Taken from PCWorld Magazine, July 2012 Edition

To keep your business costs low and your efficiency high, start with software. Instead of buying commercial programs for your business, why not use a capable free or open-source alternative?  Here are five incredible – and free – utilities designed specially for business operations.

Microsoft Security Essentials – Perfect f/or smaller shops, it can run on up to 10 PCs for free.

OpenProj – An alternative to Microsoft Project – which costs a thousand bucks – it offers Gantt charts, network diagrams, WBS and RBS charts, earned value costing, and project management features.

OrangeHRM – A complete human resource management program for small and medium businesses, includes modules for personnel information management, leave management, time and attendance, benefits and so on.

Soluto – This ingenious free utility makes PCs boot faster, and keeps installed software up-to-date.

Spiceworks – Regardless of how many PCs your company maintains, it needs a comprehensive approach to network monitoring.  Spiceworks provides network management and monitoring, a user help desk, equipment inventory, and lots more.