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The Nine Vital Reasons to Purchase a Source Code Based Business Software Solution
Your Business Management System may seem like a black box, entries are made and the data comes out on business documents and reports. Source is the programming language that was used to create or compile those programs that tell the system how to behave. Source code is the key to understanding the inside of the black box and that’s why we think it’s important to you.
- Future Change — A year from now, when business requirements change, can your system be simply altered to meet this unforeseen requirement? Or do you just live with what you have and build some kind of “outside of the system” workaround?
- Modifications Beyond the Superficial — Sure, lots of Solution Providers claim that you can make changes to their systems. And you can. But what about that business logic changes that has to go deep in the system? They can change the hubcaps; GDS can put in a new ignition system.
- Data Import — Incorporating outside data sources from Vendors and Customers is of ever growing importance. With source you can determine how the import needs to be modified to fit your data, not fit the data to their routine.
- Integration — Next few years, you might want to integrate to the newest, latest, greatest automated pack and ship warehouse. Or push data out to field technicians in real time over wireless data links. With a non-source system, will real time integration be an option? Or will batch export be the only way to go? Source system can be modified to FLOW their data to external system in REAL time. The other guys are pushing batches if they remember to post.
- System Perform and Up-Time — Ever need to dig deep into a program and see what is really causing that problem? With source you can dig as deep as you want. You can find the problem and if it’s in our code, we'll fix it. Compatibility issues with other programs or the operating systems can be pinned down to a single line of code. This benefits you and the software vendor because when a problem comes up in the field, we can tell him exactly where it is and we can work together to fix it.
- Report Data — What if you need another piece of data for that report? A piece of calculated data that isn’t even there yet? Report logic that truly requires professional development. With source you can write routines to create this data and have it available everywhere.
- Traceability — Ever have a program do strange things and wonder what was up? Source availability allows tracing of programs to see how they execute. Error trapping with source allows you to go to the exact line number and program where the error occurred and see the program. Companies providing source must write better code and document it because we can inspect their work.
- Survivability — No one wants to think about their software manufacturer or reseller disappearing or getting absorbed into a larger company that discontinues support. If you have source you have Independent Survivability. If the source is in a common language, like Microsoft Visual Studio, you are not restricted to that reseller. You can change it yourself or hire others to change it. If a software vendor has source available, but they won’t provide it to YOU at a reasonable cost, what good does that do you?
- Third party support — Everyone has great third party programs. How tightly can a third party product be integrated when you can only write to the API where they give you permission? To have really tight integration you must have source code. The availability of source is the single greatest factor encouraging the development of third party products that extend your system capabilities.