V10

[dave_finlayson]

Interesting discussion.

We have moved away from Actinic for one site (or will be anyway once the development is over) and now have to decide whether to stay with them for our other site. Full online systems are moving forward so fast these days that I don't think Actinic, as a desktop application anyway, will be able to survive if v10 doesn't 'blow the socks off' so to speak.

I always liked Actinic because it was desktop based but I suspect that this is now the reason development is so slow. Can they take on the competition seriously and keep it desktop based? If not, then by the time they develop a full online system will they be so far behind everyone else that it will take them years to regain their market position?

Potential tough times ahead me thinks!

[NRasool]

Hey there, Long time no speak on this forum, but here goes for my personal view

I always liked Actinic because it was desktop based but I suspect that this is now the reason development is so slow. Can they take on the competition seriously and keep it desktop based? If not, then by the time they develop a full online system will they be so far behind everyone else that it will take them years to regain their market position!

The above can be achieved, the company I work for, both has a windows application running of an SQL server and also online using PHP, SOAP technology. Like Actinic, they first had the main application, and later had to develop the online part, but they broke it up, modular. So in essense the 1st release was very basic, but each release after that, they built upon that. If you work on a modular plan, that at first, it may be basic, but it gets better :-)

Anyway I remember chatting to Ben and Chris, about having Actinic go online/offline hybrid, I even mentioned on one of the threads on this forum.

Anyway I'm looking forward to see what outs in v10

[chris ashdown]

Welcome back stranger, nice to hear from you

[Darren B]

I always liked Actinic because it was desktop based but I suspect that this is now the reason development is so slow. Can they take on the competition seriously and keep it desktop based? If not, then by the time they develop a full online system will they be so far behind everyone else that it will take them years to regain their market position?

This is true for me and many others, but the way techonology has moved on i dont need the desktop application all the time, broadband speeds and the such have made working online easy these days.

Yes broadband goes down, mine did only monday, not for long but i have a good old usb modem for dial up and actinic happily plods away if a change is needed. But dial up is probably enough for anyone who has to make an urgent change to a price or description but maybe not redesigns.

But im not saying if Actinic does not come up with something major then im off, however some sites would probably be moved to a product that suits its requirements. If this happens then i have to make a decision as to paying out for support on a product that although will do the job might not be required because the site could also be moved at no additional cost. So what im saying in reality is do i save my self a few hundred quid in support charges and move everything as i have already paid for it?

[jont]

Anyway I remember chatting to Ben and Chris, about having Actinic go online/offline hybrid, I even mentioned on one of the threads on this forum.

With Ben and Chris' affinity with SaaS this must be the way v10 is heading

[chris ashdown]

Just had this email from CB



News from Actinic: version 10 and Actinic Enterprise

Over the past few years I have spoken with many people who have started and successfully grown businesses using Actinic. As companies succeed, the emphasis changes from ecommerce bells and whistles to the need for a platform that copes with success – providing powerful back-end features that enables the business to deal with expanding sales.

It was as a result of these conversations that we launched Actinic Enterprise to provide a high performance, low-risk upgrade for businesses that have grown with Actinic – businesses that need an ecommerce solution with room for future growth.

So how could Actinic Enterprise benefit your business?

Firstly, we’ve replaced the traditional Access database with a high performance SQL Server database which means you can handle larger volumes of orders quickly and have significantly more operators using the system simultaneously. All of this forms a platform for further development.

Enterprise also benefits from additional features that are more appropriate for larger businesses including a granular access control function which enables you to set individual users responsibilities and an ‘order picker’ feature to speed up locating, picking and checking of orders.

This list will grow as we continue to respond to your input. The switch to the underlying SQL Server database was an immense effort and we can now build rapidly from this point.

As an Enterprise customer, you will be able to more closely influence the direction of Actinic, enjoy higher support levels including a named, experienced person in the support team and the prioritisation of any necessary fixes. You will also have the opportunity, should you wish, to pay for Actinic to develop specific features at a cost effective price, better leveraging the multi-million pound investment that Actinic has made.

Finally, Actinic Enterprise has been developed with an easy upgrade in mind. It’s based on the same ecommerce platform you’re currently using, so your Actinic site can be upgraded:

Without having to spend tens of thousands of pounds
Without the mammoth amount of time you would need to contribute to a redevelopment or a bespoke solution
Without putting your existing search engine rankings at risk
With the familiar Actinic interface requiring little or no staff retraining
Actinic has helped other successful businesses grow from nothing, to over a thousand orders a day and over £20m sales per annum. We would like to do the same for you.

Just as a reminder Actinic Enterprise also supports high volume telephone ordering from an order entry facility specifically designed for this environment. We found that as online businesses grew they were more likely to receive orders over the telephone or through the post; hence the development.

In version 10, which we can demonstrate today but is still under development, we’ve added full real time stock control across all channels, without the need for plug ins, and we’ve also streamlined the checkout process and added Google Checkout.

Invitation to see Actinic Enterprise in action

As a successful and growing business we’d like to invite you to take a look at Actinic Enterprise. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the pricing options - you won’t have to break the bank for your business to benefit from increased performance and scalability.

Call or email Daniel Hollier 0845 129 4800, dhollier@actinic.co.uk for further information or to arrange a personal demonstration.


Alternatively, we are continuing to run the ‘Get more out of Actinic’ around the country. These have proved particularly successful over the past few months and will give you a chance to see Enterprise in action.

Events scheduled over the next few months are:

Tuesday 8th September – Coventry, West Midlands
Tuesday 6th October – Leeds
Tuesday 3rd November – West Byfleet
Tuesday 1st December – Bristol
If you would like to come, please call Nicola Foster on 01932 358349 or email nfoster@actinic.co.uk. Places are limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.

Best Regards,

Chris Barling
CEO, Actinic Software

[jont]

Alternatively, we are continuing to run the ‘Get more out of Actinic’ around the country. These have proved particularly successful over the past few months and will give you a chance to see Enterprise in action.

Events scheduled over the next few months are:

Tuesday 8th September – Coventry, West Midlands
Tuesday 6th October – Leeds
Tuesday 3rd November – West Byfleet
Tuesday 1st December – Bristol

Have these events been made public or private invites only?

[Benjamin Dyer]

ok its been a while since mentioned but any news on when the 1st beta of v10 is likely to be seen? its been almost 18 months since v9 hit the streets and i would like to see whats in the offering, not chat about expected inclusions but actual meat

Its an interesting discussion.

We are busy working on v10, there are no secrets to that fact, its been discussed in the monthly updates. However, we have been dedicated to getting v9 right, hence the commitment to our maintenance releases.

V10 includes:

• Real Time Stock
• New checkout
• Google Checkout
• User Access Control - Enterprise
• Order Picker - Enterprise
• Order Filter - Enterprise
• Numerous bug fixes and improvements

There may also be a few other inclusions.

There is no date for the first alpha release just yet, its still in the lab and there are a few internal hoops we need to jump through first.

Just a reminder we do have a monthly update, these posts are designed to keep people informed of the inner workings of Actinic Towers. However, we do need your involvement, if you want more information on the next release just ask! Last time I looked there was only the one comment on the last update, we are not mind readers.

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

Is it too early to confirm that 'online customers accounts with order history' has been ruled out for v10, or is this still a possibilty.

I would prefer to see V10 put off for an extra 6 months to give time to implement some of the most requested additions (many mention above).

[Benjamin Dyer]

Is it too early to confirm that 'online customers accounts with order history' has been ruled out for v10, or is this still a possibilty.

I would prefer to see V10 put off for an extra 6 months to give time to implement some of the most requested additions (many mention above).

Hi Darren,

No, sadly v10 will not include online customer accounts.

As you pointed out there are many requested features and additions and there is a good case for including all of them. However its obviously impossible for us to do them all in a single release, we have to take a pragmatic approach to selecting the features that make the cut.

Ben

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

No, sadly v10 will not include online customer accounts.

That's disapointing to hear although not unexpected, personally I would preferred to have seen online accounts instead of Google Checkout and Live Stock Control as they are not as important to me, although know that live stock control is one of the most requested features from many users.

Presumably a major feature like online accounts would never get added as part of a maintenance release eg. V10.5.1

[leehack]

Whether Google checkout is added or not is immaterial now to some extent, but having been the most requested feature ever, they simply have to add it. The interest in it has passed somewhat, the horse hasn't only bolted, it has emigrated, died and been turned into pet food on the continent.

What i am hoping more than anything is that lessons have been learnt from it and more importantly the checkout process and other areas are now going to be able to react in a timescale considerably less than 3 years, if a new solution arrives that the userbase of the software want on the whole.

I also wish it'd be delayed by 6 months and have that extra feature or two that we often seem to see in the 4th or 5th maintenance release. My experience is people don't jump til that point, so the 6 months before just seems like wasted time and often a very negative time, because for the last 2 releases, they simply haven't been good enough and give the release a bad name before it has even started.

I hope with only one online feature being added, it's not going to fall short. More than anything though, when a new version is released, the prime features of it are an absolute must to be bullet proof. V8 and V9 have both suffered with a key selling point simply not working correctly for far too long. This is a lesson that simply has to have been learnt, i don't think 3rd chances exist.

V10 is going to be a big step for this software, a defining one possibly, it's important that we don't get too het up though, not until we have at least seen it. I truly hope they get this one right, this is a big big step.

[chris ashdown]

Does this mean Enterprise is replacing Business plus and if so will the price of Enterprise come down to a more modest level

[chris ashdown]

With alpha testin it would be good if actinic staff came out for say three days to selected customers and test in a online situation but with the facility to revert back to original setup and still be able to redownload orders again into the old system by this I mean
backup 9.0.4
upgrade to v10 fully test system including download of orders etc say for 24 hours
revert back to 9.0.4
upload any orders again from when upgraded to revertion

that way you test real systems and actinic people can see problems as they happen

[Benjamin Dyer]

Thats a great idea Chris, I am already thinking along similar lines for v10.

Needless to say we are learning all the time with our user testing. I believe we have made great improvements in cordinating our in house and beta tests recently (thinking about v9.0.4 and v9.0.5), however this activity will be ramped up for a major release.

Ben