Overview of the Top Business Management Software from SaaS Experts

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What is business management software?

Business management software is an end-to-end solution that centralizes applications used for accounting, customer relationship management, sales, human resources, project management, and more, all within a single platform. By using intuitive business management software, organizations can improve their employee management and project management, supply chain and resource management, and financial accuracy and compliance. 

Business management software is often to enhance functions such as: 

• Customer relationship management (CRM).
• Sales.
• Customer experience.
• Invoicing.
• Servicing.
• Communication tools.
• Warehouse management.
• Inventory management.
• Accounting and financial management.
• Financial reports.
• Purchasing.
• eCommerce integration.
• Project management tools.

Most Purchased Business Management Software

According to Vendr's internal transaction data, Salesforce tops the list as the most purchased software in the Business Management Software category, reflecting a robust market position with an average contract value of $571.23K. Their leadership is a clear indicator of their extensive CRM capabilities and the trust they have garnered across various industries for managing business processes.

NetSuite follows in second place, with an average contract value of $271.67K, emphasizing its role as an integrated cloud solution for businesses looking to streamline operations and financials (see our What is Netsuite? guide for more info).

Zendesk, known for its customer service and engagement platform, ranks third with an average contract value of $167.93K, which speaks volumes about its importance in maintaining strong customer relationships.

Atlassian claims the fourth spot with an average contract value of $71.26K, offering a suite of tools that facilitate collaboration and project management for teams of all sizes.

Rounding out the top five, HubSpot, with an average contract value of $55.74K, stands as a key player in the market, owing to its all-in-one marketing, sales, and service platform that helps businesses grow and maintain their customer base.

Most Renewed Business Management Software

Salesforce continues to lead as the most renewed software in the Business Management Software category, boasting an average renewal value of $532.29K. This impressive figure underscores the long-term commitment of its user base and Salesforce's ability to deliver consistent value through its comprehensive CRM solutions.

NetSuite secures the second position with an average renewal value of $285.26K, reflecting its users' satisfaction with its ERP capabilities and the effectiveness of its cloud-based platform for business operations.

HubSpot takes the third rank with an average renewal value of $57.19K, indicating strong user loyalty to its inbound marketing and sales platform, which enables businesses to attract, engage, and delight customers.

Zendesk, positioned fourth, shows an average renewal value of $178.97K, demonstrating the reliability of its customer service software and the trust businesses place in its customer experience solutions.

Atlassian, with an average renewal value of $76.21K, rounds out the top five, highlighting its suite of collaboration and productivity tools that continue to be essential for teams seeking agile project management and workflow optimization.

Most Recently Purchased Business Management Software in 2024

Vendr's recent 2024 transaction data reveals that Atlassian has surged to become the most recently purchased software in the Business Management Software category, with a significant average new purchase value of $42.51K. This achievement highlights Atlassian's recent strategic successes and its strong appeal to new customers looking for efficient team collaboration and project management tools.

Salesforce follows, with an average new purchase value of $995.10K, signaling that even as a well-established player, it continues to expand its customer base by attracting businesses with its robust CRM capabilities.

HubSpot is not far behind, capturing the third spot with an average new purchase value of $47.51K, which reflects its effectiveness in drawing new users to its comprehensive inbound marketing, sales, and customer service platform.

NetSuite holds the fourth position, with an average new purchase value of $138.75K, indicating its continued growth and success in providing integrated cloud business software suites.

Finally, Zendesk, with an average new purchase value of $89.93K, anchors the fifth spot, continuing to attract organizations that value strong customer service and engagement solutions.

Who can benefit from using business management software? 

Business management software is a valuable, time-saving solution for many types of organizations. Whether you’re a startup trying to maintain efficiency while growing or a larger organization looking to increase stability and consistency in day-to-day operations, these tools can help streamline your work. 

With a modern business management solution, tasks management like email marketing, customer support messaging, social media management, and managing your business’s mobile apps become much easier to scale.  

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Common use cases for business management software 

From stronger security to seamless collaboration, here are some of the top use cases for business management software. 

Scale faster  

When companies experience rapid growth, they often lose effective management control of complex data and technology environments. By using business management software, businesses can scale operations swiftly while ensuring proper data and information governance. 

Additionally, using a single integrated business management system can boost cost-efficiency and save time by eliminating the need for coordinating updates and upgrades across multiple software systems.

Enhance information security

These platforms provide a centralized location for managing your organization’s information which can reduce unintentional exposure of sensitive data. Business management software lets you control who has access to specific data, ensuring confidentiality and data integrity. 

Meet compliance obligations

With an integrated business management system, meeting compliance obligations such as ISO standards and industry-specific regulations is far less complex compared to manual workflows. The best business management systems include features like audit trails, process maps, documentation version control, and electronic approval functions to make compliance easier. 

Streamline communication and collaboration

Companies with multiple technology and data environments often struggle with effective communication and collaboration due to conflicting sources of information and the time it takes to gather data.

An all-in-one integrated system ensures a single source of accurate information for all departments, reducing conflicts between teams and boosting effective collaboration. Depending on the business management solution you choose for your organization, most software systems include additional collaboration tools to increase productivity. 

Improve organizational alignment

It’s no secret that businesses are more successful when teams across departments work toward the same high-level goals using the same technology environment. In addition to making sure teams are speaking the same language, an integrated management system makes onboarding new employees easier and reduces operational risk. 

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Checklist of key features to look for in business management software 

So, what should you look for when choosing business management software for your organization? Each software solution has its strengths and unique features. What’s best for one business might not be suitable for another. While functionality will vary from one software product to the next, here are the key features to prioritize when evaluating potential options. 

Intuitive user interface

The user interface design of the best business management software is intuitive, simple yet efficient, and optimized with clear labeling and easy-to-find support documentation that reduces the learning curve for employees. 

Scalability

The business management software you choose should be scalable, flexible, and readily accommodate an ever-evolving amount of users, data, applications, and modules as your company grows.

Cloud-based software

With cloud-based business management software, team members can work from anywhere with an internet connection and access all the data needed to perform their job functions via cloud data storage. Other benefits to cloud-based software include automatic updates and often lower pricing and initial startup costs than an on-site software solution. 

AI-powered features

AI and machine learning are valuable additions to business management software platforms and can transform organizations of any size by saving time, improving resource allocation, and minimizing expenses. Beyond streamlining repetitive tasks, AI and ML can assist in nearly every aspect of business operations by providing real-time data insights and predictive analytics that enable swift, strategic decision-making. 

Project management features

Managing internal and external company projects from a consolidated business management system is key for overall business efficiency. With an end-to-end software solution, you can easily align projects with other business processes like your CRM, workload management, time tracking, and invoicing so that it’s easy to keep team members in sync on projects and milestones. 

Integration with your tech stack

Seamless integration of business management software with your existing technology ecosystem is integral. The software you choose should offer connectivity with third-party tools, including ERP and CRM systems, marketing and sales tools, accounting software, and any other applications you use to manage business processes. 

Collaboration tools

The business management software you choose should support efficient communication and collaboration across your team. Some collaborative features to look for on a software’s dashboard include shared calendars, task assignment tools, easily shareable docs and reports, and real-time notifications. 

Analytics and reporting

Since data-driven decisions provide a crucial competitive advantage, your business management software needs to be capable of transforming raw data into actionable insights. The ideal tool is capable of real-time data analysis that surfaces trends and proactive business strategies. 

Security and compliance

Data security and regulatory compliance are indispensable in today’s digital era, and your business management software should employ industry-standard security protocols such as role-based accessibility and data encryption to protect sensitive data. 

Customizability

There’s no “one-size-fits-all” with business management software. A customizable business management platform is flexible enough to adapt to rapidly changing scenarios and business needs. 

Customer support

With how much your organization will use your chosen business management platform, you’ll want to ensure a quality customer support team is readily available through multiple channels like email, phone, and live chat. 

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Business management software FAQs

Here are some additional questions that often arise from those evaluating business management software for purchase. 

Is business management software suitable for small businesses and startups?

Absolutely. Business management software is an effective tool for businesses of all sizes, not just large enterprises. Small businesses, startups, and sole proprietors can reap many of the same benefits as larger organizations by implementing a business management platform.

In addition to the benefits outlined above, business management software can help small businesses get more done via automation that reduces the need to hire more employees.

How secure is my data with business management software?

The best business management software includes specific data security and governance frameworks to help define, monitor, and enforce data rules and processes. Within most business management software platforms, you should have features that cover data security, privacy, quality, lineage, cataloging, stewardship, and reporting. You’ll be able to track data origin and transformations, comply with regulations and security standards, and identify and resolve data issues. 

How do I evaluate the ROI of investing in business management software?

While a “good” return on investment rate varies across industries and software products, the typical ideal range is 5-20%. The metrics and KPIs for measuring the ROI include the cost of ownership, implementation cost, associated risks, time to value, and financial return on time saved.