Electrical Contracting News (ECN) May 2016 | Page 40

JOB MANAGEMENT

based software is often paid with monthly
subscriptions, and comes with ongoing
IT support so you can rest assured that, if
your software is not performing, you have
someone on hand to get it back up and
running quickly.
With bespoke software, make sure
you have a good maintenance contract
in place. This is often charged as an
additional extra on top of the one-off cost
for development, so get a quote and look
closely at what this includes so you can
make sure that performance issues can
be cleared up quickly. Last but not least,
make sure the developer has time for
you after the App is ready to launch! If
they’re quickly moving on to their next job,
software issues that may arise afterwards
might not be their top priority, so discuss
this upfront before you commit.

Safety and security

to enter your system. As hacking attacks
are constantly evolving, you must be
able to monitor your systems constantly
and update your security as required. If
you haven’t got the resources in-house,
include ongoing security as part of your
maintenance contract and make sure
that your developer has the skills and
resources to keep up to date with the
latest threats. The same applies when
looking at cloud based, off-the-shelf
software. Speak to the company behind
it and double check that they keep
their software up to date and secured
against the latest threats. You know how
important your clients’ data is, so it’s your
responsibility to keep it well protected.

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It’s important to consider how you want your
software to interact with other applications.

AS HACKING ATTACKS ARE CONSTANTLY
EVOLVING, YOU MUST BE ABLE TO

Ensure that the security and performance
of your system meets your needs on
a daily basis. If you choose bespoke
software, take into account the
implications with the hardware you use
and your company’s network. With job
Cost
management software, your engineers
Unsurprisingly, bespoke software is often
should be able to receive jobs on their
more expensive, due to the time and energy
phone. To do this you will need to open
invested to cater for your very specific
your company network to the wider
business needs. It isn