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 that
you ensure it is going to be capable of what you need it to do.
Note:
If you are considering pirating a program,
because this is illegal, you or your company take serious risks in paying
very large fines, company getting a bad reputation and/or serving prison
time.
Below is a listing of different considerations to
look at when looking to purchase a software program or application.
CONSIDERATIONS
Competition
When considering any software, see if
there is a competing software program, possibly at a lower price.
When looking at this option, it is important that you ensure if there
is such a program or application that is also capable of opening
files that need to be opened and/or will not have issues converting
documents.
A good example of such a program is
Open Office 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.
Documentation
Ensure that the software package is
included with proper documentation. Many programs today will include
on-line documentation that is generally 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
will need to consider licensing options. It is required that for
each person the company 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.
Media
Today, the majority of software is
included on CDs; when looking at a program, ensure that you have an acceptable
drive able to read the media that the software is being included on.
While not common today, an example of why this is important is it's
better to receive one CD instead of 32 floppy diskettes.
Package
Look at the overall software package.
How many CDs or diskettes are included, what type of inserts /
documentation is included, any bonus or extra software and/or
registration card?
Price
Look at your overall price and shop
around. Because a software price can change so easily, 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 that requires you buy a computer or motherboard. OEM
software is software that is generally included with large
manufacturers' computers and will only include 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.
