Everyone really “gets” not only the online delivery mechanism, but also the brand reinforcement of being able to continue your own company’s corporate image through the website portal. And no – the irony is not lost on me that I am commenting on a blog that least represents our brand that in all of our customer-facing materials !!! (Another thing for the ‘to do’ list!)

PROMOTION
As part of our roll out and in order to get some reference sites for QuoteValet, we are offering the QuoteValet Deluxe service FREE to the first 5 companies that order QuoteValet through us. 3 have already gone, so there’s just 2 left! Get your order in quick by calling me on 07875 423661 now!!! Thanks, Steve

The HTML/CSS scripting isn’t going to be for every user (or even VAR!) but the options are available there for you to now customise the various web pages and email templates that get used as part of the QuoteValet workflow process. A web programmer will quite easily be able to see that ‘any’ HTML can be included; someone familiar with QuoteWerks is going to understand the various tags that are used as part of the QuoteValet scripts*. To make the most of the new customisation features with best effect, you’ll ideally need someone with both HTML/CSS and QuoteWerks and/or work closely with your web developer to get the results you want.

* A minor niggle here is arguably that the tags used are different to those used in other areas of QuoteWerks (macros, Layout Designer formulae, Word Merge, etc). It’s no real biggie, but some consistency would have been good… but then doing it the same it may have run into issues with greater-than / less-than and ampersands in HTML, etc. Compared to the benefits though…

In summary: the QuoteValet customisation features introduced in this release sees QuoteWerks take another very positive step forward for all users (i.e. not just those with particular integrations or in specific industries). Putting my VAR hat on, it is also 1) expand their portfolio of QuoteWerks-related services, and 2) a great opportunity for resellers to offer further services to their existing client-base. Our own customisation services should be on our website very soon – http://www.hilltopsit.co.uk/quotewerks/quotewerks_quotevalet.aspx

All orders received before close of business (5.30pm GMT) on 30th December 2010 will qualify for the 10% discount!!!

If I were playing, I would be playing Bass or Drums. In this case, I would probably be the one playing the xylophone. I am a percussionist at heart. On guitar, we would ask Pete back. We would need to hold open auditions for the remainder of the band, however…

I’m going for Michael on bass (good solid, efficient backup support), Evan on guitar (he always seems like a cheery person, like the guitar bouncing along) which would leave the xylophone for… erm… John! Gotta be! Free, entrepreneurial, not afraid to do something a bit different! That’s where my money is!

I know I am coming to this discussion late… but my 2 cents….

Sage did a great job with its MD (Master Developer) program and continues to have better standards and processes for managing developers than most of its competitors. I can’t remember running into add-on conflict as I have seen with other products.

For MAS 90/200, I think of it as a pretty out of the box solution for many customers. I do like add-ons that are products not custom code and some of Mark’s examples of things he would like in the products have been done pretty well. I loved extended solutions and the fact that Sage backed them, but that ship has left the port.

Custom code that is written for one customer and then sold as an add-on is rarely a product that is sustainable for multiple customers over a long haul unless it is really narrow in scope. Some MD’s also do try to make the customer beholden to the programmer, but shame on the consultant or consumer who falls into this trap these days (that’s so 80′s).

If you buy a piece of software and then start to develop add-ons for it (whether you pay for them or not), then you have bought the wrong software.

The likelihood of your / anyone’s business being so unique that there is no software already out there to handle it is pretty much zero. So the trick is to work out what you want now, where logically that might take you over the next 3-5 years in terms of further requirements, and spec your software purchase accordingly. And buy software that already does it. If you can’t find software to meet your perceived need, then it is quite likely your need is not real, and that, by thinking laterally, you should find a different way to solve your problem.

Businesses often get very hung up about “their” requirements. However to get too hung up about these is to ignore the reality that there are only a small number of distinct business processes. For example, all manufacturing businesses buy stuff, do things do the stuff and then sell other stuff. Whether it is food, chemicals, automotive or whatever, the core principles and processes are the same, and don’t let anyone tell you their business is different. All businesses have suppliers, staff, and customers. A CRM system needs to handle complex customer interactions, but they are the same regardless of industry.

The trick therefore is to buy a solution appropriate to your place in the market (number of users, budget etc). The software distinguishes itself by the depth of the functionality, and by its reporting capabilities.