From all of us at Software Shortlist, we wish you a safe and enjoyable christmas holiday and all the best for a great start to 2012.

We’re in holiday mode from Thursday 22nd of December and returning on Monday 9th January. Any Get A Shortlist requests will be handled when we return in 2012.

Cheers!  The Software Shortlist team

Among their key findings is:

“Business executives continue to ask IT to create more value by enabling business processes with technology, which is driving a significant amount of increased investment. In our experience, success in these efforts requires creating solid, well-defined business cases that include clear stage gates and metrics for holding business and IT leaders accountable.”

IT Priorities: Is There a Mismatch?

Interestingly, there is a difference in mindset between IT leaders and other executives in terms of their focus on IT priorities.  IT leaders cite “reducing IT costs” as their #1 priority, whereas non-IT executives believe the focus should be more on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes, providing better information to managers, and creating new products and services. In fact, IT cost reduction only shows up at #5 on the list of priorities for non-IT executives.

IT Budgets Going Up

Budgets also look to be on the increase in 2012, both for operating expenses as well as for new investments. Around 58% of companies are citing an increased budget for new investments, with 17% saying it will stay the same, and 17% reporting a decrease.

Boards Need More IT Strategy, Less Cost Focus

There’s also a wake-up call for directors. Both IT and non-IT executives believe the board is too focused on approving or reviewing large IT projects (i.e. a strong risk management perspective) and not enough on a pro-active discussion of how technology and IT can/will transform the industry and your specific business.

This is an important message. It’s not enough just to avoid mistakes – it’s important to make the right decisions and take action. You can do nothing and make no mistakes, but you’ll miss out on key opportunities and get left behind by your competitors who take advantage of appropriate technology.

Your perspective?

What’s in store for your organization in 2012? Can you relate to the above findings from McKinsey’s research? How is your business planning to take advantage of relevant software and other technology to improve your performance?

The free guide contains expert advice on how to choose and implement the right software, together with profiles of leading solution providers.

Available as a free PDF download, the ERP Buyers Guide provides insights on topics such as:

• Taking a business-driven approach to software selection
• Benefits and pitfalls of ERP systems
• Advice for a successful ERP implementation
• Top 3 tips for a strong ROI on your new system

The ERP Buyers Guide also has a directory of leading solution providers, including both “in the cloud” and “on-premise” options. The guide gives buyers an effective overview of each solution and what makes it distinctive, together with key contact details for each vendor.

The 2011 ERP Buyers Guide from Software Shortlist can be downloaded free at http://www.softwareshortlist.com/erp/ss-resources/2011-erp-buyers-guide/

Review of Bill4Time

By Moriya Beck

Bill4Time is an online solution that helps professional service firms run their business more effectively by combining time & expense tracking invoicing & payments, client & project management, and accounting capabilities in a single, easy to use system.

Although intended for any professional who works on projects for people and bills his/her time to client, Bill4Time also includes specific features to fit the needs of Accountants and Lawyers. It is designed to be simple but also offers customization features to suit larger, more complex projects.

Bill4Time provides all of the basic functionality needed to properly track time and expenses, manage clients and projects, assign tasks, create and send invoices, accept payment and integrates with Quickbooks.

Benefits of Bill4Time

During our 30 day free trial we identified a number of distinctive benefits that will help professional service firms make their day-to-day business operations easier.

• Intuitive user friendly interface
• Choice of Online, Desktop Widget and Mobile tool
• Industry specific features for Accounting and Law Firms
• Multiple time tracking options
• Conflict checker to ensure projects do not get duplicated.
• Option to subscribe multiple users to a specific project
• Create standard project types for when you have many clients with similar needs.
• Automatic and encrypted daily backups
• Tons of training videos and information sessions. Superior customer support.
• Volume pricing for large organizations and departments
• 30 day free trial

Key Features

The Bill4Time software solution highly robust, affordable and intuitive. Key Features include time tracking, billing and invoicing, mobile phone app, expense tracking, online access, customization, desktop widget, project management tool, client management, security and user access, accounting and reports.

Time Tracking:

As an accountant, accounting firm, attorney or legal organization, it is common to have multiple clients and projects going on simultaneously. Think tax season! Ten clients, thirty plus financial statements. Holy cow! It’s easy to lose precious billable time when your are in the “financial” zone and lacking the proper tools. The Bill4Time system was designed to make managing your daily work flow a snap. Track time quickly with the Bill4Time one time click timer entries. Tracking time to each client has never been easier!

Billing and Invoicing:

Bill4Time provides legal and accounting professionals the opportunity to charge hourly, via flat rate or upon contingencies. The tool allows users to see all payments, invoices and balance adjustments on a per project or per client basis.The system also provides multiple invoicing options such as email, print an mail. The tool offers users the opportunity to preset invoice settings with company logo and personal messages, choice of multiple design templates as well as various exporting options such as: PDF, Great American, Nationwide, Chubb, and etc.

Legal professionals will appreciate the specific features dedicated to the Legal Electronic Data Exchange (LEDES) and also find Bill4Time has features available for trust accounting. The system accepts electronic payments in the form of Paypal and Credit Cards and integrates with Quickbooks.

Project Management:

Whether you are a contractor, accounting firm or legal organization, the Bill4Time Project Management Tool allows the user to quickly create and customize projects specific to the task at hand. The system also allows the project manager to assign tasks to a specific user within an organization. Bill4Time also offers a 30 day risk free trial and is available without submitting a credit card. As an accountant or legal professional, there is no reason not to test drive this software solution.

A Legal professional should find the Bill4Time platform is easy to navigate especially since it was  designed with the ability to automatically implement American Bar Association (ABA) Task Codes, LEDES and Litigation Advisor export for invoices, Trust Accounting as well as an easy to use conflict management system.

Customization

The system is highly customizable. The Bill4Time “quick create” feature allows users to easily create projects using terminology specific to their industry.  For example, an accounting firm may create projects and assign tasks specifically associated to the accounting cycle, bank reconciliation, or income statements. Law Firms project types may include research, witness interviews, client meetings, jury selection, and case preparation. It allows users to easily create the categories important to the daily operations that require time tracking.

As you can see the Bill4Time Project Management Tool is easy to set up. Project Managers can assign projects to specific clients at an hourly rate, flat fee or contingency basis. The project manager can also invite specific people such as other project manager, accountants or clients to view the project. To help keep your projects organized, Bill4Time’s project management tools allow users to import files, track time and expenses, schedule meetings, manage payments and adjust billing rates on a per project basis.

Web Based/Desktop Widget/Mobile App

Bill4Time understands you are busy professionals and constantly on the go. Whether you are working in an office, at the clients office or from the court house, Bill4Time has you covered. The platform is available via 3 convenient ways: online, downloadable desktop widget and mobile application for Blackberry, Android and iPhone. Access your account from any computer in the world. Track time and expenses even when the internet is down. And don’t forget to track your lunch meetings!

While the mobile application is still in Beta, it works fairly well and allows you to easily track expenses, run activity timers, check client project details, and review account balances. Never lose precious, billable hours again.

Bill4Time Pricing

Bill4Time offers 3 pricing plans to fit the needs of small to medium sized organizations: Free, Lite & Pro.

Free: for contractors who manage 3 or less clients at one time and less than 5 projects at any given time. This option allows the user to save as many clients or projects as needed and allows the user to activate and deactivate as needed.

Lite: For less than $20 per month, the “Lite” package helps businesses manage up to 20 clients and 30 projects at any given time  for only $19.99 per month/per user with the option to add users for only $9.99 per month.

Pro: Organizations who manage hundreds of clients and projects will appreciate the Bill4Time “Pro” package for only $39.99 per month for 1 user and $19.99 per month per additional user. The company offers a “Volume Discount” for larger organizations or departments.

Since the Bill4Time system is charged on a per user per month basis, there are no long term contracts or cancellation fees. There are also no additional costs or hidden fees associated to tech support, back ups or online training modules. It’s all included!

Company Background

Bill4Time was founded in 2006 by parent company Broadway Billing Systems and is now a leading web-based time billing software solution serving professional service firms of all sizes. The system was created with the guidance of law and consulting firms to be simple to use, intuitive and efficient. By all accounts, the company values customer input and strives to provide a high quality and secure system. The platform has tracked over 2.2 Million hours, and been used to invoice for over $230 M dollars this year.

They report a 99.99% uptime and offer a free 30 day trial without a credit card. The company is well-established and offers various levels of customer support including weekly webinars, recorded training, YouTube training, phone, email and chat supported customer support.

Review Summary

It’s no surprise why so many professionals have chosen to trust the Bill4Time system.

Based on our review, we are happy to suggest Bill4TIme as a user friendly, reliable and reasonably priced option for professional service firms who need to track and bill their time & expenses against clients and projects. In particular, we believe lawyers and accountants will appreciate what it has to offer in terms of industry-specific understanding and features.

Visit the Bill4Time website

Get a free Trial of Bill4Time.

You may also notice the home page showcases a couple of new publications: the Software Shortlist Magazine and the 2011 ERP Buyers Guide, as well as recent articles from ERP Shortlist. Stay tuned for more details on each of these…

See the new home page at www.softwareshortlist.com

Also, you can get a $100 discount for All About Mobile by entering the following promotional code during registration: “PRMSS”

Note: The discount applies to the “current non-member/customer registration price (individual rate only)”

Software Shortlist is proud to be an Industry Partner of All About Mobile 2011.

Also, you can get a $100 discount for All About Mobile by entering the following promotional code during registration: “PRMSS”

Note: The discount applies to the “current non-member/customer registration price (individual rate only)”

SIIA All About Mobile

The 2nd annual All About Mobile conference, by the Software & Information Industry Association, focuses on the next great leap in the evolution of software and services. 2011 is the year the enterprise goes mobile, and no one is better poised to deliver mobile business applications than the Cloud Computing industry! This year’s conference takes place in San Francisco, where the industry’s leading analysts, venture capitalists, media, telecom companies, platform and infrastructure providers, integrators and ISVs will gather. Plan your attendance now and join us on November 15th to discuss, partner, plan, build and connect the next generation of networks and the apps!

For details, visit www.AllAboutMobile.net

1.      In your view, what has changed most in the mobile business space since the All About Mobile conference last year? 

A lot has changed since last year. Last year, businesses were still trying to figure out if they needed a mobile strategy and today they are determining exactly what that strategy looks like. One of the big things we have seen is the focus on mobile as a marketing platform. Business are realizing, what better way to reach potential customers than on the devices that are always within their grasps. Mobile is becoming a significant part of a marketers overall strategy

2.      We’ve all seen a remarkable consumer uptake of sophisticated mobile devices, first with smartphones and more recently with tablets, most notably the Apple iPad. What impact has this had on the way business thinks about mobility? Is it reducing the sales cycle for vendors of mobile solutions? 

You could look at it like the consumer is the business professional. Because in many cases, businesses are seeing their executives using their personal mobile devices to carry out business. So even if a company is not officially supporting mobile business, it is happening anyway because the executives realize mobile is necessary to be more productive today. This has had a huge impact on the way business thinks about mobility. While I believe companies have accepted the need for mobile business, they are still going to be cautious so I don’t believe the sales cycle for vendors of mobile solutions is going to see a big change, not yet.

3.      Access devices aside, what changes are you seeing with regards to the type of mobile applications being used by businesses? What are the hot categories right now, and which emerging ones should we keep an eye on for the future?

In the past year there have been some great innovations in mobile applications. The financial industry made some strides with mobile bank deposits and transfers. Location based services are becoming more and more predominant with sales teams. These applications are now allowing sales teams to track locations of reps and sales calls but also track customers. We will see location based applications continue to evolve providing more detailed tracking of sales teams and customers. We will also see more of these applications targeting specific verticals like the insurance industry where it is critical to have location based information in the event of an emergency.

4.      Businesses are increasingly launching apps of their own to tap into their customers’ enthusiasm for all things mobile. Do you have any advice or suggestions for companies who have not yet done this but are thinking of developing one?

First, if you do not have a mobile version of your product you should put that at the top of your to-do list. It is absolutely critical in today’s marketplace that your product or solution is available on mobile devices, optimized for the small screens. You need to decide first if you want to build a mobile version of your website, basically a scaled down version of your website optimized for the small screens, or create a native mobile application, which then needs to be customized for the different mobile platforms. The challenge with developing native mobile apps is the many different platforms that must to be supported. It is important to develop the application so that it translates in all languages. Businesses are more successful if the application has the same look and feel across multiple operating systems as many people use different devices supported by different platforms.  

5.      In today’s tough & uncertain economic environment globally, how do you make the business case for embracing mobile business? Does a focus on cost savings resonate with decision-makers? Are justifications based on revenue increases credible? Are there other factors at play?

Making a case for mobile business is certainly not as difficult as it once was. In fact, it is pretty simple, it is about customer expectations. Mobile allows your team to communicate more effectively and therefore improving communication and service to the customer. Business executives and customers expect to have relevant information, in real-time, and on any device they have available. Again, your customers expect this type of service and availability, if you are not providing it your competitor is only a click away.

6.      What trends do you see for the year ahead regarding mobile business?

In the next year we will see the worlds of mobile and social collide in businesses. We thought that mobile business alone was creating this amazing ability to collaborate with our colleagues and customers in real-time but add the social component into mobile applications and we are taking communication and customer service to a whole new level. There are some exciting things headed our way.

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The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is hosting a major ISV conference, All About Mobile, in San Francisco on November 15 2011.

Software Shortlist is proud to be an Industry Partner of All About Mobile 2011. We will soon be running a contest giving away a free pass. Stay tuned for more details…

In documenting your business software requirements, you need to have a clear understanding of the important issues:  What type of system are you looking for? Why do you need it? What should it do in terms of capabilities? Who will use it? How will it interact with other parts of your business? How will you evaluate which option suits you best? …and so on

Given our focus on the software selection process, Software Shortlist has developed some useful templates that may assist. The first one that we’re making available is a Requirements Summary Template. Other resources will be made available soon, including a set of questions to guide you in defining your requirements, and a guide to an effective software selection process.

How do you use it?

The requirements summary template is designed to help you encapsulate your requirements into a simple summary document. This can be used for several purposes

1. Internal use:  Use the requirements summary to make sure everyone agrees on what the software requirements are. There’s nothing like putting your needs down on paper to help you find out if everyone is on the same page or not! If they are, great. If not, you’ll quickly identify the areas where people have different views.
2. External use: Use it to engage more effectively with vendors about your software needs. It will save both you and them time if you come to initial discussions with a clear understanding of what you want, and which requirements are most important vs less important.

How do we know it works?

Software Shortlist developed the template during our independent consulting work on software selection. It has been successfully applied on numerous occasions, and has proven to help accelerate the process of agreeing on requirements and engaging with vendors.

For instance, When we were assisting a consulting firm in their search for an online database system, a completed version of this requirements summary template was provided to numerous vendors at the early stages of the selection process. The sales representative at one major vendor commented that it was the “best requirements summary they’d seen” and that having a clear view of requirements like this made their job so much easier.

How to download the template

The requirements summary template is available as a free download in Word format on our website.  So, if you’re looking for software for your business, make sure you download this free template to summarize your software requirements.

ERP Shortlist is dedicated to providing buyers with valuable insights and information for their ERP selection process. This includes:

• Reviews:   We review leading ERP systems to provide you with an overview of the solution, who uses it, what capabilities it offers, and what makes it most distinctive.
• Case Studies:   A range of customer case studies are available for free download, so you can see how companies are taking advantage of leading ERP solutions
• Whitepapers:  Top ERP vendors share their insights and perspectives on relevant issues. Simply register for free access to these whitepapers.
• Articles:  Experts authors from around the globe contribute articles on a regular basis to demystify & explore important ERP topics
• Resources:  Download free resources from Software Shortlist to help with your selection process, such as checklists, templates, buyers guides and more.

If you’re considering a new ERP system for your business, we encourage you to check out ERP Shortlist. It’s a free resource to help you make a well-informed decision. You can also take advantage of our free and award-winning Get A Shortlist service:  simply tell us your requirements and we’ll match you up with a shortlist of relevant vendors and service providers from our extensive network.

>> Find out more at ERP Shortlist…