Labor Day Ramblings

[Mike Schwartz (PC Support)]

> Small Business Accounting 2006. Before considering it DOA, decide for
> yourself.
> Lord knows I dislike most everything Redmond, but here's a heads up.
> http://www.sbadeveloper.com/
> 
> --
> Walter

     I've been down that path with Cougar Mountain, Open Systems and a
couple of other "user customizable" accounting products.  Each time they
upgrade their base software, the consultants have to come back and rewrite
all their custom mods.  In one case, one of my customers is paying $100.00
an hour to a guy in Milwaukee to write changes for Open Systems using
Business Basic.  However, he charges $200.00 an hour to port his changes to
the next version of Open Systems!!!  

     This sounds like job security, but it can be a real headache when you
suddenly have a couple of dozen customers who all want you there immediately
to upgrade them to the latest version.

     It's the same thing for "hybrid" systems, as I call them, like when I
wrote filePro front-ends to PeachTree and other "canned" accounting systems.
Whenever PeachTree would change their file formats, my imports and exports
would all blow up.

     This is a problem integrating any two applications. I have a few
customers who export mailing lists from filePro to Stamps.Com.  When
Stamps.Com recently changed its file formats without telling anybody, the
imports that I had written all stopped working, and my phone started ringing
off the wall.

Mike Schwartz