A while back I read an article about gas mileage for new cars. Car companies put stickers on new cars that suggest the typical gas mileage that you should expect from that car. In particular, the article talked about one person who exclaimed that his gas mileage didn’t come close to what was on the sticker.
The article then went on to describe why gas mileage can vary so widely. Was the car being driven on a hot or cold day? Was the heater or air conditioning on in the car? And if so, was it on high or low? Was the car being driven in stop and go traffic or doing highway driving? What was the road surface like and how old was the driver? Were the windows up or down?
The main point I took away from reading the article was that many factors affect gas mileage. Let me tell you why I’m mentioning this story to you.
I recently saw a post in a LinkedIn group from and ACT! user that was having all kinds of issues with ACT. The issues were getting so bad that both he and his boss were having negative thoughts about ACT. They were blaming the software about some issues and it made me wonder if that was fair. When you install ACT, or any software for that matter on a computer, it is expected to work as advertised. When it doesn’t, we get frustrated and take our frustrations out on the software.
I want to be clear here: I’m not defending the software. What I’m suggesting is that sometimes these issues are not clear-cut. Every computer is different and every user uses different software on that computer. Could it be a firewall issue, or antivirus software that is creating the problem? Maybe the user downloaded his favorite game and that’s impacting the situation.
The main point I’d like you to think about after you’ve read this is that there is no such thing as an average ACT! user. We are all different and that impacts the way the software works. If nothing else, recognizing this fact will hopefully make the whole process a little less stressful and make your situation a little easier to deal with. Hopefully.
Many ACT! Certified Consultants and ACT! consultants specialize in the complex installation of ACT! in a complex multiuser environment. I implore you to make sure you enlist their services if you don’t have the requisite skills to address all the variables that can impact the performance of ACT. Best of luck, regardless of what you decide to do.
One thing to note… around 70-80% of support calls for Sage ACT! are due to issues with Microsoft components (SQL, .Net, Office or the OS)
Mike,
Those numbers sound high to me. Where do they come from?
I have heard them consistently from people i know in support and they do agree with my own on-line support efforts. It does surprise me that Sage never state these publicly (maybe fear of upsetting Microsoft?) – but they have agreed with my posts on-line when I have stated them
Remember, this is not the “how do I do this” type questions or the types that need training, but the “this doesn’t work” questions.
It was in the 80s till ACT! 2008 10.02 where Sage started finding workarounds for some of the issues and Microsoft upgrades started fixing some of their bugs.
These figures may have been reduced with ACT! 2011 and 2012 which added some improvements in the install – like rebooting after a .Net or Win Installer install (if these were needed)
I also think some of the issues with sync (Google, Outlook, Connect) might, unfortunately, be assisting in the swing away from MS support…