I understand the scepticism about joined up systems, and that's where I was in past years. Mostly it was because no collections management system could do what's needed to handle images properly. That still stands for a many systems, but I have found myself looking at joined up options because the technology is likely to be more up-to-date and the data is shared.
No-one would believe the problems we find in old patched together systems - link breakages, missing data, complicated and arcane procedures and general confusion. It does require some investment of time and money to move on, but I think the time is right for many organisations to grasp the nettle and look at integration of some functions (not necessarily all) - just get the right advice on the bits you want to integrate from independent advisors, and choose a software supplier you will enjoy working with. I am certainly looking at Qi in my investigations for a couple of projects I am involved in.
Sarah
On 11 Feb 2014, at 17:33, Cristiano Bianchi wrote:
> On another note, Mike, may I ask you why loosely would connected bits be in
> general better than an integrated system? Isn't the case that as soon as
> you upgrade or change one of the bits, in most cases you break the
> connections and have to also recreate those?
>
> In my experience, whilst it is true that APIs are an absolute priority (and
> often the only way to integrate) for everything and far too many systems on
> the market should not be excused for not having one, it's all too easy to
> put together something that works as long as you don't change anything.
>
> Though as soon as you add or modify one of the components, your entire
> infrastructure falls - which is why many organisations never challenge
> their software systems, despite the many technical and functional advances
> in newer applications: such systems are simply too fragile and easy to
> break as they glue together many pieces with very little provision for
> change.
>
> Besides, in that scenario, your data would be all over the place -
> duplicated, out of date, very challenging to make sense of. Some of your
> event data would be in your own CMS, another bit in the events management,
> some more on tickets.com - these often overlap, the overall picture is
> missing and it's very hard to understand where authority for information
> lies.
>
> Best regards,
> Cristiano
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11 February 2014 17:15, Cristiano Bianchi <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>> Hi Mike,
>>
>> I always read your contribution with great interest, as you very often
>> bring up fantastic ideas and produce excellent work.
>>
>> I am slightly surprised by your comments about Qi (disclaimer: we are
>> Keepthinking and produce and maintain Qi) - as far as I am aware you
>> probably have not seen it nor tried it.
>>
>> I would be very glad to give you a personal demonstration of Qi, so maybe
>> you can have a better understanding on its capabilities before discarding
>> it - then perhaps you can make recommendation (good or bad) based on first
>> hand experience?
>>
>> Do not hesitate to get in touch if you'd like a demo.
>>
>> With best regards,
>> Cristiano
>>
>>
>> On 11 February 2014 17:05, Mike Ellis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> FWIW, American Museum (one of our clients) are going down the tickets.comroute.
>>>
>>> I believe - but not 100% sure of the FOH bit - that there will be till
>>> integration and so on.
>>>
>>> We’ll be building the necessary bits into the Wordpress backend of the
>>> website - it’ll basically be custom fields on events so staff at the museum
>>> can fill in a unique id per event - then users will head off to
>>> tickets.com to purchase.
>>>
>>> I’d personally be very wary of something like the Qi system which claims
>>> to do everything. Rather than going for “one system that does everything
>>> from CMS to ticketing” I’d look at loosely joined bits.
>>>
>>> Happy to put people in touch with the American Museum - ping me off-list
>>> if you need an intro.
>>>
>>> cheers
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>> _____________________________
>>>
>>>
>>> Mike Ellis
>>>
>>> Thirty8 Digital: a small but perfectly formed digital agency:
>>> http://thirty8.co.uk (http://thirty8.co.uk/)
>>>
>>> * My book: http://heritageweb.co.uk (http://heritageweb.co.uk/) *
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tuesday, 11 February 2014 at 16:51, Sarah McHugh wrote:
>>>
>>>> Good afternoon from a snowy NI. This enquiry is of particular interest
>>> to
>>>> us too although we are only at an intial stage of developing e-commerce,
>>>> booking systems (Ticketsolve) and reviewing our existing collections
>>>> management system (in-house).
>>>>
>>>> Qi looks interesting:
>>>> http://www.keepthinking.it/qi-the-universal-content-management-solution.
>>> I
>>>> have no experience of using it and the add-on elements could work out
>>> to be
>>>> expensive, particularly for ourselves, a smaller museum service. Would
>>> be
>>>> interested in any feedback on this or other alternatives.
>>>>
>>>> Sarah
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *Sarah McHughManager - Museum ServicesFermanagh County
>>> Museum*Enniskillen
>>>> Castle Museums, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, N. Ireland, BT74 7HL
>>>> Tel +44 (0) 28 6632 5000
>>>> Email: [log in to unmask] Web: www.enniskillencastle.co.uk (
>>> http://www.enniskillencastle.co.uk)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 11 February 2014 15:55, Rick Lawrence <[log in to unmask](mailto:
>>> [log in to unmask])>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> A good afternoon from the soggy south west to everyone!
>>>>>
>>>>> At present we use several different systems to book rooms and
>>> resources
>>>>> for events, sell tickets online, take corporate room bookings and
>>> capture
>>>>> visitor information.
>>>>>
>>>>> We are looking at a system that will do all of this in one package.
>>> The
>>>>> aim being to get better value for money and greater efficiency. It
>>> must
>>>>> link till tickets sales with online ticket sales.
>>>>>
>>>>> Has anyone tried this system? http://www.e-s-p.com/index.php
>>>>>
>>>>> Or can recommend a system suitable for a medium sized museum?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks in advance
>>>>>
>>>>> Rick
>>>>>
>>>>> Rick Lawrence | Digital Media Officer
>>>>> Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery | Bradninch Offices |
>>> Bradninch
>>>>> Place | Gandy Street | Exeter | EX4 3LS
>>>>> (t) 01392 265303 (f) 01392 421252
>>>>> (e) [log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])
>>>>> (w) http://www.exeter.gov.uk/ramm
>>>>> Find out What's on: http://www.rammuseum.org.uk/Whats-on/
>>>>> Buy our art online: http://prints.rammuseum.org.uk/
>>>>> Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RAMMuseum
>>>>> Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RAMMuseum
>>>>>
>>>>> ****************************************************************
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Cristiano Bianchi
>> *Keepthinking*
>>
>> 43 Clerkenwell Road
>> London EC1M 5RS
>> tel +44 20 7490 5337
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>>
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>>
>> ---
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>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Cristiano Bianchi
> *Keepthinking*
>
> 43 Clerkenwell Road
> London EC1M 5RS
> tel +44 20 7490 5337
> mobile +44 7939 041169 (UK)
>
> [log in to unmask]
> www.keepthinking.it
>
> ---
>
> Registration no. 04905582
> VAT 831 1329 62
>
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Electric Lane
Consultancy and Training in Image Archiving and DAM
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+44(0)207607 1415
[log in to unmask]
www.electriclane.co.uk
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