We are going to Macola ES. We have questions..

[pronet74]

Exact Software will be helping me with this transistion. Even though we have a 'Maintance Contract' the quote for the upgrade from Macola 7.5.103e to Macola ES is going to run us close to $60k.

Question is, I have a Windows 2000 Server (2 CPU). Should I get the SQL Server 2000, 2003 or 2005? Would 2003 or 2005 even work on Windows 2000 Server? I was going to buy the 1 process SQL Sever, since we have 20 users and with the extra Cals needed it would be about the same price. I would take, SQL Server would just run on the one CPU, correct?

Second question I got Macola 7.6 SQL from them on a CD. They wanted to come out and install it. I have experience in SQL, Macola, VBA, Access, etc.. You think it's something I could do? I would be first installing this on our 'Test' server. Basically my company told me that every hour I save from the quote Macola gave me, they will pay me an extra $25 per hour. I would like to do alot of it myself just to learn from it. What do you guys think?

 

[dgillz]

I have seen power users such as yourself that are completely capable of upgrading to 7.6.300c with no help at all. I would not be too worried.

Now moving to ES, don't even think about trying to do that alone. I do think you could cut down on that figure considerably however.

Just out of curiosity, how many users in Progression are you licensed for, and what modules? Also when you go to ES are you also adding eSynergy or Event Manager or anything where there is no functional equivalent in Progression?

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[KingCrab]

It really depends on how familiar you are with the backend. Their Paces conversation, at least when it came out, was not that great and I am not sure how good it is currently.

When we did the conversion we tried paces, it failed, we wrote our own conversion tool in-house to fix everything and complete the process, it worked and everyone was happy.

This could never been done without a very strong knowledge of progression backend and ES backend. Our programmers just happen to have a unsually high knowledge of ES, Progression, and globe.

Setup is another story and some instruction on how to use the product is another story. Who will train the end users, especially F&A on ES? Thats whats going to cost you money. I do not think there is any avoiding it.

If time is not an issue then I guess I would do it yourself. If time is an issue then you definately will need to pay

 

[MacolaHelp]

Do you have a local VAR? Are you upgrading from btrieve to sql as well? There are a lot of tricks and techniques we use to manage these conversions that aren't "in the manual". If you have a decent local VAR, have them help you learn how to upgrade and convert. I usually tell clients it is about $10K to upgrade from old btrieve to current macola sql code doing a prelim & final conversion after testing & validating data. The progression to ES upgrade should be done under the guidance of a good VAR or macola professional services. The training issues alone are significant & unless you are willing to tackle becoming a product expert, you'll have far fewer ongoing problems if you pay for some expert assistance to implement it properly. Systems are much harder to reimplement if the decisions weren't well thought out to begin.

 

[pronet74]

Sorry for the long delay in getting back. We only have 20 users and our mods consist of gl, ar, ap, oe, im, po& rec. , adv. distrubution, barcode, serial/lot, flex. Comes with ES System Manager, & the WMS package.

Do any of you know of any companies that have gone through the conversion? If so may I be able to contact some? The pres. of the company wants me to do this. We are having exact software themselves help me through the process of the conversion.

Of course the company expects everything to be done & polished by March, which I told them I doubt it will happen.

They just want to convert the IM & GL data over. They will want to start from scratch with everything else. Having a pervasive macola as a lookup reference.

 

[MacolaHelp]

Some of us have been doing this for over 10 years. The packages are complex with many switches & many ramifications of setting switches particular ways that impact other packages, accounting, etc., ad nauseum. If you have barcode, serial/lot, multibin, WMS, etc, you have a huge task to educate yourself on setup. Most of my consulting revenue in the last 15 years has come from end users who tried to implement these systems themselves. The installation and file conversion is child's play compared to the complexity of a well-planned implementation by someone who knows the software in depth. And, not to knock macola educational services, but learning how to implement a system using the electronics or bicycle company cannot begin to address the issues real users in the real world face. A good solid knowledge of accounting principals is also key to a successful implementation. Many companies who realize they have problems with their current implementations also make the mistake of reinventing their current processes in their new software because the task of changing processes and procedures is so daunting. The net result is the same poor implementation and resultant problems in a shiny new wrapper. Tell the president of the company that if you get some good help and advice on the front end for implementation, you will have happier users and a more successful end result. You can do the majority of the legwork, but an experienced VAR is worth their weight in gold.

 

[pronet74]

Do you think we would have problems just bringing over the IM & GL? We only have 300 customers they would retype in. I believe it would be easier since they want to go with a totally new customer number scheme. This would allivate me from coding it so that it would change all the customer numbers in all the tables.

Also are there any sort of 'criteria' a company uses in making item numbers? The president thinks the item number should have "nothing" to do with the product. I disagree. I believe the Item Number is a representation of the item & the description. His theory is that when we start adding 'alpha' characters in the item number we are starting to put a description there which will fill the item number field up quickly. We distribute doors, windows, siding, kitchen cabinets, etc.. Our item numbers have already reached 15 characters due to ie. (options added to a cabinet). What makes it harder is that each product category is different. IMO we should have a different set of rules for coming up with Item Numbers for Aluminium siding then say for example kitchen cabinets.

 

[kstickler]

Do you stock the items with the options on it, or are the otions something that you add to it from another stocked item? Your business sounds like it could be a candidate for the Feature/Option configuration in Macola. With this upgrade, You have a real opportunity to undo some system decisions that are hampering your activities....get your VAR to help you on this, you'll be thankful in the long run.

 

[abaldwin]

I agree with Kimmay and some of the others. Having been a Macola Consultant and now back to being a Macola user/programmer. I can not stress enough the need for the total involement of your VAR. I understand trying to save a few bucks here and there, but in the end it will cost you more in the future then the amount you are saving now. Not that you have to turn it over to them completely, you can still earn your extra cash by doing some of the leg work. I.E. file validations and fixing, SQL setup, etc etc.

It sounds (and I may be off base here) to me as if you and your VAR are not on the best of terms. I never liked dealing directly with Macola for their support services and consulting , I just found them personally to be over priced and under-effective. I would suggest you either seek out a very qualified VAR, or get your current VAR more involved.

This posting is probably the best advice I have ever given for free

Andy

Andy Baldwin

"Testing is the most overlooked programming language on the books!

 

[pronet74]

I will talk to them about the Feature/Option when I talk to my project team manager at Exact. The problem here is we are at a location where a VAR isn't around. Plus we already signed the agreement for the upgrade.

 

[MacolaHelp]

In these days of virtual meetings, etc., along with some well planned trips of several days, there is no reason you can't work with a VAR hundreds of miles away. Is exact just helping with the file migration? Are you going all the way from where you are at to ES by the end of March? Is exact planning on doing training on site on all the differences? Do they know what you already have & what should be changed....

The list of questions is huge. Think about having someone on this forum give you a second opinion. Tell us where you are at & we may know someone really good not far from you...

My most recent experiences with exact tech support are that I am telling them how the program works. Maybe they have some really good consultants in the ES implementation group, but there has been such a turnover of staff that I imagine you'll find your project team manager may be lacking in real world experience with a multitude of business models and possible solutions.

 

[SusanD5320]

I'd like to comment on the item numbering question. In my experience, you can attach basic logic to an item number, for example items beginning with 1=siding, 2=cabinets. However, if you try to build too much intelligence into an item, you end up backing yourself into a corner. There are several other attributes that can be used to more specifically identify an item. Product Category, Matl Cost Type, User Code, P&IC Code, Commodity Code just to name a few.

 

[pronet74]

Thanks.. We are in Selinsgrove, PA Zip 17870. 50 miles North of Harrisburg. Thanks for the ideas Susan, they are helpful. They gave me a company to call that has gone through the ES upgrade. I hope to call them today.

Exact is helping with the file migration, training and installing. I'm trying to save the company some money and doing what I can on my end. At first Exact Software required that they must install ES. Just recently I was told by them that they are letting customers install ES by themselves if they wish.

We are only migrating the IM & GL. We only have 300 customers which will be retyped in. The reason why we are doing this is because our company wants to go with a new customer number scheme. It would be easier *not* to bring over all the data and change each table that has the customer number field. We'll have the old macola still running as a reference. In the new ES I will have a user defined field that will cross reference the old customer number with the new for lookup purposes.

 

[MacolaHelp]

Alembic Computers in Arizona has a mass customer change utility for $995 that changes the customer numbers in all the tables. That would preserve order history, etc. You map the new customer number to the old & away you go. You can also combine 2 or more customer numbers into one. It works great. If interested, I'll get you the website or phone or email.

I agree that a "significant" part numbering scheme is a problem. You can have partially significant numbers to use for grouping on reports, or using in the F7 lookups. As Susan said, there are many fields to use in the item file to group, slice, dice, report, etc. Trying to do all this with the part number alone is unneccessary and may impose more limitations than benefits. Do explore the feature option idea as well.

 

[dgillz]

Amy Austin with Triangle Partners is in NJ right across from the PA border. This is not next door but pretty close. You should consider contacting Triangle.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[pronet74]

Thank you all for your help. I will take everything you posted into consideration. I will be talking to management about this as well.

Thanks again!