Why Free Inventory Software Is Not Suitable for Every Company

On this page you will find information on the following topics:

• Free Inventory Software in Use – Is It Efficient?
• We Have an Office Package After All – Is Asset Management With Excel Possible for Free?
• In App Stores There Is an Inventory App for Free – Is That an Alternative?
• Free Inventory Management in the Cloud
• Flexible Inventory Management Possible for Free as an App, or on the PC and Mac?

Free Inventory Software in Use – Is It Efficient?

Modern business management also includes professional and efficient digital management of operating resources. Ideally, it should be possible to trace which inventory is available and where it is located at any time. However, depending on the type and size of your company, there are differences in the requirements for the software used.

A network is necessary if you have several locations. If many employees need regular access, it makes sense to also integrate mobile devices with barcode scanners. In addition, a wide variety of inventory categories are conceivable, for example, from software to office equipment to machines for which maintenance intervals must be taken into account.

We would like to look at the question of whether free inventory software is able to meet these complex requirements and what reasons speak in favour of paid software such as Timly.

We Have an Office Package After All – Is Asset Management With Excel Possible for Free?

Excel is a powerful and established application that is used in most companies anyway. Resourceful users often design complex tables with an amazing range of functions. For very small companies with a correspondingly small inventory, Excel spreadsheets can be used to map some needs for what is in effect free inventory software.

The generic approach of such applications, however, is often at the expense of special requirements. Multi-user capability is integrated, but in practice problems can arise if several employees access the database at the same time and make entries. In addition, clarity suffers greatly when extensive tables have to be viewed on smaller screens.

In particular, it is cumbersome to subsequently change the structure of the table if additional data fields are needed for a category. Sorting and queries are also only possible with Excel for IT inventory to a limited extent or with the appropriate expertise. Software created specifically for this purpose usually offers more convenience and flexibility than free inventory software implemented with Excel.

In App Stores There Is an Inventory App for Free – Is That an Alternative?

When using free apps, you should question the intention of the publisher. There are enthusiasts who publish software on the side and make great products available for free. Nevertheless, you have to concede to such developers that they cannot always react promptly to errors or security gaps that become known. Moreover, it is always possible that development will be discontinued due to lack of time or other reasons.

The free version of other inventory management software has a limited range of functions. Developers rely on users finding out over time that they are missing functions and purchasing them at a cost. Of course, apps that are financed by advertising are hardly suitable for a professional environment. Existing interfaces and export options are of particular importance.

If it becomes necessary to switch to another product, it must be possible to export the data in a common format. So you should carefully examine free inventory software before using it for such an important key function in your company. Efficient inventory software offers easy import & export functions for your data.

Is Flexible Inventory Management Possible for Free as an App, or on the PC and Mac?

In challenging times like these, you as the person in charge of a big or small business are certainly well advised to keep current costs low. For some areas it may make sense to use free software.

However, wherever the workload increases disproportionately due to incompatible formats or software that is not intuitive to use, it may be more economical to rely on a commercial product.

Free inventory management software usually only satisfactorily maps a partial area of working capital management. The adaptation to individual needs, for example the ability to run on different platforms, requires a not inconsiderable amount of work from the developer. In addition, the times of static software products – which are developed once and not changed afterwards – are over in the professional sector.

In most cases, regular updates are necessary. Particularly in the case of networked applications, for example, developers have to react from time to time to security vulnerabilities of third-party modules that have become known. Here, cooperation with a reliable partner for cloud software quickly pays off.

The integrated support of a provider like Timly, which free inventory software usually cannot offer, should not be underestimated either. Due to the experience available in a professional support team, it is possible to react quickly to suggestions, wishes and problems.

This saves you valuable working time, which your employees can use more effectively to manage your core business instead.