Sage 100

End user is looking seriously at Websitepipeline (They have seen a couple of demos recently). They currently have a custom integration to Sage 100 developed by an ex-employee who is holding them hostage. The CEO has asked me to provide him with a list of advantages and disadvantages of implementing Websitepipeline. Any suggestions?

It is the most turnkey solution available. Most customers initially look at the required investment which seems higher than other solutions. If they truly do the analysis, including estimates related to internal time and overall controls, they may find this to deliver more value. The warning is you and the customer need to define in detail the requirements and integrations or they will end up paying for out of scope tasks and deliverables. Other than that, our customers have been happy with the solution.

I had a customer many years ago travel the DIY route with the old eBusiness. They felt they could write their own integration (they could) and they'd be just as happy as if they paid an outside developer. To some extent, this appeared to work until (a) the company started growing and they outgrew the rather vanilla capabilities of the eBusiness and (b) just like your end user, the employee who did most of the customization left. It got a bit worse because at the same time the employee left the owners of the company were talking about selling. I'm sure that having a fully functioning and documented website with eCommerce would have been a bigger asset to them as the searched for buyers. I think this discussion comes down to how big of a part eCommerce will play now and 5 years in the future with this particular EU. I usually give any EU the same story as above then they're free to make their own decision. If they DIY and are unhappy I at least gave them the info to make their decision with.

But often the EU has to fall on their face with the ""cheaper"" solution before they see the light. I have a customer who is currently very happy with websitepipeline but first spent about 12 months with 2 different developers not delivering as promised before they listened to me...

:thumbsup: for WSP!

Thanks for the great comments. I have been pushing for Websitepipeline for a couple of years at this company. These comments are helping me build a case.

WSP is the Cadillac. Some people try to get by with Yugo's while the owner drives a Benz to work everyday.