David’s Blog

• 2012-04-17 SugarCRM Intacct Integration brings Best of Breed Solutions Together (1 Comment)
  

  We’re really excited to announce our SugarCRM Intacct Integration this week in time for SugarCon, the annual SugarCRM Trade Show and Conference.     Our software integrates the two leading “best of [More...]

  
  
• 2012-03-12 So You Want to Successfully Implement CRM Software (No Comments)
  

  So you want to successfully implement CRM Software?  If you read the trades, you might think it’s next to impossible.  Reports of successful implementations are at a frighteningly low percentage.   [More...]

  
  
• 2012-01-9 The Top 10 Things Your Software Thinks about You (No Comments)
  

  Ever wonder what your accounting and ERP software thinks of you?  We recently developed some top secret technology that actually reads the mind of software.  I know what you're thinking, [More...]

  
  
• 2011-12-22 What Happened to the BlackBerry? (No Comments)
  

  I was with a friend today who got an interesting email on their BlackBerry.   Handing me the BlackBerry, she asked me to read the email and tell her what [More...]

  
  
• 2011-12-18 Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Year End Help (No Comments)
  

  The end of the year only comes around once a year.    Luckily.    If you're a Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 user, no doubt you have special stuff [More...]

  
  
• 2011-12-12 Trust (1 Comment)
  

  Either you trust your software provider or you don’t.   And if you don’t, then you need to pick a different software provider.   It can be that simple. What are some signs [More...]

  
  
• 2011-12-7 Trade Shows…Your Worst Nightmare (No Comments)
  

  Just got back from a trade show in Austin, TX for the Information Technology Alliance (ITA). The ITA is an industry group that brings together a bunch of IT, software, [More...]

  
  
• 2011-11-15 An End to Printing and Mailing? (No Comments)
  

  Ever been sitting there printing a bunch of documents, stuffing envelopes, affixing stamps, and thinking that there has to be a better way? Since 2008, there's been a company called Postal [More...]

  
  
• 2011-10-22 Google Email Unable to Meet Security Needs of LA (No Comments)
  

  Google and CSC signed contracts with the City of Los Angeles to implement a new email system back in July 2009.    Now, over two years later, the email is still [More...]

  
  
• 2011-10-20 Lessons from Dave Grohl and The Foo Fighters (3 Comments)
  

  Saw the Foo Fighters last week at The Fabulous Forum in Inglewood.   What a great show!   Dave Grohl and the guys in the band put on quite a performance, rocking [More...]

  
  
• 2011-10-17 The Top 10 Reasons Why Software Implementations Fail (No Comments)
  

  We never go into a software implementation thinking it will fail.  However, we live in the real world, and we know that few companies today achieve successful software implementations on [More...]

  
  
• 2011-10-5 Steve Jobs & Me (No Comments)
  

  I was never a big Apple guy. I was never a big Macintosh guy. I was never a big iPhone guy. I was ALWAYS a Steve Jobs guy. There have been [More...]

  
  
• 2011-09-23 More Offices Let Users Choose Their Own Devices (No Comments)
  

  The New York Times recently reported that in a survey published by Forrester Research, they found that 48 percent of workers buy smartphones for work without considering what their I.T. department [More...]

  
  
• 2011-09-16 Integrating CRM Software with Credit Card Processing (No Comments)
  

  CRM Software exists, among other things, to capture and maintain information about your customers.   Credit Card Numbers can be a key component of that information, and it seems like an [More...]

  
  
• 2011-07-27 Buy, Build or Customize? (No Comments)
  

  Have you bought a house recently?   It's an interesting process.   Do you a buy a house that's exactly what you want?   Do you buy a house that's close to what [More...]

  
  
• 2011-07-20 Have a User Adoption Plan for Software (No Comments)
  

  Before you sit down to implement any new software, have a “User Adoption Plan”.      Any software, no matter how great, can be easily derailed by users who refuse to use [More...]

  
  
• 2011-07-18 Great Software (No Comments)
  

  What is “successful” or “great” software? Is it easy to use? Does it have a lot of features and functionality? Is it cost effective? Does it help organizations streamline their [More...]

  
  
• 2011-06-24 Make Progress Not Spreadsheets (No Comments)
  

  Are you in one of those companies where there's a spreadsheet for everything? Financial statements? Yep. Got a spreadsheet for that. Fixed Assets? No problem. Been keeping those in a [More...]

  
  
• 2011-05-31 Software Selection and the 2/3 that Matter (No Comments)
  

  When selecting software, how do you know if it's the right one?  How much time do you need to spend vetting the solution?     It's a tough call.   In the 60s [More...]

  
  
• 2011-05-18 SugarCRM and Constant Contact…Together at Last! (4 Comments)
  

  We’re really excited to announce the release of our SugarCRM – Constant Contact Integration. For those of you who’ve been using both products, this integration will eliminate the laborious task [More...]

  
  
• 2011-05-2 Black Box Software (No Comments)
  

  What is a “Closed System”?  It’s a system where stuff happens and you don’t know what it is, except that the stuff still happens.   It’s like a “black box”.    Stuff [More...]

  
  
• 2011-04-19 Cloud Based Software and Swimming Lessons (1 Comment)
  

  Would you jump into a swimming pool if you didn't know how to swim?   Would you buy a new Bugatti if you didn't know how to drive?   So, why would [More...]

  
  
• 2011-04-7 It’s the Integration, Man (No Comments)
  

  Just got back from SugarCon, the annual trade show for SugarCRM partners and users.  What an incredibly great experience!  The Sugar folks were, to a person, intelligent, optimistic, inspired, and [More...]

  
  
• 2011-03-21 Customer Service 101 & Southwest Airlines (1 Comment)
  

  I flew in from Arizona on Sunday. Southwest Airlines from Phoenix to Burbank. For those of you in Southern California, you know the weather was unusually intense for SoCal. It [More...]

  
  
• 2011-02-25 10 Things I Want in IT Support (1 Comment)
  

  Now that we're in the software business only, our company is a user of IT support just like the next company.   Or, almost like the next company anyway.   Being away [More...]

  
  
• 2011-02-21 Software Solves Real Problems. Go Figure. (No Comments)
  

  So often software is installed and at the end of the day, it’s no more than a big word processor recording events but not really adding a whole lot of [More...]

  
  
• 2011-02-15 For the Love of Software (No Comments)
  

  I'm not a programmer.   I'm a user.   Sometimes I’m a power user.   Sometimes  not.  Mostly I'm just a user.   Like you.   Like my dad.   Well, not exactly like my dad.  [More...]

  
  
• 2011-01-25 Don’t Let the Software Choose You (No Comments)
  

  So here's the thing…there are lots of decent, good software packages out there.  They're easy to use.  Affordable.  They're in the cloud, so they travel with you and aren't difficult [More...]

  
  
• 2011-01-4 Running Our Business like a Doctor’s Office (1 Comment)
  

  Happy New Year!   I had to get a checkup last week at the doctor.  No big deal...it was just time.  Since that experience, I've decided that from now on, we're going [More...]

  
  
• 2010-12-1 SugarCRM – Sage MAS 90 Integration (1 Comment)
  

  SugarCRM is the leading open source CRM software package in the world.  Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 are among the leading accounting and ERP software packages in the world.   [More...]

  
  
• 2010-11-26 The Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Upgrade Hangover (No Comments)
  

  Talk about a hangover….   The day after an upgrade is “complete” can feel just like a hangover.   Everyone can be exhausted after a long night of “upgrading”.   You were up [More...]

  
  
• 2010-11-16 Software & Coaching Basketball (No Comments)
  

  I have an 8 year old son, and I coach his basketball team.   It's the time of year where there are basketball tryouts, and so all us dads/wanna be coaches [More...]

  
  
• 2010-10-28 Great Expectations (No Comments)
  

  With apologies to Charles Dickens... Success in technology and software is a funny thing. Rather than black and white,  it's hugely a function of your expectations going in. Big  expectations?  Big [More...]

  
  
• 2010-10-13 Document Management and the Road to 100% (1 Comment)
  

  Software selection projects are never easy, mainly because it's generally difficult to find a solution that meets 100% of your needs.   You usually have to be willing to give something [More...]

  
  
• 2010-08-26 “Time Travel” aka Troubleshooting a Dot Matrix Printer in 2010 (No Comments)
  

  Took a ride with one of our consultants earlier this week to see a client who was having trouble printing checks from Sage MAS 90 to their dot matrix printer. Apparently, [More...]

  
  
• 2010-08-3 The Secret of Successful Software Implementations (1 Comment)
  

  It’s the dirty little secret of successful software implementations. No one really talks about it. It’s taken for granted and underappreciated, usually. Like the Aunt that always shows up at [More...]

  
  
• 2010-07-28 The Cloud isn’t Perfect, but it’s Here (No Comments)
  

  Many writers have done a great job pointing out the shortcomings and risks of "The Cloud", and there is certainly no shortage of risk.    The Cloud is definitely not perfect.  Of [More...]

  
  
• 2010-07-26 The Right Mindset (1 Comment)
  

  To be successful implementing new software takes the right mindset.  It may take the right software and it may take the right people, but it definitely takes the right mindset.  [More...]

  
  
• 2010-06-24 But It Doesn’t Work Like Our Old Software! (2 Comments)
  

  I heard it again.  “It doesn’t work like our old software”.   You work in this business long enough, and there are some standard catch phrases you tend to hear over [More...]

  
  
• 2010-06-15 A World Without IT Support (2 Comments)
  

  I had a dream.  I was the CEO of a business, and we didn't have to buy any servers or have an IT department.  Our email was hosted by Intermedia (or [More...]

  
  
• 2010-05-25 Sage Survey Finds Optimism (No Comments)
  

  A Sage Software survey of some 1500 small business owners found guarded optimism about their financial future.  They reported that cost cutting and financial conservatism were still the most frequent [More...]

  
  
• 2010-05-20 What Motivates Us (No Comments)
  

  I'm about halfway through a book called Drive, by Dan Pink. It's a paradigm shifting book which basically says everything we thought we knew about motivation is wrong, especially as [More...]

  
  
• 2010-05-18 The Future is Now (2 Comments)
  

  I've seen the future, and it doesn't have a lot of manual entry, post-it's, and scribbling. It really doesn't have a lot of paper at all. It's got solutions that [More...]

  
  
• 2010-05-14 To Do List Management (No Comments)
  

  Technology is really exciting right now.   There are so many cool tools being developed for people to use at home and in business that it's hard to keep up.  Whether [More...]

  
  
• 2010-04-23 Sage Market Share & History (No Comments)
  

  Check out this great overview of Sage's position in the market as well as a brief history of the company and its product line (MAS90, MAS200, MAS500, ACT!, etc.). It [More...]

  
  
• 2010-03-22 To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade (No Comments)
  

  One of the most difficult decisions a client may face in the lifetime of their business is whether or not to upgrade their business management software when the software company [More...]

  
  
• 2010-02-16 Staples Offers Managed Services (No Comments)
  

  This is interesting.  Staples may not end up being very good at doing this (can you say "Geek Squad"?) or even very successful at this, but it seems sure to eventually [More...]

  
  
• 2010-02-8 Asking the Right Questions (No Comments)
  

  I just got out of a meeting with the CEO at a client where the meeting began by him asking me the question "What technology is out there that can [More...]

  
  
• 2010-02-4 Excel Should be Outlawed (2 Comments)
  

  Excel should be outlawed.  There.  I said it.  Or, if not outlawed, you should at least have to pass a “common sense test” to be allowed to use it. I just [More...]

  
  
• 2010-02-3 Keep an Eye on Things (1 Comment)
  

  I just returned from yet another meeting with another CEO whose company was the victim of embezzlement from a trusted employee. While this is the sort of activity has always [More...]

  
  
• 2010-02-2 Six Clues that You’ve Outgrown Your Accounting Software (No Comments)
  

  Accounting & ERP Software Packages are constantly being enhanced with better functionality. Efficiency and flexibility are generally improved with each new product version, and many accounting software developers integrate user-requested [More...]

  
  
• 2010-01-29 iPhone Saves Life (1 Comment)
  

  A man buried in rubble in Haiti used his iPhone to survive. If this story is true, it's one of the all-time best uses of technology. And I thought the [More...]

  
  
• 2010-01-21 Are You Secure? (No Comments)
  

  Many times we’ll be meeting with a client, and they will ask “Are we secure?”  What a great question!!!  “Secure” means so many different things to so many people, that [More...]

  
  
• 2010-01-14 Customizing Software is NOT so bad (No Comments)
  

  Many consultants talk about customizing software as if it’s akin to selling your soul to the Devil. They site a litany of reasons why it’s a bad idea – the [More...]

  
  
• 2010-01-5 Should I Listen to My IT Guy? (No Comments)
  

  If you run a company, you’re probably used to your “IT Guy” telling you that you need to do this and that.  It seems like there’s always an opportunity to [More...]

  
  
• 2009-03-25 Doing Business on an iPhone (No Comments)
  

  Late last year, I traded in my Treo for an iPhone. No, this decision wasn’t based solely on the fact that I could now use the iSudoku app any time [More...]