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Posted by Michael Vilain on 05/07/06 20:04
In article <1146951645.306670.18460@e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com>,
"NC" <nc@iname.com> wrote:
> Michael Vilain wrote:
> >
> > Basically, the non-profit's Board wants to spread the exposure they have
> > where currently their web site is managed by a single person who works
> > out of his home. They want someone they can call 7x24 to get changes
> > and modifications done on the site in a timely manner.
>
> This kind of commitment will most likely have a serious price tag
> associated with it.
The same thing happened to another non-profit organization I belong to.
They spent $30K for a web site and paid quarterly maintenance to have
their Access database extract update the web site's database. Then the
web development firm when belly up. No more updates. They had to
scramble to get someone trained to do the updates. Now they're going
through the same process all over again, only this time the site is
really UGLY, uses cheesey FLASH animation, and many members hate it.
I don't want this to happen to my client and keep telling them so. But
ultimately, they'll have to touch the hot stove, burn their hand, and
learn this lesson for themselves.
Yes. I fully expect the sticker shock for this to generate a
"Nevermind" response from the board. Sometimes, I think you have to let
these things process themselves out so people see what the cost is for
themselves. Telling them ahead of time doesn't seem to do any good even
though I already have. At some point, the board will have to decide
they are going to spend this money and learn this lesson the hard way.
>
> > They want the site to look really professional, yet be able to make
> > changes to it easily from their Windows systems in the non-profit's
> > main office or from the developer's system (PC or Mac).
>
> Unfortunately, this is not very specific. A "change" in a Web site may
> mean at least two things, (1) change in content, or (2) change in
> layout. The former is very easily done with any content management
> system; the latter is best left to the more technically adept, although
> a good CMS would definitely have this functionality as well.
Well, during the time I've done their site, they've asked for both types
of changes. And I've had to do both types of things. I finally did
lots of work to use CSS and standard HTML so that changes could be done
very quickly.
>
> > One ASP shop responded to the RFP I wrote up. They've addressed
> > most of the requirements except a biggy--integrating the database with
> > Quickbooks. This is key to running the non-profit's business.
>
> Again, this is highly ambiguous. What exactly do you mean when you say
> "QuckBooks integration"? In which direction do you want the data to
> flow: from QuickBooks to the Web site (as in inventory export), from
> the Web site into QuickBooks (as in order/sales reports), or both? How
> often (periodically, on demand, in real time)? What version of
> QuickBooks are you using?
The web database is the core. Information in it is extracted and
updated into Quickbooks, both as customer information and as invoices or
statements. We do this because the periodic billing we do doesn't work
very well with Quickbooks. These extracts are done monthly. The main
office upgraded their version of Quickbooks and didn't tell me, breaking
what I wrote. Now I have to buy that version of Quickbooks and fix the
problem. I don't envision a web company doing this for them. Nor would
I be able to do it with Microsoft products like ASP or .NET as they
don't run on my Mac. I have zero interest in running a PC and learning
those products.
>
> If Quickbooks integration is that important, you might want to start by
> finding a solution that takes care of that. Check Intuit Marketplace:
>
> http://marketplace.intuit.com/
>
> There are companies that integrate QuickBooks with online stores, but
> they are not cheap. Some sell packaged solutions that combine initial
> setup and ongoing hosting of the store.
>
> You could also go for a "semi-automatic" solution that would involve
> exchange of IIF or CSV files between QuickBooks and the Web site. This
> will cost a lot less, but will require some user training and may
> result in a mess-up every now and then...
>
> Cheers,
> NC
This is what we did. Most ISPs won't allow remote access to their MySQL
databases, so that solution was rejected pretty early on. IIF extracts
are what we use.
So far, no one's posted any URLs. Is it that hopeless?
--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...
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