(Wines&Vines) - Amid weightier discussions of cloud computing, data security, social media and data mining, one session at this week’s Wine Industry Technology Symposium resonated with many attendees from small wine-making companies: free and low-cost software for wineries.

Speakers CPA Geni Whitehouse and Internet consultant James Marshall Berry continued a four-year tradition of highlighting the best—and in a few cases worst—free and inexpensive computer-based technologies to help winery staff work more efficiently. And even though they discussed the topic a year ago, technology changes so fast that they had plenty of new ground to cover.

Using apps

The main catalysts of late have been the rise of “apps,” programs that run mostly on mobile devices, and the continuing migration of applications and data storage to “the cloud,” the interconnected collection of servers and storage that comprises the heart of the Internet.

“The world of apps is exploding,” Whitehouse exclaimed. “And big companies are taking over smaller companies to integrate their functions into a larger world.”