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The Software 2005 conference is now a wrap. This conference, presented by M.R. Rangaswami and The Sandhill Group, is now an annual event and attendance increased 35% this year over 2004. It is an ideal opportunity for those in the enterprise software industry to see what’s new and what’s coming, as well as to catch up with old colleagues and make new connections. It is also a perfect forum for startups to gain exposure as well as solicit funding and key partnerships.

According to Sandhill, there were 1500 attendees this year, including 100 press and 100 VCs. Half of those in attendance were CEOs. We spotted a number of them, including entrepeneur/CEO (now a VC) Ken Ross, Indus CEO Greg Dukat, Composite SW and entrepeneur Jim Green, former webMethods CEO Phillip Merrick, and a host of others.

M.R. has a rolodex that anyone would die for, and he put it to good use in attracting the top executives from major enterprise software and services companies such as Oracle, Intuit, McKinsey and others for keynote addresses. There were also a number of breakout tracks on the latest trends in our industry, including SaaS, open source and offshoring.

There were a couple of unique forums made available for select startups. including the Launch and the Funding Forum, where startups were given a fixed amount of time to present their business plan to investors, who were invited back to the conference floor for further discussions if interested. Mark Cosway, a member of our board of advisors and President of ActStream Technologies, participated in Launch, and reported new contacts with a number of interested investors.

After taking in this conference, we think that it is safe to say that enterprise software as an industry is ‘cautiously optimistic’. Venture investments are picking up, M&A activity is growing, and the overall buzz was a good one, after the last 4-5 years of doom and gloom. Many of the people that we talked to had taken long sabbaticals after the dot-com bust, and are just now getting back in the game.

All in all, the feeling was that it is a good time to be in the software and information technology business. We hope they’re right – we certainly feel that way.

Ash Seha is a partner at The Launch Factory LLP, a consultancy specializing in marketing, sales, and product management strategy for software and IT companies. Their expertise, garnered from such IT highflyers as i2, webMethods, SAP, and Baan, is focused on breaking the growth bariers that stand between high-growth software and IT companies and their revenue and marketshare goals.

How do you find the right payroll software for my business? When I go to start a new business, I am going to want and need good payroll software. However, there are a number of options out there in the way of payroll software so it’s difficult to choose the one that is right for my business. The best thing to do, as with any major purchase, is to determine what you need in the software and then buy the package that works best for your business.

When you are just starting your business, you are likely not going to have an immediate need for large robust software. The payroll software you do buy, though, should meet whatever needs your company is going to have. For instance, are your employees going to be on a time clock and paid hourly? If so, you will want to find payroll software that will work in conjunction with a time clock of some sort. You will also want to find a software package that can figure a number of hourly pays to account for the different employees who make a different amount. If, however, all of your employees are going to be on salary, you probably do not need that functionality.

Another function you may want to consider is the ability to easily make adjustments. Let’s face it, employees are going to forget to punch in or out from time to time and you will have to be the one to fix the time in the clock. Look for a payroll software package that makes this function easy. Most do, but make sure you know whether or not you are comfortable with the user friendliness before you make your final selection and purchase.

Third, and in some cases most importantly, find out how much a payroll software package is going to cost you. Find out how much the up front cost is, how much upgrades are, and what kind of support is offered. There are plenty of payroll software services out there, but the good ones are going to offer you support lines to help ensure your success. Also, find out how much the payroll software will cost if your company grows, versus buying a larger program up front and letting your company grow into it. What is important, though, is to find out what will be most cost effective for your company over the long run.

If you are starting a new business with employees, you will definitely need to consider payroll software. You don’t want to be sitting down figuring hours and pay by hand every week or every other week. The problem is that there are so many payroll software packages out there that it can be difficult to come up with one that is right for you. The answer, quite simply, is to do your homework. Look into various programs and figure out what kind of functionality you will need and what kind of price you can afford. By breaking it down that way, you will have your perfect payroll software package before you know it.

If you would like to find more of my personal articles on payroll software please check out my technology website!

Don’t learn the hard way like I did. Anti-Virus software is important. If you surf the internet, this software keeps your computer alive. To keep the anti-virus software working effectively it must be updated every couple of days and letting it become out-dated may harm your computer.

There was a time between jobs when I discontinued my internet service. This lasted for about four years. When I signed up again with an internet service provider, my anti-virus software was old. I tried to update the software online and the update would start then there would be some files which wouldn’t load to be updated. I assumed, incorrectly as it turned out, that that would be enough to protect my computer. While surfing one day there was a strange message that came on the screen about some comedy site. There was what appeared to be a joke on the screen. It wasn’t a joke. My computer had caught some bug and wouldn’t work properly after that. The computer would boot up but not let me fully into Windows Explorer. I tried a round about way to get into my files to save as much of my computer’s disk content as possible then to destroy whatever virus or worm had infected my computer, I had to reformat my hard drive, which meant everything stored was gone.

Everything had to be reloaded including Windows 98 and all the software that drove the applications. It took hours and even then, the computer was not the same. The software wouldn’t recognize the cable modem. My computer was slow and old so it was time for a new faster one.

The replacement computer worked four and a half times faster. It also had a new, free anti-virus software program. It is called AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. This software is great. It updates automatically every day or two and that way it is always watching out for new dangers on the web.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition scans the type of files you select as they enter your computer. If a virus is detected it lets you know then it heals the file where the virus was. You can manually scan your entire hard drive or selectively scan certain files. Virus scans can be automatically scheduled when you choose. AVG supports most of the most popular email programs and scans all your incoming and outgoing emails, which means that you don’t bring in or send out anything infectious.

Basically you just install AVG and it works. You set it to do the tasks you want done, when you want them done and that’s it. As long as you have a working internet connection for it to update virus files everything works fine.

If you turn your computer off be sure to check for updates yourself. This is easily done by double clicking the icon at the bottom of your screen. Then just click the check for updates button. AVG will indicate if there is an update, download it, and install it.

Since starting using AVG I have had no more virus problems, so take heed of this story and make sure you always use an updated anti-virus software.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Anti-Virus