This article highlights the best software development tools for small business. I’d also like to mention that some of these tools are free to use without any obligations. Try them out and see if they meet your needs. Joining this list means you’re able to get on with planning, sketching, creating, designing, coding, testing and building awesome apps!
Here are the best software for IT professionals
Ninite
For a lot of IT professionals, setting up new systems can be a large part of the job. There are usually two fundamental stages to this process; deleting all the unnecessary pre-installed software from the system and then installing the programs that you actually want and need.
There are plenty of tools out there to help remove pre-installed software or crapware, but Ninite performs the second part of the job. Simply select the programs you want from the list on Ninite’s website, download your custom install and run the software.
The software takes care of the rest, automatically downloading and installing the requested programs. There is no need to agree to terms and conditions or click next after each install, so you can focus on something else while Ninite installs all your desired software uninterrupted.
PC Decrapifier
When taking a shiny new system out of its box, we all know that it’s not quite as quick as it should or could be. This is in large part thanks to the large amount of bloatware, crapware, and trialware that manufacturers typically load the new computers with.
PC Decrapifier makes removing this unnecessary and unwanted software quick and easy by automatically finding and identifying relevant software for deletion. As a safety measure, the program suggests items for removal which you must approve, ensuring that useful files are not accidentally deleted.
SISCIN Preview
SISCIN Preview allows you to quickly and easily analyse the data stored on your servers and is completely free to download. SISCIN Preview gives you insight into how your storage is being used, the average age of the files on your server, and the amount of storage space you could save by utilising an archiving solution.
Click here to download your free copy now and start analyzing your file server storage.
CCleaner
CCleaner (often known as Crap Cleaner) is a tool that does pretty much what you would expect – removes old, unnecessary, and temporary files from a local system, freeing up valuable hard drive space and helping your computer to run faster and more efficiently.
This is a great tool to clean and optimize a system and really comes in handy when you get the inevitable “My computer is running slow” phone call. In addition to the ability to run a basic scan and clean, CCleaner also boasts a registry cleaner for advanced users to remove old and unused entries, fonts, file extensions, etc.
One of our favorite things about CCleaner is that there is also a portable version available. This allows you to add the software to a portable drive and perform a scan and clean on any device without the need to install. So, you can move from office to office and quickly blitz those old and unused files.
Darik’s Boot and Nuke
Whether we want to use the drive in another scenario, transfer it to another employee or securely erase some kind of confidential or sensitive information, sometimes it’s necessary to completely wipe a hard drive or series of drives. DBAN is open-source software that makes this task easy.
DBAN automatically deletes the content of any hard disk it detects and performs a number of passes, overwriting the data on the drive several times. DBAN is booted from portable software and operates outside of the operating system so can be used on just about any drive.
Just keep in mind that DBAN does not provide audit-ready reporting and may not meet all regulatory compliance requirements. If your business is planning on disposing of hardware or needs documentation to confirm data destruction, you will probably want to opt for the paid version Blancco.
Recuva
Requests from employees who have accidentally deleted a file that they just have to access are common in just about every office. While Recuva can’t find and recover every file, it offers a free and quick method to recover deleted data, and its filtering options and user-friendly user interface make it great for a first attempt.
Even better, Recuva includes a tool to completely wipe files that it identifies. This is a great tool to quickly find and restore an accidentally deleted file but in a business setting where lost data means money, we recommend a more robust enterprise solution to safeguard your data.
HWiNFO
HWiNFO is a freeware program for both Windows and Dos that offers comprehensive hardware analysis, monitoring, and reporting. HWiNFO allows you to quickly and easily see the specification of a system you are diagnosing with a great level of detail.
In addition to providing you with information relating to the system’s processor, clock speed, and BIOS version, HWiNFO can also detect if hardware components are working within normal parameters or overheating and provide you with their current status and failure prediction.
HWiNFO is also available in a portable version which, at only a couple of MBs, can easily sit on your flash drive so you can carry it with you. With an intuitive and easy-to-use interface and great export and reporting tools, this is a great hardware analysis tool for any IT professional out in the field.
Sysinternals Suite
Sysinternals is a suite of tools that absolutely every IT professional working with Windows should have. Starting life as a number of tools to address some of the shortfalls in the operating system’s capabilities, the suite is not an official Microsoft product and is available completely free of charge.
This suite contains a number of essential programs such as Autoruns, DebugView, and Process Explorer to help you in managing, diagnosing, troubleshooting, and monitoring a Windows environment.
Screen Recorder
Do you constantly get the same support requests coming through? Getting tired of talking a user through connecting to the network or selecting the right printer? The next tool on our list can help you to dramatically cut down the amount of time you spend dealing with these kinds of requests.
Screen Recorder from the folks at Icecream Apps is a handy screen recording tool that allows you to capture any area of your screen as either an image or video file. In addition to the usual features you would expect from a screen recording tool, Icecream App’s screen recorded tool has some great features such as audio capability, a zoom function and the ability to draw on your recordings.
So, rather than talk the same users through the same issues time and time again, you can simply make a video tutorial available to all employees and save you and them some valuable time. Screen Recorder is also useful during support calls as you can quickly upload screenshots to the apps server and share a short URL via Instant Message or email.
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes is one of the most popular anti-malware tools available today and often succeeds at removing stubborn malware where other anti-virus software fails. The software also utilizes a proprietary technology called Chameleon which prevents malware from modifying its processes.
While there is a free version for personal use, businesses will need to download the premium version if they plan to use it in a commercial setting. However, the premium version offers a number of additional benefits such as continuously running in the background to prevent future infections.
Quixy
Quixy – Enterprises use Quixy’s cloud-based no-code platform to empower their business users (citizen developers) to automate workflows and build simple to complex enterprise-grade applications for their custom needs up to ten times faster. All without writing any code.
Quixy helps eliminate manual processes and quickly turn ideas into applications making business more innovative, productive, and transparent. Users can start from scratch or customize pre-built apps from the Quixy app store in minutes.
Features:
- Build the app interface the way you want it by dragging and dropping 40+ form fields including a rich text editor, e-signature, QR-Code scanner, Facial Recognition widget, and much more.
- Model any process and build simple complex workflows be it sequential, parallel and conditional with an easy-to-use visual builder. Configure notifications, reminders, and escalations for each step in the workflow.
- Seamlessly integrate with 3rd party applications through ready-to-use connectors, Webhooks, and API Integrations.
- Deploy apps with a single click and make changes on the fly with no downtime. Ability to use on any browser, any device even in offline mode.
- Live actionable Reports and Dashboards with the option to export data in multiple formats and schedule automated delivery of reports through multiple channels.
- Enterprise-ready with ISO 27001 and SOC2 Type2 Certification and all enterprise features including Custom Themes, SSO, IP filtering, On-Premise deployment, White-Labelling, etc.
Verdict: Quixy is a completely visual and easy-to-use No-Code Application Development platform. Businesses can automate processes across departments using Quixy. It will help you to build simple to complex custom enterprise application faster and with lower costs without writing any code.=>
Embold
Embold – Fixing bugs before deployment saves a lot of time and energy in the long run. Embold is a software analytics platform that analyses source code and uncovers issues that impact stability, robustness, security, and maintainability.
Advantages:
- With the Embold plugins, you can pick up code smells and vulnerabilities as you code, before making commits.
- Unique anti-pattern detection prevents the compounding of unmaintainable code.
- Integrate seamlessly with Github, Bitbucket, Azure, and Git and plugins available for Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA.
- Get deeper and faster checks than standard code editors, for over 10 languages.
Linx
Linx is low code tool to build and automate backend applications and web services. The tool accelerates the design, development and automation of custom business processes, including easy integration of applications, systems and databases.
- Easy-to-use, drag-and-drop IDE and Server.
- Over 100 pre-built plugins programming functions and services for rapid development.
- One-click deployment to any local or cloud server.
- Input and outputs include nearly any SQL & NoSQL databases, numerous file formats (text and binary) or REST and SOAP Web services.
- Live debugging with step-through logic.
- Automate processes via a timer, directory events or message queue or expose web services, and call APIs via HTTP requests.
=> Click here to read more about Linx
Start8
Just hours after Microsoft announced its Windows 8 Consumer Preview in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2012), utility maker Stardock announced it would create a tool to easily return the now-missing Start button and menu. A week later, Stardock announced and made available for free download its little utility fix, Start8.
As an exec at Start8 wrote in a blog post, “The lack of a start button and start menu in Windows 8 has made using Microsoft’s new OS a non-starter for me and a lot of other people. I like Metro, I really do — for tablets. But as a desktop user, I need a consistent work flow that lets me have my windows together on my desktop and [I] don’t want to be jerked out of that environment every time I want to start some new program.”
Stardock execs say they will continue adding new features to Start8 as the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows 8 Server evolve over the year.
Start used to bug me. Why do I have to hit the Start menu to exit the system? But now I’m used to it. Start8 will be a utility I will definitely run as soon as I upgrade my system to Windows 8. If I upgrade. We’ll see.
Tagline: Software that makes software
GeneXus offers an intelligent platform for developing applications and systems that enable the automatic creation, development, and maintenance of programs, databases, and mission-critical applications in multiple languages and on different platforms.
All applications modeled with GeneXus can be easily adapted to changes in businesses, as well as generated in the newest programming languages and automatically deployed to any major platform in the market.
The vision behind GeneXus is based on over three decades of experience in the creation of automatic generation and development tools for applications.
Key Features:
- AI-based automatic software generation.
- Multi-Experience apps. Model once, generate for multiple platforms (responsive and progressive web apps, mobile native and hybrid apps, Apple Tv, chatbots & virtual assistants)
- Highest flexibility. Largest number of databases supported in the market. Interoperability capabilities for system integrations.
- Future-proof: Evolve systems over long periods of time and change between technologies and platforms automatically.
- Business Process Management Support. Digital Process Automation through integrated BPM modeling.
- Deployment flexibility. Deploy apps on-premises, in the cloud or in hybrid scenarios.
- Application security module included.
- No runtime for generated applications or price by developer seat.
Verdict: With over 30 years of success in the market, Generius provides a unique platform that captures the needs of users and generates applications for present and future technologies, without the need of learning each new technology. It allows pragmatic developers to evolve quickly, responding to market and technological changes in an agile way.
Everything
The search feature in Windows 7 is a huge improvement over what Windows XP and Vista offered. But it still pales miserably in comparison to the freeware search tool I use constantly in Windows: voidtool’s Everything. It’s a lightweight utility that indexes and queries your entire drive for anything you’re looking for. And is it ever fast!
Just type in some text and bang, it’ll find whatever file or directory you’re looking for in a jiff. I’ve been using this utility for the last two years and I now rely on it daily. It’s so rapid at searching — and so dependable — that you might find yourself slacking off on keeping your files and programs in organized folders. No need for it. The left-brained among us will just use Everything to find anything. At least, that’s what I do.
It might also minimize calls to the desktop. It’s so easy to use and comprehensive, you won’t have users calling to ask you where some random, misplaced file went. If you check out just one freeware package on this list, I’d suggest that you select this one.
Conclusion
Software development is a process of designing, developing, testing and maintaining computer software. Software can be a collection of computer programs, scripts, or technical manuals, or a combination of some or all of these. It can also be an interface between one computer system and the user, as well as a set of client-server applications