COMP-321a: Business Application Software Introduction: Business Application Software

Introduction: Business Application Software margins, font style and size, and the line spacing for you. But you
can change these settings, and you have many more formatting
What is a Business? options available.

An organization or economic system where goods and services are exchanged Business Application Software
for one another or for money. Every business requires some form of investment
An application is any program, or group of programs, that is designed for the end
and enough customers to whom its output can be sold on a consistent basis in
user. Application software, also known as an application or an app, is computer
order to make a profit. Businesses can be privately owned, not-for-profit or state-
software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples
owned.
include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics
What is an Application? software and media players. Many application programs deal principally
with documents. Applications may be bundled with the computer and its system
An application or application program in Information Technology, is a software software, or may be published separately. In recent years, the abbreviation "app"
program that runs on your computer. Web browsers, e-mail programs, word has specifically come to mean application software written for mobile devices,
processors, games, and utilities are all applications. The word "application" is with the abbreviation in particular representing both the smaller size and smaller
used because each program has a specific application for the user. scope of the software (i.e. an app whose sole purpose is to display an image
representation of the current weather). Application software can be divided into
What is a Software?
two general classes: systems software and applications software. Applications
The term 'software' refers to the set of electronic program instructions or data a software (also called end-user programs) include such things
computer processor reads in order to perform a task or operation. In contrast, the as database programs, word processors, Web browsers and spreadsheets.
term 'hardware' refers to the physical components that you can see and touch,
such as the computer hard drive, mouse, and keyboard. Different types of application software include the following:

Software can be categorized according to what it is designed to accomplish. Application

There are two main types of software: systems software and application Examples
Software Type
software.
a. Systems Software Word processing
MS Word, WordPad and Notepad
 Systems software includes the programs that are dedicated to software
managing the computer itself, such as the operating system, file
Database software Oracle, MS Access etc
management utilities, and disk operating system (or DOS). The
operating system manages the computer hardware resources in
Spreadsheet
addition to applications and data. Without systems software installed Apple Numbers, Microsoft Excel
software
in our computers we would have to type the instructions for
everything we wanted the computer to do. Multimedia
b. Applications Software Real Player, Media Player
software
 Application software, or simply applications, are often called
productivity programs or end-user programs because they enable Presentation
the user to complete tasks, such as creating documents, Microsoft Power Point, Keynotes
Software
spreadsheets, databases and publications, doing online research,
sending email, designing graphics, running businesses, and even Enterprise
Customer relationship management system
playing games. Application software is specific to the task it is Software
designed for and can be as simple as a calculator application or as
complex as a word processing application. When you begin creating
a document, the word processing software has already set the
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COMP-321a: Business Application Software Introduction: Business Application Software

for business; today’s vibrant market, including DSS and CRM tools and much
Application
Examples more, contrasts with the early days of business software, when many business
Software Type
software applications were simply generic end-user programs labeled as
Information "business use" programs, such as basic spreadsheets or other tools.
Documentation tools, resource management tools
Worker Software

Educational Dictionaries: Encarta, BritannicaMathematical: Importance of Business Application Software

Software MATLABOthers: Google Earth, NASA World Wind
1. Accuracy
Simulation Business Application Software can help to increase the accuracy of your records
Flight and scientific simulators
Software by reducing or eliminating human errors in calculation. Manual bookkeeping
processes involve making a lot of mathematical calculations by hand. An
Content Access Accessing content through media players, web incorrect calculation early on in the in the process could have a great impact on
Software browsers
the end. Computers, on the other hand, are virtually incapable of making such
errors. However, it should be noted that it is not immune to human errors arising
Application Suites OpenOffice, Microsoft Office
from data entry or interpretation mistakes.
Software for
Engineering and 2. Speed
IDE or Integrated Development Environments Using Business Application Software allows businesses to process their tasks
Product
Development with greater speed than manual processing. Part of this speed increase comes
from the use of computers, which are able to process figures far faster than the
human brain. In addition, it allows organizations to increase efficiency by
introducing automation. Say, for example, that a business needs to record sales
Business Application Software is software that is used for business purposes.
tax on all of its transactions. Accounting software could be configured to do that
The term is often used more specifically for software that helps a business to
for each entry automatically, rather than having a staff member work out the tax
accomplish specific goals through the applied principles that the software
longhand.
supports.
3. Cost Saving
The benefits resulting from the speed and efficiency of business application
Examples of applied principles for business software include decision support software often go hand-in-hand with reduced overall costs. The use of it allows
software (DSS), where technology aids in human decision making, and customer each member of the team to do more in a given time, potentially meaning that a
relationship management (CRM), where software helps a business to compile smaller team is needed overall. This, in turn, can reduce the payroll and
and maintain detailed profiles of customers or clients, along with other kinds of administration costs. However, these savings should always be balanced against
enhanced record-keeping. Business software such as DSS or CRM will often the cost of the software itself and any additional hardware needed to run it.
apply common principles such as sales force support, transaction automation,
algorithmic data mining for sales, or any of many other design objectives. Other 4. Reports
business software will focus on supply chains or other practical forms of resource Business application software helps businesses to supply the necessary
management. members of staff with timely and accurate financial information. For example,
suppose that a company's finance director needs a report of cashflow to take to
Some experts also define business software by what it excludes. Gaming a meeting in two hours. Many accounting software systems have built-in
applications and similar software would not be considered business software reporting modules that enable users to create this type of report by simply filling
unless used in a customer service or demo environment. The definition of in a form or clicking a button. However, creating such a report manually would
business software has changed along with a proliferation of useful software tools be a time-consuming process.

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COMP-321a: Business Application Software Introduction: Business Application Software

5. Measure Effectiveness wish to make it public. Get the Lightning plug-in to integrate Sunbird directly with
Generally, a business application is any program that helps businesses measure or Thunderbird.
increase their productivity.
5. Collaboration
6. Technological Advancement Example for this is Vyew, an online conferencing/collaboration platform includes
Part of technological advancement include modernization of tools used to accomplish a useful whiteboard. With Vyew, anyone can host an Internet session that lets
scattered colleagues work together on a project in real time. This Web
various objectives.
conferencing platform gives you a very simple whiteboard where you can upload
7. Simplicity documents for discussion, share your desktop, or create designs from scratch.
Business applications can take care tedious jobs like factory accounting and bank check You don't even have to register to use Vyew, but if you do, you get access to
clearing unlike using mainframe computers in the past VoIP and other audio services.

6. CRM
Customer relationship management isn't just for the Fortune 500. Even one-
Samples of Business Application Software/Tools person shops can benefit from a more ordered approach to managing the sales
process, tracking leads, and ensuring that follow-ups are done in a timely fashion.
1. Accounting Software
Salesforce.com requires some training and patience due to its vastness, but its
The flowchart-based accounting of QuickBooks is as close to a standard in
exhaustive feature set and affordable pricing options make it a business must-
financial management as the small-business world has, and it's arguably the
have.
easiest way for nonprofessionals to transfer their books from the filing cabinet to
the computer, where they belong. Most actions, from cutting a check to billing a
7. Database
client, are just a click or two away from the start screen. Access is a part of many editions of Microsoft Office, but if you don't already have
that database program in your toolkit, consider springing for FileMaker Pro
2. Backup and Recovery
instead. This database application is more instinctive than Access, while offering
You can (and should) regularly back up files to an external hard drive or NAS
high-end features like live SQL data source support and easy Web-publishing
(network-attached storage) device in your office--but what if the whole place goes
capabilities, so your whole team can access the database via a browser. And its
up in smoke? Hedge your bet with an online backup service like Mozy, which
array of prebuilt templates helps you get up and running in no time.
automatically archives whatever you'd like across the Internet, safe and sound.
Just select what you want backed up, and Mozy does the rest, either in bulk while
8. E-Commerce Service
you sleep, or in real time, as files are changed. Example of an e-commerce service is the Yahoo Small Business. Yahoo
provides everything from templates and wizards to credit-card processing and
3. Blogging Tool
sales-tax collection. If you sell less than 50,000 units, this is definitely one of the
If your business still doesn't have a blog--one of the best ways around to provide
easiest and quickest ways to go online.
up-to-date company and product news--you're only about three years behind the
curve. It's not too late to catch up: WordPress installs in minutes (it even offers a
9. E-Mail
free, hosted option on WordPress.com), and the platform is dazzlingly easy to
If you have Microsoft Office, you already have Outlook, the industry-standard e-
use. WordPress so simple, your team will be begging to contribute to the blog mail app. But if you're looking to save a buck and still get most of Outlook's
instead of complaining that it's too laborious. features, Thunderbird is a capable, free alternative. Message tagging and a
speedy, integratedsearch system actually offer a few improvements over off-the-
4. Calendar rack Outlook.
Mozilla's Thunderbird (our e-mail pick; see that category below) lacks a calendar,
so most business users rely on the equally free Sunbird for scheduling. It's a very 10. E-Mail Marketing
straightforward application, with day, week, and month views, and even a Don't call it spam: Communicating via e-mail with your customers is cool, as long
publishing feature to enable sending your calendar to a Web site, should you as they opt in. Topica has been in the e-mail marketing/mailing-list game for

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COMP-321a: Business Application Software Introduction: Business Application Software

years, and most spam filters are pretty kind to messages that are sent through VPN or virtual private network extends a private network across a public network,
its service. Topica is also one of the most affordable of such e-mail marketing such as the Internet. It enables users to send and receive data across shared or
platforms that you can find on the Web--and it sure beats running a mailing list public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the
server yourself. private network.

11. Invoicing
Helps to create and manage customer accounts, build invoices, and then print or
e-mail them with a mouse click. Zoho Invoice is a near-perfect Web-based
solution for managing simple billing needs.

12. Mobile Device Remote Access

It's one thing to be stuck in an airport without access to a critical file back at the
office, but what if you don't even have access to a computer? Enter SoonR, which
lets you snag files from your PC or Mac via a mobile phone. SoonR isn't built for
serious data transfer needs--but it just might get you out of a jam when it counts.

13. Office Suites

Like it or not, any business, big or small, probably needs at least one copy of
Microsoft Office somewhere in the building. All of the suite's applications are
simply too close to being industry standards to ignore.

14. Project Management

Build complicated project timelines, to-do lists, and message boards, and share
files among your team members-all via one simple-to-use Web tool. Basecamp
can keep all your workers on task while letting everyone else know what other
team members are up to. It can even track project time on a per-member basis,
for creating detailed billing and reports when the job is done.

15. Task Manager

Get your schedule, brainstorming notes, to-do lists, and just about anything else
you have tacked up around your office into one place--your PC, that is--with
Chandler. This free, open-source application gives you deep control over your
day while still being easy enough to use that you'll never have to crack the
manual.

16. VoIP
VoIP or Voice over IP is a methodology and group of technologies for the delivery
of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP)
networks, such as the Internet.

17. VPN

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