Apple is changing the software business...again. At one point (not that many years ago), you had to order the software and wait for it to come in the mail. Then, you loaded that media into the appropriate drive. Today, the App Store allows individuals to instantly download very specific, niche applications that they can operate with little to no training.

My fear is that the same expectation is being made of enterprise software such as church management systems. As the habits of the consumer changes, software companies will have to adjust. However, I believe there are some fundamental reasons why church management systems will never be plug-and-play:

There are four things that I believe are the root of many of the frustrations people have about church software. Even among our own users, the interactions we have with leaders who are wrestling to overcome the perceived deficiencies of the software often lead to sources that have nothing to do with the code or programming.

Here is a list of the four most common causes of church software disappointment that have nothing to do with software:

1. I can’t get the information I need. If you don’t enter and track the data needed to produce a particular report or perform a specific function, you won’t be able to do it in any system. A database is only as good as the information in it.