Questions to Ask When Buying Community Development Software

Finding the best software to meet your community development needs is critical. The right software can significantly enhance collaboration, communication, and overall efficiency in building and managing communities. However, with numerous options available in the market, it can be overwhelming to make the right choice.

Asking the right questions is an important first step. With the right questions, you will gather valuable insights to help you make the best decision for your agency.

1. What is Your Goal?

It’s important to determine what your goal for a new process is – are you hoping to provide better service for your citizens, collaborate with other departments, or issue business licenses with a few clicks? By having a clearly defined goal, you can determine which software providers help you reach your goal.

2. Does it Fit Your Budget?

Take the time to figure out how different software providers fit your budget. Some software providers charge at least three times as much as others and have hidden add-on costs. It’s important to truly understand the annual cost of each software.

3. Is it Scalable?

Some software providers charge per user, and some offer an unlimited user license. When you buy software with an unlimited user license, you can easily scale your department and add as many users as you need. This can be especially helpful during emergencies if surrounding helpers are added to lend a hand.

4. Is it Configurable or Customizable?

Configurable software and customizable software have crucial distinctions. Customizable software requires coding, while configurable software does not. Customizable software takes more time and tends to be pricier to set up since it requires more work. Yet, configurable software still gives governments a choice in how their software is set up – it's more affordable, gives users what they need, and is faster to launch.

5. Does it Integrate with Other Software?

Consider how the software you already use will integrate with your potential new software providers. You want to select software that does not require you to change the way you do everything but complements how you already work.

6. Is it User-Friendly?

User-friendly software is crucial to keeping your staff, community, and residents happy. When software is designed with a user-friendly interface and intuitive features, it becomes easier for community members with all levels of technical expertise to engage with their government. Staff and residents can enjoy a reduced learning curve and spend more time working on the projects that matter to them. It also makes it easier to share information, collaborate with other departments, and speed up the development approval process. When software is easy to use, it makes processes faster, but when software is difficult to use, it makes processes slower.

7. Is it End-to-End?

End-to-end software is important because it simplifies processes for everyone involved. With end-to-end software, both governments and applicants can use the same interface. So, when residents have questions about how to submit their applications, government staff can easily help them since they use the same software. Many software providers only provide online access for government staff, but it’s important to give online access to residents as well for streamlined community development.

8. How Can We Communicate with Each Other and Our Citizens?

Using public-facing software that enables efficient communication with your team and citizens is valuable. By providing citizens with an accessible means to contact your department at their convenience, it benefits everyone involved.

9. Can You Share Services with Other Departments or Governments?

Shared services are an important factor to consider when buying your community development software. Efficient and collaborative work is possible when departments can easily share information with each other, like in an emergency when fire departments need access to accurate property information. It is also helpful for governments to work together in the same system, like when a building official with a specialized skillset helps with a more complicated inspection in another community.

10. How Does it Keep Data Secure?

Choosing the right cloud-based software ensures strong data security. It's important to consider factors like data storage location, user access, security measures and testing, and password protection when evaluating software providers.