Purchasing
a software application or program can be a big consideration,
especially when purchasing advanced and usually expensive programs such
as Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop. When considering purchasing
these programs it is important that you or your staff be familiar with
the program and are sure it's going to be capable of what you need it to
do.
On this page we've listed different considerations to think about before buying a computer software application.
Competition
Before buying any application make sure there is
not a competing program that may be cheaper or even free. If available
and something that's capable of doing what you want it to do this could
save you hundreds of dollars.
A good example of such a program is OpenOffice
and Corel WordPerfect that would be a competitor to Microsoft Word.
Both programs are an excellent choice for a word processor but can be a
considerable price difference. In the case of OpenOffice, it's 100%
free.
Documentation
Make sure proper documentation is included. Many
programs today will include on-line documentation that is more than
sufficient. However, it is also useful to obtain a manual or user guide
for the software program or application.
Licenses
If you are a company who plans on having software
programs used by its employees (more than one person), you need to
consider licensing options. It is required that for each computer a
product is installed onto that it have a software license. If a company
purchases the program and shares it with all its employees without the
proper licensing, this would be illegal and can cause your company to
face a criminal lawsuit.
Price
Look at your overall price and shop around.
Because a software price can change often, you can sometimes save
hundreds of dollars on expensive software. If possible, do not purchase
directly through the company; many times, the company's price doubles a
retailers price.
Be cautious of OEM
software. Many resellers will sell a program as OEM, which requires you
buy a computer or motherboard. OEM software is software that is
included with large manufacturers' computers and only includes either
just a CD or a slim manual and CD. This is not what you would find at a
retail store. This option is not a bad option, it is only important that
you are aware of what you are getting.
Package
Look at the overall software package. How many
CDs or diskettes are included, what inserts and documentation is
included, and is there any bonus or extra software included?
Media
Today, the majority of software is included on
CDs and DVDs. When looking at a program, make sure you have an
acceptable drive that's able to read the media, While not common today,
an example of why this is important is it's better to receive one CD
instead of 32 floppy diskettes.