Excel has become the most widely used tool that business use to manage productivity. You might be using it to keep track of your employee shifts, different counters, monitoring and calculating your revenue streams and many other reasons.

Not only just you, but many other businesses are also more or less using Excel for the same reasons. The most widely used usage for Excel is that it serves as a storage and analysis tool. However, their ‘physical’ data is obsolete. Managing that data is inefficient and counterproductive. Excel might have worked for you when you were in the initial phase of your business, but as your business grows, Excel can’t keep up.

Surprisingly, many companies are still using Microsoft Excel as their primary data analysis, and storage tool after they’ve outgrown it. Here are a few signs that Excel is not working out for you, and instead you should opt for custom software development.

You have to constantly reconcile spreadsheets

Have you ever encountered where multiple users inputting data in a spreadshseet? You look through a spreadsheet and felt something was missing or data wasn’t correct? Often this happens because you’re looking at the wrong version of the spreadsheet.

If this is the case, you should be using a custom software application connected to a database that allows multiple users to interact with the data. With proper access and user roles, you’ll always have accurate, easy-to-manipulate information.

You need stronger calculations

Every business do not have experienced staff that can create impressive formulas, and having years of experience writing Excel functions. If you frequently find yourself using the heavy-hitting functions like PIVOT, VLOOKUP, and SUMIF, you’ve reached the peak of Excel’s ability.

Excel is not an analytical tool, it doesn’t have any more advanced tools to aggregate, manipulate or analyze data. Furthermore, Excel can’t make future predictions or evaluate historical data.

At this stage, it’s better to use customized software and solutions that doesn’t require years of learning, and is more robust and efficient for your business. Custom software that allows you to produce elaborate reports, analyze data and automatically make stronger calculations.

Difficult to use version control

Version control is a procedure which is used to manage the changes being made to software,databases and websites. Furthermore, every change can be viewed by users so that they are aware of the changes being made by other users. In an ideal situation, version control systems make older versions of the documents easily accessible so time can be saved.

• Excel has a difficult to use version control.
• If two or three users are compiling their data and everyone has their own spreadsheet, then you will have to compile and organize all the different spreadsheets which is counterproductive and costs time and effort.

Your business should use a custom web application developed for your business, where data can easily be accessible by all users and then you can have a system where you have got accurate and easy to organize information.

Excel takes a long time to load

You know Excel isn’t doing its work when:

• You are facing long delays when opening spreadsheets
• You are managing your tasks around these delays.
• Your computers are lagging.

The point of Excel is to improve productivity, not the other way around. You should have a system available with a database that has an easy to use interface and all users can easily store and organize their information in it.

Excel is not the ideal analytical tool

Excel has got a long list of complex formulas which you can use to get the job done. But in order to get proficient in using those formulas. You need experienced users. Besides Excel is limited in its uses.

• Excel is limited in its analytical prowess.
• Excel cannot be used for brainstorming.
• Excel doesn’t produce reports using existing data and neither it can make predictions.

Excel can easily compromise your security

Every business has got confidential internal files and if they fall in the hands of outsiders you may have just compromised your security.

• Excel files are not trackable.
• They are easy to transport.
• They can easily be accessed if uploaded on a shared drive. Thus posing a security and financial threat.

Excel cannot do automated tasks

Yes, the data is digital. But copy-pasting is not it still takes human effort.

• Excel doesn’t work well with other solutions.
• If you need to transfer your data you need to copy and paste it cell by cell. It’s a long process.

Conclusion

It’s important to regularly evaluate your tools, no matter how embedded they are in your business process or industry.

Excel is a good tool, but sometimes business grow and Excel doesn’t seem as simple as it used to be, but rather feels to be a burden now.

So instead of a massive spreadsheet operation, your business needs a customized software developed according to your business needs and workflow. The custom developed software can automate the tedious tasks, analyze the data that’s meaningful to you, integrate with your other systems (CRM, payroll, accounting, shipping, etc).

Does Excel cause you any challenges?

If yes, you are in need of custom software developed for your business, email us at info@mywebprogrammer.com and we will definitely take care of your needs.

Business is more competitive than ever now in the present technological age. In order to gain the edge on your competitors, you need to take advantage of the latest cutting edge technologies. However, upgrading your business means not just replacing or changing your computers, but looking into systems that are outdated and inhibiting your growth, and opt for custom software and web app development. Here are five pointers you can implement to get maximum efficiency out of your business.

Making The Switch To Cloud Technology

Updating your business should be done by developing custom software systems and solutions that are robust and flexible at the same time. You are looking at the long term returns for your investment. Cloud technology is your answer to long term returns while maximizing robustness in your business workflow. This type of technology is especially helpful for managing your IT related requirements.

• Cloud Technology doesn’t interfere and can easily be integrated as well to your currently deployed systems.
• You can easily access your business systems outside the work network, remotely, so you can connect with your customers and co-workers

Using Real-time Marketing Techniques

You can take advantage of real-time marketing tools now, such as Google Adwords, social media and other apps, to gather data on the market trends. Using the traditional approach is slow and it doesn’t have that effect that it used to. Nonetheless, the challenge here is not to collect data but to analyze it to deliver the products that customers want.

• Real-time marketing makes the process easy as social media platforms have got insight tools that you can utilize to keep track of your engagements over a period of time.
• Real-time marketing can help you save cost and time as well.

Automating Your Workplace

Automating the workplace is becoming a necessity as it helps you save time and cost while increasing your work operations running as efficiently as possible. You could get a visitor management system developed for your front desk operations which will save a lot of time for your front desk operating staff.

You can also get a custom software or web application developed for your business that helps you automate your business workflow, increase effecieny, transparency and overall productivity of your employees.

• It helps with saving your time on executing tasks.

Use Custom Software and APIs

You might be running off-the-shelf software solutions to perform tasks such as billing and various other management systems. However, you will always find tasks that are not covered by your current deployed system, to get around those tasks you should get your hands on a custom software and integrate it with third party APIs like Quickbooks, Slack, WhatsApp, etc. This will help you perform those tasks while considering the custom or unique workflow of your business.

• APIs can be integrated into any part of your custom software and web application and can help maximize the efficiency of your business, so consider adding them to your business tools arsenal.

Switch To An Employee Portal

Emails are becoming an outdated form of communication in the workplace due to saturation of spam messages. Many people don’t check their emails at regular intervals due to receiving an excessive amount of spam. Consider developing a custom employee portal or web application, that just not acts as an internal messaging system, but you can also assign tasks to your employees, send invoices, manage budget, etc.

• It can help you send out instant notifications which also notify whether your memo has been read or not.
• Also has the ability to have peer to peer conversations as well.

Final Thoughts

When looking to update your system, you should focus on things that are bottlenecking the workflow of your business. If you are lacking in the storage department, upgrade to cloud storage. If you need quick response time to your memos, switch to an employee portal. The key thing is to look for the internal processes that can be modified to maximize efficiency. If you can’t find those key elements, email us at info@mywebprogrammer.com and we will be happy to assist you in increasing your work efficiency.

Does off-the-shelf software really cater to your business needs?

Most businesses nowadays are using ready-made software to take care of their business needs as far as automation is concerned. While this may take care of some of your needs, this software still has their limits and they just don’t have the adapting capabilities a custom-built software has.

In order to stay ahead of the market, you need to have a custom-built software at your disposal. Here are a few reasons why a custom built software can be the answer to all your automation problems and needs:

Tailored to your needs/requirements

Ready-made software usually caters to generic needs. However, it may not cater to your specific needs. After all, no one understands the nitty-gritty of your business better than you.

Meanwhile, generic software may be of use to in most businesses but your business might not be like other businesses. You have a unique business model and for that, you need the edge over your competitors. The edge, which is provided by custom-built software.

• Custom built software is built around your business model as per your requirements.
• Software built around your needs will assist your team as well as the client side of your business.
• Custom software lets you work in an efficient manner as they are built tailored to specific needs.

Adaptable

Ready-made software is also not as flexible as per your needs. Companies usually build them around the generic requirements of the market and not to your business model.

Even if an app was giving you the work efficiency you demand might not be as efficient after a while, as you make changes to your business model.

• Custom-built software has adaptive capabilities and can be customized to your new business model.
• This will also save your employee training costs as these custom apps can also be modified keeping in mind the needs of your current and future staff.

Flexible

As it’s a software customized to your needs, it can also be integrated into the already deployed systems you are running for your business.

It can save upgrading costs as well as instead of replacing the whole system.

• Automation should make your business tasks easier, not harder. Custom software does exactly that.
• Custom apps can update the outdated areas of the system while keeping the rest of the processes running as they are.

Available support

Having a need-based software gives you a higher level of support than a generic product. When you own a custom software you will get technical support that works around your timetable and makes the changes you need on your terms. Meanwhile running an off-the-shelf software doesn’t give you that privilege as you have to wait for the updates and patches that the developers release when they see fit.

• Custom software gives you access to support teams that assist you in the time of your need, unlike the off-the-shelf software support which works on the market needs, not yours.

Security

Custom software is more secure as only you and the developers have got access to the source code of your system, hence fewer security threats.

Conclusion

Custom software surely is the preferred choice as its more customized, flexible adaptable and more secure than the generic software. You will surely gain the edge you need over your competition, which will help you generate more revenue for your business.