From spreadsheets to desktop publishing, there are a myriad of IT applications being used by every single company in existence today. Our increasing reliance on computers to get the job done quickly and efficiently has led to great advances in the world of business - advances that may not have been as easy a few short years ago.

But while computers are intended to make life easier when it comes to business solutions, the truth of that statement largely depends on what IT applications you use. You can have the most powerful computers in existence working for your business, but if the applications running on them don't meet up to your expectations you will still have problems on a day to day basis.

It's often the case that the IT applications a company started out with are outgrown by the people working there. Job descriptions change, the workload changes - often increasing way beyond its original size - and the company develops over time.

Unfortunately the IT applications being used don't change as often, and this can lead to a gap between the resources available and the resources that are actually needed.

If you think this may be a problem in your company, you need to ask yourself how easy the IT applications are to use on a day to day basis. Do you constantly struggle to complete jobs and make the best use of the computer programs you have at your disposal? Do you find yourself longing for better resources? Are you forever researching the possibility of finding a better set of IT applications for your needs?

If you can answer yes to the above questions then it might be time to take a long hard look at the IT applications your company is using. It may simply be that further training is needed to get the most out of them and learn new ways of using the same applications. On the other hand the business may have outgrown that particular application and the time may be right to replace it with a newer and better one.

Whatever the solution is for your business, make sure you evaluate the situation fully before jumping in and changing things. It may simply be that you need to increase your knowledge to make the IT applications easier to use.