# Development

Business Application Software – How Can It Help Increase Company Efficiency?

Red Rocket TeamDec 6, 20244 min read

Have you ever wondered how many new companies and startups appear in the world every year? For example, the number of officially registered firms in the United States today exceeds the 33 million mark. According to statistics, 99 percent of them belong to the small business category. This means that in some niches the competition may be too high.

What are some ways out there to gain an advantage over your closest competitors? Obviously, you can invest in digital marketing and try to attract more customers. However, sometimes the problem lies in something else that entrepreneurs usually don't pay attention to. We are talking about the internal part of the organization and what tools are used to accomplish tasks.

Today, even the smallest startups or businesses use business application solutions. What is it, how does it work and what types of applications are there? We are here to share with business owners detailed information about enterprise applications that enable organizations to improve performance.

Definition and Purpose of Business Software

The terms «applications» and «software» have long been known to every person. These are programs that have a certain functionality, and they can be installed on a device (smartphone, laptop, PC, and so on). It's no secret that applications can be different - social networks, marketplaces, solutions for photographers, games, and much more. However, business software is not about digital entertainment. These are software solutions that are aimed at helping organizations perform certain processes. They can be different depending on the goals a company has.

Considering the question «what is business software application», we should also highlight a few options that entrepreneurs have. For example, you can order the development of custom enterprise software to solve all the necessary tasks. The next option is to download free or paid ready-made solutions. Many companies today actively use SaaS solutions. What is it? This is one of the important IT terms that every entrepreneur should know in 2024. Such solutions allow access to software through paid subscriptions.

Types of Business Applications and Their Functions

As we mentioned above, enterprise applications can be different. They are designed for various processes, including automating routine tasks, communicating with the customer, forming strategy, communicating with colleagues, analyzing marketing metrics, and much more. Let us briefly talk about the main types of software used by organizations.

CRM. CRM applications are used to manage and analyze the customer interaction and data in customer lifecycle. Their goal is to improve business relationships, retain customers and grow sales.
ERP. Nowadays, people often confuse CRM and ERP systems without realizing what their main differences are. ERP systems attempt to integrate this in a single system — finance, HR, manufacturing, supply chain, services, procurement, etc. Real-time data and insights are delivered through these powerful applications, enabling companies to establish better decisions.
Applications for internal communication. With the help of such apps, the communication and collaboration established among employees at work become much easier and faster. On these platforms, many tools for messaging, video conferencing, and real-time document collaboration save the life of internal workflows.
Document management systems. Document management systems allow organizations to digitally create, manage, and track documents. These systems take advantage of digitized paperwork, reducing storage space, increasing document retrieval speed, and, with access controls and audit trails, providing increased security.

Actually, this is only a small part of all types of business apps that are used today by organizations from different parts of our world. However, we would like to point out that the most popular solution for commercial companies is a CRM system that allows you to quickly process customer requests.

Business Software Examples: What Enterprises Rely On

Now you know what types of enterprise applications are most commonly used in the US, Europe, and the rest of the world. However, there are so many well-known business software developers and vendors today that it can be difficult to choose a specific application. That's why we've gathered some specific examples of modern enterprise software.

1. Microsoft Office Suite

What industries are used in: various industries, including healthcare, education, and finance.

It offers you so much more than just Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. These applications specifically support tasks such as document creation, data analysis, email management, and presentation. Office Suite comes with all the versatility and an interface.

2. QuickBooks

What industries are used in: widely used in the retail and small business sectors.

The best feature of its technical features is that it simplifies complex financial management tasks like payroll processing, invoice management, and tax filing. Real-time financial insights will provide you with the ability to manage cash flow effectively, prepare your taxes hassle-free, and track sales and expenses meticulously.

3. Salesforce

What industries are used in: used by sales and marketing teams across various sectors.

Salesforce is one of the most famous business software examples in 2024. Why is it so? It provides ways to address customer relations, automate sales processes, and execute marketing campaigns. Salesforce’s cloud-based platform helps you gain valuable insights into customer behavior, improves accuracy in sales forecasting, and guides personalized marketing strategies.

4. Slack

What industries are used in: for communication in various fields.

Slack is a real-time messaging tool integrated with multiple other business tools and channels for team collaboration. Features support transparent and clear communication, necessary for spread out and remote teams.

What are The Most Important Benefits of an Enterprise Application?

Do you remember the days when customer records were kept by company employees on a paper notebook? Some companies today use Google Spreadsheets for such tasks and that is a big mistake. The right enterprise apps can simplify many daily processes. Business application software programs make it possible to:

Speed up many processes. Business application software greatly accelerates company processes, from automating everyday tasks to creating elegant, optimizing solutions. This increases productivity and frees up employees' time, allowing them to return to more strategic activities.
Simplify communication between employees. Business application software integrates tools of communicating with one another so that team members can work irrespective of physical locations. These tools facilitate efficient information sharing and collaborative work making sure to converge all team members, and respond immediately to the business issues or changes.
Increase customer loyalty. Companies can use customer data and interactions to personalize service and communications and predict customer needs. In that case, it will stand them in good stead in terms of customer retention and relationship deepening.

All these advantages lead to one main reason why most companies use different software. It helps to increase financial performance, including net profit.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing Business Software

Choosing the right IT application for business is something that will either improve your business's operational efficiency or high scalability. We want to share with you the key factors you should look out for.

The software should easily connect with your current systems, as a change will disrupt operations. Verify that your hardware is compatible with yours and other hardware-software tools for maximum smooth interoperability. Your software changes as your business does. Choose options that will scale up with your company so that you won’t have to replace them frequently and be dependent on them for your success.

The next point - is user-friendliness. The chosen software should have an easy-to-use interface you and your team can get to grips with. We know that each business has different needs. Customization software allows for functionalities that suit the enterprise, or customizations if so desired by you.

You need to be sure the software provider provides quality support and adequate training to your team so that they can use the software adequately. Check whether the software is secure. It should also recognize the proper regulations and be secure against data breaches and threats.

Final thoughts

Above, we have listed the most commonly used software in business environment. However, you should not limit yourself to these solutions. If you want to increase your competitiveness and achieve more success in your niche, you need to analyze your needs to form the necessary enterprise applications. Successfully selected programs will allow your employees to perform their work more efficiently and automate work processes without any problems. This approach will positively impact customer loyalty and reduce the overall costs of the organization.