Macola Software, like its cousin Real World, is a port from the very popular mini-computer based accounting system -- MCBA. Macola took its popular and powerful version 6.0 for DOS and wrote a brand new Windows 16bit front end for it.
Some things never change though. Those annoying spelling and grammar errors in the documentation/on-line help are still around. From a quality control standpoint, and because I'm a real stickler, this makes me nervous. A client is likely to say, "They can't even spell 'Accounts' correctly? What else did they do wrong?"

Not much, as it turns out, but there are some glitches. Still programmed for the most part in COBOL, Macola still gives the end-user "the 'DOS-feel' of the software." This was the comment made by Sandy Needham and Julie Kane of American European Consulting Company, New York City, the reseller who participated in product testing with us.

We tested the Macola Progression series, version 7.0.108.5 to be exact! According to Bill Natalie, of Access IT, Inc. of Melville, NY, a Macola reseller, "release of Macola 7.5 (went from 6.0 (with sub releases - in letters) to 7.0 with sub releases) version will offer the functionality Macola has always had with a more intuitive 32-bit Windows front end."

Test System

Our test system at VAR Business is an NT 4.0 network running on a 10-Mbps backbone. Our Server is a Pentium II 200-MHz machine with 128MB of Ram. We used two computers to test Macola. We found that configuring Macola without a Btrieve back-end was somewhat complicated, and best left to the VAR. We did notice that Macola's roots in the Novell world are still quite evident throughout this product. This was evident during the Install process. The installation process asked more questions related to a Novell network than Windows NT or a Peer-to-Peer networks

The Installation

Server installation was automated and quite easy. However, the system called for several manual functions that should have been accomplished by the scripting in the installation process. We found we had to write down the instructions to complete this process.

There was no on-line help function during the installation process, so an end-user will need a VAR on hand to configure the product properly. When the question of configuration of Btrieve came up, we tried the selecting the Windows NT option, but when that option wasn't accepted?, we selected the peer-to-peer option, which worked fine.

Adding additional users was a little confusing, but with the help of our VAR partners we were able to figure it out. We surmised that you have to go thru the entire install process again, either from the server or from the CD-ROM. As in the old Macola 6.0 and Novell installation, even on an NT, a drive needed to be mapped from the workstation to the server directory containing Macola.

Needham and Kane, our resellers, said, "Installation was fairly straightforward, after some inconsistencies between single user vs. network and Netware vs. NT." Perhaps NT was an afterthought for the publishers."

Because we did not have a copy of Btrieve Server version for NT, and since we were unable to load and use a local version of Btrieve, we decided to test Macola in a stand-a-lone setup. We chose to do this on our NT Server. This was because the program was already loaded on it. Lacking a Btrieve Server install may be the reason for having found the performance of Macola a little on the slow side.

Product Overview

Macola, a long time champion of the Manufacturing set, has created a graphical based accounting system loaded with goodies for both the Retailer as well as the Distributor/Manufacturer.

With over 17 modules, covering everything from General Ledger to an Enterprise Reporting System, Macola system is a feature-rich package. Progression, the version we tested, has been written around ISO 9000 and EDI requirements, so it can ease the burden of achieving or maintaining ISO certification.

Macola hasn't changed its basic marketing concept of how they their packages to be used. In effect, under their DOS versions, Macola's marketing plan was to sell as many stand-a-lone modules out of their financial and distribution group as possible. With the introduction of the Progression series, Macola shows no change to this basic concept. During the set-up of the System Manager, we were asked if we wanted different Chart of Accounts for the different modules.

Again, according to Natalie, "Macola allows us to offer to our clients either the ability to run in the 16 bit (version 7.0) or 32 bit (version 7.5). The 7.0 version still maintains a menu-driven module approach, while the 7.5 version uses a windows workplace called Progression Explorer, where an end-user can add the specific functions related to his responsibility regardless of the module he's in."

Additionally, we were informed during our research the Progression Series and Btrieve have problems when you have a mixed networking environment.. One end-user just reported that due to the requirements of Macola and Btrieve, he was unable to access his NT 4.0 network. This end-user has a Novell Netware v3.12 server and Macola 6.0. The company is in the midst of upgrading to Macola Progression 7.0 on the NT network segment.

Another strange aspect of this product is its Year 2000 compliance. It seems (at least with our Demo product license) that any two-digit year ending in less than 50 was considered 2050. If this product was fully Y2K compliant, it would permit full 4-digit entry of the year. Also, we found it strange that we were unable to go from one module to another without clicking on a new icon from the program group.

General Ledger

The General Ledger on the Progression series works, but it won't win any awards for ingenuity. It permits the end-user to record basic journal entries, apply automatic counter-balance entries, recurring entries and accrual entries, which is just what a general ledger should provide.

Progression 7.x permits users to have three segments in their account-numbering scheme. These three segments can be a maximum of 8 characters for a maximum of 24 alphanumeric characters in a G/L account number.

Needham and Kane were not happy with the way in which Macola segmented its G/L. They felt, in lieu of the close parellels Version 7 had with Version 6 that the " …GL account code layouts of 3 segments seemed generous under DOS, but now looks inadequate." Drill downs using the core system (there are add-on's that increase this functionality) are limited to specific views. Moreover, even when you can drill down, you are limited to the amount of information that is retrievable. Macola's use of creative programming permits the Progression series multiple views. These views of related data appear on the same page, thus allaying, to some extent, the shallow drill-down capabilities.

Due to the modularity we mentioned early, the accountant still must interface the accounting activity, which has occurred in the sub-modules, to the general ledger. This duplication of effort, which was fine for the DOS version, lacks the smooth integration that accountants are seeking in products today. Under DOS, and as an Accounting Industry Standard, most products required manual posting. Today, with better database engines, automatic posting to the G/L are the industry standard.

Inventory

The only way to discuss Inventory in Macola is by analogy. As Kleenex® is to tissues, Macola is to Inventory. What can you say? This is an Inventory-intensive product. If you have an Inventory requirement, Macola has probably done it.

Examples abound, from fulfilling the Cube requirements of an Advance Ship Notice (ASN) in EDI, to Landed Costs. Want to be able to run your manufacturing system and adhere to ISO 9000 rules? Macola has most, if not all, of the paper work covered, from requiring a Receiver to achieving FDA lot and serial requirements.

According to Needham & Kane, "…ingenious features, such as landed cost, seemed 'added on,' rather than integrated, which made their use non-intuitive. A regular user will adapt to almost any interface, and can be effective with it, but this did not seem natural."

In addition, Inventory is tightly integrated into not only Order Entry, but Macola's MRPII (Material Requirements Planning II) system. This forms a must-have set of modules for the manufacturer or large distributor who wants to maximize his working capital and keep it out of the Inventory.

We have to agree with Natalie when he said "Macola has met the challenge when it comes to our clients' Inventory control requirements." It certainly has.

Backend

Macola's backend was a real disappointment! Its use of Btrieve as its database engine, and its dependence on multiple similar databases impede the speed and data reliability of the product. Even with the ability to 'Rollback' incomplete transactions, the database engine is not exactly stable. Since the Progression series uses the same database engine as the old DOS version, you can ask some of the large installed user base out there about data integrity problems.

Bill Natalie, the Macola VAR from Access IT feels that "Macola has made a conscious effort to maintain an application that stays current with today's technology requirements. As the roll out of their SQL product gets closer, we are anticipating our target client range to increase dramatically."

Needham and Kane summed up some other items that disturbed us. "Reports can be printed to screen or printer…. But standard layouts seem unchanged from the DOS era - fashioned for the dot matrix rather than for laser printing. We got the feeling that this is a competent program, with depth and strength, ported to Windows without taking real advantage of Windows 3.1 - much less Windows95! This will do the job, but you have to work at it - it does not 'come out to meet you.'"

"It will offer our clients a scalable application that they can be confident will allow them room for growth," says Natalie. This is especially true if the client needs heavy inventory support.

VAR blurb:

Our independent VARs who help with this review are Sandy Needham, President and Julie Kane, Consulting Manager of American European Consulting Company of New York City, N. Y. AECC’s primary business is the implementation and support of accounting systems on PCs. In addition, they provide support on such products/platforms as Microsoft, Novell, Pervasive (Btreive), SunSystmes, and Synergy, to name a few.

AECC is a US and Internationally certified as a Premier level VAR of ACCPAC (on of 13 in the US) software. They are the recipients of the 1997 “Reseller of the Year” award from ACCPAC International.