Hi Rob,

when you implement a canned approach, you either have to heavily modify it (e.g. SAP) or live with it. And the former requires lock-in to the development system of the application vendor.

With any of the commercial frameworks available for VFP, you get productivity that is light-years beyond what is available through application vendors, and you get to create a system that meets your needs, without lock-in to the application vendor.

In addition, since you already have a running system, your familiarity with the business requirements is going to be better than any outside consultant's knowledge, even with study on the part of the consultant. An outside vendor will attempt to mold your business to their application, rather than making it fit your needs. The result can be boxcars of chocolate sitting on sidings while the processing plant shuts down for lack of chocolate (Hershey's SAP debacle).

Finally, cost: the cost of modifying a system to meet your needs will be more than the cost of producing your own system, even if you hire an outside development resource (contact me if you're interested <s>) to work from your specifications and daily guidance.

good luck,

Hank Fay

www.prosysplus.com
>My current employer has a Foxpro Unix enterprise system that I maintain. There are conversations now about upgrading vs. purchasing an off-the-shelf system vs. maintaining the status quo. Of course I want to advocation upgrading to an OOPS and writing it ourselves. I need to write a paper on why I think the company should do this.
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>Any suggestions you all might give me on 1) why a company should upgrade a procedural system to an OOPS and 2) why a company should build their own vs. purchase off-the-shelf would be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>Thanks!
>
>Rob