We tried using two different Wiki solutions for internal documentation and external documentation (back in the 90s). We found them to be too loose - permitted almost anything or nothing. Therefore we could not enforce completeness (as much as one can) of documentation and very fast finding of appropriate documentation. Therefore we just did what a typical 4D programmer would do and spent the time and effort to create a system that we used internally for our whole business.
As it turned out it was extremely good. Yes - it cost a lot for us to develop over the years. Like all well written custom software it was the best solution available. When we went through our ISO 9001 certification this was a key piece of the business solution to ensuring everything was done properly. When we were initially tested, the company reviewing us was on their last review for them to be able to certify software companies. This meant that someone from the head office at ISO was observing them. At the end of the process where we were offically granted our ISO 9001 certification and the process was done the reviewer from Belgium was able to speak. He made a few comments, but the last one really stuck out. He stated in his 20+ years of certification experience he had never seen a piece of software that so completely looked after the whole company’s needs ensuring that everything was done. He stated he was very impressed with the software we had. I know that as employees have left and worked with other software companies one comment that has been consistently made is that they have never encountered software that met the needs of a software development / support / training company as well as the solution we provided. Others have commented that for their company (outside of this our business type) they would really like software like we have. Like all of us know though - custom built software is more expensive than off the shelf. The business that a high percentage of us are in though - we convince people that custom solution is the best way to go in the end. So we took our own advice. To that end - I would never go with an off the shelf solution except for accounting software. The bigger the company gets, the more money the custom solution saves you. It saves you in so many ways that it really helps you to look extremely good. Remember you can write your in-house solution to communicate with your custom developed solutions. Therefore a lot of work that you would do manually can be done automatically. Communication is critical in business, the more you can make your communication automatic, targeted, and closest to the client’s use the more effective the communication. Jody Bevan ARGUS Productions Inc. Developer Argus Productions Inc. <https://www.facebook.com/ArgusProductions/> ********************************************************************** 4D Internet Users Group (4D iNUG) FAQ: http://lists.4d.com/faqnug.html Archive: http://lists.4d.com/archives.html Options: http://lists.4d.com/mailman/options/4d_tech Unsub: mailto:4d_tech-unsubscr...@lists.4d.com **********************************************************************
