Remember when those cumbersome Excel spreadsheets were on the cutting edge of technology and used for everything from client billing to logging the RSVPs for your big company party? As useful as Excel and similar tools have been in the past, there are better ways of solving the same problems, with less human error and cost. Using resource management tools is just one way to streamline your business efforts.
What is resource management software?
Resource management programs, such as Basecamp, NetSuite and OneDesk, make real-time collaboration among business team members easy. Unlike traditional management tools, many resource software programs are cloud-based, so multiple users can view project files from a variety of devices, all at the same time.
Cloud technology allows software developers to more quickly respond to a need for an application and for users to customize their software programs to best suit their needs, a growing software trend according to Yammer’s director of enterprise strategy Brian Murray. Most management tools charge a monthly fee and include continuous updates, rather than a one-time licensing fee and additional annual upgrades for software, such as Excel.
Advantages to using resource management software tools
Resource management software is changing businesses for the better. Gone are the mountains of paperwork and subsequent paper management that traditionally accompanied even the simplest business project. Data is in the cloud and at employees’ fingertips. Such software helps businesses cut costs in a variety of ways:
1. Reducing human error. Just one additional zero by mistake can offset client billings by $100 or $1,000. Resource software keeps track of the time employees work on client files and prepares invoices accordingly. There is no human data input involved.
2. Cutting costs. There is no need to copy documents, forward files or spend time duplicating work; all team members are in the loop.
3. Improving communication. All employees working on a project can see and add data to a file at the same time with resource management software. There is no lag time in communicating the latest developments, and there is less opportunity for crafty team members to “guard” information to further their own agendas.
4. Saving time. Of course, automating things, such as processing resumes for prospective employees, can save time, as well as improve accuracy. Companies may use resource management software to gauge the needs of their companies and vet candidate expertise according to the skills required, according to The New York Times. Employees stay engaged and complete projects efficiently, according to Business Insider.
The bottom line
Resource management software tools are available for every business type. Such tools are saving small, medium and large businesses money by improving communication, reducing human error and saving much of the time necessary to input data.
Do you have resource management software you’d recommend? Share your thoughts in the comments.