Northgate Information Solutions UK Ltd is please to announce that Reality
V12.0 is now production release and available.

Exciting new features included Web Services, Reality Disaster Recovery
Options, XML Parsing and Generation, Fast backup and Restore (you could
improve your backup speed by 30 times!), CSV File integration, GDI printer
support, System and Application Alerts to name but a few. Couple this with
even more compatibility enhancements making your migration to Reality even
easier, there really hasn't been a better time to take a look. For more
information or if you wish to request a copy for evaluation please complete
the 'contact' form on www.northgate-is.com/reality or alternatively stop by
at the Spectrum show and pick up a copy from our booth. Time to think...
Reality V12.0

"Mark Fuller" wrote:

Mark, I think now is a good time to ask some questions. I know
Reality 12 is leaps ahead of the old Microdata that many of us used
"back in the day", but unless we get our hands on it we won't really
appreciate it for what it is NOW. As a tool developer and provider of
specialty services I would consider adding Reality to my list of
supported platforms if I knew there was a market.

What can NorthGateIS do to help link the market of end-users and VARs
with those of us outside of your circle? How do we ask your end-users
and developer channel what they need in terms of tools or services?
How do we ascertain whether there is adequate availability of
developers in the Reality circle to satisfy demand, or whether your
market is already saturated with competent third-party providers?

There is always this chicken and egg scenario: "I'll buy your products
after you develop them" ... "I'll develop products if I can get enough
commitment for purchases to justify the investment". If NorthgateIS
can serve to introduce vendors to their marketplace, together we can
assess what sort of demand there is for various sorts of technical
development, education, consultation, etc.. This helps those of us
who develop solutions. It makes NorthgateIS look good to end-users
because it rounds out the offering, shows more value-add for the
Reality platform, and reinforces the business decision to buy MV in
the first place. It makes NorthgateIS look good to new and existing
Reality developers because it shows a desire to foster commerce.
NorthgateIS can sell more DBMS licenses with a more rounded
third-party market - people who know how to use all the features that
you have taken the time to build into your software. Everyone wins.

Any given vendor can place ads with Spectrum or DBTA (the only two
non-forum outlets for MV marketing?!) but the international audience
who get news and advertising from those sources is tiny compared to
the actual base of worldwide MV sites. This comes back to the idea of
having some central community source where all MV users can go for
info. Until that happens it's up to individuals to figure out a way
to let end-users know they exist - in the mean time end-users leave MV
because they think "we" can't do Web Services or Ajax or help to check
off their other buzzword requirements. I've approached other MV DBMS
vendors over the years and get zero response for this initiative. MV
DBMS vendors don't seem interested in helping to link supply with
demand; they let their VARs hunt for a market and let their license
base hunt on their own for value-add solutions. So I'm now putting
this to NorthgateIS to see how responsive they are to their end-user
base and reseller market.

For those of you who are MV DBMS providers, I welcome your input on
this as well. Specifically I'd really like to see this sort of
initiative with Raining Data and IBM (had plenty of opportunities but
they're entirely disinterested, still hoping), jBASE, LadyBridge,
Revelation, ONgroup, and even InterSystems who should be building
business bridges as much as technical. (Sorry Via/EDP, don't really
care unless you can show us a market and your dedication to that
market.)

I'll be happy to discuss any of this by e-mail, at Spectrum, or in
public.

Thank you kindly.
Tony Gravagno, Nebula R&D
TG@ removethisNebula-RnD.com

Congrats on winning both the Ireland business AND column inches for it!

"Mark Fuller" <mark_fuller1 (AT) ntlworld (DOT) com> wrote