VFPShrink Wrap

(Updated: 2008.03.18 12:02:19 PM)

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Here are three software marketing approaches, compared and contrasted.

Shrink Wrap	Vertical Market	Custom or Turn Key
May be used differently depending on the customer. This implies flexiblity to meet individual needs.	All users in similar industries, or in industries with similarly configured Value Chains. Most use the software in similar ways.	Static set of users. All use the software the same way.
Functionality driven by market.	Functionality driven by needs of industries or segments thereof.	Functionality largely driven by process or other sustainable competitive advantage needs.
Functionality decisions made by software company.	Functionality decisions made by Users from an industry.	Functionality decisions made by User's company.
Development cycle typically long, and is release based.	Development cycle typically shorter, driven by customer demand within industries.	Incremental Development cycle involving one customer.

Commercially available shrink wrapped applications developed in VFP:

This list is incomplete. You can help this wiki by expanding it and sharing your knowledge.

http://www.frtplus.com/ - Freight Plus shipping software
http://www.casemgr.com - De Novo CaseMgr - law office case management
Visual Account Mate - www.AccountMate.com
Mail Order Manager - http://www.dydacomp.com/
Visual Cactus (healthcare credentialling management) - http://www.visualcactus.com
AccPac Source Solutions (formerly SBT Accounting) - http://www.accpac.com/products/finance/source/default.asp
Lahey Products, Add-ons for ?SBT - http://www.lahey.net/product.htm
TIW Workshop, Add-on for ?SBT - http://www.tiwcorp.com/
Mission Critical Software (formerly Childers Consulting) has excellent addons for SBT / ACCPAC - http://www.smartbusinessware.com
Tele Magic - http://www.telemagic.com http://www.telemagic.net Tele Magic
League Administration Software, Game Time Scheduler & Tournament Time Scheduler -- Youth Sports Administration Software, http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com
Stylus Select - http://www.retailadvantage.com/select.html
ARS Retail System www.arss.com
Bass - Trigon Software http://www.bass-trigon.com/ (Pipeline industry) Check out the Compliance Software and PCS System links.
http://tiwcorp.com/Alere/alere_home.html - Alere, an accounting package
http://www.accountview.com - accounting, costing, billing, wholesale and time / project management set of modules
http://www.mktware.com/index2.htm - MarketWare a Customer/Sales package
http://www.eetasoft.ee/eeva.htm - Eetasoft Eeva accounting, sale and manufacturing package
http://www.crimestar.com/cs_license.html - CrimeStar RMS / JAIL: Law Enforcement Investigation & Records Management System
To me the following 2 mostly fit Shrink Wrap of the above 3 types but could also be labeled Vertical Market...
http://www.personnelware.com - Payroll and Accounts Receivable System tailored to meet the unique needs of the staffing industry. Carl Karsten How can I make this blink for the next 6 months? ;)
http://www.whollygenes.com/ The Master Genalogist, genealogy software
http://www.uftree.com/ Ultimate Family Tree, genealogy software (Not positive this is still VFP based but think it is)
Pegasus Accounting, Payroll and Manufacturing - http://www.pegasus.co.uk/
http://www.ideaxchg.com/montage/ - Windows desktop launcher / window manager / organizer
http://www.synergyinfosys.com COHERENT Facilities management suite, work orders, resource scheduling, asset management, equipment preventative maintenance.

Smaller specialty applications, perhaps Vertical Market or Turn Key, written in FoxPro:

http://clickwork.viafox.com - Developer's time tracking software
http://bryantminard.com/ - Cemetery Database Software
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/samieee_info/samibro.pdf - IEEE membership software
http://www.fowlersoftware.com/software.asp - Meat processing industry
Lumber Trader http://www.fox-pros.com/Lumber%20Trader.htm Software developed originally for a Lumber Wholesaler in North Alabama in 1992. The original version was written for DOS computers on a Novell network. The latest version runs in a standalone or a networked Windows environment.
MANNAger Systems http://www.MANNAger.com/ Package for managing a Scrip fundraising program at non-profit schools.
http://www.cast.uark.edu/cast/sod/sodman.htm#OBJECTIVES
http://www.vegadevelopment.com/applications.asp Contract managment, healthcare industry apps, coin quotation system with inventory and business support.
http://www.mbs-intl.com/Products.htm - Nexus (Cemetery Management Software), IMAP (Inventory Mapping & Planning Software), and DeedIt! (Deed Printing Application) - All provided by Memorial Business Systems, Inc.

FoxPro 2.6 apps that are still in use:

PARS - 10 years later and there are still paychecks being printed on dot metrix printers. -- Carl Karsten

Doesn't West Wind have a web store?
Web-connect doesn't count because is a developer tool and not an end user product, right?
Not so sure here. It is not targeted to the public at large but to a set of developers that want to buy the tool. e.g. How would you consider the commercially available (and even shrinkwrapped) sets of ActiveX Controls or maybe programmers editors sold at places like Programmer's Paradise? Wouldn't it be the same case? (same with EPS VooDoo Web Controls or FEC Controls). -- Alex Feldstein

F 1 is marketing Full Contact as a tool, but I thought that it included a Contact Management system out of the box.

My app is not boxed or wrapped in plastic and Best Buy or Comp USA is the last place you would find it. I sell one-at-a-time to customers (private schools) who have heard about it by word-of-mouth or to those who found my website via a search engine or a link. I guess it is a 'vertical market application'. Can I list it here? R Bosma

Yes. (see top.)

Can anyone confirm that the Weight Watchers Pure Points� CD-ROM is written using a VFP (or FP) back-end? It looks like the tables are vanilla Fox tables. The interface looks like it's done with Flash or one of those authoring packages. -- Andrew Coates