Posted by Keith Smith on December 06, 2008 at 21:36:21:
Remember that statement? Q-land?? Have all the brochures from that era. Read through them and guess what? It was a game plan. BICARSA was the center. Everyone of us had to fix it, improve it, expand on it and re-document it. It also generated a game plan for developing new, customized applications. It was a starting point and maybe something we all have in common. Sig, with all it's amazing capabilities cannot re-create BICARSA. That job is up to us dealers, who have to sell to companies, management, accountants, etc. You know today's world. Lot different than yester-year. Been researching larger solutions lately. Won't go into details but here are some of the buzz words:
SAP - Java or ABAP based applications. Includes software, tools, services needed to develope and test for the SAP Netweaver platform.
Global player. BICARSA like but on steroids and replaces 19th century.
AEC Group, Inc. - A provider/supporter of SAP within Pittsburgh area.
Check out aecgroup.com
CERIDIAN - Zeroed in on Payroll Services section. Strictly outsourcing. If you have a large Payroll, this company is an option. And they have their customer payroll options check list. What do you want? How much?? Remote or local installation??
ADP - Same as CERIDIAN but with an outsourcing twist.
INTUIT - Payroll for SMALL companies.
GREAT PLAINS - Kinda like BICARSA, but their version, They've been bought out..
SAG - Couldn't figure this out. Something like not only finding a source but a SUPER source or solution. ?????
NETSUITE - Pure WEB/CLOUD Accounting solutions.
CMS - Same as NETSUITE
Microsoft Small Business - Prepare for IE8. Liked their 5 ways sales plan to get past customers back into the fold. Must read!! Makes sense.
Did a look up on being SAS 70 TYPE II compliant. Has something to do with being PCI Credit Card Compliant. ??????
All of the above research was done in two hours, including this write up. You know there is tons more out there. Where are we??
Barb's upcoming update to DB Manager is extremely important!! Defining a file, fields, linkages, narrative and companion helper programs is paramount. Whenever a file is defined, the following options should be available:
Hard copy of file definition with options
USE/INCLUDE Generation
File Duplication from a list. Mouse selectable.
Possible auto-generation of file linkages based on entered key/index info. Nothing/Garbage IN Nothing/Garbage OUT.
Ability to generate a simple cursor based MAINT program. Think 950 days.
Ability to generate a mouse click MAINT program. You decide..
Ability to generate a Web Page MAINT program. You decide..
Ability to generate a quick listing with possible index range option.
Never give up on search capabilities.
Ability to update #FILES, #CFILES or whatever 3rd party definitions.
OPS?? Let's talk some more...
Each file can be a maximum of 1MB in length Uploaded files will be purged from the server on a regular basis.