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Thread: iCode Everest or Netsuite? - Looking for an "all-in-one" small business solution

  1. #181
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    6
    I don't know if econostores has all the features you need, but it is an all-in-one solution.

  2. #182
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Deerfield Beach, Florida
    Posts
    10

    MainStreet Commerce

    A note from MainStreet CEO Michael Sandler. At MainStreet, we are quite proud of our software package and our dedication to professional services and support. As posted above, we have a user that is upset. Despite the comments posted, we have reached out to this user and still sincerely welcome the opportunity to help this user within the constraints of the project resources and budget.

    More broadly, we are always seeking to improve and our participation in this forum provides the opportunity to acknowledge issues (such as we did in a previous posting included below for reference), provide insight, and get feedback. As our user community benefits, so do we.

    [Previous posting (for reference): There are absolutely legitimate concerns and a heavy dose of truth in the delays as professional services has been very busy. When someone wants MainStreet to do project work for the company, they have had to wait for a slotting which has been sometimes 4 or 5 weeks out. Acknowledging is hopefully a strong indication that there is a sincere desire to improve. During the past few months, the company has been working hard to correct and improve this and make more resources and documentation available. This has involved implementing a support portal, providing 2 hour "hot topic" conference call sessions, and beefing up support for third party developers who can do implementations of BusinessFlow.]

    To give insight into the pricing change...we eliminated the up-front license fee for hosted deployments so that companies feel comfortable trialing BusinessFlow. It is $950/month subscription with no per user and no per module fees. Users may cancel their subscription if they wish. While this is a sign of our confidence in our software, it also acknowledges that because BusinessFlow is complex, it may require trial for a company to thoroughly evaluate how they will operate on the system and determine their use of the SDK to customize BusinessFlow for their company. Although BusinessFlow is standards based, there is most definitely a learning curve for a developer using the SDK and companies need to accurately scope their deployment. When a subscription starts, professional services are not included in the $950 as some companies do not require any assistance and therefore do not need to pay for assistance. So, we have not bundled it.

    On deployments...we have been investing very heavily in the usability of the SDK to support third party developers. This is critical to our ability to scale and is consistent with the core values of the package - open and flexible. We are also working on our project management process whereby we require more definitive specifications if MainStreet engineers are to be used for a project. Because the software is flexible, in times past, we have used that flexibility to craft solutions for clients through our professionals services without having a detailed specification. While we would like to continue that creativity in our engineering, driving more clarity into solution specification will be good for the client and good for MainStreet to define success and reach it.

    These changes and genuine efforts are part of our investment and commitment to the continued success of BusinessFlow and the BusinessFlow community.

    Best Regards,

    Michael Sandler
    CEO
    MainStreet Commerce
    800-595-6246 Ext 85
    msandler@mainstreetcommerce.com

  3. #183
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    52

    any plans for adding GL capabilities?

    Michael

    I know the current strategy around MS is to not offer General Ledger because your findings lead you to believe most customers/companies have an existing GL software they prefer to "tie into" M.S., but I was wondering if you have re-thought about this.

    Are there any plans to add built in General Ledger functionality into BusinessFlow? If you had it we would have probably chosen to go with you guys.

    We just made the decision to go with Interprise Suite and will, over the next couple of months, be migrating our historical data and our 3 websites over to I.S.

    Once we get this migration completed we will report back to let you know how it goes.

    We really did try everything we could to stay with Netsuite, but it just didn't work out...

    Hope this helps

  4. #184
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Deerfield Beach, Florida
    Posts
    10

    MainStreet Commerce reply to question from Mutahman posted above

    Question from Mutahman posted above: I know the current strategy around MS is to not offer General Ledger because your findings lead you to believe most customers/companies have an existing GL software they prefer to "tie into" M.S., but I was wondering if you have re-thought about this. Are there any plans to add built in General Ledger functionality into BusinessFlow? If you had it we would have probably chosen to go with you guys.

    Mutahman -

    We are in discussions with companies like yours to get feedback and determine what will be the best way to proceed. The most likely outcome will be to provide specific feeds and/or connectors (tightly pre-configured) to packages such as Microsoft Dynamics and QuickBooks.

    As you noted, in many deployments of BusinessFlow, it is serving an order entry/ order management hub in the enterprise with integrations through our synchronization layer into ERP packages, WMS packages, analytics packages, 3rd party logistics providers, etc. This deployment (best of breed) fits with BusinessFlow's architecture which focuses on being open and flexible.

    That said, you and companies like yours have our attention, and I will keep you posted as we further our thinking. We welcome additional thoughts and advice.

    Best Regards,

    Michael Sandler
    CEO
    MainStreet Commerce
    800-595-6246 Ext 85
    msandler@mainstreetcommerce.com
    www.mainstreetcommerce.com

  5. #185
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    4
    Mutahman,

    What made you decide to take the leap with Interprise? As you've said in previous posts, they have a very new product with a number of issues that need to be addressed. I've been evaluating Interprise and VisionCore recently and have been equally frustrated with trying to get solid references. They appear to have lots of functionality but not much of a track record.

  6. #186
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    52

    Why we decided to go in this direction

    Mr. Christmas, good question. I'm going to answer this honestly, and I'm sure that the reasons as to why we have made our decision will be debated as to "is that the correct reason to make such a decision".

    We have the option to extend Netsuite for 3 years, and at a very aggressive price. I personally feel very strongly about the capabilities of the Netsuite product. On top of that, the fact that we have been using Netsuite for 3 years and all my people know the product and all our data is in "their" database would make it seem like a no brainer for me to stay with Netsuite (or at least extent the agreement for 3 years while I look for the best replacement AND let the market and it's players mature). Yet, based on the experience I have had with Netsuite over the past 3 months, I feel compelled to get away from them as quickly as possible. Here is what happened----I started to work with Netsuite (for our current renewal) in December '07, and what I have gone through to get this renewal completed has been absurd. I have it written in my original contract that there was a price cap on the increase at time of renewal...well I had to escalate this all the way up to their executive team to get this ok'd. Once I went through this exercise and got the "yes we will honor the contract", I was then given a new sales rep., who lasted 1 day. I was then handed over to another rep (who at the end of Dec. was at that time on the job for 7 months). We spoke at length a number of times, he provided me with a new quote and I noticed that a feature that was originally part of my base license, was now added in as a separate module that I was being charged extra for. I brought this to the reps attention, and he told me that he was going to CES but will bring this up to his management team and get it fixed. I waited a week (knowing he was on the road). I then sent him a few mails in mid Jan, then a couple of calls...finally by the end of January someone answered me and told me that my sales rep had left the company. OK....so then I am handed off to another guy, a good guy, been with the company for 7 years. OK great, so a guy who has been there a while, knows what he is doing...finally!! I explain to him the whole situation, in all its detail. He says, ok understand. He then gives me a quote. I look a it and say, OK. then I get a mail from the VP of sales, saying that quote is a mistake and he and I need to talk in a week when he gets back from being on the road

    Now, all this time we are looking at different solutions. The 2 that we are leaning toward are Vision Core and Interprise. In my mind vision core is the leader cause I have played with their backend the most, and while it's a step or 2 down from Netsuite, what they are missing doesn't kill me and I could pay an integrator to build these customizations for me. The reason I have VC over Interprise is because my original demo with Interprise was a debacle. But then my web guy tells me there is a new version of Interprise (SP3). So we look at it and this version is greatly improved over what I saw last time. I then contact Vision Core to find out if we can see a demo of the shopping cart (able commerce) along with the backend. I'm told, wait a week they (able commerce) are just finishing up their demo. I wait a week, contact VC again and I'm told, "we're waiting for able and when they are reasy we will have a demo for you"....ok. Then 2 more weeks go by and I mail VC and say "do you want this business or not", I get a mail back "yes we want the business, please be patient they will have the demo soon". 2 days later I get a mail with demo links...I think, great. I try to load the demo, but it's not a demo....it's 2 live versions I need to load on servers. I call a local VC integrator, and he says "yup, these are actual copies that need to be installed on a server and then you have to do the integration between able and VC....because it's not yet done....this is a job that will take a number of hours to do". I contact VC and able, and they tell me--sorry the integration will not be ready until later this year. I'm thinking, ok they are out.

    Now all this time we are looking at many other solutions, and none of them is really giving me enough of a reason to leave Netsuite, even though I now want to get away from them. Then I get a mail from Interprise saying they have a new hotfix for their latest release. I load the hotfix, I'm playing with the system for a few days, I go on their user forum (sign up) and then sent 11 PM's to 11 different customers who have posted on the forum. 10 of the 11 answered me and all 10 said they would definately choose Interprise again if they had to choose, all of them saying "yeah there are some small issues but these guys are very responsive". We asked for a quote, got a great deal and said, let's do this.

    We have now found what seems to be a great person to extract all the data (including transactional data) from Netsuite at a very reasonable price, and have a local Interprise integrator who seems eager to get this rolled out. so I am hoping that over the next 3-4 weeks we get everything implemented, customized and 2 of our websites up and running, and that WE wind up being the benchmark reference account for Interprise.

    Hope this helps

  7. #187
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    4
    Mutahman, I appreciate all the info. I too have been back and forth with Interprise and VisionCore and have looked at many other ERP products on the market as well including the big boys. I have not seen any product that has the potential (at least for my situation) that Interprise has but I have pretty much decided that it's not ready for prime time. I have looked at several of their demo versions including the latest SP3 Hotfix 1. Each time I am impressed with the functionality but disappointed with the buggy nature of the software. Conceptually, I think Interprise has it right and wish you the best on your implementation. If you get it going, I don't think there is a better product.

    On VisionCore, I also have the email with the "demos" and there appears to be an integration piece. I will post back to let you know if it's really there or not. That said, I do know that the integration piece is limited and is not as well integrated as aspdnsf and IP.

    If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open. We're an INC 500 company and have several high volume websites that I would like to move to a new platform. So far we've looked at Netsuite, MS Dynamics, SAP Business One, Mainstreet, VisionCore, Interprise, Dydacomp, Everest and a few others.

  8. #188
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Intermountain West
    Posts
    10
    How about:

    www.sql-ledger.com

    I've gotten to really like MySql, after finding out how our website's built-in SQL server works with Cart32 (www.novak-adapt.com). It works extremely well for us, and it is based off some custom code I contracted out for.

    So, step-by-step we're phasing ourselves gladly out of the NetSuite yearly renewal nightmares.


    Eric

  9. #189
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    52

    shoot me a PM

    MR.C.

    We have run into a few bugs and I do see the issues being encountered by those posting on their user boards but we haven't run into anything yet that was of major concern. What have you found as the major bugs?

    We also know we will need to do a bit of customization to make this exactly what we want (both on the IS side and the cart side). We're looking forward to this.

    With regards to VC, what I was told was that the "integration" between the most recent version of Ablecommerce and VC is more like a bridge vs. a true integration and was quite a project to implement.

    This will be an interesting transition and I will let you all know how it goes...and I'll try to be honest and be as impartial as I can with what I report back.

    Hope this helps

  10. #190
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    4
    Mutahman,

    The major issue for me has to do with user roles and security (this may not be a problem for everyone but it's a major issue for me). I've asked about it and they said they were working on it but I don't expect it to be resolved in the short term. My other hang up was lack of documentation. Normally, I wouldn't be so picky but if I know I'm going to have some bumps in the road with a product, I would at least like good documentation/help to steer me along.

    I'm not able to send a PM...maybe I don't have enough seniority out here. Anyway, send something my way and I'll be happy to chat.

    On VC, I do still have some questions on what is one-way, two-way, etc. I know that I will have to do some work on the integration piece but VC will provide the source code which will give me something to start with.

  11. #191
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    4
    Quote Originally Posted by Magneto
    How about:

    www.sql-ledger.com

    I've gotten to really like MySql, after finding out how our website's built-in SQL server works with Cart32 (www.novak-adapt.com). It works extremely well for us, and it is based off some custom code I contracted out for.

    So, step-by-step we're phasing ourselves gladly out of the NetSuite yearly renewal nightmares.


    Eric
    Eric,

    Thanks for the suggestion. I saw sql-ledger for the first time in this forum the other day and found it interesting. On the surface it looks like a fine product however I need something that will cover basic CRM (quoting, activity management, leads, opportunities), support a sales team (territory, sales commissions, etc), B2B and B2C pricing schemes in addition to the accounting and web. I've looked at trying to combine several products together to accomplish this but the all in one ERP's seem much more practical.

    Mr. C

  12. #192
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1
    Mutahman,

    I have been reading your posts with great interest. I think I am in the same boat as everyone else reading this thread, I'm looking for a solid one piece solution. I have also been looking at Interprise Suite but have not yet taken the plunge. I think I'm gun shy after my experience with Mainstreet. I would like to find out who you are working with for an integrator but I am unable to send you a personal message (PM). Looks like the PM works on the Interprise Suite forum, what is your username over there.

    If you haven't checked out the IS forum yet it is definately worth reading through. It's refreshing to have this open to the public before buying the product. Another great forum is for Stone Edge Order Manager which has glowing reviews by their user base.

  13. #193
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    11

    Mainstreet Commerce

    I have made several postings about Mainstreet Commerce over the past several weeks and I still stand by them. There seems to be no significant improvement in the company's customer support practices.

    I would recommend a strict agreement in writing to secure an acceptable service level for customer support for anyone who is considering Mainstreet Commerce.

  14. #194
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    2
    mutahman,

    I tried to PM you but was unable to. I am also a Netsuite user looking at Interprise. You said "We have now found what seems to be a great person to extract all the data (including transactional data) from Netsuite at a very reasonable price, and have a local Interprise integrator who seems eager to get this rolled out."

    Could you let me know how to contact this person as getting data out is a big pain. I was thinking about doing the Interprise install myself, but would be happy to talk to an integrator if they can make a good case for their services. And thanks for all you posts, they have been very helpful.

  15. #195
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    52

    Netsuite conversion to Interprise

    Guys

    This week we are starting our implementation to Interprise Suite, and our integrator has a tool that will extract all the data (including transactional data) from Netsuite to I.S.

    If you want to know his contact details please send me a PM

    Thanks

    Dom

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