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Seeking Next Gen Online Order Entry Software?
kwandar asks: "Our company is a small/medium sized software developer that markets its products around the world. The order/sales system is an outdated DOS-based system, with limited capabilities. We would like to replace this with one that provides new features like: CRM; customer support services; bug reporting; bug tracking; order entry; accounting reporting; and hooks into some form of licensing software. Ideally it would be web based so that all ordering can be done over one system, whether by a customer, our foreign distributors, or ourselves. Have any of my fellow readers been through this and hunted down software, that worked in a software sales environment. Can anyone recommend an all-in-one solution, or several solutions (open source preferred) which can be integrated with minimal effort?"
Do you think you may have just identified a market to exploit?
One place you should definitely checkout is http://www.sugarcrm.com/. It's waaay beyond anything I need, but it might fit the bill.
Because these kinds of systems are notoriously hard to develop, and never actually work right. The only way someone has a chance in hell of making one (without 10 years experience doing nothing but that) is to get something that was made by someone/some company that worked on it for 10 years doing nothing but that, then customise it.
Otherwise, and like 80%+ of companies using such system out there, the system ends up hurting more than helping, might as well do things manually.
You're describing a classic business blunder: Wasting time and money re-inventing the wheel, instead of focusing on the product/service at the core of the business.
I don't respond to AC's.
Hey, profit margins can be minuscule these days. Everyone's looking for a better way of doing things.
;)
At least this level of thinking is geared towards making things easier on the staff - so they can help their customers better.