12 Essential Android Apps For SMBs
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If you're looking for an app within a relatively focused platform or area, there's an online directory or "app store" for that. Maybe even several from Apple's App store to GetJar.com to the Google Apps Marketplace, FireFox and Joomla! extensions and more. Now, GetApp has taken the notion of an app directory and applied it to business applications, for SMBs and enterprises. "We are listing only business applications for enterprises, not mobile apps, freeware," says co-founder and CEO Christophe Primault. "The main purpose is to help SMBs to find an application suitable for their needs."

For example, GetApp's software categories include CRM, ERP, Accounting, project management, contract management, HR applicant tracking and retail software. "We have 300+ categories and over nearly applications, including very specific verticals like construction, church management, not-for-profits. We may also point to articles, interviews, briefings and other information for an application," says Primault.

According to the company, "If you don't know which application to use, and if you are not sure about the most appropriate deployment method, GetApp.com is the right place to discover what you have been searching for."

"We like to call ourselves an 'app store,' we are covering the marketing and sales aspect, organizing and listing," says Primault. Technically, GetApp isn't a store, since the site doesn't sell the software it lists. "There is no charge for buyers, and we offer free and paid listings for vendors." (GetApp does sell other services, including software evaluation and cloud migration, in some cases working with partners.) GetApp doesn't feel it's competing with marketplaces like Google Apps' -- according to Primault, "We are partnering with some of them."

"The main purpose is to help SMBs to find an application suitable for their needs," says Primault. "We go beyond what a traditional directory does, which only give some information."

"Anything that helps business users to make more informed software acquisition decisions is a good thing," says Michael Dortch, director of research at Focus.com, a provider of complimentary advice, analysis and community for business purchase decision makers. "And the marketplace needs, and has room for, a wide variety of places where decision makers can go to become more informed. So from a user-centric perspective, GetApp should prove valuable."

For example, says Primault, "We have social media information about the provider, to let you see more, like how many people are following them, and lets you see discussions about a provider and their products, in one place. And We show how the applications integrate with platforms and with other applications. If you are an SMB, and want to buy an email marketing app, you want to be sure it integrates with your email management tool, like Google Apps, or your CRN engine."

According to the company, "GetApp.com offers additional services, which enable you to check out authentic peer reviews, use an interactive online tool to select the best deployment method or contact multiple providers in one go, in order to prepare a shortlist."

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