(A version of this item with live links is available at
<http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog/_archives/2006/10/19/2429045.html>.)
Dear ISF Colleagues,
A number of nonprofit colleagues have asked me about Third Sector New
England's search for an integrated financial software solution.
Here's the short answer: Soft Trac (value-added reseller), MIP
(financial application), and Microix (workflow management
application).
We went through a rigorous second round of demos with teams from
BlackBaud (who showed us Financial Edge), JMT Consulting (who showed
us Serenic Navigator), and Queue Associates (who showed us Microsoft
Business Solutions), and Soft Trac.
All four teams showed us options that would work, but when the
software selection committee sat down to choose two finalists for a
third round, the only option that we all wanted to try was Soft
Trac's. I had a hard time steeling myself to break the news to the
vendors who didn't make the cut in this round; I like them all
tremendously.
Soft Trac and Third Sector New England are now preparing for a trial
implementation of MIP and Microix with live data; if it goes well, the
next step will be a full migration. Beyond that, we foresee the
possibility of integrating these two applications with View Wise
document management.
This process is an opportunity to learn all over again that there
isn't a simple formula for determining which is the best specialized
application; it's really a matter of discovering which is the best
under an organization's unique circumstances. With Third Sector New
England, the most pressing concerns about a product are high security
and ease in generating financial reports for a large number of fiscal
sponsorship client organizations, and the most pressing concern about
a value-added reseller is demonstrated ability to listen and respond
appropriately. We had to look hard at these qualities - it wasn't
enough to filter for the more routine issues such as specifications,
timeline, and budget.
Best regards from Deborah
Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
deborah_elizabeth_finn%40post.harvard.edu">deborah_elizabeth_finn
post.harvard.edu
www.cyber-yenta.org
"What is good...but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with your god?" (Micah 6:8)
.