The process of selecting mid-market accounting software usually starts with products that have achieved some name recognition and that's fine as long as the search does not end there. SouthWare Innovations (www.southware.com) has created in its Excellence Series� a worthy competitor serving a number of industries and offering users a surprising array of functionality, either directly as SouthWare applications or through one of their independent sales vendors (ISV).
SouthWare is a senior player in the middle market, having been founded in 1984. While its roots are in the distribution industry, the Excellence Series is not just a distribution play. It serves a number of industries and supports a very large number of users.
While many products have moved to more "modern" development environments, SouthWare has stuck with Acucobol and this decision appears to have been wise. Revision ten of the Excellence Series runs in any operating environment and yet the product supports all of the leading graphical expectations.
The Excellence Series is in fact a superior product that provides users with a powerful business management framework that is in many aspects far ahead of other middle market products.
* Portability: The Excellence Series is compatible with Windows and LINUX/UNIX, as well as over 600 other platforms, allowing users to mix and match computers in a network as needed.
* Versatility: The Excellence Series offers users significant functionality, particularly in the area of distribution and service management, but has recognized that all companies do not require every application. This granular approach to product development allows users to select only what they need without having to cope with overly complex or costly functions they do not need.
* Development Environment: While the Excellence Series supports unlimited modification, it does so using tools that guarantee access to software updates.
* Responsibility: If a programming issue is identified, it receives priority until it has been resolved. People do not have to wait for bug fixes.
* Task and Exception Management: SouthWare has recognized that systems have to move away from accounting (data input and report generation) and toward a more proactive business management orientation whereby the system itself will help people do their jobs better. Many systems generate alerts (exception management), but few actually provide people with the tools (task management) required to resolve these issues.
* Job Assessment: The Excellence Series is the only product in the middle market that helps people "grade" their performance. ExcelReport� is the only application of which I am aware that helps users establish both objective—financial—and subjective—performance—goals, measure performance over time, and actually grade that performance.
* Maturity: SouthWare produces a mature business management system that has been thoroughly tested in the field.
* Internet and Intranet Functionality: SouthWare's NetLink� provides controlled access to business data via Internet and intranet browsers. It offers easy-to-use standard web pages as well as a development environment that allows users to easily create their own real-time data web pages without requiring a high-level of technical expertise.
* Extended Data: SouthWare has recognized that organizations may want to track data that is unique to either their industry or their business model. Additional fields can be added throughout the system, but unlike other products, these fields are recognized instantly by the system and are available for reporting or other uses.
SouthWare is a senior player in the middle market, having been founded in 1984. While its roots are in the distribution industry, the Excellence Series is not just a distribution play. It serves a number of industries and supports a very large number of users.
While many products have moved to more "modern" development environments, SouthWare has stuck with Acucobol and this decision appears to have been wise. Revision ten of the Excellence Series runs in any operating environment and yet the product supports all of the leading graphical expectations.
The Excellence Series is in fact a superior product that provides users with a powerful business management framework that is in many aspects far ahead of other middle market products.
* Portability: The Excellence Series is compatible with Windows and LINUX/UNIX, as well as over 600 other platforms, allowing users to mix and match computers in a network as needed.
* Versatility: The Excellence Series offers users significant functionality, particularly in the area of distribution and service management, but has recognized that all companies do not require every application. This granular approach to product development allows users to select only what they need without having to cope with overly complex or costly functions they do not need.
* Development Environment: While the Excellence Series supports unlimited modification, it does so using tools that guarantee access to software updates.
* Responsibility: If a programming issue is identified, it receives priority until it has been resolved. People do not have to wait for bug fixes.
* Task and Exception Management: SouthWare has recognized that systems have to move away from accounting (data input and report generation) and toward a more proactive business management orientation whereby the system itself will help people do their jobs better. Many systems generate alerts (exception management), but few actually provide people with the tools (task management) required to resolve these issues.
* Job Assessment: The Excellence Series is the only product in the middle market that helps people "grade" their performance. ExcelReport� is the only application of which I am aware that helps users establish both objective—financial—and subjective—performance—goals, measure performance over time, and actually grade that performance.
* Maturity: SouthWare produces a mature business management system that has been thoroughly tested in the field.
* Internet and Intranet Functionality: SouthWare's NetLink� provides controlled access to business data via Internet and intranet browsers. It offers easy-to-use standard web pages as well as a development environment that allows users to easily create their own real-time data web pages without requiring a high-level of technical expertise.
* Extended Data: SouthWare has recognized that organizations may want to track data that is unique to either their industry or their business model. Additional fields can be added throughout the system, but unlike other products, these fields are recognized instantly by the system and are available for reporting or other uses.
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