Wow 2 posts in one night 
Just wanted to leave some comments regarding the Granger Roundtable. This was my first time at a Jason Powell event (held a similiar type meeting here in Grand Rapids a month or so ago). I really liked the format and the smaller group I think really enhanced discussion. Had good discussions with many; didn’t get to talk in the main discussions because I was remotely troubleshooting some issues @ work (thanks Shelby). Really was great to meet Dean, Nick and Alfred (vendors). Had good discussions with Alfred regarding Shelby Arena (hopefully serious pursuit of this next year) and Dean (trying out their LiveStor product soon) as well as Nick (thanks for the tip about Vmware and electric company savings). All and all it was great, will definitely be back! Thanks Jason and Ed (good to meet you btw) for a great time!
We finally made the jump from EMS 4 to 6.1 and added the Virtual EMS browse option. For those who don’t know, EMS is an event management system from a company called Dean Evans and Associates (DEA). Basically it allows for the scheduling of rooms/resources based on a variety of criteria. EMS 6.1 is a software application that communicates to a database server (SQL); virtual EMS basically replicates that SQL data to a website for viewing (using IIS/SQL).
Obviously there are many software products that could accomplish this. We also looked at a couple other options; including Shelby (our CMS) and Serviceu. Both of these options seemed to meet our needs but EMS had much more functionality plus allowed a smooth migration from our discontinued EMS product. Serviceu also was a little on the pricey side.
Install basically consists of running an .exe file to setup the EMS software and create the necessary SQL database. (SQL Express included) Once that is done most of the configuration is done from the EMS client. (importing our old data, setting options, etc.) Once our data was imported it was time to install Virtual EMS. Again a simple .exe file launches the install that sets up the Virtual EMS software and links in with SQL and IIS. I must admit I wish running from Linux was an option; I typically prefer Linux for public-facing services. I don’t dislike Microsoft products because I believe they can be as secure as Linux stuff as long as properly configured and vice-versa. I do wish EMS would have included some sort of utility on the server side to manage backups easier. (Shelby includes a built-in utility that is really nifty) I will give DEA big points for quick and easy setup. Minus security/optimzation settings for IIS; the majority of EMS was up and running in under an hour.
Probably the biggest PLUS for EMS is their support; you pay for it but its worth every penny. I’ve called them for a couple questions and have never waited more than 2 minutes to speak with someone who knew their stuff and actually spoke good English (read American based support).
PROS
- SQL backend versus Access in older versions.
- Very detailed resource/room scheduling, multiple users in client/server format.
- Virtual EMS really is slick (custom logos, css/layouts and other customizations really enhance the offering).
- Upgrade credits really help with the initial sticker price.
- Support is AMAZING!
CONS
- While not crazy, the initial sticker price is a little higher than other options (but you do get what you pay for) especially the Shelby scheduling option (less than 500). With that said, upgrade credits do help quite a bit to lower the price. For less than $1500 we got the latest version of EMS Lite plus the Virtual EMS Lite package as well as a year of support/updates.
- Not really a negative but during install apparently password methods changed from V4 to V6 resulting in our EMS client user not being able to login immediately (a quick call to DEA fixed the issue, but did require running an .exe file to reset the password, would be nice if that info was said earlier on/patched in the software)
EMS really is an enterprise software; even in the Lite version. It offers much more detail/possibilies than I have seen in other packages and even greatly improves itself from older versions. Scalability is also in the product in a big way; the Lite verions can easily be upgraded to the large enterprise and beyond packages offered. If you need a better scheduling solution you might want to check out EMS from DEA. http://dea.com/
