Small Business Accounting 2006 integration

This is from a Microsoft discussion back in July:

"Niranj[MSFT] (Expert): Q: What is the best accounting system for RMS integration right now, and can you describe the roadmap for any integration plans with SBA or SBF? A: RMS integrates with Great Plains, Small Business Manager, Dynamics, eEnterprise, Quickbooks etc. We tightly integrate with Quickbooks and we do have plans to integrate with SBA and SBF in the future."

Still wait> Yeah. I believe RMS will be tightly integrated with SBA.

a. In the Name of the Security Group text box, type SBA Users Group.

b. In the Description text box, type Small Business Accounting Security Group.

c. Click Next.

1. On the Group Membership page, do the following:

a. In the Users and Groups column, double-click all user accounts that you want to access the Small Business Accounting database.

b. Assure that all appropriate individual user accounts are listed in the Members of this Security Group column.

c. Click Next.

1. Click Finish.

Let's assume that Mark is running SQL2K on XP. Certainly doable, its on my machine I'm typing from. He _doesn't have_ a Server Mangement folder. So where/how should he create the Security Group? He is now stopped, dead in the water. Again, there are no instructions on how to install SBA on anything other than SBS or peer to peer using MSDE!

AL - SBS Premium (the one that includes SQL & ISA) retails for $1500. About the same cost for stand alone SQL Server. . SBS Standard retails for $500.00.

What small business is NOT using email? WHat small business could not benefit from collaboration, communication, remote access, security? There are a few small businesses who would find value in collaboration, communication, remote & security, but for those that do when you look at the cost of purchasing stand alone SQL server and SBS Premium for 5 users the cost is about the same. EXEPT that with SBS Premium you get SO MUCH MORE VALUE that when leveraged can increase your client's productivity and their bottom line. For a solutions provider to provide SBS support vs. SQL support there is no increased cost to the client for those services. In fact, a properly configured SBS server requires about 15 to 30 minutes per month of routine administration. Problem is that it is rare to find a line of business application provider that knows anything about infrastructure support.

Small stores tend NOT to let their employees have email at the store, let alone Internet access. The owner usually does. But sometimes they don't. I have a client that has a domained account that has 800 meg email space. Last week I got a bounce back, mailbox full. She hadn't read her email in over 6 months. Said she didn't have time. Jewelry store in CO that does $1.5m. 7 employees running XPP with SQL2K Workgroup Edition with 3 registers and a couple of workstations.

Our first Ethnic grocery store we are setting up next week 3 lanes. The cashiers don't need email. Internet access in limited to Credit cards.

So all of the _extra value_ would be wasted!

Guess you haven't seen the memo yet - SBS R2 will be downgraded to the Workgroup Edition. WE is $750 for 5 users

Where do you keep getting these numbers from? _SQL_ requires about 15-30 minutes per month. Your techs must be awful fast for the rest.

We setup the third of 7 t-shirt kiosks last week in a mall. At the kiosks, they _only_ use the internet for credit cards and HQ up/downloads. We're working on setting up VOIP from the kiosks to HQ to save a buck or two. The employees are not allowed to use the Internet for scheduling, browsing, email, playing their MP3's, downloading their iTunes, IM'ing, etc, at the kiosks. HQ is running SBS 15 user without issue though. For them it works. But then, they aren't very small, 30 employees and a couple of million a years in sales. HQ employees have a little more power, we setup SharePoint for them, but the outside employees have to access it from home.

Remote is no better than standalone products. Remote Desktop works just fine. It the exact same technology as RWW. Security, you think MS has it greatest security in ISA. What happened to Proxy Server 1.0 and then 2.0? Last major update for ISA was 2 years ago and it took 4 years to update before then. 2000->2004->current and _still_ most people turn it off and use something else. SonicWalls comes to mind.

BTW, which MS brochure did you copy this eloquent crap from?

AL - Frankly, there are very few instances where SBS is not the best choice for a small business infrastructure foundation. The problem is, as stated above, there are very few line of business app vendors who really know anything about supporting infrastructure (client/server based networks). SO, instead of either learning how to administer client/server networks or partnering with someone who does they either say SBS is uneccessary or try to install it thinking it's easy and screw it up/

Not sure if that was an attempt as a slam or not. I've been doing this for a lot of years. I was one of the first to go through Novell's, uh, "client/server" training in 1984-5. I've probably done the same training on SBS and Windows Server based products as any of your techs have. SBS is _not_ about infrastructure, its about combining some software into an affordable package, to work on a single server within a much scaled down environment. Sure every release is better, but then again it has to be. Care to remember SBS 4.0 from the late 90's? It's orginal idea was great, badly inplemented, but a good idea.

Here's my generalization about this. For _most_ retail stores, under 5 lanes and under 10 machines total, use XPP (5 stations or less non-dedicated, 6-10, dedicated) and MSDE or SQL WE, depends on # of transactions per month. If those stores have < 3 office people, its still XPP and MSDE or WE. More than either, its SBS Premium or Server 2003 with WE or Standard.

Most retailers don't have/sit at their desks all day.

Again, as always, you must supply the client with the best options available at the time, for that customer's needs, while trying to anticipate those needs for the next 3-5 years. Out of the box "solutions" most of the time, don't fit!

TTFN,

Jeff