As a consulting firm and support provider we often find ourself in very odd situations being a liason between a software developer and an end user. Under most circumstances end users have a very limited set of needs, they need to be able to type a letter, keep a spreadsheet, correspond by email and of course print their data. The vast majority of computer users today will utilize Word, Excel and maybe a book keeping application like Quicken or Quickbooks. Many of our customers will take tasks that may be more easily accomplished in another application and force fit them into an application that wasn't really designed for it but the customer knows how to "make it work".
Of course there are customers who need a more vertical application. These applications can include industry specific niche applications such as Mitchell OnDemand (car industry), Medisoft (medical practice management), or AutoCAD (drafting and engineering). For the most part these software providers are reasonable. Occasionally we run into some oddities but as time as went on the small developers have been bought or just folded up shop and went away. Today we're going to discuss the worst case scenarios and the fruit cakes of the world - without naming to many names of course. This is just some things to be aware of if you're researching software for a specific business need.
Recently we came across a software vendor with very specific requirements, many of which are just good practice for any software company. They should specify minimum hardware that more than exceeds the reality of what their software runs on. This prevents a customer from getting "cheap" and thinking that Best Buy is the solution to all their needs. For example specify Windows 7 Professional with 4gb RAM for a workstation and Windows 2008 with 4gb or 8gb for a server.
The real issue becomes when software developers go what I will refer to as out of bounds. What exactly is out of bounds? Specifying a specific model of printer, scanner, copier, or even a modem. Demanding specific processors or brands of equipment is another gripe. When you're looking at applications for your business remember that you are the customer. You probably already have a lot of equipment you've invested in and probably a lot of money already spent. What I like to tell my customers is Windows is Windows. Software developed for Windows should run on Windows. If the underlying computer runs the Operating System then any program that runs on that Operating System should run on that computer. The only exception to this should be if you're not meeting minimum requirements, for example you need more RAM or hard drive space, if you don't the application should run but it may not perform well. Printers and scanners are standardized to Windows now and have been since the early 1990's. Almost without exception applications will talk to Windows which in turn talks to your printer, very few applications directly address devices.
So whats the recommendation? Look around and take advantage of the fact there are likely many choices for what you're trying to do regardless of industry. Ask for trial software and have your IT person install it and test it with everything you have. If a software company gets pushy remember that you're "marrying" them and the relationship will go on and on for years. Your data is locked up and you'll get to much invested to easily switch later. If they push to hard and aren't supporting a wide range of options remember that in the future some of their standards may even become impossible to purchase or worse even they may release updates that require you to move along or lose support. In short, do your research, its your money and your business.
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