all of your files arranged and secured within an online database, giving you the chance to access them and use them wherever you are. The system is fully mobile optimized, and the database is easily searchable.

Complete transparency. With Confluence, all files, requirements, meeting notes, policies, and people are gathered in a single location, and everyone in the office has full transparency and control over all operations, issues, project reports, roadmaps, and more.

Unlimited contribution. Confluence uses meetings, notes, pinned and inline comments to ensure unlimited web collaboration, and allow everyone to participate in the shaping of business processes and product requirements. Users also have access to the company’s knowledge base with notes and useful articles, and can retrieve important conversations at any moment of time.

Collecting data scattered across a variety of sources. Both Confluence and JIRA were designed to capture valuable information for a variety of data sources, including third-party apps and email inboxes. Once that data is imported in the system, Confluence will also organize it in a way preferred by the user.

Easily extendable functionality. You can make your Confluence working space even more powerful by installing any of Atlassian’s workforce management add-ons, custom themes, diagramming tools, and other useful marketplace widgets.

7. Samepage

Samepage is a collaboration system for online teams that combines interactive messaging with project management and sharing, and has admirable experience in the industry learning from traditional practices and dynamic trends. The system constantly evolves and pleases users with new features, focused on keeping team members on the same page with the progress of every project. The tool is packed with project and tasks management tools, calendars for easy scheduling, budgeting features, in-line editing and sharing facilitators, and video-collaboration widgets. You can use it on desktop and mobile devices, and connect it easily to a variety of external apps and systems.

What is unique about Samepage?

Internal and external collaboration. With Samepage, adding concerned parties that don’t belong to your organization is not only a possibility, but a preferred action. You can create new teams and involve everyone that is concerned, giving them full access to data and an unobstructed possibility to contribute.

Various communication channels. Samepage will streamline communication on as many channels as you have available, including live chat, direct messaging, voice calls, video meetings, and many more.

Content management features. There aren’t many collaboration systems that focus on content creation and management as Samepage does – You can meet with colleagues to discuss ideas and launch interesting projects, and create content as a group regardless of where you are located.

Easy-to-find documentation. Another area where Samepage shines is document management, having in mind that all files and important documents are stored in a single location, easily editable, and open for contribution. The database is equipped with functional searching filters, and available to use from mobile devices.

Advanced administrative features. As usual, the highest role is assigned to the admin who manages the accounts and the members, and assigns and extends permissions for all users. He has several unique possibilities, such as restoring deleted files and corrupted actions, adding and excluding members from the teams, controlling content, and archiving data in separate locations.

Support in multiple languages. Samepage has one of the largest and most diverse user database, and thus offers support in several different languages among which Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, and so on.

8. Microsoft SharePoint

Imagine you see all of these apps for the first time – which one would you go for first? Microsoft’s suite is an undisputed leader in many software categories, and does an admiring job handling collaboration needs as well. SharePoint is one of the oldest and most used systems in this industry, best known for improving performance, reliability, and innovation in any team where it is applied. The system is available on premise and in cloud, free or prepaid for premium and business users. It focuses on easy sharing and proficient document management, and it is definitely the best reputed tool when it comes to data security.

What is unique about Microsoft SharePoint?

Impeccable reputation. SharePoint is a flagship Microsoft project and the most trusted collaboration app in history, also preferred because of its simple and hassle-free manipulation. At the moment, SharePoint is used by almost 75% of all Fortune 500 companies, and available in more languages than any other collaboration system.

Consolidation of intranet, extranet, and internal sites. Microsoft SharePoint will consolidate all of your intranet, extranet, and internal sites in order to amass considerable savings and development of advanced access methods. When consolidating sites, you can rely on the fact that SharePoint can operate seamlessly with any technology you’re already using, as for instance MS Exchange Server and MS Unified Communications.

A centralized admin console with advanced capabilities. As a manager, you will benefit from a centralized management console from where you can access basic operation features, adjust settings, restore information, monitor performance, and take advantage of the configuration wizards all in one place.

Advanced data security. SharePoint protects the integrity of your data in a variety of unique ways, keeping it safe from unauthorized use and access. The advanced checkout procedure, for instance, guarantees that the quality of your documents won’t be compromised, and allows you to restore their original state even after they’ve been edited.

A suite of useful applications. Next to undisturbed sharing and collaboration, Microsoft SharePoint unites a variety of convenient applications every business could use: content management, enterprise social networking, business intelligence, workflow management, personal cloud, extranet, intranet, web content and workflow management.

9. Evernote Business

We’re all familiar with Evernote as the ‘pocket diary’ that helps us stay organized. The company too advantage from such experience worldwide to build an enterprise-grade system that caters to the needs of business and organizations. Evernote Business is a proficient collaboration system that keeps teams and work together, facilitates sharing and providing feedback, and makes use of unique data sources such as web research and image collections. You can sync it across computer and phones, align roles and permissions as you need them, and deploy it much faster than any similar system.

What is unique about Evernote Business?

Knowledge discovery. Evernote Business will help you maximize the potential of your business by bringing up resources you didn’t even know you possessed. You can use it as a dedicated digital research assistant that unites info scattered on the web, and align the work submitted by your team with recent news, trends, and relevant internet sources.

Easy administering. In a manner typical for Evernote, this system makes administration easy as a breeze. All controls and management features are united in the admin console, where you get full visibility on all processes, and can easily manage all accounts.

Personalized onboarding for premium users. Evernote is also known for quality and in-time support, but the specific benefit for business users is personalized onboarding assistance. With more than 25 licenses, you are entitled to one-on-one dedicated service and planning that will help you make the most of this system.

Offline access. Another unique feature is offline access, which gives you the chance to work from desktop and mobile devices even when they’re not connected to the internet. Keep in mind that all data is synced among your devices and saved immediately upon manipulation, and you won’t have to worry about missing important updates.

Excellent data security. Evernote Business prides itself with enterprise-grade data protection, meaning that all your files are TLS/SSL encrypted, and undergo a two-step verification and authentication process.

10. GoToMeeting

As indicated by its name, GoToMeeting was developed to perfect the art of online business meeting, and give remote teams the experience alike the one of in-office mates and collaborators. Simple and easy-to-use, GoToMeeting attracts thousands of users with reliability, effectiveness, clear communication, and significantly reduced travel costs, targeting particularly sales teams that wish to see more deals and better relationship. GoToMeeting makes it easy to invite third-parties to your business meetings by sending a simple link, but still makes sure your data is well protected and far from the hands of unwanted visitors.

What is unique about GoToMeeting?

Possibility to attend meetings and sessions from all devices and operating systems. While it is true that you need a dedicated account to plan and launch meetings, the system doesn’t restrict the possibility to participate in them. With a dedicated InRoom link, you can invite literally everyone to join an important conference, be that they’re using Window, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Lifesize, Cisco or Polycom devices.

GoToConference bundle. A special bundle equipped with conferencing software and hardware is available to larger teams to provide dedicated conference rooms for 10 participants at a time.

Hassle-free scheduling. GoToMeeting will not only help organize meaningful events, but also handle a great deal of how those events are organized. Easy scheduling is the core of this process, as the system allows you to plan recurring meetings in advance, launch them using virtually any messaging/notification system, and record them in real time for those who weren’t able to assist them.

Audio and direct calling options. In order to join a meeting within this system, you don’t need pins and dedicated calls. You can do that by simply answering your phone, and choosing some of the VoIP and toll-based options offered by GoToMeeting. You will also be able to use toll-free conferencing.

Personal meeting rooms. Using GoToMeeting doesn’t feel as joining a room full of people awaiting your contribution. Instead, all users get some personal space to make notes and organize thoughts, and a custom URL they can easily share with other participants. All videos are high-definition, and you can share up to 6 of them per each session.

11. Yammer

Yammer is one of the simplest collaboration systems designed for business teams that enables seamless connections, and stimulates brainstorming and creative ideas. The tool is popular for instant and on-point conversations, crafting detailed and meaningful emails, launching group discussions on important projects and private panels for sensitive information, and browsing for data in a historical base. Yammer inspires employees to contribute and share their feedback, and integrates with a variety of third-party systems to ensure painless data migration.

What is unique about Yammer?

Social networking in the company. Yammer builds and maintains seamless connections across the company, keeping all members on the same page, and making sure that everyone has access to everything. This saves plenty of time to large and decentralized teams, as the system also comes with on-point conversations and imposes no need to communicate via third-party apps.

Public and private groups. With Yammer, you can start a group for any team, project, or task, and easily share related questions, ideas, and updates with your coworkers. The system gives you full freedom to organize and model these groups, and switch their status from public to private and the other way around.

Easy media uploads. Regardless of the plan you’re using, Yammer won’t restrict your possibility to upload, share, and discuss media files, including images, high definition videos, presentations, and live conversations.

Huge storage capacity. A huge incentive to use Yammer is its capacity to store conversations, and to categorize them in a historical database. This means that every interested party will be able to access them, both from their office computers and mobile devices. Knowledge management is always an extraordinary benefit for a company’s management, especially if the company gets to ask questions, and organize surveys and polls.

Robust set of analytic tools. Yammer will not only gather all relevant information in a single place, but also make it usable for analytic and reporting purposes. You can pull off all types of traditional summaries and stats, or build up custom reports for separate data portions.

12. Podio

Podio is Citrix’s best known collaboration system that helps create smarter and more structured workflows. Trusted by brands such as Deloitte, SONY, and Volvo, Podio is one of the most reviewed and best rated systems in this category that scales easily to businesses from different sizes and industries. Podio offers conversations, processes, and content management to ensure all team members are working in sync, as well as clearly designed roles, relationships, and delivery time. You will also appreciate the granular admin capabilities that keep the admin in control of who is accessing information and who is making adjustments to it.

What is unique about Podio?

Brings content, conversations, and context in a single place. Podio is best-known by its capacity to streamline communications, something it achieves by keeping all relevant information on the same page, where users can also attach files, follow the status of their projects, or make comments. The system updates the data instantly, and there is minimal risk of double entries.

Dynamic and customizable project management. Podio was designed specifically to enhance collaboration in project-based teams, and offers dynamic card boards, tables, charts, and other features that will help the entire team engaged in the project’s progress.

Customizable overview. With Podio, you can easily choose the metrics you want to follow and tasks in which you wish to participate. You can collaborate in social, mobile mode, and in real time to focus on particular tasks and get them done.

Lower transaction costs. Podio stores and shares all files, deliverables, and milestones with both staff members and clients in order to reduce the usual transaction costs. Such practices will also help you save invaluable amounts of time.

Multiple handy integrations. To make your work even easier, Podio will offer a variety of seamless connections with file sharing, marketing, sales, accounting, and customer support products, among which market leaders such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, Zendesk, FreshBooks, ShareFile, and many more.

13. JIRA

There is little chance you will find a top collaboration software list where JIRA won’t appear, and that’s exactly because of the innovation and years of experience Atalssian invested into crafting the perfect collaboration tool. JIRA is a synonym for quality corporate communication for agile teams, which allows them to create user stories, plan and distribute tasks and track priorities, and release results with the peace of mind that their information is accurate and regularly updated. The excellent visuals JIRA provide will cater to a variety of reporting needs, and give teams the freedom to choose their workflows or even create such. JIRA is also one of the most extendable systems, with over 1,000 add ons available on Atlassian’s marketplace.

What is unique about JIRA?

Instant and flexible setup. The cloud-hosted version of JIRA is painless to set up, and even easier to maintain as there are no manual updates or expensive extensions. All relevant add-ons and integrations are already bundled in the basic version, and collaboration is distributed among the users you’ve included in the system. You can also choose to deploy the service on premise, in which case it will be hosted on your local device, agile to meet your business needs, and still open to enhance with any add-on available on Atlassian’s marketplace.

Customizable dashboards. JIRA is commonly accepted as one of the easiest-to-use and user-friendliest systems, and its organized interface is there to confirm it. With JIRA’s dashboards, you can easily create personalized views, share those with your team and monitor their wall boards, track the status of all projects, and create custom reports with the data you collect.

Advanced searching. JIRA uses its own query language (JQL) to autocomplete and develop advanced queries. For an even more refined experience, this software offers a quick and intuitive web interface with fast keyboard shortcuts to help you easily create and work through issues.

Agile at scale. JIRA is predominantly a project management-focused collaboration system with Kanban and Scrum that deliver value interactively, and boost project success. JIRA and JIRA Agile help to scale Agile across your company. At the same time, JIRA integrates easily with GitHub to connect issues to commits.

Immense popularity. At the moment, JIRA is being used by more than 51,000 customers worldwide, including top brands and Fortune 500 performers like eBay, Spotify, Cisco, and LinkedIn.

14. Clarizen

Similarly to JIRA, Clarizen has been in our database for quite a while, touted as a PM & collaboration tool with experience and tradition you simply can’t go wrong with. It targets once again agile and creative teams where on-time connections are needed to ensure maximal efficiency. Clarizen has a number a unique benefits, among which easy administration, flexible business operations, out-of-the-box planning, and excellent mobile optimization. You should also consider it because of monitoring and reporting, having in mind that Clarizen archives all important information, provides custom fields, and allows you to export all reports in the desired format.

What is unique about Clarizen?

Result-oriented and efficient communication. Clarizen is a leader when it comes to enterprise-class work collaboration and project management needs that tap the power of the cloud to finish work effectively, efficiently, and with better results.

Advanced administration tools. Clarzen prides itself with a clean and well-organized interface, where all modules are displayed on a single navigation bar, and the user is able to choose between 6 different views, and a variety of project templates. The ability to add notes and to search for those is another powerful feature, being more than handy when importing data from Microsoft Projects.

Accurate project planning and forecasting. Clarizen offers advanced project planning, as its toolkit contains both traditional PM methodologies (due dates, deliverables, milestones, resources, independencies, etc.), and out-of-the-box possibilities such as using generic resources in the planning phase, or sorting them out based on their availability.

Powerful monitoring and reporting. Clarizen can help you discover stepping stones and stumbling blocks on time, mostly because it compares information in critical moments, and gives you the chance to generate ad hoc reports on any occurrence that seems somehow suspicious.

Advanced data safety precautions. Clarizen’s security servers are hosted in SOC 2, Tier 3, and North American Type II certified facilities, keeping data monitored and archived under multiple firewalls. As expected, the format is encrypted MD-5 hash, meaning that there is no unprotected section anywhere in the program.

15. IBM Connections

This list wouldn’t be complete without an IBM product, especially one as popular and well-rated as Connections. IBM Connections V6.0 is built on a single, integrated social platform, and comes with all IBM-typical bells and whistles attached. Expect a fancy interface with a plethora of modern functions, single-click visualizations, and powerful analytics, and give yourself some time to learn how to customize operations and make them more business-specific. The system targets first and foremost users of IBM products, but we believe that all teams looking to leverage the power of new trends and technologies should have it on their list.As usual, IBM will provide you with a great free trial, launch some of the best mobile experience out there, and put in place a knowledgeable support team to answer all of your questions.

What is unique about IBM Connections?

The company’s home page. Immediately after you log in the system, you will have a glance on the company’s home page which displays recent project developments, contributions, and messages you received, alike the practice of leading social networks and their news feeds.

Activity management. Rather than traditional projects and tasks, IBM Connections treats your operations as ‘Activities’, and provides a separate page to manage each of them. This gives you the ultimate freedom to configure the system and adjust it to your business’s specifications.

Wikis. Unlike any similar collaboration system, IBM Connections helps you build professional network wikis, where you and your team can share and use knowledge and information, and create content as a group.

End-to-end file management. IBM Connections has one of the best file management suites available on the collaboration software market. In short, it will help you share and discover documents, media files, and presentations, pinpoint important updates to remove at least some of the email clutter, get rid of duplicate entries, and offer add-on capabilities for a richer social content & document management experience.

Blogs and forums. IBM Connections organizes brainstorming as a regular, open-access forum where everyone is welcomed to share suggestions and ideas. Another way to benefit from the team’s opinions and feedback on your ideas is to create a personal blog where you will prepare your suggestions and case studies, and share them with a single click.

16. Workfront

Workfront is another system dedicated to online project management that gives collaboration a central role in how a business is being managed. On a relatively low price, you will get to centralize all your projects, manage and adjust digital work processes, monitor, review, and approve work, deliver quality service to customers, and govern compliance. Companies report saving an incredible amount of time by making this system work for their project needs, as they can always assign the right tasks to the right people, and compare individual and group performance. Workflow is also one of your best alternatives for collecting actionable feedback, and producing consistent and accurate results.

What is unique about Workfront?

Project and portfolio management features. Workfront is predominantly a PPM software solution developed to provide a single, unified working space for teams to manage deadlines, issues, and tasks all at the same time.

Team collaboration & Social recognition. Workfront is known to concerned audiences as the system that empowers collaboration between both individuals and teams, and a single solution for all project and ad hoc communication needs. With it, you will also be able to recognize work well done, and provide some accurate, in time feedback for all team members.

Workflow management. Workfront can also be applied as an end-to-end lifecycle management system that handles requests, adds consistency and control to all approval processes, and streamlines operations’ management from traditional and mobile devices.

Digital asset management. A distinctive advantage that puts Workfront on top of the priority list for some users is digital asset management, as this system is fully equipped to manage, store, and distribute assets and files from a single, centralized location.

Resource management and capacity planning. Another way in which Workfront eases and balances your workload is by helping you manage resources, allocate the budget, and distribute workforce smartly for all current and upcoming projects. You will also be able to use interactive Gantt Charts to gain full visibility into your resource base.

17. TeamViewer

TeamViewer targets both individual users in need of remote tech support, and businesses where teams ought to share screens in order to assist each other (this will also dictate the difference in pricing for different TeamViewer packages). Within the years that it has been on the market, TeamViewer grew to be one of the most recognizable names in the industry, and most recommended tool by users and experts – the system is ideal for in-time online meeting, remote assistance services, performance control, and secure data access. Basically, you can use TeamViewer to collaborate with as many people as you want, regardless of where they’re located.

What is unique about TeamViewer?

World’s Number 1 remote solution. TeamViewer is considered to be the leading remote work solution of all times, both by its users and the expert community. With such good reputation, the system represents a suitable alternative for all remote and decentralized teams. At the moment, it is being used by even 90% of all Fortune 500 companies.

Online meetings and collaboration. The core of TeamViewer’s functionality are online meetings, presentations, conferences, and training seminars which are incredibly easy to conduct, and very engaging at the same time. Those could be both schedules and spontaneous meetings, with adjustable levels of interaction between the moderators and the participants. Also, you can assign roles before the meeting has started, or distribute those along the way. Document sharing is also enabled at any point of time.

Flexible communication. TeamViewer makes it possible to communicate contextually and on dot, and without using a third-party service for the purpose. You will stay connected while sharing your screen by chat, audio, or video, available also outside your remote control sessions. The number of participants is never limited, as long as they have the right permissions.

Private and non-commercial versions. Outside corporate communications, TeamViewer can be downloaded and used for individual needs completely free of charge. This version works behind firewalls and doesn’t require any configuration, which means you can start making VoIP calls and require video assistance from the very first moment you install it.

Contact management. TeamViewer will let you arrange, share, and manage all of your contacts and be notified whenever they go online or need your assistance. Same happens when being invited to a meeting, or receiving a colleague request to help him/her handle an issue.

18. Hiver

In short, Hiver is a shared inbox apps for sales and support teams that syncs with their Gmail accounts, and turns correspondence into operable data. The system’s Chrome extension designed for individuals is offered for free, while business teams should visit the official website for corporate pricing. What will Hiver do for you? First and foremost, Hiver is one of the very few applications that let you govern multiple shared inboxes at once, and lets you assign emails to other users from a single dashboard. You can also use it to measure and improve your team’s performance, keeping an eye on their productivity rates and response times.

What is unique about Hiver?

Automatically aligned with your Gmail account. This corporate tool requires no installation or separate credentials in order to let you connect with different users and groups. All you need is the Gmail account you’re already using in order to access and manage your shared inboxes. From your shared inbox, you can instantly view all your emails, assign tasks to your team members, monitor their progress, and mark the emails done once they are resolved.

Focus on customer support and help desk services. What Hiver is actually designed to do is to assist help desk and support teams, and let them collaborate efficiently in order to improve the experience of end users. Therefore, it aims to speed up communication and collaboration across the team, with features such as shared notes, email templates, easy task assigning, a united knowledge base, and much more.

Sharing contacts and contact groups across the team. With Hiver, users can share their contact groups and any changes made to the contact profiles are instantly reflected within seconds. Users can also share templates, schedule their emails as well as set reminders for emails to show up on a later date.

Plethora of additional business functions. Satisfied Hiver users recommend this product for more than its help desk and collaboration capacity. According to them, Hiver helps eliminate the use of many types of software and business applications, as it provides features for HR, sales management, CEM, and marketing teams.

Advanced Gmail features. Once active, Hiver will supply you with a variety of Gmail features, among which email delegation, email notes, shared email labels, notifications and snooze, collaborative inboxes, and so on.

19. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a pioneer and highly trusted performer in the collaboration arena that follows the classic spreadsheet approach to manage large and diverse teams. The SaaS platform is designed to automate collaboration tasks, enhance operational visibility, and improve the quality and timing of business execution. Using it, you will also benefit from compliance and audibility features, and maintain full control thanks to the numerous rich integrations provided by the vendor. The tool is very easy to deploy and use, and more than recommended to starter and inexperienced teams.

What is unique about Smartsheet?

A natural, spreadsheet-driven interface. Regardless of how much you’ve improved your collaboration and teamwork skills, you remember the times when all planning and management was conducted on spreadsheets. Smartsheet makes use exactly of the traditional methodology to give businesses enough flexibility to manage work in the desired way. What is even better is that you get to customize nearly everything, including the way how the platform looks with your own colors, fonts, and logos.

Advanced security and administrative control. Smartsheet provides the security, controls, and integrations that exceed corporate requirements, and keeps data encrypted and well-protected in several different locations. Hence, you can have the peace of mind that it will never undergo unauthorized access.

Focus on project management. Smartsheet is an online and intuitive project management tool allowing teams to boost productivity using collaboration, cloud, and mobile technologies. It will easily become your centralized, always-available platform that helps you work smarter instead of harder.

A robust collaboration suite. Smartsheet comes packed with advanced collaboration features, and offers file sharing, card views, alerts and reminders, calendars, Gantt charts, sights, forms, cell linking, activities history, reporting & analytics, and resource management.

Traditional spreadsheet management. Using Smartsheet, you will find it incredibly easy to share and discuss entire spreadsheets, but also exchange separate rows of data where you’ve attached files or which you have recently updated. Another handy possibility is to publish completed spreadsheets (or parts of them) to the Web, both as editable and read-only files.

20. Noodle

Noodle Social Intranet Software was designed by Vialect, and provides you with some of the simplest solutions to enhance communication and boost employee engagement. For more than 10 years, the system has been building quality social intranets that set examples for decentralized teams, and bringing under the same roof all functionality needed to concentrate collaboration in a single system. The number of users and conversations within this system won’t be limited, and neither will be the creativity streams of your colleagues – with its rich and flexible features, Noodle will make sure you are making full use of your team’s potential, enable full customization, and provide access to knowledgeable support.

What is unique about Noodle?

Intranet-first solution. Noodle is best known for its capacity to build and maintain flexible company intranets, and keep employees engaged wherever they are located. For the purpose, it offers ready-to-use features such as intranet themes, intranet workflows, intranet tags, mobile intranet, pages, and many more.

Self-service for employees. Noodle is built around a self-service structure, which means that every employee gets a dedicated user profile from where he customizes his views, communicates, and shares data. All profiles with contact and interaction information are then gathered in an organized employee directory, and available to all users within the system.

A live activity stream. Following the example of top performers in the industry, such as Wrike or Asana, Noodle developed a live activity stream as the home page of the company’s joint account. It is there that users can follow all recent updates, check their apps, directories, and chats, launch a forum discussion, and customize their portals. Basically, all essential functionality is gathered on a single screen.

Enterprise-grade applications. The Noodle suite offers even 15 powerful, enterprise-grade business applications for mobile users, available both for Android and iOS users.

Priority customer support. Noodle offers customer support corresponding to the highest standards in the industry. A dedicated and easily reachable support center works around the clock to answer questions and solve customer inquires. Another convenient circumstance is the company’s dedication to following trends and innovations, as a result of which this system is constantly upgraded. Doing so, developers take into account requests and recommendations made by their customers.

The post Top 20 Online Collaboration Software Tools appeared first on Financesonline.com.

Which is our most reliable source of truth when choosing technology? Regardless of what we need and expect, we’d all point a finger towards customer reviews, as there is little chance for software that worked well for hundreds not to exhibit the exact positive effect for us. Of course, we’d not always be 100% right in doing so, but the bonus trick to learn from this market trend is that our main priority is treating customers as market leaders do.

What does this mean? Better yet, do CRM systems indeed make such a difference? We like to think of managing customer relationships as a treasure quest, not only because it tackles the people you’re trying to sell to, but also as these are the people that will teach you how to sell to everyone else. And while it is true that most businesses employ lead management systems and marketing tools to take over the process, much of the heavy lifting still belongs to CRMs: Rather than historical views, customer relationship systems extract futuristic information from your revenue streams, and enable you to depict opportunities, follow trends, and put affront the practices you’re proud of.

Usage of mobile CRM systems in 2017 [Credit: Innoppl Technologies]

Cloud CRM revenue 2013-2018

[Credit: Gartner.com]

Here’s what we think are the top 20 online CRM tools of 2017:

1. Pipedrive
2. HubSpot CRM
3. Freshsales
4. Zoho CRM
5. bpm’online CRM
6. ProsperWorks
7. amoCRM
8. Base CRM
9. InfoFlo
10. SAP Digital CRM
11. Insightly
12. Salesforce CRM
13. Nutshell CRM
14. Nimble
15. Apptivo
16. Azurepath
17. Vtiger
18. eWay CRM
19. SuiteCRM
20. Streak

1. Pipedrive

Pipedrive won our Best CRM Software Award for 2016

With an expert score of 9.8/10 and an absolute customer satisfaction rate of 100%, Pipedrive should definitely be one of the first CRMs to consider for improved sales and service delivery practices. The frontrunner of our CRM list  prides itself with our Best CRM Software of 2016 Award as well as the Expert’s Choice Award for the same year. It represents a system we foresee striking some amazing results in any environment where applied.

Pipedrive is a sales and success-focus CRM with a variety of advanced features that attracted over 50,000 companies worldwide. All of the system’s functionalities are constructed around a simple active-selling logic, providing users with adept control over deal completion and lead nurturing.

One of the methods Pipedrive uses to build healthy and lasting customer relationships is absolute visibility within every deal, tightly connected with the possibility to crate and manage records without the usual administrative burden traditional CRMs impose.

In fact, you will be pleasantly surprised by Pipedrive’s modernity wherever you turn, as each and every feature is painless to manipulate, and follows a minimalist, clutter-free approach to sales optimization.

Pipedrive is best known for automated alignment of activities with long-term missions, closing the critical functionality gap many large teams could stumble upon. The system also offers accurate reporting and analytics, sales forecasting, and integrates with a variety of leading service providers to help you adopt it in less than no time.

A free trial is also available for users interested to test its features. You can easily sign up for Pipedrive free trial here.

What is unique about Pipedrive?

1. Customizable Web Forms for simplified lead collection. Pipedrive collects contact information using customizable Web Forms, which can be placed directly on the user’s website or newsletter, or created manually within the Settings section.
2. Effective management of direct sales. Pipedrive’s smart Timeline View allows you to select the right deals and activities to focus on, and close them faster. Adding deals is made very simple, with a pop-up information box where you can add associated organizations, closure expectancy dates, stages, scheduled activities, and other important details.
3. Activity scheduler for your events and meetings. The feature makes it easy to plan events and appoint meetings in your calendar with no risk of double entries. There will also be a dedicated Mail tab where you can sync correspondence from several different accounts, forward documents and close specific deals with contacts that are not displayed on your Pipedrive list. Bulk editing is also an option.
4. Shortcuts to more successful deals. Pipedrive is a very customizable and collaborative system, and thus lets you modify your sales pipeline stages according to specific business needs. You will be able to turn on/off entire modules, add and remove fields, personalize messages, and share all sorts of files you believe could be useful to your colleagues.
5. Top notch analytics & reporting. Pipedrive stores all conversations and relevant information in a centralized database, from where you can export it to other systems, or use your own app to pull out detailed summaries. You can also give the Live Dashboard a look, and follow the status of your Wins, Loses, People, Activities, and Newness, or customize a special report that will display all aspects of your performance.
6. Streamlined mobile experience. Pipedrive is fully optimized for mobile usage, and offers dedicated apps for Android and iOS users. All data is automatically synced and backed up in real time on a separate server.
7. An array of useful integrations. Pipedrive offers an open API configuration, and comes with a very large list of premade third-party software integrations (including prominent CRM, accounting, marketing, and sales tools). You can also use it in synergy with Google Suite products and various email service providers, and connect it to Zapier for your own, custom integrations.
8. Availability in multiple languages. Currently, Pipedrive is available in even 13 different languages to serve almost all geographies, and works with a wide range of currencies including leading and minor ones.

2. HubSpot CRM

Across the expert community, HubSpot CRM is known for being the best (and probably only) free-of-charge yet do-it-all CRM to have appeared on the market so far. Ever since, this powerful CRM platform pleases users with modern features and never-ending innovations, and packs all lead organizing, tracking, and nurturing faucets in a friendly kit that doesn’t cost a dime to obtain.

Its target audience are inbound sales teams looking to graduate from messy spreadsheets and cluttered inboxes, and such that demand total visibility into their customer interactions.

HubSpot CRM works in synergy with other HubSpot products, and puts in place interesting connectivity possibilities that could cater to your software infrastructure. The same as other products discussed on this list, HubSpot CRM is hosted entirely in cloud, and thus imposes no complex setup or maintenance concerns.

All you need to do is to subscribe for their service (once again, it’s free), and you can start improving your sales practices since day one. You can easily get HubSpot for free here.

What is unique about HubSpot CRM?

1. Lifetime Free packages for small and developing businesses. Any business, regardless of its budget, can use HubSpot CRM at no cost and integrate it with just as many business systems and applications as necessary. The free package wraps up all essential CRM features, and doesn’t restrict the number of users or contacts you can import.
2. Universal applicability across all of your sales channels. Modern retail businesses operate in many different channels and locations, and HubSpot CRM brings all of their processes together. For the first time, you will be able to manage sales operations conducted via websites, email service providers, social media profiles, and phone calls from the comfort of a single dashboard.
3. End-to-end pipeline management. HubSpot CRM will help you close more deals with less work involved, because it organizes and tracks each aspect of your sales pipeline, and helps you close deals successfully and in time.
4. No limitations on storage and contacts in your database. With HubSpot’s free CRM, you can enjoy as much as 1,000,000 contacts and users, and unlimited storage. On top of that, you get to tweak the system’s functionality in line with your business requirements, and customize it to your wish.
5. Automated data enrichment. HubSpot CRM offers some of the most powerful data enrichment functionalities, thanks to which you can import leads from your emails with a single click. Another way in which HubSpot CRM perfects the art of efficient customer relationship management is with fast leads backlog, and the intuitive interface that doesn’t require any training or complex installations to master.
6. Neat organization and management of your leads. HubSpot CRM is a restless and powerful automation system, which will eventually help businesses close deals faster and cut the time they are spending on arranging customer documentation. Using it, you can sort your won and lost deals, and arrange them by stage, names, owners, and amounts using custom fields.
7. Personalized requests, sequences, and email templates. HubSpot CRM makes it possible to queue up emails and schedule them for delivery, using any of the system’s beautiful premade templates, or creating such from scratch.
8. Very long list of sales and marketing integrations. Once installed, HubSpot CRM will run in the background of all tools you are already using, and you will be able to trigger it whenever you need it. The list of available integrations is very long, and includes products such as Pipedrive CRM, SugarCRM, Bigcommerce, Gravity Forms, Base CRM, Google Chrome, Google Dynamics, Snapengage, Dropbox, and many more

3. Freshsales

Much of Freshsales’ path towards customer’s attentions was already paved by Freshdesk, the immensely popular flagship product of the company that collected experience to build the ideal CRM solution. As a result, Freshsales is one of today’s most preferred sales-centered CRMs, and profitable member of the well-known Freshworks productivity suite. Users are particularly fond of its intuitive interface, AI-based lead scoring, activity & behavior captures, and other unique features.

Freshsales will work the best for small and medium sales teams, including such that have no previous experience with digitized customer relationship management. Last, but not least, you should consider this product because of its smart email management capacity, and the number of prominent names contained on its list of partners and integrations (full compatibility with all Freshworks products).

If you’d like to see it in action first, a free trial for the product is available. You can easily sign up for Freshsales free trial here.

What is unique about Freshsales?

1. End-to-end email tracking and management. With Freshsales, reps have the possibility to track emails and see whether the recipient has opened them or not. They will also be to send bulk emails drafted on personalized templates, schedule those and sync them with their calendars, or relate them automatically to their contact records to export all relevant information.
2. Advanced contact segmentation. Once you run the system, you will discover a neat timeline where contacts are segmented on the basis of their behavior, and listed with all emails and engagement information to let you score them easily. This way, you will be able to appoint meetings, and peak within the contact’s history while you’re communicating with them, discover what has indeed piqued their interest, and how they interact with your product.
3. 360-degree overview on all customer details. Freshsales will provide you with a 360 degrees-view on all conversations and relevant details, and the advanced differentiation between pending, won, and lost deals.
4. Drag-and-drop sales management. Freshsales will make it easy to sort and filter close dates, distinguish bestsellers, and make sudden changes for all actions. It is where the system’s handy drag-and-drop navigation is most useful: in few seconds and with few moves, you can customize follow ups, analyze wins and losses, identify trends, or spot bottlenecks that have been slowing your performance down.
5. Modern analytics suite & trendline reporting. Freshsales makes it possible to build custom reports for every contact, deal, or opportunity. All of the reports can be generated at any point in time, so that the user can summarize information when changing the course of his campaigns. Developers have recently expanded their modern analytic suite with sales activity and trendline reports, which give users the full picture picture of how their sales strategies are progressing.

4. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is an online customer management solution that helps companies improve their selling strategies, and engage potential buyers across different interactive channels. The product belongs to a larger, very popular productivity suite which also guarantees its ease of use and synergy with multiple Zoho and third-party apps and systems.

Zoho CRM will not only help you streamline communication with clients, but also understand the metrics you’re collecting, and analyze and pull off valuable customers’ life cycle reports. You will also like how customizable it is, as it will easily adapt to your business specifications, and let you decide how to collect and use data across the organization.

You can easily sign up for Zoho CRM free trial here.

What is unique about Zoho CRM?

1. All-in-one sales automation suite. Zoho CRM automates daily sales tasks, converts web visitors into hot leads, imports prospects from external sources and parties including trade shows, direct emails, and seminar. Once imported in the system, your leads are instantly matched with the appropriate sales agents, and their profiles are open to any type of editing or modification.
2. Accurate revenue forecasts based on current performance. Zoho CRM can be used to accurately forecast revenue, establish/assign/edit sales quotas, identify individual/team performance, measure forecast accuracy, and create customizable forecast reports and dashboards.
3. Social-media-first CRM. Zoho CRM makes your products and services more visible on all leading social networks, helping you collect leads and connect with prospective customers. You can use it in synergy with Facebook and Twitter.
4. Targeting and reengaging inactive leads. Zoho CRM uses advanced features such as Business Card View and Notes to display the time and content of past conversations for a more personal and purposeful communication. With all information organized and displayed, you can identify and target inactive leads with historical data and realign your customer messaging.
5. Full customer control from a mobile device. Zoho CRM has a special, dedicated mobile edition for Android and iOS users which helps stay in control of customers’ actions even when out of the office.

5. bpm’online CRM

bpm’online CRM is a member of the company’s end-to-end sales and marketing management bundle, developed to streamline communication between different departments. The process-driven solution helps you manage your customers’ complete lead-to-order journey, ease interaction, and keep accounts regularly updated; and relies on 13 years of best-of-breed experience that caters to the needs of starter companies and enterprises.

The highlight of bpm’online’s functionality is definitely impeccable service – at the moment, the company employs 600 experts and serves over 6,500 customers worldwide, and prizes itself with several great industry awards including our Useful Free Trial and Great User Experience Award.

If you’d like to try it out first you can easily sign up for bpm’online free trial here.

What is unique about bpm’online CRM?

1. Unique combination of CRM and BPM features. bpm’online CRM brings under the same roof a variety of useful CRM and BPM features, including close observations on customers’ buying behavior, sales forecasting, design, tracking, and management of business processes, and in-depth analytics.
2. Code-free customization. bpm’online CRM is an easy-to-customize system, which offers a special wizard to add objects, fields and links; an integrated component library to customize without coding; and processes to change business logic. The RIA interface is also open for adjustments, and uses AJAX and Silverlight technologies to improve customers’ experience.
3. Agile deployment. You can deploy bpm’online CRM as SaaS or on premise, and consequently agree to an annual subscription or a single-time license to cover for the service.
4. Customer Success Management program. At no additional cost, bpm’online CRM users will be entitled to a dedicated Customer Success Manager who will assist their onboarding process, and help them improve the quality of their customer service and lead nurturing practices.
5. Very agile CRM processes. Bpm’online offers the agility to continually test, modify, and improve processes to stay tuned to the new business environment. There are no interruptions of the user work when a process needs to be updated. This also helps with the process modification and testing in response to the immediate needs of the business, on the fly and in the cloud.

6. ProsperWorks

ProsperWorks is an easy-to-use CRM that doesn’t require training and complex installations, and one of the industry’s top performers currently recommended by Google.

As developers like to put it, ProsperWorks is ready to apply by all current Gmail users, as it collects sales and lead data automatically, and arranges it in a way that closely resembles Gmail’s intuitive interface.

It will help you boost the productivity of your team in many different ways, as for instance eliminating manual data entries, automating tasks, tracking your employees’ activities, and managing multiple sales pipelines at once.

The tool will also integrate with other G Suite products to let you migrate data seamlessly and with minimal effort.

You can easily sign up for ProsperWorks free trial here.

What is unique about ProsperWorks?

1. Centralized communication with your customers. With ProsperWorks, communication is completely centralized, and neatly arranged in customer profiles packed with information and conversations. You can automate tasks, send and track emails with ease, and make use of the system’s collaborative nature to keep the whole team involved in the process.
2. Integrated, ready-to-use VoIP functionality. ProsperWorks integrates with the RingCentral VoIP suite to to trigger quick-to-dial and call logging functions for an even easier communication with your customers and partners.
3. Detailed pipeline reporting. ProsperWorks comes with a powerful reporting suite that will help you understand the effects of each practice. Regardless of the number of clients you need to serve, Prosperworks will set dedicated business pipelines for each, and make your sales approach more direct and personal.
4. Accurate goal tracking and forecasting. Another interesting possibility is to set multiple targets and common goals for your team, coach the agents to success, and stay in control of your progress, and compare the work of your agents for different periods of time.
5. Unrestricted connectivity. ProsperWorks offers RESTful API for developers to connect it to just about every system out there, but also a number of useful, premade integrations that will allow you to use it since day one.

7. amoCRM

amoCRM is a smart sales automation and customer management solution for small, medium, and large companies. Its best known and unique feature is Digital Pipeline – a handy interaction tool that opens multiple online communication channels you can use to motivate buyers and move them higher along your sales pipeline.

The effectiveness of your sales processes’ is further enhanced with 9 key vendor elements, including the sleek, minimalist design, automated, cross-channel prospect collection, business card scanning, email syncing, built-in-VoIP, digital ads, in-app messaging, churn control & renewal, and several handy extensions. amoCRM also comes with an easy-to-afford pricing scheme, and is therefore a reasonable alternative for small businesses.

You can easily sign up for amoCRM free trial here.

What is unique about amoCRM?

1. Collecting leads from multiple communication channels. amoCRM collects leads from all communication channels, and organizes their info on your behalf. The channels in question include email addresses, live chat, phone numbers, on-site interactions, and social media.
2. Instant business card lodging. Part of amoCRM’s modern and successful deal-closure mechanism is also the advanced business card scanner to import and prepare your data within seconds.
3. Complete email correspondence sync. With amoCRM, you can attach all addresses and communication history to the prospect’s profile, and have those available wherever you are. The system integrates with all leading email service providers, and you won’t be required to enter data manually.
4. Engaging customers with digital ads. amoCRM does a very good job keeping customer engaged, as it uses a digital pipeline to nurture leads and automate follow-up sequences. Based on it, it sends emails to targeted recipients, displays digital ads and intrigues them to learn more, which means it has basically prepared those leads for the moment they’re taken over by your sales department.
5. Smart collaboration suite. amoCRM will offer your team multiple possibilities to exchange data and ideas across the system, and work in teams to achieve the best possible results. The tool is also equipped with an intelligent notification system which makes sure no important information will slide through the crack.

8. Base CRM

Base CRM is another reputed sales acceleration service that helps you analyze your customers’ behavior. It was developed as an end-to-end sales management platform that enhances pipeline visibility, puts in place seamless communication via several different channels and devices, and relates easily to other systems and applications to facilitate other key aspects of your business.

It is also well known for its real-time visual reporting which helps set predictable revenue goals and accurate sales forecasts. Prospective buyers may also be interested to know that this company serves over 7,000 customers at the moment, and offers success assistance and hands-on implementation services 24/7.

You can easily sign up for Base free trial here.

What is unique about Base CRM?

1. Best-in-class lead scoring. Once deployed, Base CRM covers for all of your key CRM and sales needs, well connected to your email providers, phone dialers, scoring tools, and reporting packages. For the purpose, it employs a sales tracking solution allowing you to customize sales stages according to your needs and easily track opportunities.
2. End-to-end customer management. Base CRM keeps track of all the information, even phone calls you have with your customers and their exchanges with you. Your emails to customers can be automatically synced and sorted for easier recall and more cohesive customer relationship experience, as agents will have access to their data regardless of their devices and locations.
3. Works in synergy with (and collects data from) popular social networks. You can use Base CRM in synergy with your favorite social networks (it collects leads from Facebook, Google, and Twitter), connect it to nearly every email service provider, and make it an integral part of your software ecosystem.
4. Reliable customer support. Base CRM is one of the best alternatives you’ve got when it comes to customer support, as there are qualified experts always available via email of phone to answer your questions and help you maximize the potential of this system.
5. Affordable pricing. Base CRM is suitable for large enterprises as well as for small companies, due to its flexible pricing scheme. The company offers affordable packages for startups ($25/month), and fully-featured sales kits for enterprise-grade users ($125/month). A 14-days free-of-charge trial is also available for all users interested to explore the features first.

9. InfoFlo

InfoFlo is Carmel Vision’s flagship CRM program and complete office management solution that puts sales managers in control over their customer database. Alongside traditional customer management features, InfoFlo delivers a modern suite of project management tools, and integrates with leading phone & communication systems to ensure you will deliver nothing but the best client service.

A distinctive advantage is also the possibility to gather valuable feedback and use it for your research and development, and have all information displayed at a glance for easier reporting. Future customers will also have the chance to choose how to deploy this product, as it can be ran both in cloud and within your local network.

You can easily sign up for InfoFlo free trial here.

What is unique about InfoFlo?

1. Enterprise-grade contact management. InfoFlo’s most valuable function is tracking, managing, and automatically linking pertinent information about your business contacts. With a single click, you will have all contact info displayed on your screen, and ready-to-share with colleagues and collaborators. Contacts are automatically imported from third-party systems and applications, and can be contacted in several different ways.
2. Email & Calendar management. InfoFlo will also take care of your email and calendar management needs, as it stores and organizes all of your correspondence, events, meetings, tasks, and recordings that matter to your business.
3. Live social media feeds that keep you informed. InfoFlo lets you view a live feed of your Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook account. In addition, you can see and manage all of your posts using a single dashboard, where you will also receive customers’ questions and inquiries, and respond from several profiles at the same time.
4. Tracking growth possibilities. InfoFlo tracks your current leads and prospects, and makes sure you will never miss an important opportunity.
5. Bulletproof data security. InfoFlo guarantees the safety of your data with an enterprise-grade 512 bit encryption, and makes sure it will never fall into the wrong hands. It can also centrally backup and restore the entire InfoFlo database, including users, contacts, documents, and all other information.

10. SAP Digital CRM

SAP requires little onboarding regardless of the experience you have, as the leading software provider has proven its expertise in multiple occasions, and with diverse productivity suites. This time, we are presenting their customer engagement and commerce package known as SAP Digital CRM, namely a new-age hybrid clientele solution that helps create omnichannel customer experiences.

In short, this system will engage your customers at every touchpoint during their journey, and maintain relationships active to foster higher repetitive sales rates.

We recommend it because of its strong marketing properties, which provide for the creation of dynamic customer profiles, campaign segmentation, and best-of-breed loyalty management.

Note that SAP CRM is also a system that handles revenue and order management, sales operations, support services, and various eCommerce aspects.

What is unique about SAP Digital CRM?

1. Revenue management system. SAP Digital CRM is one of the very few solutions in this category that allow you to manage and forecast your revenue based on the success of customer interactions. Using it, you will have access to order management features, subscription management tools, responsive quality control, consolidated billing and invoicing for agile charging, and end-to-end control of your finances.
2. Compact marketing suite. SAP Digital CRM will also provide you with a compact marketing suite, and access to features such commerce marketing, campaign management, marketing resource management, loyalty management, and detailed marketing analytics.
3. Dynamic customer profiling. SAP Digital CRM is best known for dynamic customer profiling, as it segments customers in line with your sales logic, and helps you deliver top quality and contextual experience for each of them. The system will also make sure that information is regularly updated, and highlight important opportunities you should consider.
4. A variety of useful commerce features. With SAP Digital CRM, you will also have access to B2B and B2C commerce tools, including omnichannel fulfillment, contextual merchandising, product content and catalog management, and many other useful features.
5. A consistent, frictionless omnichannel experience. SAP CRM will collect leads from all channels you’re using, and then combine and present data in understandable and actionable units. This will also help you provide rich and personalized content for your customers at every stage of their journey.

11. Insightly

Insightly is another of our best rated CRM solutions for Gmail and Google Suite users, focused on building and maintaining stronger customer relationships and exceeding customer expectations. Engineered for enterprises, Insightly works ideally for social-friendly sales teams and creative companies, helping them accelerate sales and enhance project delivery across every channel.

Among other benefits, Insightly will also help get the big picture of your business, as it offers top notch dashboards and opportunity reports.  Over the years, Insightly also imposed itself as the leader of CRM connectivity, working side-by-side with tenths leading sales and marketing systems on the market.

What is unique about Insightly?

1. Compact customer profiles. Insightly provides you with a holistic, 360-degrees view of all your contacts and customers, displaying each and every important detail such as background, contact info, important dates, email history, opportunities, and so on.
2. Active customer engagement on all stages. Insightly features an integrated project management at every stage of engagement with the customer. This means that you can monitor recent activities and track project performance and progress against your preset timeline; create project milestones, pipelines and tasks; set automated email alerts; and track email correspondence.
3. Social media-friendly platform. Insightly will also perform impeccably in the role of a social CRM, as you can easily associate it with leading social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and similar platforms where your contact is participating and sharing information.
4. Micro and macro views of your business activities. Insightly will provide you with both micro and macro views of your business activities, providing access to features such as Dashboards, Tasks/Milestones, Pipeline Activity, and Opportunity Reports. Paired with an intuitive and social-friendly interface, these functionalities help boost productivity in less than no time.
5. End-User Curriculum. As part of its advanced customer care policy, Insightly offers a class based End User Curriculum support program ($35 per class with training materials included) intended to assist small companies into optimizing its features, and adjusting the system to work exclusively for the needs of their business.

12. Salesforce CRM

Salesforce is another business software provider we’d easily entrust our CRM operations. With a dedicated CRM package in place, Salesforce dominates a large portion of this market, providing a variety of unique services such as lead management, marketing automation, and partner management combined with neat sales data control.

Salesforce CRM also stands out because of its real-time views of your sales team’s conversions that help you create adaptive weekly forecasts. You can also use the system’s top notch reports to accumulate data for detailed reporting and analysis, and manage territories with the right model to set boundaries and customer volume and achieve a more balanced assignments among your reps.

What is unique about Salesforce CRM?

1. Very competitive opportunity management. Salesforce CRM incorporates a special Sales Collaboration and Sales Performance Management module, both developed to help you set metrics-based goals and amplify winning performances of sales reps to motivate a healthy competition in your team.
2. Active generation of quality leads. With Salesforce CRM, you can generate quality leads and cuts the duration of your sales cycles in advance. This system makes it possible to track clicks and create smart campaigns, and offers dedicated Marketing automation and Lead management apps to help you control your customers’ journey.
3. Customizable business processes. Salesforce CRM’s Visual Workflow  lets you to drag-and-drop and edit business processes with ease, including even deals, discounts, and expenses. The very same tool can be used to share and sync files and track changes in real time, and to improve communication between team members.
4. Detailed analytics & reporting. As it is the case with most Salesforce products, its CRM’s intelligent dashboards are able to collect and accumulate data for detailed reporting and analysis. Using the right model, you will have the possibility to manage territories, set boundaries and customer volumes, and assign leads between reps with unparalleled precision.
5. Engaging customers wherever you are. Salesforce CRM offers dedicated apps to Android and iOS users, and thus allows your reps to engage customers and use opportunities even when out of the office. As a truly mobile-optimized system, Salesforce CRM imposes no restrictions on the types of devices or operating systems your team members wil be using.

13. Nutshell CRM

Nutshell CRM targets predominantly small businesses and inbound sales teams, driven by the idea of leveraging technology power to motivate reps and close more deals. With a modern and memorable interface, Nutshell easily becomes the favorite B2B asset of every team, being at the same time an app that complements diverse and complex software ecosystem.

There is much to appreciate about it, but what you should be looking at first is lead generation: Nutshell CRMlumps all opportunities together, as it assigns people, products, sources and competitors to each lead, making it possible to track them all at once. That doesn’t stop you from distributing leads in a different way, though, or assigning unique tasks while the lead is created.

Another interesting possibility is to define your own prices, and adjust them to the market where your product is about to be placed.

What is unique about Nutshell CRM?

1. Comprehensive contact importing and organization. Nutshell CRM facilitates lead importing in a variety of ways – you can sync automatically the contacts from your Google accounts and Excel spreadsheets, bring visitors in from social networks, or even create profiles manually. The system  lumps all opportunities together, as it assigns people, products, sources and competitors to each lead, making it possible to track them all at once. You can also divide contacts into Leads, People, and Companies, and trigger some bulk editing when necessary.
2. Building lasting relationships. Nutshell CRM helps bring customer interactions in the loop, and have all of their information displayed on a single page. It will automatically capture links between contacts, discover richer relationships, and populate profiles with rich social media data.
3. Easy role assignment. The admin of this system can include as many users as he wants, and assign them different roles and permissions to govern access to information. Such features are useful foremost to larger sales teams where not all users are supposed to access customer history or pricing data.
4. Automated syncing with Gmail, G Suite, and Google Calendar. Your Nutshell CRM account will be automatically synced with Google Calendar, and thus aggregate all important dates, and let the manager focus on managing leads.
5. Enterprise-grade reporting. Nutshell CRM allows the user to pull out detailed performance charts, high level summaries, sales forecasts and analytics, and team activity lists. The same as other documents exported from this system, reports can be saved to all devices as CSV files.

14. Nimble

In a fashion similar to Nutshell CRM, Nimble wraps up high-end CRM functionalities in a package affordable for small companies, allowing them to develop smarter marketing strategies, and excel in social sales.

The system’s capacity relies on four main pillars: Smart Contacts, Smart Insights, Smart Results, and Mobile Applicability, all designed with the idea to provide undisturbed transparency into how your contacts are being managed.

You will be able to turn to the right prospect in the right place and time, and follow up his/her preferences while moving interactions in the right direction. The system is very-well integrated with social networks and productivity applications, and has one of the friendliest mobile interfaces on the CRM market.

What is unique about Nimble?

1. Very detailed contact records without manual data entry. The core functionality of this platform is its end-to-end contact management, as Nimble is best known for providing detail-rich customer records. The system further supplements these contact records with data coming  from Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype, Google+, email, phone, and similar sources.
2. Touch reminders. The touch reminders, such as the Mark-as-Important staring system, are among Nimble’s best known and most appreciated features. They help keep your important communications front and center, and ensure you will never miss an important opportunity.
3. Automated identification of key contacts. Nimble specializes in relationship intelligence, and helps you identify key contacts based on their interests and preferences. Once you know which is the prospect you should focus on, Nimble helps you launch a purposeful conversation, and close deals more successfully.
4. Social Business Insights. Nimble can also be applied for social profile matching and enrichment purposes, and provide valuable business insights on both people and companies. This way, you will have all information necessary to categorize your prospects, and reach out to them.
5. More than 100 integrations. The open API infrastructure of this system allows you to connect it to virtually any third-party app/service provider, or use any of the 100+ default connections to different productivity systems. Nimble is automatically synced with Google Apps and Office 365 products, and operates impeccably on traditional and mobile devices.

15. Apptivo

Apptivo is a simple and well-integrated mobile CRM system that specializes in opportunity management. Using it, you can see a visual pipeline of all incoming deals and focus instantly on your most important prospects.

The system helps to avoid re-entering data in the system, as all your opportunities are instantly transformed into goals, quotas, projects, and invoices. The very same web-to-lead tracking mechanism can be used to discover and collect new leads, as it easy to embed on your website, and comes with an open API infrastructure to blend with any of your email service providers.

Plus, Apptivo gives you the possibility to customize it to your wish, be that adding new fields, sharing sections across apps, or drafting your own views.

What is unique about Apptivo?

1. Capturing web leads and converting opportunities. Once installed, Apptivo will unify all of your sales tracking systems, and integrate with your WordPress account and other intelligence sources (web-to-lead, email-to-lead, CSV import) to collect as many leads as you need to enhance your productivity. The system goes beyond traditional customer relationship management by converting opportunities into projects, quotes, and invoices.
2. Unlimited custom fields. Apptivo stands for one of the most customizable systems on the CRM market, as it lets you add and use as many custom fields as you need. This way, you will have full control over your customer records, and you will even be able to remove automated fields that don’t correspond to your business specifications.
3. Restrictions-free customer management. Apptivo doesn’t limit the number of users you can involve, or the roles and privileges you can assign to them. You will also benefit from unrestricted storage, and insert as many relevant customer details as you need.
4. Built-in apps for extra functionality. Rather than a plain CRM system, Apptivo can be observed as an end-to-end business management system, as its customer management capacity is further enhanced with invoicing, project management, help desk, expense reporting, and procurement apps.
5. Stellar support. Apptivo’s customer support agents are available 24/7 via phone, email, and live chat, making sure that all of your issues are solved instantly,

16. Azurepath

Azurepath is usually described as a lead management solution, thanks to the variety of clear insights and customer stats it offers. The core benefit of this smart CRM is the ability to manage a customer’s journey beginning to end, and know at any point of time where leads and accounts stand compared to weekly, monthly, or even yearly forecasts.

What reps find to be the most useful feature is highlighting hot and cold leads and bringing those to their attention, making sure that no deal will slide through the cracks. Azurepath also allows batch lead editing, limitless display and reordering of lead data, and drafts powerful, 60-seconds lead insights against minimal data input.

Satisfied customers have also confirmed that it takes little to no time to abandon a traditional, spreadsheet-arranged system and upgrade to Azurepath’s professional services.

What is unique about Azurepath?

1. A batch importing feature. Azurepath is a very beginner-friendly system – it automates data entry, and instantly updates your data at any time using an Excel or CSV file. Drag and drop your existing business list of accounts, leads and/or contacts to get started, or use any of Azurepath’s downloadable templates to guide you through the process.
2. Automated communication between customer management agents. With Azurepath, you can automate communication tracking by adding cc@azurepath.com to any email, and automatically track all sales rep communication. You can also add a canned lead note in just two touches after a call or meeting, which means that manual notes will no longer be necessary.
3. Automated lead follow up. Automated lead follow up helps you eliminate tasks and reminders – you can identify hot leads and prospective closers with a unique color coding scheme, or custom fields and alerts.
4. Super-accurate sales forecasts. Azurepath offers automated reporting and trend analysis, which means you won;t have to build your summaries from the ground up, but have them ready-to-use regardless of their complexity. You can also come up with extremely accurate forecast for months and years ahead, using simple sliders and Azurepath’s automated historical performance insights that guide your selections.
5. Finance management features. Azurepath is just cut for finance departments maintaining constant contact with customers, as it offers features such as accurate cash forecasts, integrated company expenses, tracking receivables, guiding cash flow scenarios, changing prices, and so on.

17. Vtiger

If looking for an all-in-one sales, marketing, and support CRM system optimized for mobile usage, look no further than Vtiger. The well-known CRM and CEM tool assembles its core functionality in three separate modules (Sales, Help Desk, and CRM), and thus makes it possible for the company to focus on improving that particular aspect of its performance that requires the most attention.

Sales, for instance, provides you with a 360-degree view of your contacts, scheduled appointments, analytics, and real-time, actionable deals maps, while Help Desk section completes it with automated case creation, escalations, and proficient support.

The key module is CRM, where the prospective user can collaboratively manage the delivery of customer projects, track and use opportunities, and extract valuable data for reporting purposes.

What is unique about Vtiger?

1. Fully automated workflows. Vtiger helps users to maintain the their contacts, automate repetitive tasks, track campaigns, and compile an extensive report about the sales, marketing, and the support tasks being performed within the organization. It also offers custom reports that use multiple filters to focus on the specific lead characteristics. Users reduce the repetitive tasks, and save the time as a result.
2. Sales, marketing, and customer support united in a single system. Vtiger is one of the few CRM performers that bring sales, management, and customer support features under the same umbrella. Hence, you can rely on this system to make your business more productive, while providing end users with top notch technical support.
3. An array of unique sales management features. When saying that Vtiger will help you manage sales and bolster deals, we are not only referring to deal tracking and pipeline visibility. In the role of a digital sales assistant, Vtiger brings on the table a number of advanced features, including inventory management and direct payment processing via PayPal.
4. A support portal for end customers. As we already mentioned, Vtiger can also be applied as a help desk system. In fact, Vtiger’s backend support portal allows your customers to search through past issues and their resolutions, and find a solution for any of their problems without you being involved in the process. At the back end of the portal, the support agents can create, document, and track the issues with the help of automated follow-ups. Moreover, the customers are provided with the ability to monitor the status of their issues from the opening to the closure moment.
5. A large base of satisfied users. As an end-to-end CRM solution fully optimized for mobile usage, and an affordable replacement for several expensive sales, marketing, and help desk tools, Vtiger currently serves more than 100,000 satisfied customers worldwide.

18. eWay CRM

eWay CRM is a new-generation relationship manager designed specifically for Microsoft Outlook users. With an Outlook account in place, you can add the app instantly to your working environment, and make it function as a proficient, end-to-end CRM tool on a minimal price.

The first action it will perform on your behalf is segmenting important clients from other contacts, and then generate such from other data sources you’re using. The very same system can then be triggered for sales and marketing purposes, as it makes it easy to collect feedback, plan activities and follow up tasks, and evaluate the efficiency of your reps.

Another thing made incredibly easy will be reporting, as eWay CRM is packed with analytic features, and helps draft accurate reports that can then by exported in any desired format.

The system works best for sole entrepreneurs, and small and medium sales businesses.

What is unique about eWay CRM?

1. An Outlook-exclusive CRM. eWay CRM is a tool designed exclusively for Outlook users. Thanks to it, small and medium businesses can organize their Outlook contact data, track sales metrics, and focus efforts on the most valuable prospects from the comfort of their inbox.
2. Planning marketing activities. eWay CRM offers a dedicated Marketing module that can be used to plan all types of campaigns and marketing activities. Inside, you will find features such as mail merge, active feedback collection, efficiency monitoring and evaluation, lead generation, and many more.
3. A dedicated Sales management module. eWay CRm targets predominantly sales and retail businesses, and thus comes equipped with sales management tools. Next to managing customer relationships, you will be able to track your deals, attach documents, notes, and emails, plan and appoint follow up tasks, or even automate different pipeline workflows.
4. Integrated project management features. With eWay CRM, you can automate all of your workflows, and make sure no important task is left behind. All documents and customer info are stored in a single location, and there is even the possibility to track project finances and prevent potential issues.
5. Worldwide CRM. With eWay CRM, the location of your reps and clients won’t be an issue. The system is fully functional on all geographies around the world, as it is hosted in cloud, and imposes no territorial limitations to as who can use it. At the moment, the company serves more than 5000 small and medium businesses from all around the globe.

19. SuiteCRM

SuiteCRM gained instant popularity being one of the very few platforms that offer end-to-end CRM service absolutely for free. The open-source alternative to expensive, traditional CRMs does an admirable job optimizing your customers and bolstering sales, and doesn’t require you to invest anything in the process.

You can deploy it easily in your private or public cloud, on Amazon, or even on premise – whatever option you choose, you will be entitled to the company’s enterprise grade customer support and onboarding assistance. A number of extensions and trendy innovations will also be available to download for those who wish to expand the platform’s scope of action.

What is unique about Suite CRM?

1. Open-source CRM. Suite CRM is absolutely free to use, and there will be no recurring fees and unexpected costs to worry about. This won’t, however, compromise the quality of the service you receive, as Suite CRM is touted to be one of the most powerful enterprise-grade alternative to proficient CRM systems.
2. Absolute freedom of deployment. Suite CRM can be deployed in a variety of ways: you can choose to use it in your private cloud, launch it behind the firewalls of your server for absolute security, or even acquire it as an on-demand service. The system is also available to use in public cloud, and with Amazon web hosting.
3. Actionable customer insights. Suite CRM is best known for delivering dynamic and actionable customer insights. Such insights help businesses boost conversions and sales, bolster customer satisfaction rates, and automate cumbersome business operations.
4. Suite CRM for developers. With a creative developer in your team, there is virtually nothing Suite CRM won’t be able to do for you. Developers are offered information and assistance to build custom Suite CRM solutions, create their own conversions, and associate the system to any third-party application.
5. Never-ending innovations. Suite CRM has a very large user and expert community that is contributing actively to make this system even more powerful. As a result, you will always have proficient advice at your fingertips, and an ever-evolving system that caters easily to the needs of your developing business. The recent 7.9.2 version, for instance, offers a new SuiteP Email Client design, and a number of useful campaign enhancements. For more details, check the Extensions directory, and find the plugin you need.

20. Streak

Last, but not least, we present you another CRM designed for Gmail users coming predominantly from the sales, product development, fundraising, HR, and real estate industry. Streak works the best for small and mid-market businesses, helping them manage contacts, emails, deals, and support inquiries at a fraction of the usual market price.

What Streak does is in fact to transform your Gmail inbox into an all-in-one business management platform, from where you will even be able to report on your deals and make last-minute changes to your workflow without coding skills.

As expected, Streak is clutter-free and easy to use, and performs perfectly on all mobile devices.

What is unique about Streak?

1. Applicability in a variety of niches and industries. As a Gmail-exclusive CRM, Streak does not require industry expertise to make the most of its potential. It will work perfectly even when applied in specific industries, including sales, real estate, product development, hiring and HR, fundraising, and so on.
2. A variety of email power tools. Streak is packed with advanced email power tools that will help you turn your Gmail account into a proficient CRM. Such features are the View Tracking, Send Later options, Snippets, Mail Merge, Snooze, Thread Splitters, and many more.
3. Simplified collaboration within the team. With a large and decentralized team in charge of a single project, one-click collaboration will be a real blessing in disguise. Streak connects team agents and lets them share files and information, and even work jointly in their usual environment to achieve common goals.
4. The possibility to replace all external help desk systems. A distinctive advantage of Streak compared to other Gmail-exclusive systems is its ability to turn your inbox into a multipurpose service delivery hub. It won’t only collect customer data and enhance deal closure, but improve the service you provide until it has fully replaced your external help desk tools.
5. A flexible, no-coding structure. You won’t be challenged to update and modify this system to your needs – in fact, you can tweak functionality and add workflows on the go, and serve customers even when you’re not in the office.

The post Top 20 Online CRM Tools Your Company Can Benefit From in 2017 appeared first on Financesonline.com.

It is not that uncommon for marketers of today to switch their computers on, lean back, and let their pretty-penny marketing tools ‘schedule, pack, and distribute’ what they call ‘directly marketed content’. Presented this way, the grand achievements of computerized marketing technology won’t beat at a glance their peers from the 1980s, so how is it that we have such marvelous performers nowadays?

All difference in digitized marketing decades ago and today consists in a single term: Marketing Automation Software. Credit for this ever-growing trend of marketing automation should be given to  the severely changed perceptions of ‘real-time’ distribution, and the vast amount of data migrating worldwide with only few people to pull the strings. In plain English, marketing automation made it possible for small business and newcomer agencies to connect with customers in a personalized manner, develop smarter targeting strategies, and keep all of their marketing efforts consistent.

Marketing automation systems are in fact interactive solutions, which means they won’t only schedule delivery of promotional content, but use predictive algorithms to target the right recipients, and enable reaction mechanisms to turn those recipients into loyal customers. This explains why in Marketo’s 2015 MA adoption survey, 91% of the interviewed users described these systems as being very important to their omnichannel marketing efforts, with 37% of these 91% reaped significant benefits even in the role of limited users.

Marketing adoption 2011-2014

In 2014, Harvard Business Review listed marketing automation systems as one of the 7 terrific marketing technologies each company must use. According to the popular magazine, these solutions facilitate the aligning between sales and marketing operations, taking full control over companies’ email marketing campaigns and pairing marketing operations with important CRM data. Numerous industry experts stand in favor of this claim, and explain that marketing automation has no fitting substitute when it comes to businesses’ competitiveness.

Industry Adoption of Marketing Automation Systems [Credit: Ascend2]

Top marketing automation software solutions selected by our experts are:

1. bpm’online marketing
2. LeadSquared
3. HubSpot Marketing
4. Marketo
5. Oracle Eloqua
6. ActiveCampaign
7. Exponea
8. Real Magnet
9. Pardot
10. IBM Marketing Cloud
11. iContact Pro
12. Wishpond
13. GreenRope
14. SharpSpring
15. Constant Contact
16. AdRoll
17. Salesfusion
18. ONTRAPORT
19. GetResponse
20. Genoo

1. bpm’online marketing

bpm’online won our Great User Experience Award for 2017

bpm’online is a highly appreciated name in the B2B software industry, referred to as a very productive suite that assembles marketing, sales, and CRM functions into an affordable and flexible bundle. Their all-in-one marketing automation module is our leader in this category, honored with our Great User Experience Award for 2017. The vendor also offers a great free trial for those who’d like to try out all the key features first. You can easily sign up for bpm’online free trial here.

How will bpm’online enhance the success of your marketing strategies? Our expert team has so far discovered very few systems that cover end-to-end the operating module they were designed for, and bpm’online marketing is one of them. The system functions as a core lead generator and differentiator that analyzes prospect behavior, and therefore makes it easy to distinguish sales-ready leads regardless of their industry, location, or purchase history. It is also an agent-friendly and well-organized hub that puts valuable data within easy reach, keeping your budget safe from excess expenses all along. The plans are affordable and customer-centered, and there are no recurrent fees to worry about.

What is even more important is that bpm’online makes marketing just as agile and business-specific as you need it, allowing you to draft campaigns and target users the way you want to. Such customization ensures invaluable benefits for brand awareness, transforming even the least-known business into a reliable and trustworthy partner. At the same time, you will integrate it easily with the rest of your software system, both when using it as a separate tool or in synergy with other bpm products. If interested, you can also check out their useful free trial, and experience first-hand what this system has to offer.

What is unique about bpm’online marketing?

1. End-to-end marketing automation. bpm’online marketing can be described as an agile and flexible system which compares marketing channels to distinguish the ones that generate the best leads, and does the same with prospects to select sales-ready ones, and to assign them to the right users. At the same time, this system modifies marketing streams, and tests the effect of different targeting processes to help you adapt to your business environment.
2. A variety of useful lead nurturing practices. Being an omnichannel product, bpm’online leverages the best lead nurturing practices, so that leads would be automatically routed from one sales stage to the other, be it acquisition, qualification, or distribution.
3. An inbuilt content creator. Creative teams can use bpm’online to develop their own brand-specific promotional materials, including e-books and papers, videos, conference events, newsletters, and many more.
4. Summarizing and analyzing lead information. bpm’online marketing covers all most effective lead management practices to collect and summarize information, making sure that all important customer details are clearly visible to the user. It focuses foremost on customers’ behavior and interaction with your content, and puts in action some sophisticated mapping to ensure accurate customer segmentation.
5. Collaboration features. bpm’online marketing gathers all customer data on a single location, and makes it accessible to all agents regardless of the department where they are working. In this way, the system eliminates miscommunication and duplicate entries, and makes sure everyone is on the same page. Note that the tool is also fully mobile-optimized, and allows agents to use it even when not in the office.
6. Member of a compact productivity bundle. Pushed by the idea to create a fully-functional customer management suite, bpm’online united three productive modules in a single CRM package – Sales, Marketing, and Service. The price of this bundle is very affordable, which is why we recommend it to all companies looking to enhance customer service.

2. LeadSquared

If looking to combine marketing automation and CRM functionality on a fair price, look no further than LeadSquared. This is the tool that lands more leads and sells more products in synergy, and a valuable asset for large and decentralized teams. There is much to like about it, but we’d point out its efficient lead conversion practices, which happen to be unique in this industry: LeadSqaured works independently to push leads deeper down the sales funnel, boosts the sales velocity of your business with accurate lead qualification, and gives you a conversion prediction tool you’ll wish you’d had before. At the same time, LeadSquared will do a good job depicting areas for improvement, focusing primarily on bounce rates small businesses usually struggle with. The vendor also offers a free trial that allows you to test all the major features of the software. You can easily sign up for LeadSquared free trial here.

What is unique about LeadSquared?

1. Fully automated and independent workflows. LeadSquared is an automation-first system, and hence allows users to create interdependent workflows that work in-sync to automate complex business processes. Funnel movements are an excellent example, as they help change lead stages or update any other lead field right when a pre-defined lead activity occurs.
2. No-code campaign personalization. LeadSquared comes packed with beautiful templates, and offers a handy drag-and-drop tool where you can personalize your email marketing campaigns. You can utilize an array of elements like images, content and buttons, and a visual builder to produce vibrant designs with a personal touch. Coding skills won’t be necessary.
3. Drip marketing. In short, LandSquared makes sure you take the right action for the right customer at the right time. It guides leads down the sales funnel quite independently, and that’s what makes it so special – you can sketch your prospect conversation paths and define their journey on a simple visual builder, and automate most of your sales funnel within seconds.
4. End-to-end lead engagement. LeadSquared will not only pull leads into your system, but help you keep them engaged all along. You can send notifications and enable important autoresponders, highlight fresh deals they could be interested in, and make connection as streamlined as they would like it to be.
5. Tracking customers’ behavior. When it comes to lead differentiation, LeadSquared pays the most attention to activity and behavior variables. It allows you to track all leads’ moves, including CTA clicking and page viewing, and gives access to a customizable scoring feature that will distinguish ready buyers.
6. Professional customer support. LeadSquared offers a knowledgeable and friendly support team that will always be at your reach. You can contact them any time you want, via email, phone, or live chat. You will also find ready ticket forms embedded on their website, and plenty of training materials where you can look for answers independently.

3. HubSpot Marketing

Your number-one reason for choosing HubSpot Marketing should be its very diverse scope of action, as marketing automation is only a slight portion of what this system has at stake for you. HubSpot Marketing first helps you prepare and optimize and your content in line with users’ preferences, and only then lays a personalized path for you to engage and turn them into loyal customers. The system is best known for having developed powerful SEO tools that require no coding know-hows, which means you can target the right influencers and develop attractive calls-to-action since day one. It will also set up interesting contact forms you can use to A/B-test your marketing strategies, and provide you with some interesting reports on their contribution to your sales performance.

HubSpot Marketing can be applied in the role of an email marketing, sales performance & lead management system, and works best for small and medium inbound sales teams.

What is unique about HubSpot Marketing?

1. A hassle-free working environment. HubSpot Marketing is a reasonable alternative for first-time MA users, as it comes with an intuitive, hassle-free interface that performs proficiently even without coding. Users can build a website without IT knowledge, design their own workflows, prepare, format, and publish content, and engage customers in a more personalized way.
2. Compact and ready-to-use marketing funnel. Becoming an expert marketer has never been easier: You simply create an account, place contacts in the most appropriate stage of the funnel, score them, and personalize and distribute your content.
3. Marketing impact reports. The system relies on its tight HubSpot CRM and Salesforce connections to provide first-hand access to traffic data, and pull out valuable stats. You get to report confidently on the impact of each marketing effort, and learn how to improve your sales performance.
4. Delighted customers. What if your marketing system can give users additional reasons to visit your website? HbSPot Marketing specializes in delighting users, providing them keywords and key phrases, blog blueprints for optimized visibility, and content arranged in a way they’d expect it to be.
5. Part of a powerful business growth stack. HubSpot Marketing can be used both independently, and as part of the company’s sales+marketing+CRM stack. This means that you can have a single system in charge of boosting your traffic, motivating visitors to convert, closing deals, and staying organized.

4. Marketo

Many industry experts describe Marketo as the ‘best system of its kind’, and they’re fully justified to do so. Marketo is without doubt one of the leaders of market automation, putting in place unique lead gathering practices we could all learn something from. To begin with, the system covers virtually every digital marketing need, and guides the user from acquisition to advocacy. It offers a special module called Customer Marketing to accompany its email marketing and lead management features, developed as an independent instrument of engagement and real-time personalization. You will also appreciate its highly visual drag and drop interface which is very easy to use and does not require any HTML skills to create professional email templates, as well as its small-biz friendly pricing.

What is unique about Marketo?

1. Installing social components to your emails. All emails prepared and distributed via Marketo can include social components, attached using the system’s ‘Forward to a Friend’ function. Users will also be able to test a particular email before they send it, and  make dynamic, last minute changes where needed.
2. Creating beautiful landing pages with data capture forms. Marketo comes with a drag-and-drop interface, and a staggering number of flexible landing page templates. All templates can be tweaked into Facebook pages, and include data capture forms used to aggressively profile potential contacts and convert them into leads.
3. Native integrations with leading CRM and productivity service providers. Marketo can easily be associated with several CRM, business intelligence and collaboration frontrunners, among which Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Sugar CRM, Zoho CRM, Unbounce, Riva, and many more.
4. Fully optimized for social marketing. Marketo will easily become your favorite social marketing platform which you can apply in three different areas: social sharing, social engagement, and social promotion. It integrates seamlessly with all leading social media, which means you can reach out to potential clients wherever they’re coming from.
5. All standard analytics and reporting. Marketo won’t really reinvent the wheel when it comes to analytics and reporting, but still provide you will all essential summaries to make sense of your data. You get to work with various customizable metrics, including email and landing page performance, lead performance, and campaign performance among others.

5. Oracle Eloqua

Oracle Eloqua, or as developers like to call it – the MA execution tool that drives dynamic conversions, holds the reputation of users’ favorite experience personalization system. Available worldwide and in several different languages, Eloqua has one of the longest lists of satisfied customers to boast with, all of them impressed by its simplicity that doesn’t seem to harass functionality in anyhow. Eloqua does not only help develop effective strategies, but also modernized and enhances those that are already in place, giving your sales department the long awaited push-up to success. Another thing you will certainly adore about Eloqua is the drag-and-drop canvas interface, where you can transform, normalize, and arrange data, and orchestrate experiences across your paid, owned, and earned channels.

What is unique about Oracle Eloqua?

1. Sales and Marketing aligned. Oracle Eloqua helps you boost your ROI rates by bringing sales and marketing efforts together. For the purpose, it will deploy detailed customer information and unify buyers’ experience, identify and put forward valuable opportunities, and keep customer engaged with the idea of tracking their behavior all along.
2. Next-generation marketing analytics. Oracle Eloqua is a great choice to measure marketing success, as it examines how each campaign affects your bottom line, and maps cross-channel engagement to real revenue. You can use it for closed-loop reporting on pipeline and ROI impact, compare engagement efforts to conversions, and even analyze your website’s performance with Oracle Business Intelligence.
3. Very sophisticated lead management. Oracle Eloqua scores leads in a variety of unique ways, and measures highest lead yield quality to to aggregate behavioral data, and segment contacts for more deals. You will get a comprehensive data management set and digital body language that makes it easy to run different scoring models on the same lead.
4. Personalized experiences for more conversions. With Eloqua, you can deploy complex campaigns in less than no time, and use a simple drag-and-drop functionality to map audience flows on each available channel. In order to move and tweak data in the system, you won’t be expected to posses any IT knowledge.
5. Identification of revenue-driving audiences. Eloqua offers some of the best-looking and richest customer profiles you’ve seen, as it combines disparate data from different sources, and brings it into order. This way, the app makes it easy to segment audiences right away, and turn to those that have the exact buyer sentiment needed to close a deal.

6.  ActiveCampaign

While most marketing software developers looked for that little something that will make their product unique, the team behind ActiveCampaign found it in the most unexpected place – marketing automation done the old good way, just slightly more simple. Ever since, ActiveCampaign has been the synonym of no-clutter marketing automation, and a system that sends nothing but reasoned and effective messages. The system supports unconditioned customization, and brings up valuable sales insights and best practices. At the moment, it serves over 100.000 users who claim having access to all marketing faucet they need,  and delivers more than 150 hands-on integrations for undisturbed data migration.

What is unique about ActiveCampaign?

1. On-site tracking of your contacts’ behavior. ActiveCampaign can literally ‘see’ what a contact is doing on your website. Their entire page view history is attached to their contact record, so that you know what they have and haven’t done on your website, and can orchestrate marketing moves accordingly.
2. Conditional Content features for last-minute modifications. With Conditional Content you are able to dynamically alter content on a per contact basis. For instance, you could display entirely different images or blocks of text in an email based on how a contact is tagged or what web pages they have viewed on your website. It is also this feature that suggests last-viewed products for your customers.
3. An intuitive automation builder. ActiveCampaigns’s automation builder is a drag-and-drop flowchart tool that is intuitive to use, and allows you to create powerful processes and workflows without IT knowledge.
4. Event tracking capabilities. With Event Tracking, you will be able to communicate specific actions your contacts have taken to ActiveCampaign, and then use that information to create highly personalized marketing campaigns.
5. Fuly-featured sales CRM suite. ActiveCampaign’s automation tool extends seamlessly into a CRM, and puts in place a smooth transition from marketing into sales. The same marketing automation tools that can be leveraged during the marketing process, and used to automate many other important tasks.

7. Exponea

Exponea Marketing Cloud is another opportunity-pursuing system that can simplify omnichannel communication, and help you make the most of your marketing operations. It brings together an array of useful marketing automation tools, and combines them with practical AI capabilities and advanced insights to raise conversions within any business environment. It is also a number-one alternative for businesses trying to maximize customer value and optimize acquisition ROI with limited resources, with a relatively cheaper access to first-class functionalities such as Ad control and attribution modeling. What customers also like about it is its long-term and secure data storage.

What is unique about Exponea?

1. One-of-a-kind Marketing scenario designer. The platform offers a powerful Scenario Designer that gives them full control over their marketing efforts, and gives them access to features such as drag-and-drop campaign editors, WYSIWYG email editors, premade templates, A/B testing, and Jinja template engine support.
2. Result-oriented attribution modeling. Exponea is before anything else a fully-integrated marketing cloud, and lets companies leverage the power of detailed customer analyses, and make use of previous experiences to improve performance. Its Attribution Models, Personalized and Running Aggregates, Custom Metrics, and SQL Reporters will all help you achieve the results you need.
3. Modern ad management. Exponea’s Ad management toolkit unites and analyzes the performance of all your online marketing campaigns, and uses interactions and CRM data to retarget look-alike audiences. Your ads are automatically and artificially managed to ensure you can leverage their maximal potential.
4. Data tracking & Long-term storage. Exponea uses tags to track specific online interactions, and imports data from as many third-party systems as you’ve integrated it with. This data is later stored in BigQuery and Hadoop for easy retrieval, can be used any time to trigger any type of customer-centered action.
5. Plug-and-play accessibility. Exponea will be completely installed in an hour or so, and it will take you no more than three weeks to run it at full speed. It will be a breeze to maintain, as it doesn’t require the client’s IT department for ongoing support, and it enables seamless integration between data collection, analytics, and execution.

8. Real Magnet

Real Magnet is an intelligent, forward-looking automation system that serves both proficient and first-time marketers. Its first attribute is simplicity, as this tool won’t overwhelm you with complex navigation and HTML skills, but will rather give you an intuitive environment to modify and build campaign templates. Another thing that makes Real Magnet a preferred solution is end-to-end marketing automation, as its team paid took all tedious operations out of a user’s reach – turn it on, and Real Magnet will take control over email campaigns, social tools and analytics, conversions, and reporting. All along, you will be accompanied by a friendly and knowledgeable team that guarantees some of the shortest response times in this industry.

What is unique about Real Magnet?

1. Editing and designing mobile-friendly campaigns. Real Magnet comes with a content editor platform that allows you to edit and design campaigns. The campaigns are mobile-friendly, which allows you and your customers to access them using mobile gadgets. You can use the same editor to build custom reports.
2. Inbound marketing. Real Magnet will bring all your inbound marketing efforts together and facing a common goal, and help you attract visitors, target and generate prospects, and easily convert those into loyal and paying customers.
3. Search engine optimization. Real Magnet will not only help you discover and target prospects, but also enable web searchers to find your services. You can use this platform to build a fully-optimized website around strategic and effective metadata, and to pick those keywords that will portray your content and services.
4. Survey management. The most distinctive advantage of Real Magnet is that it merges survey and email marketing activities, and provides you with a unique ability to distribute your surveys, polls, and questionnaires to all interested audiences. The feature will be of particular interest to social media marketers.
5. Open API architecture. Real Magnet helps connect with third party applications due to its API feature. Some of those third party applications include the Viacom, Drury Hotels, and American Red Cross, among others.

9. Pardot

There is little chance you haven’t heard of Pardot, a product which gained staggering popularity rates despite of being relatively young (and just as much on-point compared to its enterprise-grade competitors). While there is a serious share of this popularity to ascribe to its Salesforce foundation, there is much more to this system to convince you that you need it – Pardot offers end-to-end lead generation and lead management, effortless email marketing, seamless sales alignment, and a number of detailed ROI reports. You will also be impressed by how it works with the rest of your software ecosystem (in particular if you’re a current Salesforce users), as Pardot was designed to blend seamlessly and inquire minimal IT adjustment.

What is unique about Pardot?

1. A Salesforce-powered product. Pardot is Salesforce’s flagship marketing automation product that holds a great reputation for uptime and usability. This also means that the tool is well-integrated with other Salesforce products, and that it follows the company’s unified mobile usability approach.
2. B2B marketing automation. Pardot works side by side with Salesforce to orientate marketing efforts in the right direction. It places marketing and CRM tools under the same roof to connect the dots of your diverse marketing channels, and ensure that customers have a unified experience on all of them.
3. Insightful ROI reporting. What Pardot is probably best known for is insightful ROI reporting that measures and tracks campaign performance, and ties marketing and sales indicators in comprehensive units. You can also use this system to pull out advanced lifecycle and email reports, and connect it to your favorite BI tools for even more powerful analytics.
4. Seamless sales alignment. With Pardot, you will give your sales agents the unique possibility to distribute marketing-approved mini-campaigns among customers, and drive them to sales in real time. You can drop leads directly into CRM nurturing tracks, and follow Gmail interactions with instant alerts.
5. Generating only high-quality leads. Using Pardot, you can generate high-quality leads with the help of customized and targeted emails. Pardot also boosts your sales pipeline, calculates marketing ROI, and tracks customer behavior.

10. IBM Marketing Cloud

A list like this would not be complete without IBM’s flagship automation tool, developed by a company that first launched and established the pillars of digitized marketing as it is today. IBM Marketing Cloud addresses a number of B2C marketing needs, focusing predominantly on optimizing email campaigns and managing customer data for analytic purposes. It is a safe way to go even when it comes to mobile engagement, as it handles really professionally the cross-channel experiences for email, mobile, and web users. Its biggest contribution will be keeping your marketing efforts consistent, and your customer database under full control. If you’re already using an IBM product, Marketing Cloud is the closest to spotless marketing automation you can possibly get.

What is unique about IBM Marketing Cloud?

1. Building a consistent cross-channel experience. With IBM Marketing Cloud you can develop, automate, and deliver standardized experience for email, mobile, social, and web users, and adopt a more personal approach that motivates audiences to convert.
2. Cognitive analytics. IBM Marketing Cloud specializes in understanding customer behavior, and helps you report on it in various different ways. You can use its cognitive analytics suite to draw conclusions and make data-driven decisions for deepened customer engagement.
3. Interactions on social media. With IBM Marketing Cloud you can interact with your audience over social media, integrate your communications and use automation for social media campaigns. Such communication combined with IBM’s first-class analytics will enable you to reach prospective customers, understand their behavior, and respond to their preferences.
4. Multi-channel approach to lead scoring. Lead management has also been made easy and effective through this IBM product. It comes with a multi-channel approach to scoring new leads and nurture the old. Just as a good lead scorer system, it enables you to understand your customers and empowers better alignment of your sales process.
5. Faster ROI improvement. IBM Marketing Cloud can be easily connected to the rest of your marketing & productivity ecosystem, as it is a very scalable platform that has no trouble integrating with any tool or data source. It is hosted entirely in cloud, and thus requires no updating or maintenance by your side.

11. iContact Pro

iContact Pro is a very affordable, customer-first alternative to premium targeting systems, with plenty of marketing automation features to tickle the imagination of creative marketers. Its core functionality is modern campaign management, as the platform allows users to tweak end-to-end the experience of their subscribers, and then distinguish and nurture the most relevant leads. iContact Pro will also cover your social media posting and monitoring needs, and keep you in line with all social trends. Last, but not least, this system offers a robust analytic suite and lead scoring mechanism that will help you gauge the full sales potential of your contacts.

What is unique about iContact Pro?

1. Facilitated, in-time management of marketing campaigns. iContact Pro offers tools for segmentation, A/B testing, and a message builder to fulfill email marketing needs of your company. It comes with list management tools for easy management of client IDs which often becomes difficult due to an ever increasing client base.
2. Individualized workflows. iCOntact Pro allows you to target subscribers in a highly personalized manner, with individualized workflows that place the right content in front of the right customer, at the right time. For the purpose, the tool monitors and uses data such as customer behavior, interaction history, type, geography, and more.
3. Social media management tools. This cloud-based software also integrates social media management and robust analytics. Social media management tools let you shoot scheduled campaigns over Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn, launch and join important conversations, follow trends, and engage with audiences in real time.
4. Seamlessly integrated marketing automation tools. iContact Pro will combine a variety of useful marketing automation features, including attractive landing pages, analytics, email marketing, sales and social media integrations, and many more.
5. Strategic Salesforce integration. Contact can be integrated with SalesForce to help you manage the sales process. It also offers analytics which is vital for strategic planning and can be used to access the marketing funnel reports. These analytics play a major role in deciding resource allocation for marketing and sales in long term planning.

12. Wishpond

Wishpond will please marketers with one of the cutest interfaces they could possibly use, but still disclose a number of unique growth capabilities for their companies. It combines four essential marketing tools in a single set-and-go platform, namely landing pages, popups & forms, contests & promos, and complete lead nurturing and marketing automation. Wishpond nurtures leads based on their information and real-time and on-site activities, and releases a series of unique, personalized drip emails to those that are ready to buy. It is also well-known for dynamic lead scoring and list segmentation, as well as its connectivity with more than 30 popular software services.  The size of your business won’t matter, as Wishpond works well for small, medium, and large companies.

What is unique about Wishpond?

1. Mobile-responsive landing pages. Wishpond is most appreciated for allowing developers to build and optimize attractive landing pages, which are at the same time fully mobile-responsive. The process will require no IT skills or coding knowledge, and takes place on a no-brainer drag-and-drop editor to save your time.
2. Popups & Forms for lead generation. Wishpond leverages the potential of random site visitors with popups and creative contact forms, as well as unique methods such as sidebars and overlays. This is the fastest and most personalized way to generate leads.
3. Contests and Promotions. Wishpond gives interested followers an additional way to connect with you and benefit from your services – its beautiful contests and promotions. You will be offered features alike photo contests, Instagram photo competitions and promotions, sweepstakes, and many more.
4. Dynamic lead scoring. In order to simplify lead management and segmentation, Wishpond will score leads as they arrive in the system, using no other information than personal details and activity history.
5. Tight integration with more than 30 marketing service providers. To ensure an unobstructed flow of data between different systems and sources, developers made Wishpond work in synergy with 30+ popular marketing apps and systems. The list includes names such as Salesforce, Zapier, MailChimp, Slack, Sugar CRM, and many similar products.

13. GreenRope

GreenRope is in fact a fully featured customer relationship system that offers some of the most advanced marketing automation tools for high-class lead management. We recommend it because of its excellent, fully automated process setup, efficient art automation features, and relatively easy onboarding. It will govern the journey of your customer from awareness to conversion, and create unique paths for him to engage and interact with your service. For the purpose, GreenRope uses an intuitive drag-and-drop builder, and takes into account both the actions and the inactions of your leads. There are many ways in which you can customize these interactions, including follow ups, personalized emails, intricate road maps, and more.

What is unique about GreenRope?

1. Small-biz friendly. With even 7 different pricing packages that cater to the needs of different teams and businesses, GreenRope is made easily affordable even to small businesses and startups. This, however, doesn’t change the fact that all users are provided with enterprise-grade marketing functionalities.
2. Marketing automation bundled in a compact CRM package. GreenRope integrates all important aspects of running a modern small or mid-sized business, and combines marketing automation features with well-organized CRM functionalities. This means that you can enhance your sales and improve communication with customers all from a single system, which also makes data accessible to all team members, and enhances collaboration.
3. Streamlined communication. GreenRope uses a variety of omnichannel strategies to engage leads at scale, and build lasting customer relationships. It provides a modern digital experience for your users, and nurtures leads on your landing pages, websites, and social media.
4. Website builders. A unique opportunity offered by GreenRope is to build informative and engaging websites for customers. Simply choose a suitable template, add your colors, fonts, logos, and layouts, and you are ready to go. The website will then be automatically tracked, and you will receive timely notifications on how users are interacting with your content.
5. Advanced workflow management. GreenRope allows you to implement personalized and business-specific workflows and rules in all sales and marketing operations. In such way, you and your team will stay organized and retain full control over projects, tasks, and follow ups.

14. SharpSpring

SharpSpring‘s team believes that in-time delivery and streamlined communication are businesses’ main assets to drive growth and conversion, and thus focuses all features and efforts on helping you build relationships that will last. The system is very simple and painless to afford, and lets you distribute the right messages to the right people, at the right time. It is also one of the best integrated tools on this list, fully optimized for mobile usage and easily deployed by non-professionals. You should consider it because of marketing automation trends and tips, social assistance, powerful customer insights, and end-to-end mobile CRM.

What is unique about SharpSpring?

1. A simplified and personalized email marketing experience. SharpSpring makes email automation more than simple. It does not offer blast emails but rather personalized email messages, which are distributed to the right customers in the right time. Therefore, you will have the peace of mind that your correspondence won’t end up in the spam folder.
2. Dynamic forms for lead capturing. Lead capturing dynamic forms grab your visitors’ attention and give them an opportunity to get answers to their inquiries. A well-structured dynamic form becomes an essential part of your website and is easy to fill. It has a smooth drag-and-drop editor that allows you to build, customize and reorder the fields.
3. Streamlined social media integrations. SharpSpring allows you to follow your customers (and prospective customers) on popular social media, and observe their behavior and interests. Third party CRMs can also be integrated without any complicated procedures.
4. Moderate pricing. Instead of offering fixed plans for users coming from different market tiers and industries, SharpSpring works with custom pricing, and tailors an individual plan for each customer based on what he needs ad can afford.
5. Excellent client support. SharpSpring’s friendly and knowledgeable team can be accessed easily via email and phone, be it that you’re a basic or a premium user. They will be there to answer your questions and provide free-of-charge tips. Interested users can also check their free demo to see how this system works.

15. Constant Contact

Constant Contact works around powerful email marketing techniques, where all that matters, as they say, is to keep contacts engaged and interested. Instead of helping you discover leads and engage prospective customers, Constant Contact brings those to your door, and lets you present them your service in a personalized manner using any of the system’s configurable templates. It builds personalized emails and connections on your behalf, sets up automated triggers for important events, and then simply gets out of the way to let you focus on your business. Your audience, nevertheless, remains well managed and regularly nurtured, and most of the time ready-to-act even without direct contact by your side. Constant Contact will also track the success of your campaigns in real time, and let you make smarter decisions based on actual results.

What is unique about Constant Contact?

1. A cost-effective marketing solution. For small businesses and startups, Constant Contact is a great option. It is a cost effective tool with a very flexible pricing setup where the rates are based on the number of email contacts. Regardless of the plan they’ve chosen, all users will have access to live webinars, classes, and day-long courses to leverage the full power of this system.
2. Easy contact importing. Constant Contact makes it easy for businesses and individuals to gather contacts from across different databases and corral them into a unified list without breaking a sweat. Whether you are importing contacts from Gmail, Outlook or uploading a spreadsheet, Constant Contact makes it happen.
3. A variety of customizable email templates. With Constant Contact involved, there will be very little manual work to do. You get a drag-and-drop builder and lots of configurable templates to draft your emails, with advanced features such as batch scheduling, bulk sending & editing, and management of important events.
4. End-to-end contact management. From an administrative point of view, Constant Contact will facilitate the arrangement and segmentation of your leads, and upload within seconds your ready-to-use lists from Excel, Outlook, and Gmail. From that moment on, Constant Contact will be fully in charge of handling bounces and unsubscribes, and updating inactive emails.
5. PLUS feature for expanded functionality. Constant Contact’s well-known PLUS feature lets users build custom connections, and use the tool in roles different than marketing inbox. You can use it connect it with people via live events, trackable coupons, and online surveys, and manage all valuable lead sources from a single dashboard.

16. AdRoll

35,000 advertisers worldwide are relying on AdRoll’s marketing suite to retarget and prospect platforms of choice, and for a good reason. AdRoll is a whole new world of marketing possibilities – This poweerful operator provides unlimited access to prospects and audiences via any app, device, browser, or operating system, including social media and Google-style native directories. With more than 500 ad exchanges, AdRoll leaves little chances that you won’t be able to target a customer of interest, and gives you the right transparency & control tools to communicate successfully. You will be particularly impressed by its BidIQ™, our proprietary real-time bidding algorithm that will place your ads at the right place, and charge little to do so.

What is unique about AdRoll?

1. Stable cross-device connections. AdRoll makes use of connections across devices, allowing you to retarget those high-intent desktop website visitors on their mobile devices as well. In-app retargeting is also available thanks to AdRoll’s partnerships with leading mobile analytics and measurement providers to make your campaigns easy and effective.
2. Open access to customer data. With AdRoll, you can you can reach and engage your customers across any device, app, or browser, with access to more than 500 ad exchanges, including native inventory like Google, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
3. First-class performance engineering. AdRoll offers a special, one-of-a-kind proprietary and real-time bidding algorithm named BidIQ that ensures your ads get the right placement for the right price.
4. Full transparency and control of your marketing campaigns. AdRoll allows you to place ads, track performance, and refine your campaigns with this easy-to-use platform. You can also seamlessly integrate the application with leading marketing solutions, and count on the tech support team to be your strategic and creative partner all along.
5. Lots of upcoming innovations. AdRoll continues to develop its retargeting capabilities as it plans to offer retargeting via Prospecting and Instagram in the future. Currently, these features are in beta development, but users can still send personal access requests to use them.

17. Salesfusion

Salesfusion will automate core sales and marketing operations, and leverage the maximum capacity of your resources to help you sell more. It is a well-known partner for sales campaign execution, which offers 24/7 assistance to all users, and puts in place a dedicated Marketing Concierge program to share some practical experience. Basically, it will turn into the marketing adviser you always wish you hired.

How exactly does Salesfusion boost your productivity? The platform provides an array of enterprise-class MA tools, among which attracting and capturing leads, creating intricate campaigns, streamlining lead processing and management, and using top notch BI tools to analyze the results of your activities.

What is unique about Salesfusion?

1. Consolidated sales and marketing tasks. Salesfusion eliminates the division between sales and marketing. While traditional marketing automation platforms were designed to consolidate and optimize marketing tasks, they do very little to create a unified sales funnel or facilitate the crucial hand-offs between sales and marketing, and that’s where this system comes the handiest.
2. No wasted leads. Today’s buying process is significantly more complex. Marketers need to ensure that leads aren’t wasted. If they aren’t ready to buy at the time sales engages with them, marketers need to know so they can continue to nurture them in an automated way that is consistent with the interactions they have had through the process.
3. CRM-style relational database. Salesfusion is unique to the industry by addressing this problem with a CRM-style relational database and native integration to the leading CRM platforms. By creating a bi-directional flow between sales and marketing, the app ensures that no lead gets left behind. The marketer will also be able to push leads to conversion based on their needs, preferences, and level of engagement.
4. Long-term relationships with quality leads. Salesfusion is purpose-built for B2B companies that want to align sales and marketing to engage in long-term relationships that drive more qualified leads, improve conversion rates and increase revenue. As a marketing automation platform, the app streamlines processes to accelerate demand creation with an easy to use platform that allows companies to quickly realize the value of marketing automation.
5. All necessary integrations. Salesfusion offers native integrations with Salesforce, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and InforCRM. It also connects to built-in SEO audit and webinar platforms (Go to Webinar, Webex); social listening and publishing to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Plus; email deliverability tools such as BriteVerify and Litmus; data enrichment systems alike InsideView; and website tracking tools like Google Analytic.

18. ONTRAPORT

Rather than a simple marketing automation hub, ONTRAPORT is a fully-featured business automation solution that peaks into each and every aspect of your market performance. All the way from predicting your bottom line to driving actual opportunities at your side, ONTRAPORT will be there to assume full control over your marketing and lead management efforts. The system has many unique bells and whistles to distinguish it from competitors, including eCommerce, SMS & postcard engagement, landing pages, membership sites, marketing tracking, and more. It also offers a number of prominent integrations and expert partnership, as well as an open API architecture which makes it usable in any software ecosystem.

What is unique about ONTRAPORT?

1. All-in-one business automation. ONTRAPORT is not devoted exclusively to marketers, but to all departments and teams involved in the management of a business. It will automate all your prospects, customers, and partner communications, and enable a consistent and memorable experience for all of them. It will also keep track of all tasks performed within the team, and store them systematically for facilitated reporting.
2. Unified marketing efforts. The distinctive benefits users commonly associate to ONTRAPORT is being able to automate all marketing efforts. This system combines online data sources with offline marketing campaign assets to enhance customers’ experience, and allows you to create one-of-a-kind, personalized funnel journeys.  Its campaigns are powerful, dynamic, and highly-converting.
3. Tracking of marketing campaigns. It will take as much as clicking on a single button to obtain all information on how your campaigns are progressing, and what needs to be done to improve them. You can measure the effect of each and every marketing effort, and thus make more confident business decisions.
4. Direct integration with WordPress. You can integrate your WP membership sites with your ONTRAPORT account in a matter of minutes, and generate passive income from member-exclusive programs.
5. An eCommerce suite. With ONTRAPORT in your toolkit, you can build customizable order and upsell forms, and get your storefront running in minutes by distributing them directly to target audiences. The suite is also equipped for shopping cart management, and secure payment automation.

19. GetResponse

GetResponse is another user favorite on this list, with an absolute satisfaction rate of 100%. It is designed for email marketing & automation, serving over a billion of customers in more than 180 countries worldwide. The reason why we believe it will be suitable for you too is the number of success-oriented features, among which email marketing, landing pages, webinars, and full automation of your customers’ journey based on their data and behavior. What GetResponse is also well-known for is the possibility to adjust it to your industry, and make it work in favor of your specific business needs. Visit the official website to learn more on how marketers in different fields use GetReponse for their KPIs.

What is unique about GetResponse?

1. Landing pages. With GetResponse, you will need no IT knowledge to develop mobile responsive and highly-converting landing pages. The system will offer premade, 100% responsive templates that require some modest tweaking, and a built-in image editor to finish the looks in less than 30 minutes.
2. A drag-and-drop workflow builder.  Using GetResponse’s intuitive workflow builder, you will come up with amazingly complex and powerful campaigns in only few minutes. You can design your own workflows and map user experiences, and use those to build accurate time-view scenarios on how to tackle card abandoners.
3. Automated events. Another interesting possibility provided by GetResponse is to create and launch automation events based on users’ behavior. You are in full control of the customer’s journey, and you decide on the conditions and targeting actions in each scenario.
4. Precise segmentation with tagging and scoring. You can use any of the system’s marketing Automation tools to react to subscriber actions in line with the goals you wish to achieve. GetResponse will provide you with tagging and scoring capabilities, and make the customer’s conversion more educational, enjoyable, and engaging for both sides.
5. A mobile working environment. GetResponse is 100% ready to use on mobile devices and diverse browsers. This will not only help access customer data and analyze campaigns on the go, but also stay in touch with customers and engage them when you’re not in the office.

20. Genoo

Genoo is an all-in-one marketing solution for small and medium businesses and freelance marketers. It will help you save time on tedious lead management tasks, close more deals, and develop your business. Its top features include lead nurturing, templates, notifications, autoresponders, and a unique Website CMS & WordPress plugin used to create special Genoo optimized websites and promote content in your own way. The tool will also supply you a robust call-to-action library, landing pages, attractive capture forms, and social CRM features. Genoo will also work seamlessly with your Salesforce and GoToWebinar data.

What is unique about Genoo?

1. Innovative methods for attracting and engaging leads. Genoo equips you with all tools and techniques that are considered vital to attracting new leads and keeps them engaged. This can be achieved in multiple ways, such as adding new landing pages, incorporating lead capture forms, tracking leads to engaging them, etc.
2. Tracking leads and eliminating the risk of losing them. What Genoo does the best is to keep your leads in the loop until they convert, and after that. Without email marketing, your leads will be left unattended and there will be a high risk of losing them. Relationship building with your prospective clients ensures an increase in sales and also builds loyal customers.
3. Comprehensive analytic suite. Genoo enables you to follow which marketing technique is benefiting the company and which is just a waste. You can determine new campaigns and marketing initiatives that will reach their goals with the system’s advanced segmentation capability.
4. Social marketing. Genoo works in synergy with all popular social networks to ensure you can track your leads’ behavior wherever they are coming from. This will also make it easier to promote and expose your products/services, and keep customers engaged in real time.
5. GoToWebinar integration. Genoo’s integration with GoToWebinar gives you the advantage of having people registered to your page. It also allows integration of Salesforce and other CRM tools for the better management of your sales process.

The post Top 20 Marketing Automation Software Solutions of 2017 appeared first on Financesonline.com.

There are more Americans eating out than cooking at home today. And the trend isn’t slacking off for the next few years, or so it seems based on the US Census Bureau Data. That’s good news for restaurant owners. Technology can further fuel this growth by improving how things are run behind the counter.

In this article you’ll read about what we think are the 20 best POS systems for restaurants in the market today based on core features, restaurant management tools, ease of use and more. Specifically, here’s what you’re getting:

1. Benefits of POS systems and restaurant management tools
2. Features of POS systems ideal for restaurants
3. Top 20 POS systems for restaurants

Source: US Census Bureau Data

Benefits of POS and restaurant management tools

Running a restaurant, whether a quick service or fine dining, involves a lot of moving parts and cooking (the first thing that pops into your mind when it comes to managing restaurants) is only a part of the entire performance. POS systems for restaurants streamline these various tasks and keep things organized and your head above the clutter with tools for

1. Mobile POS enables staff to transact at tableside for more efficient service
2. Self-service kiosks keep queues short
3. Sales and marketing tools like CRM and email marketing help you generate repeat visits and grow your customer base
4. Inventory controls and alerts keep you aware of supply levels and prevent discrepancies
5. Integrated accounting monitors closely sales and costs
6. Staff management enables you to track employee activities and performance

What are the features of POS systems?

POS systems for restaurants are often integrated into a larger restaurant management system to help owners and managers streamline the many aspects of restaurant operations. When getting a POS system, consider the following features:

• Cash management. Accepts payments from multiple channels like countertop, mobile or online. It also keeps you on top of your cash flow and associate end-of-day totals to staff. Consider getting an EMV compliant system. EMV refers to chip-enabled credit cards pushed by EuroPay, Mastercard and Visa. The POS system should accept EMV cards. In October 2015, the U.S. started to phase out magnetic stripe cards, which is prone to fraud, and issued a warning that fraud liability may shift to merchants, including restaurants, with non-compliant POS.
• Table management. Tableside POS like tablets and handheld devices increase server efficiency and provide visual table layout. Features include bill splitting, color-coded timers to track status of table service and wait-list management.
• Send receipts via text or email. Enables print-free receipts and allows you to build a mailing list.
• Inventory management. Keeps you on top of stock levels down to each ingredient and allows for quick manual entries or automation control.
• Back-office reporting and analytics. Data is processed into actionable insights to reflect accurate key performance indicators, such as, sales, food costs, labor costs, on-site and off-site traffic, stocks and supplies and kitchen processes. This function also enables you to perform sales forecasting.
• Order management. Offers multiple channels like online, mobile and off-counter menu kiosks.
• Delivery management. Features integrated field service tools including GPS tracking and dispatch status. Some vendors enable this module to link to a larger delivery service network to reach a wider audience
• Marketing and loyalty rewards. Tools like CRM and email marketing enable restaurants to nurture a loyal clientele, create an online community or push deals and promos. This module also handles gift cards, discounts and other loyalty programs.
• Hardware. Some vendors bundle their system with countertop setup, mobile devices, customer display system, digital menu boards and self-service kiosks.
• Planning and scheduling. Some POS systems include tools for buffet planning or shift rotation scheduler.

Factors to consider when looking for a POS system for restaurants

Cash management is a major feature of POS systems, but there are other key functions. In fact, many systems run the gamut of streamlining a typical corporation’s processes and subscribe to the same factors to make the system fully adaptive to your business.

1. Ease of use, speed. The POS system should be intuitive to your processes. It should offer an open API key to customize some of the features to your processes. Likewise, it should scale smoothly to your customer volume and provide an offline option to keep things running even on internet outages.
2. Technical support. Support should be 24/7 with quick response time. Each second counts in your restaurant’s business hours. Training should also be provided for the setup, software upgrades and credit card payment integration.
3. Target users. Different restaurant types have different POS needs.Some POS system focused on quick service, while others on full service. Others are enterprise management for chains, still others are quite specific, say, for pizza and gas stations and convenience stores. Many vendors provide an all-in-one solution, which have its own advantages and disadvantages. The bottom line is go for the POS system tools and processes fit into your workflows and requirements, not just today, but in 3-5 years.
4. Power backup. Consider hybrid architecture that enables the POS system to run offline or via a local network.
5. Data security. Go for EMV-compliant POS (see above explanation) to protect customers and yourself from credit card fraud. System security should be PCI-compliant, too, and allows point-to-point encrypted payments.
6. Integration. As business grows, you need to grow also the POS ecosystem through third-party integration or an open API.

There are a dime and dozen of POS and restaurant management solutions out there, and cherry picking the best isn’t that simple. For starters, the choice is a cornucopia of functions aside from core POS features. You got staffing, financial management, reservation platforms, digital displays, smartphone payments, delivery management, wait-list management… some are stand-alone, others are bundled, and still others are add-ons. CBInsights mapped the landscape and gave us a crowded outlook:

Source: CBInsights, “The Future of Dining: 89+ Startups Reinventing The Restaurant In One Infographic.” April 2017.

Many of the leading POS-based restaurant management systems have a combination of these functions. It’s best to choose a solution with solid POS and back-office and front-end features, then work your way to adding more functions, where necessary.

Here’s our list of top 20 POS restaurant management systems:

1. TouchBistro
2. Revel Systems POS
3. Toast POS
4. NCR Silver
5. Zomato Base
6. Clover
7. ShopKeep
8. eZee BurrP!
9. AccuPOS
10. Epos Now
11. RanceLab FusionResto
12. Breadcrumb
13. Loyverse POS
14. Ordyx
15. Cake
16. Vivonet
17. Brink POS
18. PixelPoint POS
19. Aireus
20. A&B POS