Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Start-up Costs with Amazing Charts

well I dont know if you guys have ever read the license agreement in the MCP and ISV partner agreements, you are not allowed to run a business on them. There is a fine print.

Srini,

It depends what fine print you are referring to. The Microsoft Partner Program encompasses several levels which have varying benefits and requirements. One can be a basic registered user at the bottom of the pyramid or be a Microsoft Certified Partner which contains Microsoft Certified Professionals. The ISV or Independent Software Vendors is a step up and finally there are the Microsoft Certified Gold Partners.

I would simply give the URL, but Microsoft doesn't really like advertising its Partner Program site. Registered users of the Microsoft Partner Program can subscribe to the Microsoft Action Pack. The fine print for this program contains the following:

Section 3.4

The licenses are provided for use at your primary business location only and must be used only for your internal business purposes, application development, and testing. The licenses are not intended for employee personal use at home, for hosting customers' applications, or for installation at a customer site, and may not be resold, transferred, or assigned to any third party.

The overall Microsoft Partner Program at its basic level is intended for various Microsoft users and varying levels to promote, sell, train and improve their skills with cutting edge Microsoft Products. As an FYI, recently hundreds of users higher up on the pyramid complained to Microsoft that some partners were receiving benefits which they didn't think they qualified for. Hence the compentency testing which will be required for all new partners and annually or biannually for current partners.

I have personally spoken with the director of the Microsft Partner Program who specifically runs the MAP program and have completely outlined my use of the proglram and MAP. He felt certain that I was well within the licensing agreement.

Either way, I pay my $299 annually, take my compentency testing and do not abuse the Microsoft Licensing Agreement, i.e. give away software or licenses to others. I have on the other hand, personally set up two offices recently complete with Microsoft Products all made easier by the benefits of the Microsoft Partner Program.

A friend of mine told me that Microsoft was going out of business. He said Mac was "taking over." I think he's crazy. What do you guys think?

they would go out of business of they lose smart people like me

Could a newer user who has implemented AC with version 4.0 please share their start up cost experience? I'd like to see some updated numbers now that AC doesn't recommend using a NAS. If AC now has a recommended config on their website, I may have missed it.

I can ballpark my costs. If it is important, I could try to itemize. We have a 2 doctor practice and we had 2 desktops before starting AC. We bought 2 laptops, a desktop, a Brother MFC printer, a fujitsu scan snap, cables, etc. Total cost about $4000. AC software c the support and back up was $2000.

I am still planning on getting a Dell Precision Workstation to house my data base so that will be about another $1000.

I already had a PM software.

When all is said and done, I will be well under $10,000 which is the cost for the first provider for the software for ECW.

It would be helpful to have your itemized list, esp for the new participants. Then they can have a shopping list for deploying an AC instance. Maybe a wish list saved and shared at Amazon.com, newegg.com or something like that.

It really depends on the setup the office will want. If they will be running several computers from the AC database then they may want a server to have extended capabilities for managing and maintaining a larger number of computers. For those that want a small, 1 to 5 computer setup, they could use one of the existing machines as a server with cheap RAM and NIC upgrades. Functionality is all about asking what one wants vs what one can afford. Same with security. In the office do they need a domain setup or are they comfortable with a workgroup setup? This has a lot of variables that would have to be addressed to provide real concrete numbers.

I think God has made your friend too happy with all that beer mentioned in your signauture.

Multi function fax/scanner and laptop would be the bare necessities to use AC. I just love AC. It is the best thing I ever did for my practice. Tech support has been awesome and I've replaced 3 employees and I get calls weekly from my office supply co. asking where my business has gone. Just love AC! Looking forward to v5.

I bet your employees hate it. I mean the replaced one.

One year into using amazing charts....start up hardware cost...two laptops, desktop, multifunction fax/scanner and three printers.....$2500. Of course I am using some old computers networked in as well. Cost for networking about $100.