Lisa

I agree most heartily with your suggestion.  Making the decision as to WHAT
to purchase is unbelievably tricky (for me, at least) and then getting it
up and running may be even worse.  It would certainly help to have
roundtables where people talked about what they bought, how they are using
it and what it took to get where they are (and are they pleased with their
decision) and what they wish they had more of, bettter, faster, etc.

Mary
At 08:30 AM 6/4/98 -0400, Lisa F. Richman Ballance sent a message saying:
*John:
*
*I don't know if we know one another or not, but let me give the following
*"glib" "toungue-in-cheek" comment:
*
*I wouldn't buy a car without a testdrive.
*I wouldn't buy a house without an inspection.
*I wouldn't hire a person without an interview and reference check.
*
*ALL suppliers have references - or if the product is too new, the supplier
*allows for a free trial period or some sort of money-back guarentee.  Stick
*with your intuition.
*
*Now, in defense of the software industry within ERA...   These companies
*are small and they have very new products on the market with new buyers who
*may or may not have even figured out how to use these complex systems.
*Those who have boldly purchased may not have taken the time to properly
*install (figuring they could do it on their own)...  they may not have
*contracted for training (which most software companies offer).  So, there
*may not be as many reliable referencees out there as one would hope.  In
*this case, I can understand why a company would want the potential buyer to
*express a true interest, prior to the company releasing names and phone
*numbers....
*
*Personally, I think that it would be a great idea to have ERA system panels
*or roundtables at the upcoming SRA/NCURA meeting.
*
*It would be great to go to a session and have 4 people who use "XYZ" talk
*about how they made the decision to go with that product, what modules they
*purchased and why, what major steps were necessary for implementation, how
*long implementation takes, did they integrate it with legacy systems (how
*did that go)... etc.
*
*Comments anyone?
*
*Lisa
*
*_____________________________________________
*Lisa R. Ballance, Director
*Corporate and Foundation Relations
*101 Maryland Hall
*University of Richmond
*University of Richmond, VA 23173
*
*(804) 289-8445
*(804) 289-8943
*xxxxxx@richmond.edu
*http://www.richmond.edu
*
*
Mary H. Watson, Ph.D.           xxxxxx@valdosta.edu
Director, Grants and Contracts  Phone: (912)333-7837
Valdosta State University       FAX:  (912)245-3853
Regional Continuing Education
Center, Room 215
900 N. Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA  31698