Alternatives to RMS.

Tossing the bathwater out with the baby might prove to be tougher to endure... Replacing RMS with another POS system will require new system training, potential conflicts with your current hardware, data import / migration issues, add-ons you may have with RMS may not be available with the other POS system, as well as other third party integrations (ie accounting links, ecommerce links, etc);

If the support rep did not solve your issue, post it here; I've learned quite a bit about the software from this newsgroup; c> I've come to the conclusion that for me it's irresponsible (you cast

I am currently upgrading to RMS 2.0 after careful consideration and shopping around.

It is my opinion after using several different POS systems in the liquor industry that Microsoft is the best choice on the market. Is it perfect? No. Does it offer ever feature that I am looking for? No.

The question that I was forced to ask myself after looking at many different solutions is, "Are any POS systems perfect?" Again the answer was no. The difference with Microsoft RMS is the potential that it has and the knowledge that it has a company that is going to be around in 5, 10, 15 years to continue to support the product. Can the same be said for some of the other options that are availible?

Remember that RMS is in it's second version at this point, so in the great scheme of things is it still an infant product. It will continue to grow and be refined, issues will be addressed and problems fixed. I will bet the farm that most other POS solutions do not have the resources behind them to grow like Microsoft RMS does.

There is a large community base here and I see questions and problems routinly addressed and solved. Not many other companies could boast the same.

It sounds like to me that you got hooked up with a bad support representive and this has left a sour taste in your mouth about the product. I have had wonderful luck with the partners that I am working with and they have bent over backwards to make sure that all of my questions are answered and problems addressed.

As I apporoach my rollout date we have been in constant communication and planning. Now you could say that this is because they are tring to make a buck and will disappear after things are setup but I will disagree. They have already been paid for everything and if anything the level of communication have increased rather than decreased.

Now I am not claiming to have all of the answers or that RMS is perfect but I have seen too many people fall prey to the first person that walks in the door that claims to have the perfect solution.

My advise would be to find a decent and hard working partner to assist you with your questions and help you to address the issues that you are having.

If you are serious about switching to something else, please do the homework on the products that you are looking at, talk to people that are already using it and get their take on it. That is where the honest answers will come from.

Hope this helps...

I'm seriously looking at retail star as my next system, does everything RMS does plus the multistore enviroment is much better. Imagine all info at every store not just HQ.

Infant product? Hahaha. I have been using it for many years (back to the old QuickSell 2000 days). It is a mature product that has not kept up with customer recommendations and complaints. They can continue to string us along for ever by making small tweaks along the way. They apparently have no interest in implementing long overdue improvements that are universally requested (think: parent/child relationships).

That being said, I haven't found anything better. I guess I am giving them more ammunition to just keep stringing me along.

It's like the gas station who always sells for 1 cent cheaper than the guy across the street. He might be able to beat him by 5 cents, but why? He does just enought to keep his customer - no more.

I will admit that I have not been using RMS as long as you have and am not familar with all of the issues or problems that you mention.

As I said before it is not a perfect product (my biggest issue is the limited information availible on the item screen) but after dealing with products like Spirits 2000 and CAP Retail Automation I still think it is the best choice on the market. While both of the above products do somethings right, the things that they get wrong far our weigh the right. The chances that these companys will ever address these issues is about 0 and you are constantly stuck with the "band-aid" approach of fixing things.

I still think that the parterner that you do business with will make or break your impression of RMS.

Now will everybody's issue or suggestion be resolved or acted upon, probally not but that is going to be the same wherever you decide to spend your money and time. Should problems that people are having across the board be addressed absolutly, you will get no argument from me on that point.

My point all along was to do the homework on what is availible at the time and make an informed decision rather than deal with someone who claims to have the "perfect fix", 9 times out or 10 you will lose if you shop for a product that way.

A POS upgrade or switch over is a massive undertaking and not something that should be done on a whim or without the best information that is avalible.

What I like about RMS is the ability to almost completely customize it for your business. The add-ons available by 3rd parties are great for creating your own custom solution. Even with the add-ons I purchased, I'm still about $6000 less than what other custom solutions for my industry cost. Granted, even with these add-ons it doesn't do everything I want it to do, and there are a few bugs. But I can't justify spending twice as much just to get a few more bells and whistles. Another thing I like is the ease of installing hotfixes. Make a support request online and almost instantly you have the hotfix available to you(making sure that you unzip it immediatly). Then all you have to do is double click on the hotfix on the machine you need to upgrade and it's done. I also agree that having the right partner is crucial. I don't pay them for much, but their expertise has gotten me through many a tight spot. Craig

What's frustrating is that it should be evolving to justify the price increases. Even this person thinks 2.0 means something like 2nd version. Most people here would agree it's really 1.4 and another price increase. RMS's strong points are due to the (IMHO) talent of the true creators SMS. Rarely do you see software that "stands the test of time" and it's a testiment to the very talented people who wrote it.

I don't really care if MS changes anything at this point, The flurry of hotfixes and SP's are a testiment to the damage they do anytime they make some minor change.

I have no doubt the proposed .NET version (if .NET still exists by then) will be a mess. There doesn't seem to be any "real world" testing done before this stuff is rolled out and no concern about shutting people down.

If MS had to rely on RMS in a chain of stores they own things might be different...