ChMS - PurposeWare

If you haven't already, you MUST read the summary of what we are looking for. This is critical to understand my comments. The vendors being reviewed work hard to provide a good product to serve the church, and they should be commended for that. Our needs are very specific, and just because a product isn't right for us does not mean that it isn't perfect for your church. By the same token, just because we didn't like a product does not mean it doesn't meet needs or provide genuine value to its clients. The blurb and "target market" are taken from the capterra list I referenced in my first post. Finally, my thoughts are my own and not an official position of my employer. Thank you.

This is the first company I am reviewing that made my "level 3" grouping. Once I've put a company through an analysis this in depth, I'm pretty sure they don't want me laying out every detail in such a public forum, so my level three analysis may seem a little brief, but I'll try to give you my overall impression of the product.

PurposeWare
Simple, easy-to-use, web-based management system for your entire church. Manage members, track visitors & get people plugged into ministry.
Target Market: Small - Large
Quick Summary - Good looking site, like the focus on people.
http://www.purposeware.com/core.aspx

Level 2 Analysis:

How big? - Smallish company, separate sales organization in gofishmedia.
How many customers? - Contact them for this info.
How long in business? - 2003
Are they profitable? - Declined to state.
Technical Details - .NET 3.5, AJAX, MS SQL 2005

Volunteer Management - Some good ideas, but missing some key features.
Web Integration - Yes, SAAS product
Attendance - Cannot handle our weekend attendance easily.
Assimilation - Integrates SHAPE, no online gifts assessment.

Level 2 Summary - Frustratingly little real information on their website, but the product looks solid. Although I don’t like doing this, something about PurposeWare appeals to me, so I will take them to a level 3 analysis.

Level 3 Summary - PurposeWare is an attractive looking product, but it is not mature enough for our needs. While I enjoyed our interaction with PurposeWare, there were too many issues with handling a dataset of our size that would make it a step backwards for much of our current functionality. Clearly not for us.