Today, much of our focus is on providing Asset Management Software for cities and counties. But the origins of our ShareNet Operations Management software were much broader than this (keep reading and you will get the connection to the comic). When we were shaping the vision for our ShareNet software back in 2007, we wanted it to be a highly flexible and easy to use web and mobile information management platform. It needed to be able to track, share and report on things we could not envision at the time.
Since our beginnings in 1999, we had heard horror stories about other software being at two ends of the spectrum. Either it was: 1) too narrowly focused and could not be adapted for specific customers needs, or 2) it was very flexible but also very complex and required changes to be made by highly paid consultants. Sometimes this would even limit a customer’s ability to upgrade to new versions, because the update would break their custom changes. Our ShareNet software had to be different. We wanted our customers to be able to make changes themselves. This required us to develop easy to use designers and wizards for things like:
- Adding Custom Fields
- Adding/Customizing Forms (i.e. work orders, inspections, code enforcement, insurance claims, …)
- Adding/Customizing List Views
- Adding/Customizing Work Flows for process automation
- Adding/Customizing Email Templates
- Adding/Customizing Reports and Dashboards (though these do require more technical skill)
Developing our ShareNet software with this vision was a VERY challenging task, but one of the huge benefits is that it can be used in so many different ways beyond just Asset Management Software and Work Order Software for boroughs, villages, towns, townships, cities, counties, parishes, tribal or first nation governments, etc. It can also be used as a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). Yet another use is as customer support software.
How We Use Our Own Software
We use our ShareNet software everyday for things like tracking incoming sales leads, sales follow up and outbound calls, customer support requests, software feature requests, software bug tracking and resolution, new customer project implementation tracking, documentation of policies, procedures, research, and meeting agendas, in the ShareNet Knowledge Base application. When I saw this Dilbert comic in this Sunday’s paper, I felt it was worth licensing for a blog post. I personally love using ShareNet everyday. This everyday use within our company has helped us make many improvements our customers may not have requested. We benefit and our customers benefit from us “eating our own dogfood“. I hope you enjoyed the comic.
Learn about our Asset Management Software
To learn more about our Asset Management Software and Work Order Management Software, click on the button below.
