Dear Tony, Being a Brit I can't really help you on American proprietory software but here's a few tips on what to consider when chosing the software - for this and indeed any software! In no particular order. 1. Will it work with your existing computer infrastructure. 2. Will it be upwardly compatible for future upgrades? Which of these will you receive free of charge and which will you pay for? 3. What is the cost structure depending on how many user licences you need. 4. Is training bundled into the buying price and if so how much do you get? 5. What is the annual maintenance cost and what support is provided as part of that? Do they guarantee a specific response turnaround? What is the size of their support team? 6. Ask them for contact details of at least two existing users IN THE MUSEUM SECTOR and go talk with them about how long it took to install, what glitches they found, was it up to their expectations, how easy to use, service levels etc. 7. What standard reporting is provided. Is there a report writer included in the price and how easy is to use for the non-technical? (If it's something like CRYSTAL report writer this isn't something you can pick up in 5 mins!). 8. For retail are you expecting to scan stock items in which case you will need them to quote for scanners. 9. Are you looking to integrate point of sale with inventory control? Now or at a later date? If so, you should also ask (a) if they sell a seperate inventory module that can be interfaced in and (b) if so what the cost is. 10. Do you want the system to interface directly with the Accounting system? If so, you need to get your Accounts team in on this so they can talk direct to the provider about how this might be done and what it might cost. 11. The most important thing is to write down a list of your requirements BEFORE you talk to any software providers: otherwise there is a real danger they will 'woo' you with their functionality and you will loose sight of what you actually want. Most people divide their list into "must have", "useful to have", "optional". Decide some scoring system and for each product you look at mark a score against each requirement. This will provide some logic to your selection process. 12. Don't feel shy to ask for details about the software company e.g. how long in business, how many clients - especially in your field and for their last 2 or 2 years accounts: ask your accounts team to run their eyes over these to make sure they look financially robust. Also ask them if they have any expansion plans for the next 5 years. Lastly and not least, the ability to handle your volumes of data should not be as much a problem as it used to be as software gets increasingly more powerful, but have some metrics to take with you to discussions e.g. visitors per year, number of stock lines, how many tills, average sales per day, number of staff working at point of sale: this will all help make sure the software company doesn't over/under spec what you need. Good luck! Jerry Symonds - Senior Internal Auditor Historic Royal Palaces England ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tony Smith" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 9:31 PM Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Museum store retail software Looking for suggestions of a quality retail software that can handle the museum store and admissions. (5 stations; 4 retail, 1 admissions) Also, any issues that should be considered when choosing the software. Thank you. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.16/1430 - Release Date: 13/05/2008 07:31 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).