Tuesday, August 5, 2014

As an online solutions provider, it's fitting that we use a range of web apps to manage the day to day operations of our business. Being accessible in a tablet or mobile phone gives us the ability to work anywhere there's an internet connection. There's also a high level of integration between many of them which automates and simplifies a lot of business processes, making more time available for productive use rather than administration.

Dropbox

• Free and paid plans
• dropbox.com
• Cloud-based file storage

Dropbox provides cloud-based file storage for business and personal users. Paid plans come with more generous disk space limits and access to advanced features such as unlimited version history and centralised admin controls. Multiple devices are supported and folders can be shared with colleagues and clients where required.

Google Apps for Work

• USD 5/user per month
• gsuite.google.com
• Email, calendars, contacts, groups

Google Apps includes standard business applications such as email, calendars and an address book. Email can be searched and labelled for ease of management, and keeping accounts in sync across multiple devices is a great feature.

Xero

• AUD 25-80 per month
• xero.com
• Cloud-based accounting

Xero is a small business accounting package that's accessed online rather than as a standalone desktop app. An unlimited number of owners and employees can use a single company in Xero, with advisers also able to access your data if required. Mobile apps are available so you can check your financial picture wherever you are, and automatic bank statement importing makes short work of bank account reconciling.

Quotient

• USD 20 or 39 per month
• quotientapp.com
• Online quote preparation and management

Quotient provides the quoting functionality that Xero currently lacks. Quotes can be prepared and sent to clients for online viewing, with the ability to adjust quotes for review if required. Quotes can be formally accepted by clients and then sent to Xero to be converted to invoices. Services and contacts in Xero can also be accessed by Quotient when creating new quotes.

Codebase

• £5-40 per month
• codebasehq.com
• Code hosting and repository management

We use Codebase to manage our CMS code and custom coding projects. It has a range of project management tools built in, and the integrated Deploy app makes it very easy to keep client sites up to date with the latest version.