Unquestionably, business process software has worked wonders for companies of all sizes, from the smallest of mom and pop start ups to the largest of corporations. Within the last few years however, the sheer number of processes and applications that most industry leading business process software suites contain have made user friendly interfaces and intuitive order navigation impossible to implement.

When a software purports to perform every function under the sun as well as report on it, there's little room for keeping it simple. Still, the positive points of business process software suites far outweigh the negatives, which is why they are more popular than ever. The secret to getting the most from a business investment of this or any nature lies in the amount of familiarity the company, or in this case the end users of the software, have with the development.

In much the same way that it would be out of the question to invest in a stock, bond or mutual fund without either having it recommended by a trusted professional or being familiar with its past, present and projected performance, purchasing business process software without also including training is ill advised. Unfortunately, most businesses go about the task of buying software with exactly that frame of mind. The consequences can quickly become a money losing endeavor.

Business accounting software is a prime example. Most accounting professionals may have a vague familiarity with basic processes, but that rarely translates into a working knowledge of a comprehensive software suite. Indeed, training isn't exactly free, but the learning curve associated with full scale accounting software requires time spent outside of regular job duties, and can cost far more than a two day intensive aimed at bringing accounting department personnel up to speed.

In the end, it all comes down to money. If a business is investing in the tools to help streamline operations and improve the bottom line, doesn't it make sense to give their employees the proper training to know how to make the most of those tools? The short term benefits are obvious, but the long term benefits to extracting the full capability from these powerful software applications is just as important, and can have an even bigger impact on the bottom line.