AsertionInsights
Know before you decide.
High-level concept or specification, inventory system or ERP, in-house or in the cloud: here we explain the questions that come up before a software decision. Plain, practical and with examples from everyday business.
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News from software and AI - and what it means for your business.
Guides
The key questions, plainly explained
Each guide answers a question that comes up again and again in our first conversations.
Planning and commissioning
Custom or off-the-shelf software? A guide to deciding
Most businesses need both: off-the-shelf software for what everyone does the same way, and their own software for what sets them apart. The real question is where to draw the line.
ReadHigh-level and detailed concept: what goes in them and why you need both
Before software is built, two things are needed: a picture of the whole and a precise plan for the first step. That is what the high-level concept and the detailed concept are for.
ReadRequirements or functional specification? What you actually need
The requirements specification says what you need. The functional specification says how it will be built. Both have their place - but a thick document before the first step is rarely the best route.
ReadDocumenting business processes: so that your staff recognise them
Software always maps a workflow. If the workflow lives only in people's heads, what gets built is what the vendor understood. Good process documentation describes the business as it works today - in your staff's own words, with the real documents attached.
ReadHow a software estimate is made
An estimate is not a figure someone names by gut feeling. It grows out of what is known about the workflow - and it is exactly as reliable as that basis allows.
ReadChoosing a software partner: questions for the first conversation
The first conversation with a software vendor is worth more if you ask the questions. Not to test the vendor, but to see what working together will look like once it gets serious - after launch, at the first fault, when your business changes.
ReadWho owns your software? Source code, usage rights and what to ask
You had software built and you paid for it - do you own it? Not necessarily. What you own is what the contract says, and what it leaves out only becomes apparent once the vendor stops answering. Better to ask the questions beforehand.
ReadFunding for digitalisation: where to look and what to know first
Federal government, federal states and chambers offer funding programmes for software, consulting and digitalisation in Germany. They change often, and many expire. Where to find what is currently on offer, which kinds of funding exist and which mistake most often costs you the money.
ReadFixed price or time and materials: how software projects are billed
A fixed price sounds safe, time and materials sounds open-ended. Both are only half true. Which model fits depends on how precisely it is already settled what is to be developed.
ReadWhy software projects fail and how to prevent it
When a software project fails, it is rarely because nobody could program. Usually the workflow was not understood, too much was meant to arrive at once, or nobody had time to make decisions. The good news: most of it can be seen coming.
ReadProcess analysis: what it delivers and who needs to take part
Before anyone talks about new software, it pays to look closely at how a process really runs today. Here we answer the questions we are asked most often before a process analysis.
ReadWhat does custom software cost? What the price depends on
You will not find a figure in this guide - anyone who names one without knowing your workflows is guessing. What you will find: what the price depends on, which costs come after launch and how to scope a project so it stays affordable.
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Your own software
Excel as a database: when the spreadsheet is no longer enough
Almost every business has one: the Excel sheet in which orders, customers or appointments are maintained. It is quick to build and anyone can use it. At some point five people are working in it - and the spreadsheet has become a system Excel was never meant to be.
ReadA customer portal: what it does for you and what it takes
Checking orders, downloading delivery notes, reporting a complaint: a customer portal spares your office the calls that always ask the same question. Whether it pays off depends less on the technology than on the data behind it.
ReadCapturing orders on a phone: field sales, installation, service
The fitter fills in the job sheet on a clipboard, the customer signs, the sheet reaches the office later and is typed up. Mobile capture removes that detour. What it has to be able to do - and when a standard app is enough.
ReadBarcodes and scanners in the warehouse: what changes
Scanning instead of searching means fewer shortages and knowing what sits where. The scanner is the smallest part of it. What matters are labels, named storage locations and master data that is right - and an inventory system that understands scanning.
ReadRoles and permissions: who may see and change what
Sales sees prices, the warehouse sees stock, accounts sees payments - and the external partner only their own projects. In every piece of business software, permissions are what gets planned last and needed first. An overview of how to set them up sensibly.
ReadLow-code: what the toolkits can do and where they stop
Forms, approvals, small workflows: with toolkits such as Power Apps, Zapier or Ninox, businesses now build for themselves what once needed a programmer. It works well - up to a limit that is worth knowing before you reach it.
ReadCloud or your own server: where should the software run?
New software needs a place to run: the server in your own building, a German hosting provider’s data centre or the cloud of a large provider. None of the three is always right - the answer hangs on five questions you should settle before launch.
ReadSoftware after launch: operation, maintenance and further development
Launch does not finish the software; it puts it to work. Updates, security fixes, backups and requests from the business arrive regularly from now on. Who looks after them should be settled before launch - otherwise the next legacy system is in the making.
ReadAcceptance and test environment: how to check new software before everyone works with it
The developer says the software is finished. Before everyone works with it, your staff should try it out with real transactions from the business - in a test environment where nothing can go wrong. That is acceptance, and it is less of a formality than it sounds.
ReadRecording working time digitally: time clock, app or your own solution
Since 2022 it has been settled that employers in Germany must record working time. A law setting out the details is in the works. Many businesses still use timesheets or Excel. What digital time recording has to do and which solution suits which business.
ReadScheduling fitters and technicians: a digital planning board instead of a whiteboard
In the office there is a board with names and magnets, an Excel sheet next to it, and every morning the phone rings because a fitter is off sick. A digital planning board shows who is where and when. What it has to do and what a rollout depends on.
ReadCreating quotes faster: templates, costing, follow-up
In many businesses a quote is put together from an old Word file, an Excel costing sheet and a lot of experience. It takes time, each one looks a little different, and only the person who wrote it knows whether the customer has replied. What can be done better.
ReadDigital approvals in your business: purchase orders, leave, invoices
A purchase order is waiting for the boss's signature, and the boss is out. The leave request sits in a mailbox, the invoice in a folder. Digital approvals show what is waiting and with whom. What has to be settled for them to work.
ReadKeeping on top of maintenance contracts and inspection dates: equipment, deadlines, records
If you service equipment or inspect devices, you live on recurring appointments. Often they sit in an Excel sheet one person maintains. If a date slips through, the customer notices before you do. What good management of contracts, dates and records has to do.
ReadStoring documents centrally: network drive, SharePoint or with the order
The quote sits in someone's inbox, the drawing on the network drive, the photo on the technician's phone. Anyone looking for something has to ask around. A central store only helps once it is clear where each document belongs.
ReadNIS2: What the new cybersecurity duties mean for your software
Germany's NIS2 Implementation Act has applied since December 2025. It covers far more companies than the old rules, and many more feel it as suppliers. Who is affected, what is required and what it means for your systems.
ReadCustom software: what businesses want to know before they start
Before a business has its own application developed, the same three questions almost always come up. They are fair questions. Here are the answers we also give in a first conversation.
ReadDigitalising order processing: from receipt to invoice
An order arrives by email, is checked, costed, approved, delivered and invoiced. Along the way it often changes program, list or head several times. If you want to digitalise order processing, you do not start with the system, but with that route.
ReadPlanning production digitally: when the planning board sits next to the ERP
The orders are in the ERP, but planning happens on the board in the hall or in an Excel list only one person understands. Why that is so common, what digital production planning has to do and how to start without turning the business upside down.
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Your own app
Having an app developed: from the idea to the app stores
An app is not built in one go. Between the idea and the first review in the store lie a number of decisions only you can make. This article walks through the process and shows where you are needed as the client.
ReadNative app or web app: what suits your idea
The question comes up in almost every first conversation: does it have to be a proper app, or is something in the browser enough? The answer depends less on technology than on what your users do with the app and how they find it.
ReadTesting an app idea before you invest heavily
Most apps do not fail because of the technology but because too few people use them. Whether your idea catches on can be tested before the whole app is developed. This article shows how.
ReadPublishing an app in the App Store and on Google Play
An app can be fully developed and still be a long way from its users. In between lie accounts, forms and the review by Apple and Google. Preparing for them early saves trouble just before launch.
ReadHaving an app developed: the most common questions before you start
Anyone planning their own app usually has more questions than finished answers. That is a good thing. Here we answer the questions we are asked most often before the start.
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ERP and interfaces
Inventory management or ERP: what is the difference?
An inventory management system looks after the goods, an ERP after the whole company. In practice the line is blurred - and the right question is rarely which system to buy, but which workflow is stuck today.
ReadWhat is an interface? Plainly explained, with EDI
An interface lets two programs exchange data without anyone retyping it. How that works, which kinds there are and what EDI has to do with it.
ReadDouble data entry: where it comes from and how to make it disappear
An order arrives by email, is typed into the ERP, ends up as a delivery note in Excel and finally once more in the accounts. Double entry rarely gets noticed, because everyone sees only their own part of the journey. How to find the points and what helps.
ReadMaster data: why a customer should exist only once
The same customer sits in the ERP, in the accounts and in the sales team's Excel list - with three spellings and two addresses. Master data is the basis of every integration and every report. What a leading system is and who looks after the data.
ReadConnecting your online shop and ERP: stock, orders, shipping
Items and prices into the shop, orders and payments back into the ERP, stock and shipping status in both directions. As long as someone does that by hand, one side is always lagging behind. What an integration has to deliver and where it usually gets stuck.
ReadHanding documents to DATEV: bookkeeping without retyping
The invoice is created in the ERP, and the tax adviser enters it into DATEV once more. Yet many programs can already produce what the practice needs. What document images and posting batches are, what goes from where to the tax adviser, and what to agree with them first.
ReadE-invoicing in your business: what changes and what your software needs to do
Since 2025 German businesses have had to be able to receive e-invoices, and from 2027 the first must send them too. A PDF by email will no longer do. What an e-invoice is, which dates apply and what it means for your programs and workflows.
ReadCRM or ERP: where does customer data belong?
Sales want a CRM, accounts point to the ERP, and both have a customer list. The real question is not which program is better, but which one is responsible for which data.
ReadReports from your ERP: figures, key metrics and dashboards you can trust
At month end someone exports data from the ERP, turns it into an overview in Excel, and in the meeting the figures do not match those from accounts. What a report needs so that everyone is talking about the same figures.
ReadInterfaces in your business: what happens when a handover fails?
A connection between two systems saves a lot of manual work. Even so, many businesses hesitate because they do not know whether their system can do it at all, or what happens if something goes wrong. Here are the answers.
ReadElbDesk or your existing ERP: what stays and what is added?
ElbDesk is the foundation we build on. Many readers first ask: do I need it if I already have an ERP? Here we answer that and the other most common questions.
ReadSwitching ERP? Five reasons that are not reasons
When something jams in the business, attention quickly turns to the ERP. A new system promises to solve everything at once. But often the problem lies next to the ERP, and a switch would simply carry it along.
ReadHow an ERP implementation works
An ERP implementation affects every area of a business. Whether it succeeds rarely depends on the software, but on the preparation, on the data and on how the switch is planned. An overview of the steps that matter.
ReadAutomating workflows: where it pays off and where it does not
Re-keying invoices, transferring orders, emailing colleagues to let them know: much in a business runs the same way every day and still takes manual work. Not all of it should be automated. How to find the right points and start small.
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AI in the business
Built it yourself with AI: what is missing before go-live
With tools such as Lovable, Bolt or Cursor, your own application comes together quickly today - often built by someone in-house who knows the problem best. Before real data goes in, a few things are usually still missing.
ReadRunning AI in-house: what you need
Not every AI has to run in the cloud. Openly available models can run on your own hardware - and can then reach data that should never leave the building. What you need for that.
ReadWhat is an MCP Server? How AI reaches your programs
An AI assistant can talk about a great deal, but nothing about your business as long as it does not know your programs. An MCP Server is the standardised route through which it can query your ERP - “Which orders are overdue?” - with the same permissions as the employee who is asking.
ReadHow AI reads your documents: search and answers from your own files
An AI assistant that knows your contracts, quotes and minutes answers in one sentence and names the document it took the answer from. How that works in the background is less mysterious than it sounds - and once you understand it, you also see the limits.
ReadChoosing an AI pilot project: how to recognise a good place to start
“We should do something with AI.” The sentence is heard in many businesses, and then it often goes quiet - not for lack of ideas, but because there are too many. The first attempt decides whether there is a second, so the place to start needs choosing carefully.
ReadWhat AI cannot do for your business: limits worth knowing beforehand
Anyone trying ChatGPT, Claude or Microsoft Copilot for the first time is usually impressed - the text flows and the answer sounds like someone who knows. That is exactly the difficulty: a language model sounds equally sure whether it is right or not.
ReadShadow IT and shadow AI: when staff help themselves
WhatsApp groups for jobs, a spreadsheet only one colleague maintains, a personal ChatGPT account with customer data in it: shadow IT exists in almost every business. It shows where staff lack a tool - a signal, not an offence.
ReadProcessing incoming invoices automatically: from inbox to approval
The invoice arrives by email, is printed, signed off, scanned and sent to the tax adviser. It can be done without paper. What the route from inbox to accounts looks like, where e-invoicing helps, where AI helps and where a person should decide.
ReadChatGPT and Copilot at work: what to settle before you roll them out
In many businesses staff already write emails, quotes and minutes with ChatGPT or Copilot, often on a personal account. Before the business makes this official, a few questions need answers: which account, which data, which rules and who checks the result.
ReadAI literacy under the AI Act: what businesses should do now
If your business uses ChatGPT, Copilot or another AI tool, you have had an obligation under the European AI Act since February 2025: to do something for your staff's AI literacy. What this means, what changed in 2026 and how to put it into practice without much effort.
ReadAI agents in the business: what lies behind them and where the limits are
An AI assistant answers questions. An AI agent completes a task in several steps: it reads the enquiry in the inbox, looks up the customer in the system, checks stock and creates a draft quote. What lies behind it, where it helps today and where the limits are.
ReadA chatbot on your website: when it helps and what it needs
A chatbot on your website promises answers around the clock. With today's language models it really can do far more than the click menus of the past. Whether it pays off, however, depends less on the AI than on your customers' questions and the material it answers from.
ReadAI in your business: judging data protection, errors and benefit
Many businesses see the benefit of AI but hesitate to use it. The reasons are almost always the same: concern about data, doubts about reliability and open questions about the rules. Here are our answers.
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Replacing old systems
Replacing an Access database: planning the transition
In many businesses an important workflow depends on an Access database someone built years ago. Switching it off is not an option, carrying on gets riskier. There is a way in between.
ReadSigns that your system is at its end
Many businesses run software that has been in use for a long time - and do well with it. Old on its own is no reason to switch. But there are signs that a system is no longer merely old but at its end.
ReadCut-over date or step by step: two ways to replace a system
Anyone replacing a system has to settle one fundamental question early: switch everything on a single cut-over date, or move area by area? Both routes have their place. Which one fits depends on the system, the business and the way back.
ReadMoving old data to a new system: what comes along and what does not
When switching to a new system, most businesses want to take everything with them. That is rarely wise. What is migrated should be correct, needed and fit the new system - the rest stays readable in an archive.
ReadReplacing a FileMaker solution: what is in it and how to move
Many businesses have worked for years with a FileMaker solution made exactly for them. It runs, but it depends on one person, and every change gets harder. Anyone who wants to replace it first has to know everything that is in it.
ReadReplacing Lotus Notes: taking over applications, workflows and documents
In many companies email moved out of Lotus Notes long ago. What stayed are the applications: requests, approvals, contracts, complaints. They have run for years, and hardly anyone still knows how they are put together.
ReadWhen the developer is gone: taking over software nobody looks after
The software runs every day, but the person who developed it is no longer around. As long as nothing happens, that hardly shows. When something does happen, what counts is what you secured beforehand.
ReadReplacing Excel macros and VBA: when the workbook is an application
One button on the worksheet, and Excel creates the quote, fills in the schedule or sends out the report. Behind workbooks like these sits VBA code that often only one person understands. How to find out what is inside, and which routes are open afterwards.
ReadReplacing a legacy system: the most common questions before the switch
Replacing an old system is a big decision for many businesses. The worries behind it are similar: will the business keep running? Will knowledge be lost? What happens to the data? Here are our answers.
ReadYour ERP is losing support: what to do now
The vendor's letter is short: the version will no longer be developed, support is ending. The system still runs the next morning. That is exactly why the letter is often filed away - and only taken out again once something stops working.
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