Running old SBT VisionPoint?
You may be running very old SBT VisionPoint accounting software and considering whether it is time to upgrade. Your SBT VisionPoint still runs tolerably well on current Windows computers and, with your SBT source code license, you can add features as required. For most of you, this is good enough and I will support you and your SBT VisionPoint system indefinitely if that is what you want. But for some, this is not enough. If you want something newer and better, keep reading.
Three years ago, if an SBT VisionPoint client asked me for an upgrade for their accounting software, I recommended Sage Pro without hesitation. Sage Pro was the only “straight line” upgrade for VisionPoint, meaning it was the only upgrade that converted all your SBT data, covered all the standard VisionPoint features and add many new ones that VisionPoint lacked. It was a good upgrade but it was not cheap, especially for VisionPoint users who bought their SBT license many years ago and had not spent a penny on SBT software since. Sage Pro cost anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 depending on the number of modules and user licenses and, for many, this was too much. VisionPoint worked well, everyone knew how to use it and Lefkowitz Systems was there to fix things when they broke and add things when needed.
In 2014 Sage Software discontinued the Sage Pro product line (VisionPoint was discontinued in 2004). Most of you received a scary letter from Sage telling you your software was obsolete and unsupported and recommended an upgrade to a product other than Sage Pro. While VisionPoint is obsolete, it is supported, by me. But Sage made a good point. With no straight upgrade path, you became accounting software orphans. In response, I presented my company to you as an SBT orphanage.
While I like to sell upgrades to my clients, I do not like to sell upgrades under threats of catastrophe. I prefer to sell upgrades because the benefits of the upgrade are greater than the cost and far greater than the cost of doing nothing. The upgrade should make your company more profitable than it is, far more profitable than it is if you do nothing.
Until recently, I did not have a strong replacement for my VisionPoint clients. Now I do. I want to introduce all of you to Spire Systems, especially to those of you who are considering a VisionPoint upgrade. It is a fine system for VisionPoint users. It is not for all but I think it will work well for many. In the following paragraphs, I will make the general case for Spire for VisionPoint users and, also, identify reasons not to buy Spire. If you make it to the bottom without discovering a disqualifying reason and if you are in the market for a new accounting system, please contact me.
Read “Spire for VisionPoint Users.”
— Matt Lefkowitz