What is Industry Specific Software?
Industry specific software, as the term suggests, is any digital solution designed specifically for a niche market or industry. Every business is unique, but not all businesses need an expensive custom software solution. As an alternative, businesses can use industry-specific software that often helps meet unique operational needs of companies within the same industry. For instance, if you are running a shipping company, you may want to use an industry-specific solution for logistics management. That way, you can get your hands on some unique software features that directly apply to your operations, without having to invest large amounts of money on developing a customized software solution to address the needs of your market.
Industry specific solutions are available for a number of sectors, including manufacturing & engineering, academia & education, travel & tourism, construction and IT management. You’ll also find products focused on a particular aspect of business operation, making them more suitable for companies across industries. For instance, software solutions for field service professions are used by organizations across industries to manage their off-site workers.
Most Popular Industry Specific Categories
Subcategories of Industry Specific Software
- Academia & Education: Software solutions from this category feature platforms and tools used for educational purposes. All aspects of academia are supported: starting with pre-school and primary school focussed solutions, to college and postgraduate level institutions. Ranging from programs that offer access to video courses and tutorials on various subjects to cloud-based solutions that manage educational content, entries from this list are used by students and teachers alike. Business owners use these programs to create training courses and manage their delivery, both locally and in the cloud.
- CAD & CAE: CAD and CAE software are used in the design, modification, optimization and analysis of engineering projects. They improve the productivity of engineers as well as the quality and validity of their designs. Software in this category is used in architectural, electronic, or mechanical design and a range of other fields. The software enables users to design 2D or 3D models and include information such as materials, dimensions, tolerances, processes, and more.
- Cannabis: The legalization of medical marijuana (MMJ) in some US states has spawned new regulations that require cannabis businesses to adhere to state and federal laws. Cannabis software aids businesses along the supply-chain to manage their day-to-day operations. This ranges from the tracking of marijuana plants through their life-cycle to providing dispensaries with specialized POS systems.
- Child Care: This is a software category dedicated to child care solutions. Both parents and caretakers use these programs to coordinate a variety of day-care activities and manage nursery placements. They allow child care institutions to keep track of schedules, communicate with the caretakers and parents, arrange events and perform other tasks related to child minding, development, etc. Many of these programs are cloud-based and offer a real-time insight into the life of a child using mobile devices.
- CMMS: CMMS stands for Computerized Maintenance Management Systems. Software solutions from this category help maintain and track assets / tasks within maintenance-focussed organizational functions. You can keep track and schedule assignments, track existing maintenance tasks and check out historical records within the system. CMMS software is used for optimizing and managing systems that consist of multiple assets, making them accessible through mobile devices and transparent by allowing an insight into their day-to-day operations. You can also use these programs to keep track of projects and track the inventory while performing field service management (FSM) tasks.
- Construction: This software category covers solutions that focus on project management, workflow tracking, asset management and other functions related to construction projects. Good structure and organization are key factors for any construction company and relying on these programs to manage everything from the schedule, workforce, inventory, and other specific parameters greatly increases productivity. You can also find complete office solutions that enable you to remotely issue tasks, create and manage construction projects and pay your workers using a mobile device. This is made possible by integrating cloud services into your daily management routine. Freeing up time to manage multiple construction sites independent of your location. Using solutions from this category also allows you to manage the supply chain, track analytics and perform HR and CRM-related tasks.
- Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM): This is a specific software category with focus on solutions dealing with corporate location and real estate management. Managing a real estate portfolio of a company, corporate group or a public institution, are the examples of the type of tasks these listed software products are used for. CREM tasks require a solid structure that can track, analyze and manage all the off-location aspects of the business, like logistics, warehouse and dispatch tasks, asset tracking, etc. Field service management tasks in both, the public and private sectors, are often managed through solutions from this category.
- Electronic Medical Records (EMR): As the name suggests, this category focuses on software solutions that facilitate the creation, tracking and management of medical records. The transition from physical charts to digital medical records is often addressed by solutions from this segment. This category combines two distinct fields, IT management and healthcare industry, and provides the bridge between them by offering cloud-based services accessible from any medical facility and capable of storing massive amounts of patient records and medical data without taking up valuable office space. They also provide secure sharing services that can be used by medical professionals collaborating on research and development projects.
- Entertainment & Media: Software solutions from this category provide access to all sorts of media and entertainment content. Various types of media can be found using programs from this category: royalty free music, stock images, presentation templates, etc. Specific entertainment segments like podcasting and content marketplaces heavily rely on these programs. Also, these solutions include features like event management, allowing you to register events and then create, promote and sell tickets for them. In addition, you can use them to set up e-commerce platforms designed to sell various activities, classes, memberships, and receive donations as well as create and manage media libraries.
- Field Service Professions: Field Service Management (FSM) software solutions commonly help businesses manage their mobile workforce and the resources they use for field operations. These products are used in many industries, but mostly those that provide on-location services to clients, ranging from plumbing and landscaping to transportation and construction sectors. These programs enable both parties to schedule, analyze and manage projects, track progress and log working hours while on-the-go. Software solutions often include GPS tracking and cloud-based portals, as well as mobile applications incorporating all relevant business functions including workforce and sales management.
- Financial Services: Financial services software is focused on common use-cases in the financial and banking sectors. You will find solutions that assist in the task of stock trading, financial analysis of companies, while some products are designed to support other mission-critical segments within the financial services industry. Other solutions cover insurance and risk management, as well as security and contract management. Software products designed for financial services companies often help automate certain repetitive tasks, such as invoicing, budget structuring, document management, payment processing and financial contract management using digital signatures.
- Fitness & Health: This type of software deals with various aspects of fitness and well-being. Products in this category cover areas like nutrition and dieting, exercise and fitness, as well as basic healthcare applications commonly used for physical and wellness treatments. Using these solutions, you can schedule dieting and exercise regimens, and track the progress of clients and patients. Programs of this nature also allow you to manage appointments, meetings and other events.
- Food & Beverage: Food and beverage software solutions assist businesses in the food and beverage industry with growth, control, processing, shipment and sales of products and services. Software solutions within this industry often feature highly specialized functionality that is used across three major industry segments: agriculture, manufacturing / processing and distribution. Software can assist farmers and producers of raw materials with maintenance, monitoring and control of stock. Within the food processing segment, software helps to ensure quality and consistency of in- and output. This often includes inventory monitoring, automatic ingredient adjustment and production chain optimization. The third sector concerns the distribution and wholesale of the end products to consumers. This generally involves logistics, quality control, pricing and stock management as well as other food service related functions.
- Healthcare: Healthcare software solutions offer a wide range of services that assist in and support the management of hospitals and healthcare practices. Products such as these allow businesses to keep track of appointments, medical records and help improve overall efficiency. Additionally, they often assist with billing and payments, as well as patient insurance management.
- Insurance: Insurance software solutions help deal with a number of challenges insurance businesses commonly face; for example: managing policies, clients and insurance proposals. These solutions provide an efficient, secure online platform to assist insurance providers in dealing with billing and invoicing, contract/policy management and claims procedures. In addition, these products also allow insurance providers to manage sales functions, track agent performance and mitigate risk. You can use these products to research and find insurance providers, gather, create and securely sign digital contracts and policies, Keep track of and manage payments and perform other related tasks.
- IT Management: Products in this software category help an organization manage its IT resources, including workstations, servers and applications. These products often include remote device management functionality, which means you can monitor and resolve any issues remotely. IT support service providers often use these products to plan, implement, monitor, and maintain the quality of IT services offered to their customers. Other key features of IT management software include security and threat monitoring, batch permissions and access management as well as centralized IT infrastructure provisioning. You can also use these products to setup virtual desktop environments and deploy company-wide enterprise IT networks.
- Jewelry Management: Jewelry management software solutions are most commonly used to improve efficiency and organization of jewelry businesses, making any information that may be required easily accessible on one platform. Solutions of this nature often have features to help manage different aspects of a jewelry business, including inventory management, repair tracking, supplier management and automated marketing.
- Legal: Software designed for legal firms and other forms of legal businesses usually include many different features to assist you in running a successful legal business. Some of the functions include billing, invoicing, time tracking, alternative fee arrangements and eSigning. Applications of this kind also help you keep track of all your legal e-mails and documents. These kinds of software products provide a cohesive integrated management solution.
- Logistics: These solutions service the transportation industry and perform all sorts of supply chain management tasks. They help drivers and dispatchers to schedule, track, optimize and manage the transportation of goods across all industries. For example, you can organize an entire returning route and all the specific tasks attached to it, from loading to delivery on both ends. These specific tasks include inventory and asset tracking and management, GPS tracking, order management, warehouse and dispatch management, logistics, etc. GPS and cloud-based computing make most of these programs accessible through mobile platforms and offer capabilities that streamline the scheduling process and improve the performance of cargo and goods transport.
- Manufacturing & Engineering: These products are designed for manufacturing and engineering firms to help them in production and inventory management. Some software products in this category cover a specific area of the production process, for instance, research, design and development, processing or machining. You’ll also find products that offer a complete solution to production management, from idea to the final product. In addition to engineering and production management, these solutions are also used for sales management, product information management, inventory and asset tracking, project collaboration, logistics and order management. Some solutions even allow you to perform HR tasks and resource planning.
- Nonprofit & Volunteering: Programs from this category are often used by nonprofit and volunteering organizations to save time and energy on managing volunteers. These products also offer eCommerce solutions and assist in the task of event management, fundraising and event promotion. Some organizations utilize these programs for managing donations, volunteering work promotion, recruitment and other related tasks. You can also use software solutions from this category to schedule, create and promote events that serve your cause, to keep track of assets and inventory, or even to communicate with users and the general public.
- Oil & Gas: Software solutions from this category help make asset and facility management easier for Oil and Gas businesses. They often come with data management functionality to assist you in handling and organizing data. Furthermore, they offer complete control over capital assets, risk management and mobile tracking for on ground engineers. These programs can also be used in marketing and sales within the oil and gas industry. Field service professionals rely on these solutions to gather and process field data. GPS and cloud computing implemented in these programs can help streamline logistics and site management.
- Other Industries: Software solutions listed in this category help small and medium businesses perform specific tasks, or have a very specific and narrow focus. For example, you can find programs that set up a complete back office infrastructure of your SMB, perform sales management and accounting and other system wide tasks. Other task-specific solutions may help you localize your website, recruit new people, or simply market specific skills. Look for solutions that are easy to adopt, accessible from anywhere, and integrate easily with other applications.
- Pharmaceutical: Designed specifically for pharmaceutical companies, these software products help visualize data more coherently and increase overall efficiency. Software of this nature provides pharmacists with a specialist database for prescriptions, drug expiry dates and patient information. These programs enable users to discover and analyze data as well as gather necessary insights into treatments and protocols. Healthcare and pharmaceutical industry professionals often use these solutions to schedule, track and manage drug therapies, manage inventory and research formulations and dosages. Pharmaceutical representatives and sales managers use these programs to market and sell their products and manage the suppliers and customers.
- Public Sector: Products in this software category are designed to help resolve the unique challenges public sector companies often face. For instance, post offices, police stations and hospitals often need purpose-built, flexible software solutions that would help them respond to public concerns faster. Software products for public sector companies often contain tools for inventory management, capital management and field service management. You can also use these products to schedule and plan projects, track progress, manage assets and workforce and present these stages to the individual users. Public sector software covers multiple areas, from public transportation and logistics, city planning and PR services to very specific areas like poll taking and public real estate management.
- Publishing: This type of software is used to publish all sorts of media and content. These programs enable publishing companies to share written content, images, videos and audio files and post them directly onto their social media platforms. Key features to look for include content marketing capability, media editing tools and cataloging options. You can also find media libraries that offer copyright-free videos / images and royalty free music. Combine these with editing tools to create original content directly within these solutions.
- Real Estate: Products in this category focus on all the aspects of the real estate industry, from construction to sales and from advertising to budgeting. These solutions help automate a majority of the tasks performed by individuals and organizations. For example, the same program can be used by a potential buyer to find and inspect a property and by an owner or an industry specialist to market the property, sell it and manage other properties in their portfolio. Estate brokers rely on these programs to share the details of the properties they manage, perform accounting tasks or promote their portfolio in the travel and tourism niche. Users can schedule projects, manage the workforce and keep track of the progress during construction and renovation processes.
- Restaurant & Hospitality: Restaurant and hospitality software solutions cover the service industry and provide tools for the promotion and management of restaurants, hotels and other venues. These programs are used to book accommodation and promote restaurants, order ingredients and other supplies, sell tickets to events, compare prices and plan trips from start to finish. In addition, businesses can gain insights into customer reviews and increase customer satisfaction. These solutions are also used in the travel and tourism industry for supply chain management and event management purposes.
- Retail: Software solutions in this category help eCommerce and local retail shops manage their business operations. These products help automate certain tasks in inventory and financial management, orders and sales management, payment and invoicing, etc. In addition, you can market your products, create B2B stores, grow sales by using competitive price monitoring and track the supply chain. You can manage sales channels across multiple platforms and integrate resource planning under overarching retail software. All of these tasks can be tracked, analyzed and used for better understanding of the business and increasing the profit margin.
- Safety Management: This software category covers areas related to safety and risk management and are used across many industry segments. Common aspects of these solutions entail safety awareness training, safety policies and safety bulletins and alerts. More examples would be incident reporting, audits and inspections, risk assessment, compliance reporting, etc. Software from this segment is also used to schedule and manage various tasks regarding equipment safety, health and safety assessments and to present this data by creating extensive reports accessible from multiple platforms, mobile included. More specific tasks like PPE, DSE, CoSHH management can also be performed using these software solutions.
- Salon Management: These products are designed exclusively for salons, spas, fitness studios, etc. They help salon owners with appointment management, reservations and online booking, inventory management, supply chain management, customer service and many others. You can also use salon management software to perform marketing and point of sale tasks and acquire new customers. SMEs and large enterprises often rely on these programs to deploy scheduling solutions to their customers and help them create a unique management system across multiple platforms by tracking all aspects of the business, as well as providing insights through a central dashboard.
- Travel & Tourism: Solutions from this category provide support to travel agencies through all stages of tourism management, from planning to booking to execution. Most programs also help deal with post-travel segments like reviews and recommendations. The complexity of these programs varies. For instance, some products offer simple capabilities like reservations and online bookings, while others come with more advanced features, such as, logistics management, real estate management, expenses and purchasing management, marketing and workforce management. Travelers can use these programs to plan their trips, get in touch with agencies and provide their opinions on visited destinations.
- Veterinary Management: As pet owners’ spending increases, they are able to afford better vet care and veterinarians. The hospital and medical practice segment makes use of veterinary software platforms to help them improve pet and animal care quality. Apart from management of appointments, cases, staff and clients, these software typically include innovative features for schedule management and communication tools to enhance efficiency and productivity in an otherwise busy practice life to drive performance and profitability.
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Latest User Reviews in Industry Specific
Keela
reviewed by Liam Embury
14 Nov 2024
"Keela for Non-profit"
Keela software stands out for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for nonprofits like ours to manage their op...
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Keela
reviewed by Hien Tran
15 Nov 2024
"Good for it's intended use "
I like that it is very simple and user friendly. Easy to learn. It does what we need it for which is to log our donat...
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Gyre
reviewed by Byllton Sofner
16 Nov 2024
"The platform's seamless integration with m..."
One of the standout features that I've come to rely on is the automated stream launch function. The Gyre support team...
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Keela
reviewed by Kristen Lindgren
18 Nov 2024
"Keela is Great! "
Using a CRM made for nonprifits has been a great help to us! Things I like are:
seeing quick fundriasing informatio...
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Keela
reviewed by Karl Halverson
18 Nov 2024
"Ease of Use/Clarity of Information"
Keela is very easy to use and makes it simple to find information about individual donors. The search function works ...
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Keela
reviewed by Rameel Ahmad
18 Nov 2024
"Keela as an administrative assistant for a..."
The integrated forms and communications feature has been my favourite part of Keela so far. In our previous setup we ...
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