Back in the early 1980's most SMEs did not use any software to manage their accounts and payroll - everything was managed manually with accountants, all but disappearing under a pile of paperwork and manual calculations. It is hard to believe how far we have come with technology since then and for some of us it is difficult to imagine even the smallest companies processing manually.

Start-up companies who saw a gap in the market for an SME business technology niche, for example Pegasus and Sage kicked off the growth of the business software industry in the early 1980s. In addition, it is no coincidence that they share their anniversaries with the release of the first IBM personal computer and Amstrad word processor in the mid 1980s, as it is with these that the growth of business software development companies accelerated rapidly.

During this time SMEs started to adopt this new technology to help transform their accounts and payroll practice from manual accounts to an automated system. And since then, this software industry has grown to encompass far more than simply doing the accounts and payroll.

Business management software lies at the heart of most SMEs today, and there are specific solutions for the whole range of vertical markets - allowing them to stay fully automated, up to date with business legislation and much more.

The growth in service industries, relationship marketing, data protection and the need to differentiate in a competitive market has seen the growth of CRM systems. And with senior managers wanting to spend time growing their business rather than disappearing under paperwork, the growth of Business Intelligence software for intelligent real-time reporting, management accounts and forecasting is an even newer trend.

While the growth of business software in SMEs has helped to put them on a more level playing field with their bigger rivals, they do not have the same level of integration - running different applications in different parts of the business and manually piecing data together. And, when faced with ever increasing demands to improve efficiency and optimise productivity, SMEs are now calling for business software integration so that everyone in their business can see the same data in real time.

It is probably for this reason that Sage has seen the biggest growth in the software development sector far out competing any of even its early rivals. Despite their humble beginnings, Sage software is by far the leading business software solution in the World. Sage took the chance to float on the stock exchange in 1989, and this is another reason they left their competitors behind, but they are still first and foremost a British company for which they seem very proud of and won't be giving up their Northern roots any time soon.

The personal computer and work processor, together with solutions like Sage software has certainly help to transform SMEs in the UK today, and accountants are forever singing its praises. So when we go to work and use our systems (whether it be Sage software, Amstrad or IMB hardware or not), take its functionality for granted or complain when it's not working correctly, we should remember that we have a lot to thank these companies for - imagine the alternative; paper mountains and calculators not to mention lack of direction and a very stressed management team!