An Industry-Specific, Customized Software Solution
May Be the Key To Your Future
Modifiability Provides Unsurpassed Adaptability and Growth Potential
No two businesses are created equal.
Each business has a unique set of requirements that distinguishes it from its counterparts. So, when it comes to finding the right financial information solution for your business, what works for another business is likely to be different from what works for you.
This is why it is essential that you consider software solutions that offer program source code. "Source code" is the actual programming that makes the software work. If this code is available, then it is possible to change the program so it will do what you want it to. Software companies that make source code available allow computer professionals to custom-tailor the software to fit the precise requirements of your business.
Without source code, you are forced to adjust the way you do business to fit the limitations of the software. While most financial information applications include some customization features - adding fields or configuring reports, for example, or even changing the screen layout - these modifications are limited compared to the possibilities access to source code creates.
Since it is impossible to predict how your business or industry will change over time, you can protect your software investment by making sure you have access to source code. That way, no matter what changes you may require, you have the power to cause your software to conform to the way you do business.
Let's say, for example, you are perfectly happy with a "canned" software package when you first buy it. But then, a couple years later, you see an opportunity and to meet it you need new functionality your canned package won't allow.
What are you going to do? You can pay a consultant a small fortune to design a separate application that will help you meet your needs or you can throw up your hands and let the opportunity get away. Either way, you have compromised the profits you might have been able to earn if you could have taken advantage of the opportunity more easily.
If you invest in software that comes with tight, easy-to-modify source code, you can modify your software as needed, without having to pay a large sum to get it done. It just makes sense to always have the option to get exactly what you want out of your financial management software package.
With the advent of E-commerce and with the strong possibility that other, unforeseeable means of improving your competitive position may arise, protecting your investment by having access to source code can give you a significant advantage - even in ways you can not predict.
You may expect that, since applications offering source code provide these substantial advantages, they must be more expensive. But that is not always the case.
Financial information applications exist right now that offer source code and are priced competitively with applications that do not. Of course, when you factor in the long-term total cost of ownership, it is likely that access to source code will improve the price/value ratio even more.
Be sure to ask us about source code availability. Also make sure you purchase an application with modern programming code. When you invest in modifications, make sure you can still upgrade the software without losing your investment in modifications. (With some applications that offer source code, your modifications will not work across upgrades.)
You should be able to have the functionality you need the day the system is installed; you should be able to customize the software at any time; and you should be able to upgrade the software without losing your customizations.
Settling for less can put your competitive advantage at risk, and can cost you over the long term.
