The reason for this was a series of hardware failures at our hosting company and unfortunately this translated into considerable downtime over the past few days. This has been frustrating for all involved. Nonetheless, we have been assured that the situation is now fixed and the site should be back to normal.

However, if you do encounter any further issues in using the Software Shortlist service, please let us know.

As a result, their questions were typically things like ‘will people pay enough to fund your service?’,  ’how do you create the content cost effectively?’, and ‘how will you reach your customers?’

After all that, it was interesting yesterday to see a question posted on a LinkedIn discussion group that really captures the essence of the customer need we solve:

Wanted: online CRM program
Our business uses both a desktop CRM program and an online email marketing software program. Time to get “one-does-all” online program I think so we can create and follow the opportunities pipeline better.

Have been trawling the Internet but one after the other promises a lot, but don’t really feel like having to do xxx free trials to find the one that would suit us best.

Is anyone using an online CRM program they can recommend to a small business?

In our view, this quote really captures the essence of why customers need a service like Software Shortlist. Now we just need to expand the range of software we cover so we can help more people like this…

Upfront and ongoing costs of your chosen software package are only part of the picture. There is a significant cost to the process of choosing software.

Imagine adding $30,000 to the cost of your timesheet system. That’s exactly what happened with one accounting firm we spoke with recently.

We often hear that small businesses spend 3 to 6 months choosing software. The person-hours consumed over this time are substantial, so software selection has a significant “real” cost (i.e. salary paid to those people) as well as an “opportunity cost” (i.e. cost of not doing other things because they were busy with this).

For example, we met with an accountant yesterday who told us his firm recently chose a combined timesheet / project management system. It took 6 months of calendar time to make the choice, with a reasonably senior person spending 60 hours working on it. Given a typical client charge out rate of $500 per hour, choosing software cost the firm a staggering $30,000 in opportunity cost. On salary costs alone,  they probably spent $3,000 paying staff to select software.

Choosing business software is an important decision. You don’t want to get it wrong. The challenge is how do you make the right decision on software, more quickly?

That’s where Software Shortlist comes in. By using our online comparison service, you can dramatically reduce the time required to find a shortlist of the most relevant software. The ultimate decision is still yours, but seeking our help can significantly reduce the ‘hidden cost’ of software selection. What’s your time worth?

While we’re there, we are setting aside time to meet with executives from organisations interested in partnering with us.

There are still some slots available if you’d like to meet. We are seeking partners to help us reach a large number of small businesses. In return, we can offer a range of benefits, including useful content, discounted access to services, co-promotion opportunities, and more. Sound interesting? Let’s talk…

Our recent press release about the trip is below:

Software Shortlist will soon be exploring inroads to the US market through ANZA Technology Network’s Gateway to the US Summit.

Culminating in a 3 day event in Silicon Valley in early October, the ANZA Gateway to the US program helps connect innovative Australian companies with potential investors and business partners in the world’s largest market.

As its name suggests, Software Shortlist helps small businesses make better software choices by providing a shortlist of relevant options.  Their online software comparison service dramatically reduces the time and money that businesses spend choosing software.

Software Shortlist co-founders Craig Westcott and Xavier Russo will both attend the event, which includes a five minute pitch and various networking sessions and business forums.

“Making a major impact in the US is a top priority for us. The US is home to many leading software companies and over 25 million small businesses,” said Craig Westcott.

While in Silicon Valley, the two founders have set aside time to meet with executives from organisations that are interested in partnering with Software Shortlist.

“We will be talking with organisations that reach large numbers of small businesses and want to help them boost productivity by applying the right software,” said Xavier Russo.

The Software Shortlist team will be in Silicon Valley from 3rd to 11th October. To arrange a meeting or to find out more, please email partners@softwareshortlist.com.

About Software Shortlist

Software Shortlist helps small businesses choose the right software. Services include a free software directory, online software recommendation and comparison tool, articles and publications, and independent software selection consulting. Software Shortlist gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Government’s “Commercialising Emerging Technology” (COMET) program. For more information, please visit www.softwareshortlist.com

About ANZA Technology Network

ANZA Technology Network is the leading independent organization connecting the Australian, New Zealand and US technology and biotechnology sectors. Through its Gateway and Fast Track to the US programs ANZA has assisted hundreds of Australian and New Zealand companies as they enter the US market—more than any other non-government organization. For more information: http://www.anzatechnet.com/

Despite the compelling business case for software and a host of readily available solutions, unfortunately it is clear that small businesses are not leveraging software applications to the extent they should.

Why is this? Over the past 2 years, we’ve spoke with a large number of business owners and we keep hearing the same reasons. Put simply, small business owners are busy – they just don’t have the time or resources to properly investigate new software for their business. Many also find IT to be intimidating, and may lack the expertise and knowledge to make sense of the possibilities.

The end result is that far too many small businesses fall victim to one or more of the following pitfalls:

• Keep using inefficient manual processes, work-around methods, and legacy systems,
• Defer or postpone their plans to review their business processes & software
• Make a risky leap of faith decision based on a friend’s referral, brief Google search or limited prior experience
• Reinvent the wheel with a custom-built solution at 5+ times the cost (and often with less functionality) compared to buying an off-the-shelf platform

What has been your experience? Have you seen these pitfalls up close? Are there others you would add to the list?

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Note: Helping SMBs avoid these pitfalls is what motivated us to start Software Shortlist in the first place. If you’d like some assistance in choosing software for your business, why not get in touch with  us about our independent consulting services?

Don’t worry, we see the irony. Here is a company that specialises in shortlisting software that is now giving you a long list of software.

But there’s good reason for this. The feedback on our online recommendation and comparison service has been fantastic, but we have also heard from many customers that they wanted to see the full list of software that sat behind it.  There seems to be a certain level of comfort people get from seeing the long list of options. Of course, we suspect that when confronted with a long list of available software, you will appreciate even more the value of our shortlisting service

So, without any further ado, welcome to the Software Shortlist Directory.

The directory includes over 700 products in popular categories such as Accounting, Email Marketing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Project Management, and Small Business ERP.  And more categories are being added all the time.

What is particularly distinctive about our directory is that it focuses only on small business software. With no consumer or big enterprise solutions to wade through, you save time and money not having to consider options that aren’t relevant to you.

You will also find the quality of the listings is better than most. We have applied strict selection criteria as part of a global search process to create a powerful resource for small businesses.  Our aim is to build an extensive yet high quality list of software — and if faced with a choice, we have gone for quality over quantity.

What are you waiting for? Go check it out at www.softwareshortlist.com/software/directory.html

This change is simply to bring our company name into line with our primary brand and registered trademark. Farewell Trigora, hello Software Shortlist.

Software Directory

One such lesson was that, although people may struggle to make good decisions when faced with overwhelming choice, they want the comfort of actually seeing the long list of available options.

While our online recommendation and comparison facility is proving just as valuable as expected … we realized many customers would value seeing the comprehensive list. As such, Software Shortlist is now developing an extensive software directory for small & medium businesses as an additional offering.

Software Selection Consulting

We have also been pleasantly surprised by the demand from small business customers for help with software selection. Not only have we seen very good traffic numbers and site usage during our beta phase, we are already getting a number requests for software selection consulting assistance from customers. In responding to our customers’ needs,  Software Shortlist has now added a range of software selection consulting services to our offer.  In fact, we have just concluded our first major project, evaluating online database software for a specialist marketing agency.

Independent Software Comparisons

Of course, not all of the lessons learned required changing things. We have had great feedback from customers and vendors, validating our existing approach … such as the emphasis we have placed on the independence of our online software comparison service. This focus on providing independent reviews and suggestions will continue as we evolve the Software Shortlist offering and expand our coverage across more software categories. Accounting is very nearly ready for release, and email marketing not far behind, so watch this space….

Services for Software Vendors

On the vendor side of the equation, we have been fortunate to have received detailed feedback from a close network of supportive vendors. Plus we’ve seen an unexpectedly large number of unsolicited enquiries from other software companies.  Together, their input has been invaluable in helping us design and prioritize a range of improvements to our website.

Among other things, we learned that many independent software vendors (ISVs) would value us offering other marketing services … such as conducting customer feedback surveys, gathering testimonials from their users, and developing a vendor benchmark study. More information on these is available on our vendor information page.

Watch this space…

So, a big thank you to all the SMBs, vendors and service providers who took the time to explore our services and provide us with input and advice. Your feedback has provoked some intense thinking and discussion behind the scenes here, and we’re excited about bringing you an expanded and improved range of services under the Software Shortlist banner. These new offerings will be rolled out gradually over coming months, starting with the official launch of our directory very soon. We will also update our home page and ‘how it works’ sections to reflect the changes.

“73% of those surveyed are likely to adopt rather than cut back on new technologies in this uncertain environment”

Smarter, cheaper, faster ways of doing things will always be in demand. Particularly if they also free up resources from peripheral activities, and help your business to focus on what it does best. 

Cloud computing is a great example. It saves a business from worrying about IT hardware. It often costs less. And improvements can quickly fund ongoing costs. 

“51% believe cloud computing will allow their business to decrease upfront IT costs and focus on their core business”

Downturns evoke strong emotions. The best companies overcome their fear and invest strategically when others are pulling back.

When the upturn arrives, those who bunkered down are often left wondering what happened.  If you can continue to improve performance during a downturn, the rebound will really turbo-charge your business.

“44% stated cutting costs as the key reason behind uptake of cloud computing and 29% stated it was staying ahead of the competition”

What action are you taking in the downturn? Is new technology or software part of your plan to thrive, not just survive?

Why not compare business software at Software Shortlist? Our free service can  help you quickly find software to improve your business. Could you benefit from an online timesheet? Or online business accounting?

Note:  Statistics are from a recent survey on cloud computing by Avanade Australia.

Anthill Magazine has just announced the companies included in its inaugural ‘SMART 100’ Index.        The SMART 100 Index was developed with global market research agency Colmar Brunton  to identify and rank Australia’s 100 most innovative products.

Recognition for SoftwareShortlist

SoftwareShortlist is proud to have been named in the SMART 100, which puts it in good company with other innovative Australian firms such as RedBubble, 99Designs, Aconex, Cone-Head, and spellr.us.

The award provides further validation of SoftwareShortlist’s unique online service to compare software for small business. The site’s beta launch in February 2009 has been well-received by software buyers and vendors alike, and work is underway to expand SoftwareShortlist’s service to include more types of business software, such as accounting software,  email marketing software, and IT help desk software. 

About the SMART 100

Over 861 companies were nominated by Anthill readers, and invited to submit a detailed application form describing their innovation. The SMART 100 were selected using the “wisdom of crowds” — in the form of 1600 “mavens” from Colmar Brunton’s online panel — to judge which innovations were most likely to succeed. 

Full details of the SMART 100 winners can be found in the Apr/May/Jun 2009 edition of Anthill Magazine.