Websites, marketing automation, and CRM systems. Document management and collaboration systems. ERP and accounting systems. With so many different kinds of applications designed to streamline business systems, it can be difficult to select the right technology for your specific needs. All these business-focused applications can perform a number of roles and be customised to suit your individual requirements.
The Detail Department only recommends Apps that are right for your business aims. I want to seek out and implement the Apps that will move your business forward as a platform to help you grow. These are some of my favourite Apps.
Salesforce
Having worked with Salesforce for 13+ years, and implemented Salesforce for many businesses, I can help your business with all aspects of the Salesforce Platform. My Salesforce page has more details.
WordPress
WordPress is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) platform that allows you to create and customise your website.
The Detail Department creates both WordPress.org (self-hosted) and WordPress.com (hosted and mostly free to use) websites. My WordPress clients include commercial and not-for-profit organisations. I can help with simple tasks such as securing a domain name and creating a basic blog, or a fully featured website, blog and e-commerce.
I can also handle the integration between WordPress and other Apps such as Salesforce and Google Apps, and email marketing programs like Campaign Monitor or Mailchimp.
Google Apps
The Google platform for business includes Email, Calendar, Docs and Spreadsheets, Sites, and many other Apps that can be integrated into your business. Google Apps runs on your domain, and everything is cloud hosted – no more running email servers in the back of your offices.
CRM Apps
Apart from Salesforce, the CRM Apps that I love working with are Nimble, One Page CRM, and Pipedrive. Other CRM apps that I have worked with include Zoho CRM, Capsule CRM, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. No matter what size of business you are, there is a CRM tool that is right for you.
Survey and Form Apps
Surveys and forms are crucial for many businesses. I have set up Survey Gizmo and specific Salesforce Apps like Form Assembly and Clicktools. For large enterprise-level surveys I recommend Qualtrics.
Reporting Apps
Reporting has come a long way since the days where our only tool for reporting was Excel. Now you can have a live dashboard of all your key business data using a product like Klipfolio – and you can even see your dashboard on your iPad. For more enterprise level solutions, then PowerBI or Tableau will be good.
Atlassian Apps
Confluence
Confluence is an enterprise collaboration platform from Atlassian. At its most basic, Confluence is a collection of connected pages of content that all staff can read and edit. However, Confluence is more than just a wiki. It is an enterprise-level platform with features such as security and user management that can be used as an intranet or team workspace, for business documentation, or for collaborative editing. The uses for the Confluence platform are wide and varied. I love setting up and using Confluence, and I use it for my Wiki. See my posts about Confluence.
Confluence works well with another Atlassian product: Jira. Jira is an issues management, project planning and workflow tool that can be used in many different types of industries. It can be customised with add-ons to suit your business, and can be customised to suit many uses from issue tracking for software projects to customer service management. After using so many other project management and ticketing systems, I still come back to Jira.
Web Platform Apps
Apart from WordPress, there are a number of other website platform Apps I can recommend. While we do recommend WordPress there is definitely a place for Drupal, or even website tools like Squarespace.
For e-Commerce applications I can recommend Shopify and WooCommerce.
Development and Testing Apps
Web application testing is sometimes difficult, but I have used tools like Selenium help automate the testing.
Microsoft Apps
Microsoft CRM
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a very powerful full-featured CRM, and whilst I won’t work with it again, I can advise you if it is right for your business and set you up with a great team to help you implement it.
SharePoint
I work with SharePoint but will always ask: “Why? What do you want SharePoint to do for you?” If the answer is “everything,” then I am not the right business to help you. SharePoint is not the answer to every problem for every business and is great at what it does, but it does have its place.
Excel and Word
Good ol’ reliable Excel. The amount of businesses that run core business applications from Excel is staggering. While my mission at The Detail Department is to get you into Apps that can be integrated with the rest of your business, there is still a place for Excel.
Word is so underutlised in businesses. There is so much it can do, and by integrating it into other Apps you can produce fantastic client communications.
SQL Server
A database is at the heart of every custom application. Even if you just need some help getting some simple queries or reporting out of your database, I can help. For complex Business Intelligence or SQL Server optimisation I can put you in touch with the right people to help.
Custom Development
At The Detail Department, I work with developers that can build a fully customised App for your business. I will do the full specification, project management, testing and training for the App.