TAM Online - Should We Upgrade???

[Duder]

I'm wondering if our agency should upgrade to TAM Online. We currently run TAM 11.1 and have around 20 daily users.

From what I have read and heard from various sources is that Applied is not dedicating support staff to TAM Online yet, and there are many bugs to be worked out. Has anyone changed to this software in the last year or so that can let me know what kind of transition we will be looking at? Is it worth the upgrade at this point (i.e would you do it again?)

 

[Deanovich]

I'm wondering if our agency should upgrade to TAM Online. We currently run TAM 11.1 and have around 20 daily users.

From what I have read and heard from various sources is that Applied is not dedicating support staff to TAM Online yet, and there are many bugs to be worked out. Has anyone changed to this software in the last year or so that can let me know what kind of transition we will be looking at? Is it worth the upgrade at this point (i.e would you do it again?)

We used to be on Tam online before going to EPIC. I was unsure at first, after we went to the online we rarely had any issues or slow time with TAM online. One bonus is you don't have to do upgrades as the new versions come out. This automatically happens for you.

 

[Precious Mentals]

Duder, did you end up switching over to TAM Online? We're thinking about it as well. We're on TAM 12 and have about 30 daily users.

Applied Systems claims that 55% of their client base is using TAM Online and 90% of new business is going that route.

Can anyone else share their experiences with TAM Online?

 

[KathyT]

Both Tam on-line and Epic are using 20 -30 yr old back end technology. Look at NexSure or QQ.

 

[Camaroon]

Our agency has been with TAM since about 1995 and we're currently on v2014 hosted in our office. Last year they were running a thank you promotion for currents users where they'd give us a certain amount of money to spend on a new product based on how long we'd been with them so I had them quote TAM Online. I ultimately decided not to go with it because it's basically the same exact product as TAM, except now they host it in their environment and in order to access it you have to use remote desktop software which is not nearly as efficient as using a program that you access via the web. And because it's a remote desktop scenario your not using your own desktop so they want to control the whole environment. They even wanted to host our email which severely limited the amount of space they allotted to each user. Plus you're working in two different environments, their desktop and your own, so you have to install another special program just to move documents and files between the two.

I figured since the product was no different or better, and it didn't seem user friendly, it just wasn't worth the hassle. It basically speaks to how old their technology is to begin with. I'm currently researching new management software including EXLynx, Aspire, and a couple of others.

 

[Precious Mentals]

Here is an interesting comparison chart for the majority of systems out there: agencymanagementsystemreviews dot com and click on comparison chart

Aside from this, our agency rep for Hartford tells us most agencies our size in the area have switched to SalesForce.

TAM -> TAM or EPIC Online:
For our 30 user office, the quote to move from TAM to TAM online or EPIC online was $15-20k up front (or spaced out over 6mos) to cover data migration, a 2-day in-depth evaluation of our operation, then 8-10 days of onsite training before the product gets rolled out. The conversion takes 6mos but minimal downtime when the switch occurs. There is an increase in month service/support fees (per license), for us was from $80/license/mo up to $110-120. In total, we were looking at $15-20k up front and $16-18k per year extra. A promotion included hosted MS Exchange with 5GB per user at $8/user/mo. They can host 3rd party apps as well, such as office, Rpost, etc though their rates for private storage in their data center run higher.

TAM local -> EPIC Local:
We've been considering just upgrading to EPIC and keeping it local. Our rep says he hasn't sold a local EPIC system in a few years. They will give us a 1-for-1 license conversion, though we'd be going from a pool of licenses to a named license basis. This means you have to buy a license for each person that logs in. Our current cost is $1,250 and EPIC named licenses are around $750ish. Again, we're looking at that $15-20k up front cost and a slight increase in monthly costs per user by 15% I think.

ANECDOTAL:
A former employee at another local TAM agency says they made the switch 6 weeks ago and it's a disaster. They held training over a month before the switch, so most people forgot a decent amount of the training. More importantly, the data migration got screwed up, so tons of information is in the wrong place or missing! She says it's a slower and more frusteration process to get work done, which is what I thought was the primary selling point for the upgrade! We're keeping in touch with her over the next few months to see how this develops.

CONCLUSION
We pay $2,500/mo in mandatory support fees to Applied and we have used the chat & support call service maybe 10hrs the past 8 months! This is highway robbery. They want $30-40/user/mo extra to host TAM and Exchange Online. For that price, I can hire an IT firm for 24/7 support on all computers & servers. Automated updates, onsite & offsite backup, spam & web filtering, A/V, and any other IT related issues. I can get a backup at a remote data center spun up within an hour. If our IT room is toast, I can have everyone work from home and keep the business afloat. The hosted phone system adds that capability. One firm I'm considering has a guy that's worked with TAM for 9yrs. Not only do we feel the online offering is way overpriced, but the projected increase in monthly costs is 6-10% annual increase over the next 3yrs! At a 7% growth, we'll be paying *double* at year 10. TAM local costs will be rising as well, but appear to be less aggressive. We're going to try to get the most out of TAM local over the next year and take a hard look at migrating to a new platform. Aspire seems to check off a lot of the boxes on that chart I posted. If we get a positive review of EPIC at 6 months from our friend that just converted, we may take a look at EPIC local.

 

[Camaroon]

Precious Mentals, you basically summed up the exact reason I didn't make the switch for us. We're smaller than you but ultimately it was going to be more expensive and not give you any real benefits. If I'm going to pay more money I want a program that's built on today's standards, not a program that's been built in 1990 and forced into 2014.