How do school districts, municipalities, clinics, and other businesses in New Jersey manage information technology? There are a number of observations about the core systems that New Jersey concerns can profit by replacing with managed I.T. services.
Document Management
Every business handles documents. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, millions of documents.
New Jersey companies prefer two systems for business emails, creating and storing digital files, document creation, document sharing, document storage, and team collaboration. There’s the off the shelf system, Microsoft 365, and there is also the suite of tools available from Google, including Google Groups, Google Meet, Google My Business, and, of course, Gmail.
Microsoft is a little less expensive than Google, but neither may be the best solution for your document management needs.
Accounting
Every for-profit and every non-profit concern in New Jersey and everywhere else does accounting. Your accounting software should automate the maintenance of your general ledger and the generation of your financial statements, as well as all the tax documents you provide employees and vendors, and you file with the State of New Jersey and the IRS.
What should you expect your accounting software to do?
At the very least, your accounting software should handle all the accounting reports required by GAAP. It should also automate expense tracking, invoicing, inventory management, customer relationship management, vendor relationship management, payroll, time tracking, and tax form generation. It should also capture documents needed for recording receipts and receivables.
You can use QuickBooks online. Or maybe you are already using a less expensive package like Xero or freemium software like Wave.
HR Software
I.T. needs in human resources usually fall into two silos. HR, of course, does payroll. And HR tracks compliance to make sure your organization is meeting local, state, and federal laws, rules, and regulations regarding employee relationships.
You’ll need HR software that does time tracking and payroll. Your system also needs to maintain records of recruiting, onboarding, training, and separation.
HR software also needs to record essential data about benefits, performance, productivity, employee evaluations, and workforce analytics.
Off the shelf systems include BambooHR and Gusto. Both systems are great for payroll. There may be issues using them for compliance and analytics. They work well for organizations with up to 500 employees, but you may need input from a company like Rivell to choose a system that is scalable with the growth of your workforce.
It’s Also Nice to Have….
There are hundreds of types of software for businesses, schools, and nonprofits. But in our experience with businesses, schools, clinics, and nonprofits in New Jersey, certain kinds of software come up more often than others.
Collaboration software became essential during the pandemic and isn’t going away soon. Collaboration software can be as fundamental as email, and also includes video conferencing and team chat.
You have probably already discovered that collaboration software comes with your document management system. Microsoft 365 comes with Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams competes with Slack.
Google Workspace comes with chat and video conferencing.
All of these are great systems for small organizations.
E-signature (electronic signature) software helps you reduce your dependence on paper documents. The most popular alternatives for electronic signatures are DocuSign, PandaDoc, and signNow. PandaDoc has a free plan that lets you handle thousands of documents. But DocuSign is the most robust e-signature solution, adaptable to the greatest variety of electronic signature needs.
Marketing software helps you keep existing customers engaged and helps you reach out to prospects. It also provides you with tools for creating websites, buying advertising, collecting performance data, and analyzing the results of marketing campaigns.
For Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEMrush is an indispensable tool. Podium helps you generate and manage online reviews. HubSpot is a great suite of all-in-one customer relationship management tools. Sprout Social can help you manage your presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media platforms. MailChimp is probably the best-known comprehensive online marketing package.
You may also want website builders like Wix and Weebly. Don’t overlook project management tools like Asana, Jira, and Trello.
