Monday, October 26, 2009
A Matter of Trust:Executive Level Advocates
To realize the optimum "return on sharing", there should be advocates for both the sharing and protection of data. Some companies have elevated data protection to a C-level job—the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer). Senior supply chain executives must also advocate the benefits of sharing of information. These decisions should rationally weigh the trade-offs. The supply chain that maximizes sharing of the right information works like one integrated enterprise, realizing significant competitive advantages over a supply chain whose participants withhold valuable information from each other.
Monday, October 5, 2009
AccountMate Software An International Product No One Knew About
Company History
AccountMate was founded in 1984 as a privately owned company. Its core competency then (as it remains today) was developing and selling source code modifiable accounting software through a reseller channel. The same model exists today except that over the years the ownership status has had some changes.
AccountMate was privately owned until purchased in 2000 by Softline Software, a South African publicly-held corporation. Softline also purchased BusinessVision of Mississauga, ON, Canada. In 2004, Softline management attempted to purchase the company and privatize it, believing that the company was undervalued. This tender offer was noticed by both Exact Software of the Netherlands and Sage Software of Great Britain. Sage won the bidding war.
Sage Software placed both AccountMate and BusinessVision under the Best Software banner. After Best Software acquired ACCPAC International, AccountMate and BusinessVision were placed in the ACCPAC division. Following a short transition period, senior managers at AccountMate approached Best with the intention of purchasing AccountMate outright. In May 2004 the final acquisition was completed by the three senior managers: David Dierke, President and CEO; David Render, COO; and Tommy Tan, CTO. This acquisition again made AccountMate a privately-held company. There is no doubt that this local ownership allows for more focused strategic planning and quicker decision turnaround time. AccountMate currently employees forty-five people, most of who are located in its Novato, CA (US) headquarters. A second development office operates in Cebu, the Philippines.
AccountMate started life as a single product developed in FoxPro and supporting the FoxBASE database. The original FoxBASE product line has evolved into Visual AccountMate LAN and still serves customers with several users and to some extent a limited budget.
In addition, there are two versions of AccountMate 6.5, the company's SQL-based product line. The define Microsoft Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) version is available for small businesses with up to five users and a two-gigabyte database capacity, while the SQL version is designed for hundreds of users and larger databases. This allows companies to buy into the product line for a reasonable investment, and maintain their investment in staff training and customization as they grow.
AccountMate should not be viewed as having a limited product line. AccountMate's current management team is focused on marketing several critical facts that will point up its products' strengths:
* AccountMate 6.5 is a very well-designed product with rich functionality.
* The product has been translated into three languages (French, Spanish, and Chinese) in addition to its native English.
* The product line is multicurrency and is supported by resellers or distributors in twenty-eight countries.
* AccountMate provides a unique built-in translation engine for data dictionary translation into any language. This translation engine allows clients to run their AccountMate SQL/MSDE products with the screens supported in their home language.
AccountMate 6.5 for MSDE
AccountMate 6.5 for MSDE is designed for small businesses that desire the stability and speed of a SQL database without incurring the expense of Microsoft's SQL server licenses.
Designed for up to five users and with a two-gigabyte database limit, AccountMate 6.5 for MSDE can be easily and quickly customized to fit a company's business processes while keeping a project's investment within reasonable limits.
AccountMate 6.5 for SQL
AccountMate 6.5 for SQL includes the same feature set as its MSDE version. It is designed for medium-sized businesses and can accommodate hundreds of simultaneous users. There is also no built-in limit to the size of the database.
The product utilizes Microsoft's SQL database server to insure that a user's investment in AccountMate is for the long term—with superior scalability, up-time performance, and better data security.
AccountMate 6.5 for SQL has the same look, ease of use, and number of customizable modules as the MSDE version, so a company can seamlessly transition from one to the other without additional investment in staff training, customization, and other such expenses.
One of the most interesting design characteristics of AccountMate is that users are not forced to accept higher-end functionality as the base product is improved over time. AccountMate has certainly added significant functionality over the past several years, but has chosen to create several "flavors" of a single application. The most notable example of this is inventory, where higher-end functionality is available if users need it, but those companies with simple inventory requirements can utilize a simple inventory application.
Standard applications include
* System Manager
* General Ledger
* Accounts Payable
* Accounts Receivable
* Bank Reconciliation
* Payroll
* Purchase Order
* Sales Order
AccountMate was founded in 1984 as a privately owned company. Its core competency then (as it remains today) was developing and selling source code modifiable accounting software through a reseller channel. The same model exists today except that over the years the ownership status has had some changes.
AccountMate was privately owned until purchased in 2000 by Softline Software, a South African publicly-held corporation. Softline also purchased BusinessVision of Mississauga, ON, Canada. In 2004, Softline management attempted to purchase the company and privatize it, believing that the company was undervalued. This tender offer was noticed by both Exact Software of the Netherlands and Sage Software of Great Britain. Sage won the bidding war.
Sage Software placed both AccountMate and BusinessVision under the Best Software banner. After Best Software acquired ACCPAC International, AccountMate and BusinessVision were placed in the ACCPAC division. Following a short transition period, senior managers at AccountMate approached Best with the intention of purchasing AccountMate outright. In May 2004 the final acquisition was completed by the three senior managers: David Dierke, President and CEO; David Render, COO; and Tommy Tan, CTO. This acquisition again made AccountMate a privately-held company. There is no doubt that this local ownership allows for more focused strategic planning and quicker decision turnaround time. AccountMate currently employees forty-five people, most of who are located in its Novato, CA (US) headquarters. A second development office operates in Cebu, the Philippines.
AccountMate started life as a single product developed in FoxPro and supporting the FoxBASE database. The original FoxBASE product line has evolved into Visual AccountMate LAN and still serves customers with several users and to some extent a limited budget.
In addition, there are two versions of AccountMate 6.5, the company's SQL-based product line. The define Microsoft Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) version is available for small businesses with up to five users and a two-gigabyte database capacity, while the SQL version is designed for hundreds of users and larger databases. This allows companies to buy into the product line for a reasonable investment, and maintain their investment in staff training and customization as they grow.
AccountMate should not be viewed as having a limited product line. AccountMate's current management team is focused on marketing several critical facts that will point up its products' strengths:
* AccountMate 6.5 is a very well-designed product with rich functionality.
* The product has been translated into three languages (French, Spanish, and Chinese) in addition to its native English.
* The product line is multicurrency and is supported by resellers or distributors in twenty-eight countries.
* AccountMate provides a unique built-in translation engine for data dictionary translation into any language. This translation engine allows clients to run their AccountMate SQL/MSDE products with the screens supported in their home language.
AccountMate 6.5 for MSDE
AccountMate 6.5 for MSDE is designed for small businesses that desire the stability and speed of a SQL database without incurring the expense of Microsoft's SQL server licenses.
Designed for up to five users and with a two-gigabyte database limit, AccountMate 6.5 for MSDE can be easily and quickly customized to fit a company's business processes while keeping a project's investment within reasonable limits.
AccountMate 6.5 for SQL
AccountMate 6.5 for SQL includes the same feature set as its MSDE version. It is designed for medium-sized businesses and can accommodate hundreds of simultaneous users. There is also no built-in limit to the size of the database.
The product utilizes Microsoft's SQL database server to insure that a user's investment in AccountMate is for the long term—with superior scalability, up-time performance, and better data security.
AccountMate 6.5 for SQL has the same look, ease of use, and number of customizable modules as the MSDE version, so a company can seamlessly transition from one to the other without additional investment in staff training, customization, and other such expenses.
One of the most interesting design characteristics of AccountMate is that users are not forced to accept higher-end functionality as the base product is improved over time. AccountMate has certainly added significant functionality over the past several years, but has chosen to create several "flavors" of a single application. The most notable example of this is inventory, where higher-end functionality is available if users need it, but those companies with simple inventory requirements can utilize a simple inventory application.
Standard applications include
* System Manager
* General Ledger
* Accounts Payable
* Accounts Receivable
* Bank Reconciliation
* Payroll
* Purchase Order
* Sales Order
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