

Ask HN: What software does your business need? - jjets718

Hi everyone. I'm looking to come up with some problems or issues that online businesses might face. What software do you need and would you pay for that would help you run your business better? I'd love to make SaaS software that business owners or startup founders find helpful and valuable. Thanks!
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marquis
24/7 sys admin service. I often wondered why no-one is doing this, I expect
because it would be rather expensive to staff, but the sys admin tools are so
advanced these days: get an SMS that a server component is down, fix it
somehow. If you're not part of a larger company, what do you do if you're on a
plane and you're having server issues? If you do this please let me know: I
know quite a few people who would sign up if it were priced for startups.

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mryan
I have thought about doing something like this - providing a sysadmin service
to companies who don't necessarily need a full-time sysadmin, but do need e.g.
emergency response to system failures. I see two main challenges to making
this profitable:

) Knowledge of client applications. To fix something in a timely manner, you
need to know the application/architecture. If the client does not have
documentation (or, as is more likely, they have outdated documentation),
learning the architecture could mean a large upfront time investment.

) Bursty nature of support requests. This could be mitigated by doing
consultancy/project work in the same market.

Particularly in early startups, the infrastructure tends to grow organically.
Having an outsider help document the infrastructure and processes could be
quite useful.

If anyone wants to discuss this idea more, my email is in my profile. I think
there is a market out there for such a service - I'd love to hear from anyone
who thinks it might be useful to them.

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chefsurfing
I pitched "sysadmin as a service" to a sysadmin friend and he was totally
against it. He said we don't need more sysadmins, we need better developers
who understand sysadmin fundamentals and know how to build stable systems. How
about taking both and synthesize them? Sysadmin-as-a-service + training and
education service. Hire the consultant for the bandaid fix of the immediate
problem and to train and help educate the internal team on the sysadmin
fundamentals they are missing.

~~~
vermasque
What are these fundamentals that devs should know?

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mijail
The core to big ideas are small questions. What you are really asking is," Hey
Guys! What's the big idea?"

The answer is: You have to find, and more importantly, be passionate about
those problems on your own. If you aren't passionate, your execution is
doomed.

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subrat_rout
I want a software which will calculate the rate of return of my investment(in
different countries and in a different market segments) adjusting inflations,
interest rates, failure rates of businesses etc.

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paulhauggis
I need software that will:

1) come up with a business idea 2) build a site for me 3) market it for me 4)
profit!

In that order.

~~~
subrat_rout
You may not find a single software to get all 4 things done but I am sure
there are plenty of softwares out there that will help you at each steps. The
most important is which software to choose and how to leverage it.

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whichdan
A natural language parser that can develop software based on vague
descriptions of functionality.

~~~
jamesjguthrie
I need to do this every day for clients.

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AznHisoka
I need a software that can print out money :)

Ok, seriously: 1) I need a CRM for influencers. Bloggers, journalists, etc. 2)
I need Github backup service - weekly or daily. 3) Proxies as a service (sort
of like TOR but with a friendly API)

~~~
philip1209
I have a good system of CRM for influencers - I'll take the time to write up a
more thorough response then post it.

