If you are not getting what you expected from your software, you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s probably not the software’s fault. PC based accounting software has been around for quite a while now and most of the popular products are mature and can do just about anything necessary to run a business. We find the most common cause is how the software is utilized in the business. In this first of two parts, we’ll talk about user training.

It is called a Disaster Recovery Plan for a reason. If you’ve ever experienced a system crash or heard the horror story of someone who has been through one without a Disaster Recovery Plan, you probably understand how aptly it is named. Such a plan can be as simple as backup and restore procedures or as complex as off-site data storage and alternate hardware. With an adequate plan, a system crash becomes no more than a serious inconvenience.

When Sage Software first introduced the annual Software Maintenance Subscription Plan some years ago, frankly, we didn’t like it. Up to that point, version upgrades had been priced individually and were an optional investment. Now our customers were being asked to pay in advance for version upgrades that might contain features they wouldn’t opt for otherwise.