Can You Hear MISys Manufacturing V5.0 Coming?

Judging from the distant rumble in the hallway outside of the MISys Development Department, you'd get the distinct impression that a new version of the MISys Manufacturing System is speeding down the track.

While we won't reveal the exact date out of respect for Murphy's Law (if something can go wrong, something will go wrong) an ambitious schedule for the release of MISys Manufacturing v5.0 was agreed to last year. Since then, the Development, Customer Service, Technical Support, Marketing, and Sales departments have been working in concert to make it happen on target and on schedule.

Many moons ago (well, probably about 300 moons ago) we used to just code and code and code until we decided the software was ready to ship. That was before we attracted the attention of Intuit and Sage. Now deciding when the software is ready to ship isn't as easy as it once was. Our strategic relationship with these companies requires that our software integrates seamlessly with half a dozen different accounting systems. Release promotions have to be designed months in advance, help systems developed, product documentation updated, business partners notified well before the product release, web pages updated, and "what's new" webinars planned.

So, once we get near the agreed to release date, there's a heavily loaded train steaming down the track behind us. At the same time, our reputation for developing great software, reliable software, earned over the past 25 years is put to the test, And test we do! Our Technical Services department is now in high gear trying to break the software every way they can.

Not that programmers don't test the software they write. They do! Its just that programmers test to make sure the software does what they intend it to do. Our Technical Services department is staffed with people who, it seems to me, have a mean streak when it comes to testing software. You see, these guys go out of their way to break the software, doing things the software was NEVER intended to do, and making sure that no really bad things happen, appropriate error messages appear, and graceful recovery paths are apparent.

While MISys, Inc. is far smaller than any of the software companies with which we partner, we take the development and delivery of world-class software just as seriously. When you see a message appear on your screen that a new version of MISys Manufacturing is available, pause for a moment to think of all the people who worked tirelessly for months on end to make this release possible.