Technology for Accountants in Practice | Top Accountants

In a post on the Xero Blog today, Mark Vickers discusses how users of software (desktop or web-based) are always vulnerable to “vendor lock-in” – in essence having their data stuck in a system they now want out of.

He cites the example of FaceBook’s recent change to its privacy policy, then moves on to accounting software providers and states:

“Vendor lock-in has a long and nefarious history in the software industry. Traditional accounting software has been guilty of locking people in with proprietary formats and compulsory upgrades.”

Of course, the point of Mark’s post is to try to convince us that Xero is not guilty in this regard, that it plays fair with your data.  He tells us that data can be exported from Xero in commonly used formats.  He also reminds us that upgrades to the software are very regular and come free as part of the service.

So, I thought I would examine Xero’s credentials.  Are they playing fair with our data?  Are they justified in taking the moral high ground here?

Firstly, let’s deal with the “compulsory upgrades” point.  In his post Mark outlines this scenario:

“You might buy some accounting software and run it for a couple of years. An upgrade becomes available, but it’s expensive. You decide you don’t need it, because the upgrade doesn’t offer anything new. A few more years pass, as do a few more upgrades, and you choose to ignore them all.”

He then talks about the user finding out that, because they missed some steps in the upgrade process, they are no longer in a position to make the jump to the latest version.  Disaster!

Now, I agree with what he is saying.  Many readers will have experience of the annual QuickBooks upgrade cycle and the serious consequences that can result from falling behind in the version number race.  I well remember the huge problems clients had moving to QuickBooks 2008 – it’s one of the reasons we were able to move many of them over to Xero.

But is Xero innocent here?  No it isn’t, because Xero DOES force its users into compulsory upgrades.  The fundamental principle of the “software as a service” model is that all users always have the latest version.  What about the user who sees the changes coming in the next upgrade and doesn’t want them?  The changes may be regarded as an advancement by Xero and most of their users, but seen as a backward step by an individual user.  That user does not have the option to say, “no thanks, I’ll stick with what I’ve got please”.

The continuous, automatic upgrades model is the right one in my opinion but there will always be someone who prefers the status quo and, to that user, Xero will be enforcing a compulsory upgrade.

I will explore the data export features in my next post.  Is Xero really playing fair with our data?

Things have changed.  Changed Dramatically.

In the old days, when the web was young, we all knew that creating a website and then making it appear on the Internet was a job for specialists.  A job for trained people who understood how to write using words in strange <brackets>.  People who knew about “FTP” and “DNS” and “Hyperlinks”.

But not anymore.  Now almost anyone can do it and do it well.

The tools for the job have got much, much easier so that now, if you can use Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word, you can be your own web designer.

How liberating is that?  No longer need you wait around for your web designer to find the time to make those urgent changes you requested last week.  No longer do you have to pay high hourly rates for the work.  You now have control, which is exactly how it should be.

So, how do you get yourself a new website, or blog, sorted out in 10 minutes?

1. Get yourself a Domain Name, such as www.yourcompany.co.uk.  The hosting company you setup with (see below) may provide this free, or if not will be able to register your domain for you for about the same cost as a month’s hosting.  Alternatively, I can recommend 123-Reg.
2. Sign-up with a hosting company that offers a “one-click” install of WordPress.  The hosting company provides you with space on their servers and makes the content you put there available to the World.  WordPress is the free software that will help you create and manage your web pages.  I use NativeSpace but there are many others around – such as BlueHost.  Monthly hosting should cost no more than about £10 / $7 per month.
3. Now that you have WordPress installed on your own hosting account, you need to find a design style that you like the look of, and one that will be suited to the type of content you intend to produce.  The great news is that there are hundreds of ready-made WordPress themes available, many at no cost, so you will really be spoilt for choice.  I use WooThemes but you can find others using this Google Search.
4. Once you have found your dream theme, login your WordPress admin area and upload the theme.  Then activate the theme and you’re done!

Of course, you will then need to spend some time adding pages and writing the words for the pages but, and this is the quiet revolution that has crept up on us, the content is now separate from the design.  You only need to worry about the words you want to say  – WordPress looks after the design for you.