It was a truly disappointing day for a certain guy named Brian who runs his own employee-benefits firm. When Microsoft announced not so long ago about discontinuing its Microsoft Office Accounting Software, he is now stucked.
When it was introduced on 2006, Office Accounting was Microsoft’s challenge to Sage Software’s Peachtree and Intuits QuickBooks, who happens to be the market leader that time. One of the better things about the product is its ability to be quickly integrated with Microsoft’s Word, Excel and Outlook programs. More so, it was inexpensive and who could ever forget its manufacturer, Microsoft, which sounded like an idea of a kind.
But we got it wrong.
In show business like the show of Jay Leno, there is a huge competition from scripted dramas on other channels. The software industry is no different. Although wasting time watching Leno’s show doesn’t waste much time, in software, you will be wasting a lot.
Brian thought he was investing on a product. But the reality speaks that he was investing on a company – a company that has a track record of discontinuing products that don’t sell and allocating fewer resources to support less profitable products. He should have waited for several version releases before deciding to put a hand on to it.
Moreover, back then, there were already a bunch of strong accounting software products for small businesses. A business owner could pick up a copy of QuickBooks or Peachtree with much the same features and priced about the same. And these products had been around much longer.
Another consideration is the amount of outside support the software enjoys. Such is the case of QuickBooks and Peachtree; they all have vast networks of business partners who are willing to work outside company support. But such is not the case of Microsoft, who as a company is well known for its stand-alone and ready-to-use programs.