The rapid growth of computing technology has had far-reaching impacts around the world. According to Moore’s law, the speed of computer processors doubles after every 18 months. The transistor count in an integrated chip doubles, resulting in the doubling of computer processing speeds.
Technological advancements have come about with the development of various applications and software. The applications and software have helped to perform functions in businesses such as:
- Accounting
- Product Data Analysis
- Business Process Automation
- Inventory Management
- Payroll Management
These applications and software have helped to improve the efficiency of our operations. Due to their benefits, business applications and software have high adoption rates. According to the Grand View Research Company, the global business software and service market size was worth USD 389.86 billion in 2020.
Microsoft is the world’s largest software firm. They produce Operating systems, productivity software, and enterprise software. With such a rank, they are also the leading company in the development of business software.
In this article, we discuss the best Applications developed by Microsoft for Businesses.
- Microsoft Office Suite
According to a study published in 2016, there are 1.2 billion Microsoft Office users. This makes Microsoft Office the most widely-used productivity suite. Microsoft Office contains various software that each have their unique uses.
Microsoft Word is used in businesses for creating and editing documents. Microsoft Word allows the users to save the work in their most preferred format. This is an advantage of using Microsoft’s word processing program.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that incorporates various tools. These tools work with functions to allow the user to analyse and visualize data. Microsoft Excel has over 500 functions. An example of an excel function is the SumIf function.
When a user sets a criterion, the function adds all the integers that meet that condition. Many people often get confused when using the function. You can read more articles that explain how to use sumifs in Microsoft Excel. These articles will help to learn the usage of this software for business operations.
Microsoft Access is a database program in the Microsoft Office suite. The program can be used to create, edit, and manage databases. The Microsoft Office Suite also includes Microsoft PowerPoint, which is a presentation software.
It is used to create, edit, and do presentations. The presentations can be done in various formats e.g., slideshow.
- Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a collaboration platform. It is mostly used by businesses to manage their workforce. The platform’s main features are the ability to have online meetings and share documents.
Microsoft Teams users said the app was beneficial, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is because the platform served as a virtual meeting space. This meant that communication and the decision-making process were not affected.
Microsoft Teams offer two modes. These modes make it stand out from other collaborative software available. The platform has an organic approach and a controlled approach when setting up.
The organic approach grants complete freedom to members of the organization or business. They can do whatever they want within the platform. The controlled approach limits functionality for the users. The limitations are set based on their position in the business setup. They are granted privileges and access as per their job description.
- Microsoft Lists
As the name indicates, Microsoft Lists is a list management application. The application allows a user to create, edit and manage lists. When a user has an ongoing work project, they can use Microsoft Lists to state their milestones and mark them once attained.
Another application for Microsoft Lists is at the Client Help Desk. It is used to track client inquiries, complaints, and other issues. The application will help to note them down. It can even send reminders to solve specific client issues.
Microsoft Lists can also serve as an inventory management application for small-scale businesses. In a business environment, Microsoft Lists should be created as shared lists with the team.
The shared lists will improve teamwork capabilities. It will also ensure that tasks are assigned to the whole work team.
- Microsoft SQL Server
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-downloads
The SQL Server by Microsoft is a database management system. The system offers support for a wide range of applications for functions in IT environments. The supported functions in Microsoft SQL Server are:
- Business Intelligence
- Transaction Processing
- Business Analytics
Microsoft SQL Server is based on SQL (Structured Query Language) programming language. SQL is a globally standardized database programming language used for database management. Database management entails creating, editing databases, and querying the data in the databases.
- Microsoft Dynamics 365
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is an entity that consists of interconnected modular Software as Services. Dynamics 365 enables a company to manage all its entities with ease. The entities are the employees, customers, and business activities.
Instead of running two separate programs, Dynamics 365 ensures that a company only uses one. This application manages sales and marketing functions. With this, Microsoft Dynamics 365 performs both ERP, and CRM functions.
With the ERP and CRM functions in Microsoft Dynamics 365, the software can be integrated for various functions. The possible uses of Dynamics 365 are listed here.
Conclusion
The integration of applications in the daily functions of a business should be a procedural event. The business needs should be analysed first. This will ensure that the chosen software fits the requirements.
The software or application should be strategically implemented within the company. There are four main software implementation methods.
In a parallel method, the new software runs alongside the existing system.
The new software is gradually implemented until it completely replaces the previous system. This is the phased implementation.
In the pilot implementation method, the new software gets used by a few people. This is done for testing before being released to the whole business. For direct installation, the new software is installed right away and the old system is decommissioned.
All the implementation methods have various advantages and disadvantages. These should be considered when implementing business software. They help to mitigate any possible risks or losses.
