As your small business grows, so will your computing, collaboration and communication needs. Small and medium businesses (SMBs) need to manage costs without compromising on the utility or reliability of the services they use.
Licensing software for office systems can be fairly expensive. Microsoft Windows 7 (under Rs11,000) and Office Professional 2010 (Rs 17,150 for one PC) can cost in the region of Rs 28,150. A business with 20 computers will spend a staggering Rs 6-7 lakh, but we mostly don’t use all the tools in Microsoft products.
If you are an SMB, you already know the value of saving every paisa. Here are four ideas that can help SMBs save lakhs of rupees.
OpenOffice
(www.openoffice.org)
The shrewd use OpenOffice to reduce their capital and operating costs. It consists of Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentation), Draw (graphics), Base (database management system), and Math (a component that creates mathematical equations inside text documents). Between these, it is possible to create almost anything that an SMB needs, including tracking sales, orders, invoices, customers, assets and generating business intelligence (using Base). In many ways, the features included in OpenOffice are superior to other commercially available products. For example, Writer offers more control over document design by allowing users to position bullets, footers, headers and end notes as they please. Explore OpenOffice, and chances are you’ll be won over. The complete suite of office products is free for use.
Microsoft Security Essentials
(windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials)
Using free software indiscriminately raises the threat from virus attacks. The good news is that anti-virus software is not very expensive—the Norton Internet Security 2012 Anti Virus by Symantec, for example, is Rs 1,100 a year per user. That’s one of the reasons an SMB may be tempted to invest in it. However, when you have free and reliable alternatives, why spend even a farthing? If you are already running Windows Vista, Windows XP or Windows 7, Microsoft has a reliable product in Microsoft Security Essentials. It is available for free for businesses up to 10 PCs. It is simple to download and install. And most times, you don’t even feel it working in the background. An alternative to Microsoft Security Essentials is AVG Anti-virus Free 2012, which is also free. The AVG software has additional utilities that tune up your PC by identifying applications that use resources and suggesting ways to manage them.
Gliffy
(www.gliffy.com)
Visual effect: Use Gliffy to create slick, professional diagrams.
Large enterprises know the value of tools like Visio that speed up the creation of diagrams, simplify complex process maps and flow charts. You can buy Visio Professional 2010 for Rs 27,500 — or other comparable products like FlowBreeze from Rs 3,000-48,000 — to begin mapping inputs, outputs, decision points, activities and functions. But how about creating slick, professional diagrams that can be imported into documents and presentations for free? Use Gliffy for creating visual representations of networks, floor plans, SWOT analysis, wire frames for websites, organizational charts, business process models and Venn diagrams. Its drag-and-drop shapes are fun to work with, and the fact that everything is online means you don’t have to download and install cumbersome software. Being online also lends itself to easy collaboration. The free version gives you five diagrams and 2 MB of storage.
Yammer
(www.yammer.com)
With employees using social networks for practically everything, large enterprises are creating their own social networks for instant communications. Everyone, from employees to agents, partners and vendors, can use their private social network to start conversations, share information, links and files. Yammer has been used by major corporations like Ford and LG to create their own social networks. Why can’t you? The basic version of Yammer is free. It works from within any Web browser and via mobile apps. Imagine the power of social networking within your organization…makes you drool, doesn’t it?
Arun Katiyar is a content and communication consultant with a focus on technology companies. He is a published author with HarperCollins and has extensive media experience spanning music, print, radio, the Internet and mobile phones.
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