With businesses set to spend around $4.5 trillion on tech each year, one of the biggest expenditures is productivity software. If you’re trying to expand your enterprise architecture software, you need to think about productivity and what you could be doing to expand your enterprise.
Software that allows you to get work done and build out your enterprise faster is one of the most important elements of enterprise architecture.
Here are five pieces of software that your enterprise needs this year.
1. Slack
While you and the people on your team have definitely heard of teams using Slack, have you tried implementing it yet?
Spending time trying to communicate with everyone involved with a project on email, phone, and even going from office to office can be tiring. There aren’t enough hours in the day to spend them on the phone for every “quick chat” that everyone needs about an issue.
Rather than trying to spread your communication across a variety of devices and media, Slack is your one-stop solution.
You can ensure that you streamline all of your communication and know who has read which piece of communication. You won’t have to hear “I didn’t see your email” ever again.
Slack is fundamentally a messaging program but also gives you everything you might expect from a collaboration system. It allows public channels, private channels, and even file sharing.
Instead of going through emails about dependencies you need to add, you could just add the library to the slack channel.
2. Box
If you want to improve productivity, Box is the solution for you. Managing the content for your enterprise requires a strong platform. With all of the files that need to be shared and accessed, management can be a nightmare.
You’ll be able to move files across mobile devices to office desktops and laptops and get them to the people who need them, without any hassle. Since data governance and retention are major issues for any enterprise, you need a piece of software that can help you.
Box doesn’t require a lot of training in advance of usage. While you might want to give a generalized overview of how to get things done with it, your architecture team will be off and running with it in minutes.
Even if you just need one common place to share files that you’re working on, this tool could offer that service and so much more.
3. Workflowy
If you’re the type to leave notes scattered all over your desk, workplace, stuck on machines, and in document files, you’re not alone. Lots of people write their ideas down on the closest nearby tool and then forget about them.
Rather than having your ideas strewn about virtual and real space in a wide range of media, one simple organizational tool can provide it all.
WorkFlowy is a tool for outlining that will run both on the web and on your mobile devices. If you’re in a meeting and need to share an idea or write a note to send to your desktop, you can use your phone with WorkFlowy.
WorkFlowy makes everything part of one giant list. If you want to break off a section to use separately, you need to create a sub-list. You can make lists within those lists.
With this tool, you can zoom in on whatever part of the list you want. You can double-click an item and create a sublist for it, with its own document. You can make things as simple or as complex as you’d like with this tool.
If you’re working on multiple projects, you can organize your ideas into individual lists. When they overlap, you can link lists to one another and ensure that you don’t duplicate work and make the most out of every workday.
4. ClicData
Enterprise architects need to provide reports constantly. Whether you’re reporting to supervisors, meeting with your team, or giving presentations to your CTO, you’re going to need a tool that makes life easier.
When you’re constantly giving different information to different people, you can struggle to keep the data engaging and keep it from feeling like a deluge.
Rather than creating boring and unengaging graphics with Excel or another similar tool, you can use a tool like ClicData. You’ll get the progress and performance fo your products displayed as beautiful looking charts and graphs that are easy to interact with.
No matter how complicated the data you’re creating is, ClicData can simplify it. As an architecture engineer, you know how hard it can be communicating with people who need information they may not be able to understand.
Rather than trying to shove a square peg into a round hole, try using this tool to make the process less painful.
5. Trello
While you might have to make every architecture project seem simple to outsiders, you know how complicated they can be. Without the help of a task planner, you could have trouble juggling who is doing what and when.
With a task planner not only for you but that helps out your entire team, you can show everyone’s progress in one place. When you’re planning out major projects, it’s like cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner.
There are elements that need to be started months in advance and dependencies that can’t be created until other parts come together.
Trello helps you bring it all together.
If you’re wondering what kinds of projects you could be concocting with this kind of software, click here.
The Right Architecture Software Can Make a Company
If you’re looking for architecture software that can make your company outshine the competition, expand the kind of architecture software you’re using. Whether it’s to support your architecture or to support the team maintaining your architecture, you need the tools to get the job done.
If you’re looking for more accessories that can improve productivity, check out our guide for more ideas.
