VISUAL NEWSLETTER – JAN 2003
TOO SLOW
TOO EXPENSIVE
TOO COMPLICATED
WINDOWS BASED ACCOUNTING
These are the most common complaints levied against many of the
new Windows based Accounting Systems. As is often the case, it is difficult to
find a client that has converted to a new Windows based system that is truly
happy with the results of the conversion. The reasons for this are varied and
in time many of them may be resolved by the better software consulting
companies. However, due to the current over saturation of Accounting Software
Vendors, many may not exist long enough to correct their inherent shortcomings.
It is interesting to explore the reasons that these new technologies struggle.
For many potential clients their first exposure to new
software is in the form of a sales demonstration. Typically this demonstration
is done on the latest state of the art standalone computer operated by sales
people who have fine tuned their presentation to make the product look good.
When you install the product you must contend with older model computers and
various networking issues that often render the program much slower than it
appeared in the product demonstration.
Sales people also tend to know many of the weaknesses of
their software and stay away from the slower and more cumbersome procedures. If
these are programs that you use on a daily basis you may get a rude awakening
to their notable inefficiency.
We have seen some instances where a new program requires
considerably more time to enter data such as customer orders. If you have
several data entry personnel, this may in fact require that you hire another
person just to keep up with data entry demands. These are limitations that good
programmers may in time overcome but there is often no good solution to a very
badly designed program.
We also find that
many systems operate at a much faster rate of speed with a database of say
fifty customers than one with fifty thousand customers. It is often difficult
to predict the speed of operation in a specific environment until it is fully
installed and all the initial data and history is loaded.
As noted in previous
newsletters, another drawback of most current systems is that they are
extremely expensive. Many new systems carry price tags in the $50,000 to
$100,000 range. We are assisting clients in a couple of conversions costing
well into the millions. This is due largely to the complexity and increased
cost of Windows based R&D. Unlike products such as Microsoft Office which
sells in the tens of millions, most Accounting Software firms number their
clients in the hundreds or if lucky thousands. R&D costs have to be spread
over a much smaller customer base. This increase in R&D costs also means
that any customization that you require will also be much more time consuming
and expensive. In one instance, I have quoted $1,500 Canadian to do a series of
modifications that were in turn quoted at $30,000
In an attempt to be
all things to a wide group of clients, many software vendors have built in so
many features, options and switches that it becomes very difficult for any but
the best trained and highly technically inclined to operate some of the newer
systems. This in turn often precipitates a turn over in staff as some older
employees struggle to pick up the more complicated daily operations of the new
system. A good Systems Integrator can help smooth out some of the complexity
and make sure that your staff has all the training it needs to succeed with any
new system.