The case for specialist business software is compelling – higher productivity, less hassle, better decision-making, and stronger financial outcomes. However, many small-to-medium businesses lack the technical expertise and management time to deal with the frustrating and often daunting process of finding the right software for their requirements out of the thousands available globally.
Ask yourself: where would you go to find and compare specialist software for your organisation? Search engines are a common starting point but skew towards generic, heavily marketed software. Word of mouth can give you a trusted perspective but may be hard to get or limited in scope. Directories list many software products but only provide limited information on each.
The reality is that none of the established channels provide a satisfactory and convenient way to compare, select and buy business software. You end up having to do a lot of hard work yourself: investigating the options, comparing alternatives, and assessing their fit with your requirements.
After all, think about the many questions you need to answer before buying business software or justifying the decision to your boss – What software is available? Does it meet your specific needs? How does it compare to other products? What will it cost? Is the vendor reputable? What do existing customers think? Is there local support? How easy is it to train your staff? And so on…
Is it any wonder then that businesses often end up deferring their decision, making do with the status quo, or hiring a developer to create an expensive custom solution?
Resolving the market failure with regards to specialist business software has far-reaching benefits – stronger businesses, more employment, higher tax revenue, and a more competitive economy – not to mention the immense value it will bring for small business owners and their employees.
This is our inspiration for Trigora, a rigorous yet easy to use comparison service for specialist business software. We are working towards a beta launch in Q3 2008.
