• Integration. Information should not be an island. With proper security, it should be transparent to those users who need to act on it. One of the largest integration points in accounting software is with CRM systems. Sales and marketing drive a company forward and initiate all those new orders, so why should we have to reenter all that information? Wouldn't it be great if a salesperson could see the status of his customer, of inventory or even customer issues?
• The Cloud. Yes, everybody is talking about the cloud. Making data available when and where you need it can be difficult if it's locked away. The cloud makes information available in a secure fashion whenever and wherever you are.
• Bring Your Own Device. Gone are the days when information is only available on the one computer that sits on your office desk. Today, I want to see sales orders on my iPad while having lunch at the beach. We live in a 24/7 world, and our display devices come in many shapes and sizes, which the company doesn't control. They should only control the access to information, not the device.
• Large IT Departments. Gone are the days of IT departments with large budgets for hardware, operating systems and even upgrades. The last two companies I owned never had a single server, and PCs are almost disposable.
• Long, Complex and Expensive implementations. The one to two-year implementation, extensive training and costly consultants, are all a thing of the past. Apple showed us that a complex device (iPhone) can be controlled with one button if developed correctly.
Old accounting software had thousands of complex hidden switches turning on and off functionality. Even a super user would take months trying to learn the basics. Today, we know how people work, and we can design applications that are easy to setup and even easier to use.
This post originally appeared on Gravity Software's Blog
