Off the Shelf Software

These are shrink wrapped products that fulfil predefined tasks by following a rigid working practice. Products include Sage, QuickBooks and ACT!

The advantage of these products is that they are commercially supported and quite often follow best practice – such as an accounting package.

If your business requirements can be satisfied by this type of product, it’s generally the most cost effective solution.

The disadvantage of these systems is that they don’t extend much beyond the mainstream tasks. Many off the shelf products can leave you frustrated as they tend to do ‘nearly’ everything, but not that little thing that would make life so much easier.

Off the shelf solutions may also have mandatory and costly upgrades.