Coverage of
The 2002 Exact Software Conference
By J. Carlton Collins, CPA

Carlton’s Executive Conference Summary

There were two big stories at the conference. First, Exact Software released with great fanfare it's new Macola ES product that in my opinion represents the most dramatic improvement of an accounting software package that I have ever seen. Additionally Bruce Hollinger announced that he will be stepping down from his role as President in August. 

Macola ES Makes A Huge Splash

All I can say is WOW! The new Macola ES product has been completely transformed from the underlying technology to the product's slick new look and feel to the added features and functionality. It is incredible. What impresses me most is that approximately one year ago, Exact's CEO Eduard Hagen met with me for approximately 3 hours to explain his vision for the newly acquired Macola product line. In that meeting, Eduard painted an incredibly bold vision. Eduard described his admiration of SAP and it’s resource-centric approach to accounting software. Eduard explained the fallacy of GL-based solutions, which serve only 10% of the employees in an organization. Eduard discussed his vision to re-invent the Macola Progression product and re-deploy the product as a SAP-like application that focused on resources and workflow more than financial transactions. I must admit that his vision seemed to me to be unrealistic. How could a company make such a dramatic change? How could a company afford to head off into such a different direction? How long would it take for such changes to occur? Over the year that followed I found myself explaining to my audiences that while I was very impressed with Eduard Hagen and his vision, I felt that it would take 3 to 5 years for any such changes to surface. Boy was I wrong. Eduard & company has delivered on his vision in just one year – while all the while grappling with the delicate issues that inevitably erupt after such mergers. Most mergers take a year or more to sort out their new directions and get on track, but Exact has been able to avoid this typical ramp up time. I’ve learned my lesson – if Eduard Hagen declares it, bank on it!

Surely I Exaggerate - I know that my previous statements so far in this article may sound rather grandiose to you, but allow me to support my enthusiasm.

New Database Design –The old Macola Progression design was based on a few large tables of information. With Macola ES, the entire database structure has been re-invented. Now, numerous smaller tables which are related to one another hold the information which makes for much faster retrieval. In fact, each menu option in the Macola ES product represents a single relational table. This change alone would bring most accounting software publishers to their knees.

New Look and Feel – The new Macola ES represents a complete overhaul of the look and feel of the system – and the company has incorporated the best screen design techniques in the marketplace including tabbed dialog boxes, hyperlinks, superior drill down and drill around, tabular data which can be sorted and shuffled by columns, three main screens to choose from, changed data turns blue so you can tell what you have changed, spinners, pop ups, pull downs, quick buttons, icons, cascading menus, and more are now featured throughout the product.

New Technologies – Almost all of the reports in the system have been completely re-written in either Crystal Reports and Microsoft Excel. Also, XML technology has been introduced to make data more available.

New Approach – Most importantly, a new approach which enables Macola ES to deliver the functionality of an ERP system, CRM system, and LotusNotes all in a browser interface that is relatively easy to use. This system is designed to be used by everyone in the organization.

Hollinger Steps Down

As a conclusion to the opening keynote on day 1, Bruce Hollinger announced that he would be stepping down as President of Exact Software North America this August. This news was a surprise to virtually everybody in attendance, even top ranking Exact employees - although there had been some speculation as to whether Bruce would move on. Bruce told the audience that he wanted to make this announcement there at the conference in front of everybody that he had worked with for the past 20 years, rather than to have them find out about his departure through an e-mail a few months down the road. He said that he would stay on to oversee the completion of Macola ES before departing. 

Plans were also made public to establish 15 locations within the US, with Boston being a key location which is more conveniently located to the Netherlands-based parent, and has a larger pool of technology talent to draw from. Some of the Marion, Ohio based employees had already been notified of this location shift and were given the opportunity to transfer to Boston. The word is that other Marion-based employees will find out about the status of their jobs on June 1 of this year.

- END -

______________

Read our Mission Statement
Read our Disclosure Statement
Read our Disclaimer Statement