wlp - Jul 13, 2009 04:46pm

We are a small division of state government looking for a low-cost, web-based tool to help us manage energy conservation and management projects across our state, and keep in touch with the many New Mexico groups managing related projects that are funded with federal money.

This is a slightly different spin than for-profit CRM, but the objects and actions are the same.  We’re stuck with Internet Explorer and slow networks, but hoping Solve360 will meet our needs.

Wayne L Pendley
  Energy Conservation and Management Division
  State of New Mexico

Hi WLP,
  I think you’ll find the open ended and sandbox nature of Solve to really work for you - having worked in the US Forest service and used Lotus Notes etc. I understand how important a solid workflow that is easy to use can be for gov’t work.
  The most important thing is to take some time to really define your workflows but leave enough breathing room to modify it as you become more familiar with Solve.
  Play around a bit with custom Tags and Fields, and see how you can use Sections to your advantage.
Also, using things like “opportunities” to match you needs - so maybe the potential price isn’t important, but tracking potential projects and who’s managing them might be.
  Same applies to billable hours.
  cheers
adrian

We’re stuck with Internet Explorer and slow networks, but hoping Solve360 will meet our needs.

Since it may not be obvious I thought I’d add a related technical comment: Solve uses a new approach to deliver a “near desktop” experience.  Essentially by using a “smarter” client program it transfers ~95% less data across the Internet than a traditional web application so it will perform very well even on slow networks.  For example, many clients use in on Wifi/3G wireless connections, and one on a remote dial-up in Africa; all report great results. 

The price for this benefit however is to use a (free) modern web browser that can process JavaScript commands quickly i.e. any “modern” web browser such as Firefox, Safari, or Chrome.  We do support IE, but I would certainly not call it “fast”.

Unfortunately we are stuck with Internet Explorer by IT policy and our users are prevented from installing anything else.

wlp - Jul 16, 2009 08:23am

Unfortunately we are stuck with Internet Explorer by IT policy and our users are prevented from installing anything else.

that’s brutal. what version of microsoft are you using?

are you able to install optimized versions of IE - like IE8 at least?

We are currently on IE8 (8.0.6001.18702) with many options locked.  Users do not have administrative rights to their workstations.