Happy Christmas!
From all of us at Suntower Systems, have a very happy, merry and SAFE (again, no pun intended) holiday. It's been a great year for us, and hopefully so for yourselves as well. It looks like this will be our last issue of the year. Also: This is to remind everyone that we will be closed from December 25 through January 1st, 2003, reopening January 2nd 2003. As always, if you have an emergency we will have technicians available, but we ask that general sales, service and support  wait until we return.
 

More Questions About SAFE 6.0!
SAFE 6.0 is on track for release January 20th, 2003. You have questions, we have answers! Many of these have already been asked and answered but a little repetition never hurts!

Q: Why should I upgrade?
A: First of all, because SAFE 6.0 has something for everyone. The message we have been trying to get across, as time has passed, is how the needs of all distributors are intersecting, regardless of size. So there are many new features which, though previously in the realm of larger customers, are now becoming useful to smaller companies as well. Secondly, because it is the direction in which we, and the rest of the world are heading: towards a standards-based program that will make it easy to integrate with programs from other companies (Shipping Companies, Manufacturers, Warehouses, Customers)

Q: Well that was fairly vague. Any specifics you'd care to share?
A: A feature list is available for download at http://www.suntowersystems.com/whatnext.htm A more thorough list, with Best Practices for Upgraders will soon be e-mailed to registered customers.

Q: Daddy always said, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!' Must I upgrade?
A: Eventually, yes. We will provide support for SAFE 5.1 for two update cycles. But when SAFE 6.2 is released in August of 2003, we will no longer provide support for SAFE version 5.1 in any way shape or form. However, read carefully: As we have been saying: programming on SAFE 5.1 is done, done, done. We will provide no custom programming, custom reports, forms design, bug fixes, maintenance releases, feature additions, etc. to any previous version once SAFE 6.0 is released. In other words, SAFE 5.1 is pretty much locked in stone. Use SAFE 5.1 as is until August 2003 and we will, of course, do our best to help you if you have support needs. By that time, most all of you will, for one reason or another, have already upgraded.

Q: How much will it cost me?
A: *If your RSS contract is up to date, the answer is zero, nada, nichts, dadai for the software. You will need to make certain you have the proper licenses for Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft Data Engine (see below). You can obtain SQL Server from us, or more likely, you can get it at a discounted rate from your happy local 'computer guy'.

Note: If you are not currently using SASE, there will be a $595.00 upgrade fees. You can save $100.00 by ordering SASE before January 20th, 2003 for only $495.00!

Q: How much will the upgrade procedure hurt?
A: Not at all. Really. The installation program will automatically convert your data 100%

Q: What do I need to do to get ready?
A: The important thing is to decide if you need more than five concurrent users to SAFE. If you do, then you must obtain SQL Server 2000 to run SAFE 6.0. If not, you should have Microsoft Office 2000 installed on your server, which contains the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE), suitable for up to five users. Older versions of MS-Office will not work!

If you will be using MSDE, make certain that the data engine is really installed! This can be done by sticking your original CD into your server and running the Setup program again. Drill down on the various options and make certain that the Microsoft Data Engine option is installed. If not, add that component to your setup.

If you are using SQL Server, make certain that you have an adequate number of Client Licenses installed before you upgrade to SAFE 6.0.

Finally, bear in mind is that your workstations should be configured to access SQL Server (or MSDE). In other words, in addition to running the server installation of SQL Server, you also need to run an installation program on each PC. This is generally no more difficult than sticking the SQL Server Client License CD into each PC and running the Client Installation Program.

The good news is that this is all much easier to do than to write about. Most of you will have this done by your 'Computer Guy' so configuration will likely be a non-issue. But  for you do-it-yourselfers, please do not hesitate to contact us with specific questions/concerns.
 

Ciaran's Corner
This will be a difficult holiday. So many movies, so little time! My brothers and I want to see The Gangs Of New York, because, how many times do you get to see a bunch of poor Irish blokes win any fight? Of course, if we looked anywhere as good as Leonard DiCaprio, we might have stayed out of trouble in our youths! But by the time you read this, we shall surely have seen Lord Of The Rings II five or six times. I will award a small prize to anyone e-mails with obscure references to Orthanc, Ents or the differences between various types of Elves.

NEW YEARS: RESOLUTION OR RANT?
It seems that the moment that we close the feature list for SAFE 6.0, we get a hundred e-mails asking us if a particular feature will be in the new version. As Dr. Phil says (boy does my wife like him) "Come on people!" The time to tell us what you wanted was back in August! I cannot emphasize enough that we depend upon you to tell us how to improve SAFE. SAFE has been and always will be subject to the whims of those who take the time to let us know what they want.

We fall all over ourselves trying to get SAFE to be what you want, but, as we say over and over, there is such a wide variety of users that it is extremely difficult to read a general trend in what you need SAFE to be.

ASK NOT WHAT YOUR SOFTWARE CAN DO FOR YOU...
Or something like that. My suggestion for the new year is that you have a meeting with your people and ask them how we can make SAFE better. Blue sky this, if you will. My brother took to pleading in his last days in this job and if begging will do the trick, OK, I'll beg. Pleeeeeaaaaase! Have a meeting and discuss in what areas SAFE could be better. I guarantee that your ideas will be valuable because such a meeting is not really about SAFE, it's about improving your entire business workflow. So tell us how to improve your workflow. Tell us where the bottlenecks are. And then we can do something about it. As Bogart would say 'maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.' That's a meeting worth having.

Everyone who has been with us for a while, if they are honest, will notice at least one feature in SAFE which magically appeared in answer to their suggestion. No magic at all, guv. If you tell us, it generally happens (so long as it doesn't conflict with a process used by a large number of other customers.) The only magic, is in getting good feedback from you on what to do next.

So, have that planning meeting soon. Not during the Christmas party, of course, but sometime around then while people are relaxed and can think a bit, away from the daily madness of no time to think, gotta get job R123456 out!

Til Next Year!

Ciaràn Marron
Technical Support Manager
cm@suntowersystems.com

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End of E-News From The Suntower, Volume IV #23