Modifications not required
With some systems, a lot of time (and money!) is spent deciding the modifications you need to run in your environment. This may require programmers on your site, for months.
Sadly, this can be covering up that the software is so full of bugs that there needs to be an excuse for lots of programming time on your site making the software “work for you”
We do not guarantee that Beacon has no bugs. We warrant that the software we deliver to you does work according to the documentation. Any bugs are fixed under warranty..
System Parameters
Different companies operate in different ways. Walstan’s philosophy is that the company should not have to change to suit the software; the software should be able to cope with the way the company runs. (Exceptions to this would be changes contrary to proper governance.)
System Parameters are delivered with the most commonly used settings. Module courses cover these, when you decide how they should be set to reflect your operation.
Parameter driven data entry, query, reports, forms and searches mean cosmetic changes may be made to suit your operation (eg remove currency code if you only use local).
Our Change Control (versioning) system allows these to be developed in a “play pen” area, tracked as they implemented, ready to reconcile with new releases.
Customisations and Changes
As well as your live environment, Beacon has a development environment, with 2 major uses: development of cosmetic changes, and a place to try things without affecting live data.
Your live data can be copied into here, so testing is using the real thing.
Screen colour is different from live, so you know you are in a test area.
Play pen
The demonstration delivered with Beacon has examples of using system in a variety of situations. Data is refreshed with each Beacon upgrade, and is used in our courses.
Screen colour is different from Live and Development, so you know where you are.