Backup Act! CRM Data to the Cloud with @Dropbox as a Service

A couple of years ago, in an article called Taking your ACT! on Holiday, I discussed the use of Dropbox to help with off-site backups. One of the issues with this is that Dropbox only uploads the files when you’re logged into the system and that means it’s not a great option for backing up the database on your server.

A little research and some testing later, and I have the solution for you –

Run Dropbox as a Windows service

What this means is that, when Windows is running, Dropbox will also be running without you needing to be logged in to the server. The benefit of this is that Dropbox will be able to keep uploading backups created by the Act! Scheduler to the cloud.

So, how do we go about this? Well, we need to install Dropbox and set it up as a service.

Setting up

1. Log into your Windows Server as a local administrator
2. Download the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit, which you can download from:
   https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=17657 
   Note: There isn’t a later version of the Resource Kit. Don’t worry about that if on 2008
   You just need the files INSTSRV.EXE and SRVANY.EXE from this kit
3. Install the Server Resource Kit or just copy the two files (INSTSRV and SRVANY) to:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Resource Kits\Tools
   Note: You only need the two files mentioned. They can be in any folder – I’ve used the location from the default install. If you change the location, you’ll need to adjust those paths in a few spots.
4. Download Dropbox from: https://db.tt/82ZOShy 

Install and setup Dropbox

1. Install Dropbox as per normal
2. Select a folder for Dropbox to use – I prefer not to use the user folder for this, so create C:\Dropbox or add a Dropbox folder to your Data folder on the local system.
   You’ll set the Act! Scheduler to save the backups into this folder (or a sub-folder)
   
   
   
3. Open the Dropbox Preferences, by clicking on the icon in the SysTray, and turn off
   • Show desktop notifications
   • Start Dropbox on system startup
   
   
   
4. Exit Dropbox from the SysTray
   
   
   

Setting up the Service

1. There are two options here, depending on which Operating System you’re using:
   • If Windows 2003 or 2008,
     Open a command prompt, change directory to
     C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit\
     and type:
     instsrv Dropbox "c:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\srvany.exe"
     If it worked, you should get: The service was successfully added! .
   • If Windows 2008 R2, open an elevated command prompt (Run As Administrator) and type:
sc create Dropbox binPath= "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit\srvany.exe" DisplayName= "Dropbox Service"
If all ok, you’ll get: [SC] CreateService SUCCESS.
2. Next open the Services applet – Start > Run > services.msc
3. Scroll to the Dropbox item in the list. Right-click and select Properties
4. Switch to the “Log On” tab
5. Click “This account”, and enter an Admin account with Full Access to the Dropbox folder. Set the appropriate password for that account.
6. Click Apply
7. Switch back to the “General” tab
8. Change “Startup type” to Automatic
9. Click Apply and OK
10. If this is the first time you have done this procedure for the administrator user, you may get an notification saying that the “Administrator user has been granted log on as service rights”.
    DO NOT START THE SERVICE AT THIS TIME.
    
    
11. Next is to set up some registry settings for the service. Open the registry editor
    Start > Run > regedit
12. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dropbox
13. Create a new key “Parameters”
14. Add a new string value “Application”, (type REG_SZ). Set the value to the path to the dropbox.exe binary.
    Find the location by right clicking the Dropbox icon on the desktop. Select Properties and copy the Target.
    .
    
15. Close the Registry Editor
16. Start the service either from Services.msc or by:
    Run > Net start Dropbox
17. If you check your Task Manager, you will find both Dropbox and srvany running
    Files saved by you or the Act! Scheduler to this folder should be automatically uploaded.

Important Notes and References

• If you want to make changes to the Dropbox preferences:
  You MUST stop the service first, make the changes, exit Dropbox and then restart the service
• These methods should also work with the desktop operating systems if you want to do this on XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8.
• Reference from Microsoft on INSTSRV and SRVANY: How to Create a User-Defined Service
• Reference from Microsoft on: How to Create a Windows Service by Using SC.exe
• There are also some third-party tools that can be more stable in a production system. I haven’t tested them, but here are three I’ve found:
  • NSSM - http://nssm.cc/
  • SRVStart - http://rozanski.org.uk/software
  • AlwaysUp - http://www.coretechnologies.com/products/AlwaysUp/srvany.html
• You should regularly check the backups as I mentioned in my original article:
  Taking your Act! on Holiday

Please post in the comments if you have any questions.

 

Technorati Tags: Act!,Act! CRM,Backup,Dropbox,SaaS,Cloud,Service,Server

ACT! still a top 5 CRM <100 employees #ACTCRM

Now that the dust is starting to settle from the recent purchase of ACT! and SalesLogix from Sage, I was doing some research to see where ACT!’s standing is in the CRM market and came across some figures I thought worth sharing.

The first is from CRMswitch in their article: U.S. CRM Market Share 2013

ACT! is in 4th place in the 1-100 Employees demographic

I’m pretty certain that for sites of less than 50 seats, ACT! would be higher still – and more so under 25. I consider to be the “sweet-spot” for ACT! to be 10-25 users

Not only that, the article had ACT! in 6th place overall, which shows how big the SMB market is in comparison to the total.

 

As a nice point for Swiftpage, SalesLogix came in 5th overall giving them a combined total of 8.6% of the CRM market

Additionally, from the Gartner analysis Customer Relationship Management Software, Worldwide, 2012 (April 18th 2013), we can see that:

• Worldwide CRM market grew from $16Bm to $18Bn, experiencing 12% growth in 2012, three times the average of all enterprise software categories
• 40% of all CRM software sold in 2012 worldwide was SaaS-based. Gartner expects this figure to grow in the coming years

What this shows is that, while some outside the ACT! community see’s ACT! as somehow “old”, those who use it know that pound-for-pound, ACT! still packs a great punch … it’s very easy to use and is feature rich.

More so, it has expertise in some very core areas – from The History of ACT!, you can see it’s been available in the cloud since 1998 and on mobile devices since 1992. This gives ACT! the advantages of being:

• On-premises -  with the additional security, speed, integration and control
• Sync – for remote offices and laptops
• Mobile – with options for HTML5 or native add-on, Handheld Contact, for additional functionality
• Cloud – for simpler admin of remote users via public or private hosting

With Swiftpage saying that they’ll be using their web expertise to add a multitenant cloud version this should help ACT! grow as a product in this expanding market, and also to increase it’s market share.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

 

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACTCRM,SaaS,CRM

ACT! Users Celebrate: Sage sells ACT! & SalesLogix to Swiftpage

For those who haven’t heard:
Sage is selling ACT! and SalesLogix to Swiftpage
And it’s great news for all involved

Here are the relevant official releases:

• Regulatory release: Sage continues to focus its business through non-core disposals
• Statement from Guy Berruyer, Sage Chief Executive Officer: Focusing our business
• Release from Swiftpage: Swiftpage to Acquire Sage ACT! and Sage SalesLogix Businesses
• Release by investor: Accel-KKR To Acquire Nonprofit Solutions Division Of Sage Group plc
• Sage views on what this means to partners and users

As someone who has spent more than 25 years supporting ACT! and supported more ACT! users than anyone else over that time, I have had hundreds of messages and questions about this since the Friday announcement. Mainly focused on these areas:

1. How many owners has ACT! had?
2. Why would Sage sell the products?
3. Is Swiftpage a good choice for ACT! and the ACT! Community?
4. What does this mean for Mike Lazarus 

Let’s discuss these one at a time – However, as I haven’t worked in the SalesLogix space, my views are from an ACT! perspective.

How many owners has ACT! had?

From The History of ACT!, this is the 4th sale of ACT! – and, if you don’t count Pat twice, the 4th owner:

• In 1993: Contact Software International (ex Conductor Software) purchased by Symantec
• In 1999: Sold by Symantec to SalesLogix (owned by Pat Sullivan, one of the co-founders of ACT!) – later renamed as Interact Commerce Corporation
• In 2001: Interact Commerce Corporation purchased by Sage Group Plc (Best Software in the US at that time)
• And now sold to Swiftpage

 

Why would Sage sell the products?

It’s useful to understand the reason Sage wanted ACT! (and SalesLogix) in the first place … a decade ago, companies in the ERP arena like Sage, Microsoft and others believed that they could gain advantages in the small-mid business market by providing a front-office solution to complement their accounting and ERP solutions, in a similar way that solutions sold to larger enterprises had done to lock in users to a single vendor.

This essentially failed for a number of reasons:

• Sage never managed to achieve the promise of real integration between ACT! and their accounting products to a level where they could show an advantage in an SME customer purchasing both from the same vendor
• Unlike with the enterprise users, small-mid businesses do not make the decisions on their accounting and their sales/marketing solutions at the same time or from the same management needs
• Sage never fully understood that the CRM market is different to ERP in it’s use – especially for small-mid market users and for those in international markets

Also, like SalesLogix (Interact), they thought that the ACT! base would become a feeder channel that they could convince to move to their bigger products – this belies the passion that most ACT! users have for the product and the reason why both Symantec and Sage couldn’t remove the ACT! branding to replace with their corporate ones. It also failed to appreciate how the needs of ACT! users differed from those of the other products.

Sage has had a tumultuous relationship with ACT! and the community surrounding it:

• They did recognise that, in order to add functionality that users wanted, ACT! needed to be re-engineered from the CodeBase architecture that the Symantec re-write had been based on. However they made the mistake of jumping on .Net and MS-SQL well before it was ready for prime-time (most tech support issues are related to the Microsoft components rather than Sage code) and this further limited the product in portability to Mac or other operating environments.
• Most of the long-time ACT! staff were let go instead of being promoted. This created a vacuum of requisite knowledge of both the product and the users within the organisation
• With the exception of the brief stewardship of David van Toor, senior management refused to engage the users and partners with any communication about problems or the direction of the product – to me, this was the single biggest error that Sage made. Although, since the more recent promotion of Ben Lederer to the Product Management position, this has been improving as I stated in the post: Looking ahead with #SageACT! 2013
• They gave up on ACT! in many international markets such as Asia, India and recently outsourced the Australian and New Zealand market to ACT! CRM – at least this last one improved the resources for ACT! users and partners
• Sage also failed to understand the mobile needs of the users – or that the mobile users for ACT! and SalesLogix have quite different needs. ACT! has been in the mobile market longer than most (since supporting HP95LX in 1992), but Sage’s years of trying to get their Sage ACT! Connect product (renaming it several times) working has been a distraction and a failure. It was the first time I’d ever publically advised against using a product with the ACT! brand in the post Getting ACT! on your phone and again in Problems with Sage Mobile for ACT! (new ACT! Mobile Live) and, most recently in this Sage ACT! Mobile Solutions Comparison. While the newer Sage ACT! Premium Mobile interface has some good functionality (when they get it right) for Premium users who can administer an IIS infrastructure, I’d suggest that Connect should be put to rest and that Swiftpage should work with Handheld Contact to provide a complete solution.

I do not feel, as some others do, that making ACT! a pure SaaS product would have been the right answer for Sage. One of the long-time ACT! consultants, Paul Marentette, put it this way:

I'm seeing a real backlash in the marketplace against high-cost, slow response plus the restricted controls endemic with SAAS. Remember, ACT! is uniquely positioned to work well over the web, but even better in on-premise/self-hosted environments while supporting mobile and remote users with the full features and fastest response only available from a local database.

ACT! has, in fact, been available as a hosted solution (browser or remote desktop) since 2003 – and I agree with Paul, in that one of ACT!’s advantages has been the variety of remote support options and third-party integration products that are not available in full SaaS offerings. As well as the higher expense that monthly fees typically entail and the fact that ACT! was built around the mobile sales-warrior who will often need access where the internet is not readily available.

That Sage has been wanting to sell off these products should come as no surprise. Most of us arrived at this conclusion seven months ago when Sage defined ACT! and SalesLogix as “non-core” as you can see in this discussion thread (despite Sage’s denials at the time)

Sage has realised that it’s good business sense to focus on the solutions it knows best … and, like when Symantec made the same decision previously, I believe this is the right call and will be good for both Sage Group, plc and for the products they are selling.

There are some who may think that the lack of corporate backing by Sage might hurt ACT!. Sage will maintain a 16.1% stake in the new ACT/SalesLogix operations, so there still is that backing to leverage off when it has value

Is Swiftpage a good choice for ACT! and the ACT! Community?

My answer: A resounding YES!

The Friday announcement is the public statement of intent. It’s still subject to final regulatory approval (which can take from a few weeks in up to 3 months) and no specific details of their plans have been revealed.

So, what is it about Swiftpage that I find so compelling and exciting?

• Swiftpage understands the products and the market
  They have been working with the ACT! Community, as an add-on vendor, since about 2004. Senior Vice President and General Manager - Sage ACT! and Sage SalesLogix, Dan Wilzoch, pointed out:
  As an existing partner and provider of Sage E-marketing for Sage ACT! and Sage SalesLogix, Swiftpage also brings a thorough understanding of our customers, partners, products and the markets in which we compete.
• Their partners find them great to do business with and they inspire loyalty
  I should point out that, unlike other members of the ACT! community, I haven’t had a lot of dealings with Swiftpage as I don’t sell directly to end-users and my client base tends to be ACT! Consultants, Resellers and Add-on vendors that prefer communications and news via forums such the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group – in fact, I previously produced add-ons for ACT! that directly competed with them, such as MergeMaster! for ACT! 5/6. My only connection with them is that I have, at times, recommended them to users via this affiliate link: Swiftpage
  But, I know from all the many resellers and users that I deal with that Swiftpage has been a superlative organisation for them to deal with. They have been responsive and supportive of users and community, alike.
• Swiftpage understands the sales and marketing mentality
  As their focus has been in digital marketing, they come from an appreciation of the needs of sales and marketing, which is quite different from those looking for an ERP or accounting solution.
• They understand the real value of ACT!
  As a long-time add-on vendor, they know that ACT!’s value is in having a great, easy-to-use, core-product with users able to build the solutions they need via the huge number of add-on products available. Hopefully, this will means they will make it easier for such solutions to be created.
• Swiftpage has been in the cloud for a long time
  While most ACT! users prefer the speed and functionality of local copies – as regional internet access improves and the market continues to mature, the benefits of having hybrid systems combining hosted (or SaaS) and on-premises solutions will be an area that ACT! is better enabled to take advantage of.
• Swiftpage is an entrepreneurial enterprise – like most of the ACT! user-base
  ACT! has always flourished best when not constrained by the controls and red-tape associated with larger corporations that try to pigeon-hole it within their broader product range.
• Swiftpage has the necessary financial backing
  Via investment from Accel-KKR, one of the preeminent private equity firms in the US. Accel-KKR has a reputation for creating high growth software companies. They would not be investing in Swiftpage if they did not think they have the skills and resources to make ACT! a big success
• They intend to make the international market a focus
  Swiftpage has a lot of activity internationally and expects the international ACT! market to be an important point of growth going forward. 
• I spoke to Swiftpage’s Chairman and Founder, Bob Ogdon, on the weekend. He reaffirmed that Swiftpage wants to reignite the energy and passion that the communities of both products still have in heavy supply. It is the intent of Swiftpage to  include the ACT! community in a very active role.  He told me that they want to make an impact and they need the key players in the ACT! community to be involved for that to happen.

One can see from this thread that the “ACT! Fanatics” in the Community are very much behind this change:
Announcement from ACT! Fanatics - ACT! and SalesLogix sold to SwiftPage

What about the future?

• They are bringing over 250 of the ACT! staff … this includes UK and US staff. Time will tell as to how many of those stay in place. There are many that I hope do just that – I won’t name those I especially think are important here, for fear of upsetting any I may inadvertently miss
• As I mentioned above, ACT! CRM is distributing in Australia and New Zealand and I’d expect this to continue. While there are some changes I might make to the local policies, I have considerable faith and trust in Michael Bryant (the long-time ACT! Consultant behind the new distributor). He knows the local market, has a considerable investment in both money and time behind the product, and has shown himself to have exceptional business and entrepreneurial skills
• I hope they listen to, and work with, the local Consultants in Europe and South America as well as looking at reigniting the markets in Asia, India and others that Sage left. Most especially, they need to understand some of the international issues that Sage had ignored. I’d be more than happy to assist them in this venture.
• I do hope they remove the artificial barriers of international regionalisation that Sage implemented (especially amongst the partners). While this is de rigueur for ERP and accounting solutions, it’s counter-productive for contact managers and CRM
• They should look at ending the annual upgrade cycle that makes more sense for ERP products than it does for CRM … good products should have their releases determined by development and QA, not by marketing, accountants and analysts.
• They should refocus on the core product – and look at the options to leverage off both on-premises and SaaS. Then promoting the third-party vars for functions they are already doing so well.
• More specific plans will be discussed and announced as the transfer proceeds to a close.

The ACT! world is going to be fun again - In fact, the only negative I can see is that searching the web for “ACT!” produces far too many unrelated results, compared to “Sage ACT!” or #SageACT on Twitter

 

What does this mean for Mike Lazarus 

Well, after 25 years supporting ACT!, including over 13,000 posts to the Sage ACT! Community site, winning the Experts-Exchange Titan Award 3 times and running the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group, I can’t see myself going anywhere in the near future … but I am looking to see what opportunities this may present.

I must say that I have been delighted, humbled and a little amused by the posts in this ACT! Fanatics thread – while I don’t see the option of Pope being available, I would certainly be open to talking to Swiftpage and see how they could best leverage my skills, on-line reputation and passion for the product.

It the mean time, I’m looking to set up an ACT! Fanatics Club to provide the type of training indicated in this thread – please let me know if this would be of interest to you and worth putting the effort in?

 

Technorati Tags: Sage,Sage ACT!,ACT!,SalesLogix,Swiftpage,CRM,Sage CRM

SaaS/Cloud software and Regional Internet access

Regional road trips. No doubt you’ve, “been there, done that before” and experienced what a nightmare it can be to get any internet coverage. No matter what the reasons for our travels out of town may be, one thing is certain: We still need our connection to the big, busy world via our trusty iPhones or Blackberries – or in my case, both!

A short time ago, I had the pleasure of attending a friend’s birthday party on the Gold Coast of Queensland and spent 10 days there to catch up with some old friends.

I was based in Ormeau. For those who don’t know where this is, it is about 1 hour’s drive south of Brisbane (Australia’s third largest city) and is in Australian’s largest growing region.

I had a great time catching up with friends in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast (North of Brisbane).

And of course, being me, I needed to have constant and regular access to my ACT! contacts, to email, and to various other office and on-line services and forums.

I was carrying an iPhone4 and a Blackberry Pearl (both with Handheld Contact) to give me the remote access I needed and hoped to find Wi-Fi connections where convenient to sync and to access my other information.

I suffered serious regional culture shock

Now don’t get me wrong. Like most people, I love getting out of town and escaping the hustle and bustle, but coming from Sydney, I’m used to the comforts of being connected at anytime of the day or night. I’m used to having a 30Mbit connection and 3G/4G network coverage. That’s not the reality though for my regional friends as I discovered while on my road trip. Here’s what I discovered on my travels:

• Mobile access was shocking: I had to wander from street to street, just to get a measly 1-2 bars on either the iPhone4 or Blackberry. As a customer of Telstra - this country’s largest telecommunications provider - it felt way short of my reasonable expectations for adequate coverage. It could have been worse – I could have had no coverage like any other poor person with the other carriers!
• Not all regional areas have ADSL coverage: Telstra has only put in enough lines for about half the properties in this new estate so the place where I was staying only got access after a neighbour moved out – the new resident in their neighbour’s place would be out of luck.

As frustrating as it was for me venturing out into this regional area...

...These frustrations are also being experienced in metropolitan areas of Australia!

There is “business park” in Brisbane itself (Australia’s third-largest capital city), that has virtually no broadband access at all …

Read that again if you need to, because the mind boggles. Even in a city like Brisbane, a business park doesn’t necessarily have broadband internet access. You can check out: Brisbane's NBN 'will transform people's lives' to get the lowdown on that story

For now though you might be wondering how this is relevant to this blog dedicated to Sage ACT!, CRM and IT?

Well, much in CRM is about mobility… and recently a lot of the press have jumped on the “trendy” technologies of cloud based computing – both for phone/tablet access and for general access.

For those of us who have been in the computing industry for long enough, we remember that the PC was originally viewed (by IBM) as little more than a slightly more intelligent “dumb terminal” to main-frame applications. Later, as the power of PCs increased, more of the data was stored locally and out of IT control. This lead to a gradual pull-back of control via networking, and then via various remote solutions.

These remote solutions are collectively referred to as “cloud computing”:

• ASP – Application Service Provider
• On-demand software
• SaaS – Software as a Service

To be honest, I’m not sure how to really define the differences of those … other than that they are buzz-words from different decades.

They are usually accessed via one or more of these methods:

• Remote Desktop Protocol Connection (Terminal Services or Citrix)
• Virtual Desktop (VMware, etc)
• Virtual Private Network
• Browser based applications

 

Cloud-based technologies do have some benefits:

• The data is live to the remote users
• Software integration issues are largely eliminated from the client side
• It can be platform independent – although, this can depend on browsers / versions that are supported
• Key software systems are kept up to date, available, and managed for performance by experts
• Improved reliability, availability, scalability and security of internal IT systems
• A provider's service level agreement should guarantee a certain level of service
• Access to product and technology experts dedicated to available products
• Reduction of internal IT costs to a predictable monthly fee
• Redeploying IT staff and tools to focus on strategic technology projects that impact the enterprise's bottom line

But there are also some serious disadvantages:

• The client must generally accept the application as provided since vendors only fully customize solutions for the largest clients
• The client may rely on the provider to provide a critical business function, thus limiting their control of that function and instead relying on the provider
• Changes in the market may result in changes in the type or level of service available to clients
• Integration with the client's non-hosted systems may be problematic
• Accessing data to convert to another system later maybe costly or not-available
• Loss of control of corporate data
• Loss of control of corporate image
• Insufficient vendor security to counter risks
• Lack of internet access (even temporarily) prevents users’ access to their data
• What happens when the provider suffers problems? Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Salesforce and many others have been in the press during the past year for being down for periods of time. Or some, like Google for losing data.

So where does that leave potential CRM users looking for remote access via the cloud?

I wrote an article a year ago on “Supporting Remote Users with ACT! by Sage”. In selecting the best method for a specific site, there are two questions you need to ask:

1. Will the master and remote users always have reliable connection when they need access? If not (especially in the case of regional access as per the beginning of this article), then you should look at a sync-solution. The users work off-line and sync the changes with the master
   This is especially important for smartphone and tablet users who may want to do work in areas not covered by their phone carrier or Wi-Fi (eg on a plane, some buildings and areas)
2. Do you have the necessary reliable bandwidth and access to IT skills to self host or do you get it hosted by a third-party for an on-going fee? This is a bit more complex and can depend on:
   • How good is your internet connection (for host and remote)?
   • How responsive are your support options (in-house or out-sourced) if the server has issues?
   • For hosted solutions:
     • How reliable are they?
     • How good is their tech support? Do they provide a service guarantee?
     • How financial are they?
     • What happens to your connection and data if their business or service fails?
   • If the third-party host is down for a day, how much will the loss of access cost you? Will it be less if the remote users are using sync to local copies?
   • How secure is the connection? At a minimum, must use one or more of SSL, VPN, RDP
   • If you want to change application, will the hosted provider allow you to access ALL of the data in a format suitable for importing into other systems?
   • How customisable is the application? Can you integrate it with your legacy systems or add functionality that you might require?

In Conclusion:

While SaaS/cloud offering will be suitable for many users, there are some questions that you need to ask to determine if it’s the best solution for you.

I feel certain that SaaS offerings will become more viable as time goes by, but right now I’m reminded of the line that for those on the bleeding edge of technology, that “a pioneer is frequently the guy with an arrow in his back!”

Technorati Tags: ACT,Sage,Sage ACT!,SaaS,Cloud,Remote,Smartphones,CRM,SageACT!

ACT! Fanatics LinkedIN Group 1000th member prize

The LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group was created as a place where ACT! users, resellers, add-on vendors and Sage staff from around the world could communicate and share their knowledge of using ACT! by Sage

The success of this is proven by the huge volume of valuable information that has been shared and now we are rapidly approaching 1000 members.

As a special present, some of the add-on vendors who are members of this group have offered to put together two packs of ACT! add-ons:

• One for the 1000th member to the group
• One for a random member of the group at the end of the week that the 1000th member joins
  To be eligible for this prize, you must post a reply to the News article referring to this offer in the LinkedIN group stating why you would like to use any of the add-on products in this promotion.
  The decision on the winner will be made by me in conjunction with the add-on vendors taking part

Both packs can be used by the winners or, if won by a reseller, Sage staff member or a user unable to use them, they can be sold at their retail values.*

The following products are included in both packs:

Handheld Contact – Professional Edition (1 yr)	Handheld Contact wirelessly syncs and manages your ACT! Contacts, Activities and Notes/Histories from your BlackBerry, Pocket PC, or Treo Smartphone - it's like having ACT! with you anywhere, anytime! *iPhone version now in beta and due soon
itDial – Advanced	Enhanced calling interface from ACT! via TAPI phone systems and/or Skype VoIP. itDial for ACT! makes keeping track of telephone calls easier than ever. Using  itDial, ACT! users can dial and answer calls, update contact information, add new contacts, create history, and schedule activities for incoming and outgoing calls with just the click of a mouse.
Company Wizard	Mass update and build company records based on a Lookup of Contact and create the contact links
Duplicate Contact Wizard - Expert	Powerful De-duplicating Contacts and Companies in your ACT! database while retaining the extended data (Notes, Histories, Activities, Attachments, etc).
ACT! E-marketing (6 months)	ACT! E-marketing helps you reach out to your contacts, grow your database, qualify new leads and automate your business processes. The offer will be 6 months of: Pro service level Silver Drip Marketing 1 user on the account 1,000 email per day send limit
Stonefield Query (6 months)	Stonefield Query for ACT!® is a user-friendly database report writing, query, and data mining tool designed specifically for ACT! putting Business Intelligence reporting in the hands of the end-user where it belongs. Stonefield Query has been customized specifically for ACT! giving you an intuitive, easy-to-use BI reporting solution that you will love!

* Option to resell does not apply to ACT! E-marketing or Stonefield Query

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Handheld Contact,Blackberry,iPhoney,PocketPC,LinkedIN

What’s the best CRM?

I often get asked or see on-line posts asking this question and people seem surprised when I, as an ACT! Evangelist, tell then that it can’t be answered without more detailed information. This is especially important in the SME market where there is a greater range of options available than in the Enterprise space.

Any recommendations without this info would be like asking for the best car or religion, and any suggestions would be akin to the adage "If the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems look like nails"

You need to identify your needs:

• How many users are you expecting to have? Now and over the next 12-18 months.
• How many records (contacts and/or companies)? Also now and over next 12-18 months
• Where is your data sourced from (initial setup and on-going leads)?
  For example: your web site, external companies, social media, Excel, paper entry
• What do you want to do with the data? Reports, email merges, news letters, etc
  You need to involve internal users at different levels (sales, marketing, management)
• Do you want to integrate with legacy systems – accounting, ERP or other software?
• Do you want to integrate with new technologies – social media, Twitter, LinkedIN, etc?
• Do you want remote access – remote offices, laptop users, smart phones?
  If so, do you have reliable internet connectivity?
• What sort of security is important to you? Eg should all users be able to see/edit all records?
• What sort of infrastructure do you have – operating systems, hardware, network.
  Would you be prepared to invest in improving this?
• Do you have your own IT? If so, will they need training to administer the new system?
• What sort of support do you think you’ll need?
• What sort of budget do you have?

One common issue is looking at management needs (administration and reporting) over usability... if the users find it to complex to use or un-helpful to them, they won't enter good data. Then any reports will be meaningless.

Remember that your customer database can be one of your most valuable assets and equipping your business with the right tools to mine that asset can produce valuable returns – especially when financial times are perceived to be tough.

Often the best way to to it right is to speak to a consultant in the field to provide some advice. Here is an article that I did on picking a CRM consultant: How to pick the right CRM Consultant

When speaking to vendors, and even many consultants, remember their competitive info isn't always accurate. You need to do your own research if you are comparing products.

You really want to know “What’s the best CRM solution for YOU?” Anyone who makes a recommendation without knowing or asking these questions can’t possibly be answering that.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,CRM,SCRM,SME

Should ACT! by Sage move into the “Cloud”?

There has been a lot of discussion about "cloud computing" or SaaS (Software as a Service) – even some by Sage management on the ACT! Community Leadership Blog. So I thought it would be a good topic to discuss

With most ACT! users who have modern Smartphones/PDAs now wanting wireless updates. The options for that either require the user to have web infrastructure or use an externally hosted sync server. As most ACT! users (other than Prem for Web) not having the systems and/or skills, those PDA links doing this are using the cloud and charging for the service.

Handheld Contact only offers subscription based, CompanionLink offers it as an option and Sage are looking at their own solution (ACT! Mobile Live)

In a recent discussion in the ACT! Fanatics Group, Sharon Randall of SJR said she, and many of her users, prefer CompanionLink because it's a one-off purchase. Ignoring other feature differences to HHC, this also means it is only a connected cable sync - no updates on the road. It's also the primary reason I've seen when users pick CL over HHC.

This is also one reason a user might choose ACT! over SalesForce. There are many others, but this is a core difference.

But, at the same time, there are users starting to ask for more cloud options from ACT! – and there certainly has been movement in that direction, at least with a deal Sage Australia did with a local host.
See comments below http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/11/supporting-remote-users-with-act-by.html

The ability to share remotely means cloud is nearly always the better option for users with PDAs - except for the single user who isn't sharing their data. But what about other functions? Or even ACT! itself?

I also have a personal interest in your opinions on this... our soon to be released Accounts Master! (to integrate with accounting software like QuickBooks) will also use a subscription model. We did this because:

• It will work for users where the accounts staff don't use ACT! and ACT! users don't have access to accounts – It will even work with Web versions, Sync users, Term Services and hosted.
• It means we don't have to explain to users who upgrade ACT! and then get upset that they have to also pay for their add-ons to be upgraded - it does take work to accommodate changes with each new version of ACT!
• We can roll out enhancements when they are ready, rather than having to wait till we have enough to justify an upgrade fee or having to really a build with bugs to meet a marketing timeframe - this is something I really like about Handheld Contact 

So... after all this: What do you think about cloud/subscription Vs purchase/upgrade?

• With some users wanting Cloud and others resisting, which camp are most ACT! users in now?
• Will this change over then next year or two?
• Should Sage wait for the ACT! user-base to demand this as they mature (if this is the future) or should they lead?
• If Sage moves to early, it may upset some users... but will it upset enough that it's a worry?
• Might this be an issue in some areas in the world where internet access, reliability and speeds are not as good?

Alternatively, without the cloud, how would users feel to a subscription model for ACT! in their own office - an annual license key and has to be renewed, but includes upgrades? I guess this is like Upgrade Insurance

For ACT! resellers, I've asked a follow-up in the ACT! Resellers Group on LinkedIN

I’d appreciate any thoughts or comments you might have. Thanks.

Update:

For those looking at a SaaS offering for ACT! by Sage now, see http://glcomputing.actondemand.com/

 

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Supporting Remote Users with ACT! by Sage

With users like the Professional Sales Road Warriors that made up much of ACT!'s early user base to field service technicians, trades-people, telecommuters who work from home, remote offices and others who need access to their data while out of the office, ACT! has needed to make use of every changing technology so that the data can be provided to the users as they need it.
From it's creation in 1987, ACT! has been at the forefront of remote and mobile users. From the ability to merge

Technorati Tags: iPhone,iPad,Android,Blackberry Vs iPhone

databases with ACT! for DOS 2.0 in 1990 (where users would need to bring their databases into the office to sync) then through the HP95LX PDA version in 1992 and ACT! Mobile Link for laptop users in 1995, ACT! users have been able to access ACT! while remote from their office.
Over time advances in internet speeds, more scalable databases, browser technologies and other technological improvements have made it easier for organisations to implement and administer remote access solutions for their staff.
Currently, there are a range of options available to provide this remote access but users are often not sure how to determine the solution most suitable for them. So I thought I'd provide a selection of the most common options available... but remember, that for many sites, a combination of these should be implemented.
For some users, it may be better to have the database hosted externally, then using one or more of the options to provide access. One host providing this at very good rates is Conetix

Direct Access of the database via VPN

• Infrastructure
  • Requires the technical skills to setup and maintain VPN server
  • Needs higher than normal internet bandwidth as the VPN protocols use up a significant amount
  • Users lose access to the data if their internet connection goes down
• Installation
  • Sharing a database over a VPN is no different than sharing the database over a LAN. Each remote user must obtain a copy of the .PAD file for the shared database and have read/write access to the database folder and the Supplemental Files folders.
  • See - http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/02/sharing-act-network-or-sync.html
  • Firewall exceptions on server should be same as for LAN
• Administration
  • Administration and Maintenance of the VPN needs to be done well. Many VPNs tend to drop out WINs and then ACT! won't be able to find the server
  • It is usually more reliable to use the IP address of the server in the PAD file rather than the machine name. But for most VPN implementations, using Sync is the best solution.
  • All users need to be using the same version and build of ACT! - so upgrades and patches need to be carefully planned
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on both the bandwidth of the main server and the bandwidth that the users connect to the internet
  • Remember that most consumer internet connections don't have as fast an upload speed as they do download - if the server is also on a consumer grade connection, the actual speed will be the slower of both the user and server.
  • Due to the overhead of the VPN protocol most internet connections won't be adequate and users may be better using sync
• Security
  • If the VPN is set up correctly, this type of access is very secure.
  • User access to records can be determined by Limited Access in the Premium editions
  • Other security may need to be implemented if you wish to prevent users from exporting or reporting data that they have access to locally

ACT! Synchronisation Services

• Infrastructure
  • Remote users only need direct connection to the master database when they need to sync
  • ACT! by Sage does require ACT! to be open and logged into the Publisher database to sync but Premium editions can use Network or Internet sync servers to allow sync as a Windows service
  • Sync for remote users doesn't require Internet Sync server (which uses IIS). It can also be done with Network Sync server and port forwarding or VPN using a VPN server or Hamachi
• Installation
  • ACT! is set up normally, but then Remote Data Base files are created for each remote.
  • For more info, see:
    http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/01/sharing-act-network-or-sync-part-1.html
• Administration
  • All users need to be using the same version and build of ACT! - so upgrades and patches need to be carefully planned. If using sync server, these should also be updated when patching ACT!
  • Note: If you update the local users, the remote users still access their local data and can sync when you update them.
  • If syncing a database larger than 4GB and wanting all data to sync, needs SQL standard at each point the database will be located
  • Sync can be automated with ACT! Scheduler - better if using Premium
  • The Administrative Dashboard can be used to determined when users sync
  • If using sync via VPN, administration and maintenance of the VPN needs to be done well. Many VPNs tend to drop out WINs and then ACT! won't be able to find the server
• Speed
  • Speed for each user is dependant on their local hardware (RAM and HDD speed)
  • Speed for the sync is dependant on the bandwidth between the user and server. If using VPN, speed is reduced due to the protocol overhead.
  • Sync speed depends on volume of changes and bandwidth of connection - especially if syncing a large number of attachments
  • As only the delta (changes) are sent, this uses less bandwidth than a direct connection
• Security
  • Users only have access to the records in their defined sync set and, if using the Premium editions, that they have access to
  • The sync process itself is reasonably secure as data is encrypted during the sync process (I have not heard of a breach)
  • Additional layers or security can be achieved by:
    • Using a different port for the sync process
    • Sync via VPN - this is a very secure protocol and removes the need for port forwarding from the internet to the database server
    • If using Premium Editions, putting the Sync server in a DMZ

ACT! Premium for Web

• Infrastructure
  • Requires a Windows server running Internet Information Services (IIS) - can be hosted by a third-party if the user lacks infrastructure or skills. If hosted, it is better to select a host who specialises in ACT! for Web hosting and knows how to maintain it
  • Remote users only need a supported web browser and internet connection
  • ACT! for Web is also the only solution for allowing access to MAC users (internal or remote) via the Safari browser support (currently Safari 3.0)
• Installation
  • Installed once on IIS server. Easiest and fastest install for IT with suitable skills
  • IIS must be set to 32bit if on a 64bit OS – can cause issues with other apps
• Administration
  • Easy to administer and maintain as everything can be on a single server. It's a bit more complex if using multiple servers
  • IT doesn't need to worry about remote users OS or hardware
  • Sharing of user preferences makes admin and backup a bit easier. while not the default, is done as per this ACT! Knowledge Base article
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the server speed, configuration and bandwidth
  • For large volumes of users, implementing one or more web servers separate from the database server allows better allocation of resources
• Security
  • As this is a Premium edition, users only have access to records according to ACT!'s Limited Access and Teams
  • Additional layers or security can be achieved by:
  • Using a different port for the web server
  • Putting the IIS server in a DMZ
  • Using HTTPS/SSL
  • Requiring Windows Authentication to the Virtual Folder before getting access to the ACT! for Web interface
  • Access Web via VPN
  • It is important to add additional security (preferably VPN) is users might connect via any public WiFi connection

Remote Desktop (Terminal Services, Citrix)

• Infrastructure
  • Requires Windows Terminal Server, Remote Desktop Services in Windows 2008 or Citrix - can be hosted if user lacks infrastructure or skills
  • Remote users only RDP client and internet connection
• Installation
  • Installed once on server.
  • Here are the steps to install on Windows 2008 Remote Desktop Services
  • Fully server based … emails sent from local Outlook not recorded in ACT! unless you also have ACT! for Web setup
  • Requires some additional work for Outlook integration. See: this ACT! Knowledge base article
• Administration
  • Relatively easy to administer and maintain as everything on a single server
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the server speed, configuration and bandwidth
  • For large volumes of users, implementing one or more client servers separate from the database server allows better allocation of resources
• Security
  • If using a Premium edition, users only have access to records according to ACT!'s Limited Access and Teams
  • RDP on TS and Citrix provide a range an additional security options

Included ACT!Link for PDA/Smartphones – no-longer available

• Infrastructure
  • Currently supports Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices (no Palm OS support for Windows 7, so no ACT! Link support)
  • Uses direct USB connection to full ACT! client - no support for Web or Remote Desktop (Terminal Services/Citrix)
  • Only supports fields and functions in PDA PIMs
• Installation
  • Installed on each user PC
  • Care needs to be taken for supported Phone OS and driver versions, depending on version of ACT!
• Administration
  • Can be complex to maintain with issues if user updates their phone OS or driver
  • Admin can only set if the users can sync via Manage Users
  • Administrator has no control over what is sync'd and connection issues are known to cause duplication in the ACT! database
  • No access to Custom Activity types
  • No support for Activities, Notes, Histories that link to multiple contacts
  • Calls, SMS, Emails sent from phone not recorded in ACT!
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the phone type and amount of data sent
• Security
  • If using a Premium edition, users only have access to records according to ACT!'s Limited Access and Teams
  • User can select to sync any records they have access to
  • Data on lost phones can't be wiped

Handheld Contact Sync to PDA/Smartphones

• Infrastructure
• Currently supports Blackberry OS, iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android 
• Uses a console with wireless sync - fully supports Web and Remote Desktop (Terminal Services/Citrix)
• Professional Edition adds support for up to 76 fields and many additional functions
• Field formatting and pull-downs maintain data integrity
• Can support very large numbers of mobile users from one console.
• Installation
  • Installed on ACT! server, it's own server or on user's PC
  • Easiest PDA solution to remotely configure and install remotely for one or more devices
• Administration
  • Very easy to roll out and maintain
  • Administrator controls what data is sync'd and how often.
  • Administrator can set contacts sync'd with each user based on Groups an Activities
  • No known issues with duplication or loss of ACT! data
  • HHC Professional supports ACT! Custom Activity types for activities and history
  • HHC Professional supports Activities, Notes, Histories and Email that link to multiple contacts
  • Calls, SMS, Emails sent from phone recorded in ACT! if instigated from HHC Professional
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the phone type and amount of data sent – typically faster than other link options.
  • As HHC can send items based on Groups or Activities, users can reduce the number of records they keep on the phone
• Security
  • Administrator has full control over what is sync’d to each user
  • Data on lost phones can be erased remotely by Admin, providing phone in radio range and turned on
  • Data is sent securely in small packets via https and encrypted

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