no, that's not me
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In an ongoing attempt to prove that we really do listen,
we're presenting two webinars requested by IPM Users!
The first will be about IPM 10 and the second about IPM Classic, and both will
help make your life easier. We'll be covering features you may not know
about, or may not know how to use. We're hoping to get at least one "Aha" or
"That's cool!" out of each version of IPM.
We're also looking to the future, and that's why we've added the questionaire to
this edition of the newsletter. We want you to tell us where to go...let me
rephrase that...we want you to help direct our development efforts!
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SURVEY: We Want Your Opinion
We want to know what you're thinking, and how we're doing. We will publish the results on our website, and they will guide our planning for the future.
Click here to take survey
Web or Cloud:
What's the Next 'Big Thing'?
When we started planning for IPM 10, we knew most
of the major features and enhancements we needed to include. We'd been working
IPM 2007 and talking with IPM Users so we knew what they wanted, too. And we
knew we wanted to go beyond that, and look to the future. The biggest question
then - and now - was "Do we want IPM to be web-based?" It sounded very tempting.
Access your data from anywhere you have an internet connection. Cool "web page"
screens. Yeah, that really sounds good...move the company to being a true
"software as service" provider. Man, that would put us years ahead. We were
leaning heavily toward that solution....
Then our cable connection dropped. We couldn't reach even Google for half a day.
So we started thinking about the negatives. Cost per megabyte for us means cost
per unit for you. What about slow connections? What if the server farm in
California goes down - now that's a BIG problem, even with redundant mirrors.
Needless to say, by the time we considered all the risks and costs, we decided
it was NOT the time to go web-based. (Note - we were without internet for about
8 hours on 3/30!)
Now everyone is talking about "Cloud Computing". Of course, that "everyone" is
generally Microsoft and Microsoft Certified Providers, who can make gobs of
money off it. That may be a bit cyncial, but currently there isn't even a solid
definition of "Cloud". For some, it's anything beyond your firewall, and for
others it's very specific outsourced infrastructure. The description I favor is
closer to "key services beyond the firewall that you don't have to manage'" Our
backup service and remote access might be good examples. So it can include
web-based applications, application servers, and good old data servers. I
mention the latter because currently that's my pet idea for the future of IPM,
and any other data-oriented programs. To me, the best possible solution combines
a "fat client" and a "cloud layer" for data. In other words, you still own a
full-fledged program that does the work for you, like IPM. BUT, unlike the
current versions of IPM, the data for that program resides "in the cloud" (with
a redundant local copy). The advantage to this model is a) you don't have to
worry about data integrity, backups, etc., b) it's available from any PC with
the program and the right password. This is, to me, the best of both worlds.
So why is this better than the now-traditional "web based" solution? Well, when
you don't have an internet connection, you can't work with the web-based
solution; with the 'cloud-and-redundancy' model, you can keep on working! That's
a big, big difference, and it can be business-critical!
We're not planning on rolling out "IPM for the Cloud" any time soon. As quickly
as technology changes, we need to keep our ear to the ground, but remember to
lift our head before the train runs over us. We've lived through at least a
dozen "next big things" that proved to be duds (Remember GEM Desktop and Norton
Navigator?). We've also seen the rise of the "web" from a few shared help files
between colleges to a major economic engine. "The Cloud" may be the next big
thing for applications, and if so, we'll be ready.
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Webinar:
IPM 10 Secrets Revealed
Thursday, May 12 2 pm Eastern
How Features You Didn't Even Know
Existed Can Save You Time and Money
This webinar will show off some of the lesser-known features, hidden
functionalty and shortcuts designed into IPM 10. It will
run about an hour and it will be recorded and posted on our website.
The webinar is available at no additional cost for everyone on the Maintenance plan,
so send us an email to reserve your space now:
sales@fullhousesoftware.com Space
is limited!
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Webinar:
IPM Classic Secrets Revealed
Thursday, May 26 2 pm Eastern
Enhancements that can
Fine-Tune Your Routine
This webinar will show off new features, added functions, new reports and
improvements made to IPM Classic. It will
run about an hour, or until Bill runs out of hot air. The
webinar will be recorded and posted on our website.
The webinar is available at no additional cost for everyone on the Maintenance plan,
so send us an email to reserve your space now:
sales@fullhousesoftware.com
Space is limited!
IPM 2007 Forever!
No sundown in sight
For the record: IPM 2007
is not going away any time in the foreseeable future.
As long as you need it, and you pay your maintenance, we will continue to
support IPM 2007. HOWEVER, with IPM Classic released, we will no longer
do updates to IPM 2007 except to fix bugs. We believe IPM Classic is a perfect
transition for anyone using IPM 2007 on older PCs, or who are having printing
issues or who are using IPM 2007 in a Windows 7 "Virtual XP" environment.
We know some people won't switch until they have to. We reserve the right to
nudge you toward either IPM Classic or IPM 10, and once no one is using IPM
2007, we'll retire it. Until then, we'll continue to support IPM 2007. We do
hope you switch, but we aren't holding our breath.
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