Why no SaaS vendors included?
It is interesting that David has left us Software as a Service "new entrant" vendors out of his review of the year. AW readers know there was quite a debate on the topic some weeks ago, sparked by Paul Stobart of Sage trying to play down the importance of this "new wave" (he would say that, wouldn't he!). Most industry analysts predict that the SaaS based offerings will begin to disrupt things for the traditional software vendors during 2006. We launched Twinfield in the UK only a couple of months ago, although the web service has been around in The Netherlands for 5 years, with over 10,000 satisfied users. You will see a press release, case study and a podcast on the experiences of one of our early UK customers, Goodman Jones, published shortly. We'll also be publishing other user stories, like DPA Financial People who have converted to Twinfield from Oracle Financials. Hopefully we'll all get more recognition by the end of 2006.
David Terrar
Mailto:dt@d2c.org.uk
web: http://www.d2c.org.uk and http://www.twinfield.co.uk
blog: http://www.businesstwozero.com
Access Accounts
Surely the highlight of the year is Access Accounts winning AccountancyAge mid-range software of the year?
Nothing like a bit of motivated self interest.
Happy Christmas and New Year to all.
Regards
John Clough
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
http://www.bdo.co.uk
My gob has never been so smacked
It's interesting reading David's round up of non-events.
It seems like many - and I would have included myself up 'til last July - David missed the sea change that's coming in software, the way it is used and the way information around that software is disseminated and understood.
David is right to imply a 'convulsion' though I don't agree with his sense of history. But then we all write history based upon our ontological position.
2006 will be the year of the 'software service' in more ways than I think any of us can imagine. There will be a lot of confusion and scratching of heads as observers, commenters, vendors, pundits and others weigh in with sometimes violently opposing views.
The only company about which I will make a prediction is Sage. It will become increasingly concerned about the rise of services as medium sized firms (10-20 partners, 100-200 staff) start looking seriously at delivering services over the wire. But Sage will find it hard to come up with a solution. Its traditional tactic of acquisition will not work. (I'll explain that later.)
I'm sure plenty will disagree with me but the changes I see are already taking place. Earlier today, I recorded a conversation with 2 partners at Goodman Jones. They are talking about how they see accounting service Twinfieldchanging the way they service clients.
No-one makes a better case for software or a service than a customer. When the recording is released (very soon so keep an eye on or subscribe to my stuff), I believe it will serve as a talking point among those that want to get away from being compliance driven to a model that starts with the perspective of adding value for clients.
This is because the recording tells a story of their experience and expectations. And not mine or a vendor cheer leading.
In that sense, this will be the year when the customer - in this case Goodman Jones - will speak far louder than David, myself or any vendor can.
This will have a profound impact on the way we consume information and the sources we trust. It may seem a world apart from where the profession is today. It will challenge the way the profession is organised and the services it renders.
Of course I may well be wrong.
So you like lockdown?
To Stephen's point. SAP/Business One has been attempting to crack the UK market for years. And failed. Why would you buy into something so restrictive? Why buy into something that is so process centric when SMEs don't see or benefit from process in the same way as mid-sized business?
And that's before we start to talk TCO.
So why exactly should anyone think about BusinessOne? Why not say a NetSuite?
WinWeb AccountsOffice
To complete the software round-up, I would like to add our product AccountOffice 3.1 to the list of "newcomers".
We are the first and currently only purely online accounting solution accredited by the ICAEW.
Our target market is the self employed, mini- and small business sector.
The software takes a new and currently unique approach to accounting to help small business to work in real time with their accountants. The single user version is free of charge and even includes 12 month free 24 x 7 live online support. For accountants the use of the product with each client is also free.
More on our website www.winweb.com