On the tenth day…

I did not realize that more work was required than I initially thought when I enabled the application to be used in a networked environment (i.e. multiuser mode) with the least amount of code rework possible. Most of time was spent on making sure that it works both ways i.e. using a database on the network and using the database on the local machine. With the way I’ve set it up, it is possible for someone to initially start using the program with the local database then when the need arises move on to using the network or remote database without reinstalling a new or dfferent version.

That’s all I can report for the 10th day. I hope the report for the eleventh day is more exciting. Till next time.

On the ninth day…

From the different posts in the 30dayers site one can gather that everyone involved in this sprint is really putting in 100% effort in producing high quality applications. I think when there is an achievable objective, anyone with enough motivation can achieve it, not only in producing software but in any endeavour.

Early today I can say that I’ve finished all the features I want to include in this first release. They are as follows:

• client management - a bit more work needed here. I need to separate individual clients from business or corporate clients. It just makes more sense especially in generating analysis reports.
• contact management - just have to add a pop-up window for selecting the clients. I initially thought of having the client names in a drop down combo box but decided against it because of the possibility of having a large number of clients.
• product management - at the moment only digital products and services can be recorded. Future plans include the option to record non-digital products such as books, merchandises, etc.
• sales management - it took me a while to figure out how to handle a single sale and multiple item sales but in the end I figured it out.
• subscriptions management - these refer to those products/services that have a subscription mode of payment rather than one-off.
• issues management - these are items relating to the quality of the product of service. I initially thought of limiting it to bug reports but in the end there may be things that are not related to the actual software but some ancillary thing e.g. the help file or installation problems etc.
• actions management - these refer to activities taken towards the resolution of the issue or issues reported. This and the issues feature are almost in code freeze state (almost no more work is needed).
• table codes management - these are top-level codes that misvCRM needs and will be set to read-only when released.
• table items management - these are the sub-items relating to each table. The entries of this table can be updated or deleted. It is also possible to add a new item record.
• discount codes management - this is where different discount/coupon codes are maintained. I initially thought of leaving it to the user to specify the coupon or discount rate used when the item was bought but I think this can get tedious when there are several variations of the product available for purchase and each one have their own discount code.

I just have to cleanup the code and tidy up a few loose ends and I think I can make it available for download for those who want to take it through its paces. I just have to make clear that the final product may be the same or have additional more features. Anyway, this is something I have to think about when the time comes.

Another capability I added is that of being a multiuser (I know, it is not really a big deal) . I’ve made it in such a way that it is possible for the user to connect to the database via the Internet. The IP address of the middleware is shown on the caption of the application’s main window and an indicator of the type of connection is shown on the lower left corder of the main window. Here is a screenshot:

Another feature that I included when I made it multiuser is that depending on the licence the application can either connect to a remote database or to a local database i.e. residing on the same machine where the program is.

I think from now on it will be more fiddly in the sense of making sure everything hangs together and that the UI is consistent. An inconsistent UI is something that turns off users, I know I do.

That’s it for now. Till next time…

On the eight day…

A few more features were added such as subscriptions and discounts. I’m currently working on the sales and sale items feature. The subscriptions feature manages subscription purchases. I initially thought of including this information in the sale item table but in the end decided against it. The discounts feature are for those products that attract a discount voucher or coupon. For this feature, I could have left to the user to simply specify the discount rate during the sale record creation but I tried to cover the situation where there are several discount coupons for a product because of a marketing campaign etc.

Another feature I added was having an alert/message/notification window pop-up when the application starts. The purpose of this window is to inform the user of the important things that need to be done for the day. Examples of items appearing in the alert window can be: producing or generating the billing report for the month; producing invoices for clients of subscription mode etc; activities marked as urgent etc. Here is a screenshot of the Alert window. This window can also be displayed by selecting the appropriate menu option.

After I finish the sales and sales items feature I can then move on to the enquiry area which I think is the part of misvCRM that should give the user the greatest benefit. In this area the user should have a 360-degree view of his/her client. The enquiry window should be able to show in a single glance to the user client details such as purchases, licence keys or licence numbers, requests for support and bug reports, etc.

On the six and seventh days…

It’s been almost a week since the challenge started and as you can see in the 30dayers feed site there is a lot of activity and progress is definitely being made by everyone involved. As it has been mentioned in one of the feed’s post that the quality of the products is really impressive. Having the 30-day challenge and the spectre of not meeting the target is a very good motivator for really doing quality work. To the others involved in this challenge I encourage you to push on, it will all be worthwhile in the end.

On the sixth day I got had to take a step back in the development of the product/product item portion of the application. I decided against having a two-level approach in recording the products. I went for a single table with more data instead. During this time I had a brainwave which I shall describe in another blog post (possibly after this one). The whole process of undoing the two-level approach took sometime since I had to remove the product item processing feature and then revise the product portion to cater for the increase in data. This was the sixth day.

The seventh day is a completely different story. I managed to finalise the product processing and add the contact processing. The contact processing portion manages the communication between the uisv and others. I think being able to keep track of all contact made with clients is a good thing because it gives you a history of your relationship with them.

The funny thing with this development effort is there are a lot of things that I want to add but I know if I will not finish so I am maintaining a separate list of things to have after the 30-days are up. One of those things is the inclusion of alerts.

That’s it for now. Hopefully, the entry for Day 8 will be more substantial and also I will new screenshots as well.

A mISV uses different applications to manage his business. He may use Microsoft Outlook to record the details of his clients, an Excel spreadsheet to record product sales, a group mailer to manage mailouts etc. Aside from these applications, he also uses his development tools that relate to his product and website.

Time and time again a question regarding the existence or availability of a single product that manages clients (both current and prospective), products, SKUs, sales, marketing, feature requests, bugs or issues, and other related functions catches my attention in the different fora and newsgroups that I frequent. In short, is there a product that assists mISVs in managing their product or products?

The reason why I am interested in this type of question is because I am also looking for such a product. I sell a shareware application called VeriTime Time Tracker and I suppose like other mISVs I use several products to manage my clients, sales, mailouts, and product issues.

Now, if I am on the lookout and others who raised this question are also on the lookout it is a safe bet to assume that there are others who are also looking for this kind of product. In short, there is a need that is not currently being met successfully or completely. A perfect situation for a business opportunity. As someone said in a podcast that I listened to “Find a problem. Figure out how to solve the problem. Find more people with the same problem and you have a business.”

Since I cannot find an appropriate product that does what I am looking for, I have decided to write one myself. I have a fairly good idea of the main functional areas and how they all link together so I am not really coming in from the cold.

One thing that I will apply is the idea of release early, release often. I want to get this product out there as soon as possible to gain some foothold in the mindset of those people who are looking for this kind of application. Of course, the first release should be reasonably usable with a minimal set of bells and whistles which are not entirely essential to the functioning of the application.

As a challenge I will try to get this product out of the front door in thirty days (30). I am giving myself a month to develop the software, write the help file, and get a basic website and mandatory blog (this piece becomes the first entry) up and running within this time frame. Sounds ambitious? I think it is but it is doable.

What is the upside of this approach? Well, first of all people get to know the product early and also receive feedback from the early adopters. And the downside? People will not believe me anymore or will always treat what I say with a grain of salt or that the product joins the ranks of vapourwares.

I feel good about this challenge and it is worth doing it. So as they say in a race “get on your marks, get set, go!” and it begins on 1 June 2008 and finishes on 30 June 2008 with 1 July 2008 as the first day it becomes publicly available.

If you wish to be informed of the progress of this challenge, later be involved in a public beta testing, and eventually be able to get hold of a trial version please fill in the form below:

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