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| Information Management for Small to Medium Sized Businesses |
All businesses need to manage information. Accounting information for example is usually managed by accounts software (maybe Sage). Clearly trying to manage accounts information in any other way than with a dedicated system would be crazy. Even Excel spreadsheets do not cut the mustard. But what about other information within a business such as customer, product and order data? There's no easy answer. For management of any information within a business there are basically three choices:
Option 1: Use a Specialist System Designed for the TaskIf there is an obvious off-the-shelf system and the successful management of the information is unlikely to lead to a significant competitive advantage then this is a good option. Accounts is a good example. Sage is an obvious choice (certainly in the UK). It is widely used and does the job very well. It is also reasonably priced. Building custom software to manage accounts would be unlikely to lead to competitive advantage. Aside from reinventing the wheel and being incredibly expensive and time-consuming, the result probably wouldn't help the business much. You would still just be able to enter payments and create invoices etc. Can the software do what is required? What is the total cost (including support, maintenance, initial cost, installation, configuration, training, updates and anything else)? How will the costs increase if the number of staff increases? Option 2: Use Generalist Tools Such as ExcelThe advantages to this approach are low cost and flexibility. If it genuinely does the job fast with no errors, then it is probably the best option. Limitations such as no simultaneous access to the information by multiple staff and brittleness (easy to break / corrupt by e.g. deleting a cell formula in Excel) must be acceptable. For example a complex calculation which involves just a small amount of data would be ideal to manage using Excel. Another example is if the business is very small or if the problem is a new one, tools such as Excel make it easy to alter and experiment with ways to manage and manipulate data. This option is often the precursor to option 1 or 3. Option 3: Get Specialist Software Custom-builtThis can seem a fairly daunting option but can provide the best competitive advantage of all three options as the software is completely unique and fits the task like a glove. It is best considered generally if:
Often this option is best for managing information and business processes that are very specific to the company. Expert help is required for this custom software (also called bespoke software or a database application). A good way to test the water is to get a database set up and have some simple data entry software developed for it. This should not be too expensive yet give an idea as to what is involved and indeed possible. Define a certain task such as replacement of a spreadsheet or the production of a quotation from certain information and get that made, then evaluate the solution and build on it if it suits and gives tangible and obvious value for money. General ApproachKeep things as simple as possible yet still address areas in the business where management of information is causing a tangible problem. Also don't be scared to invest in technology if you can as this can be way to gain significant competitive edge, though donīt try anything too grandiose at first. |
