This blog compares Macola™ and Acumatica, two Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software offerings. Looking at them side by side on software review sites, it’s difficult to tell them apart. Both offer a broadly similar feature set. However, getting under the hood, so to speak, reveals some pretty profound differences between these ERP solutions.
We have helped many businesses migrate from Macola™ to Acumatica. Our insights here are based on these experiences.
Understanding the Reality of Legacy ERP
With the stipulation that there are many valid reasons to leave a legacy ERP solution in place, it’s important to recognize the difficulties that come with older systems. Macola™ is a composite of a number of different solutions that were acquired and merged over time. The product has evolved in tandem, with the parent company, ECi, modifying the offering in ways that make it quite hard to determine what components of the extended system are actually compatible with one another.
Macola™ today has a reputation for being bloated and cumbersome to manage. It was not always this way. Macola™ enjoyed a good reputation for many years. It got updated twice annually, like most enterprise solutions. The company introduced numerous add-ons. However, this model is no longer working. Functions that come standard with a cloud ERP like Acumatica require an add-on in Macola™. These include things like sales tax, financial reporting, forms and so forth.
True Cloud Vs. Legacy-to-Cloud
Macola™ works in the cloud. However, it’s not a cloud-native application. This may seem like a minor distinction, but it can have a significant impact on user experience and system administration. The legacy-to-cloud adaptation process involves connecting legacy systems to the cloud. The connections may require the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to integrate all the various pieces of Macola™ to the cloud front end. This can affect performance, reliability and user-facing functionality.
Acumatica, in contrast, was built for the cloud. Its entire architecture and back-end functionality are cloud-native—a true cloud design. For this reason, Acumatica can be updated frequently without affecting the user. Acumatica can add expansion modules with a far more natural fit and fewer hassles than is possible in a legacy-to-cloud scenario.
The API, in particular, signals a major difference between the cloud-native Acumatica and the legacy-to-cloud Macola™. The older system uses a proprietary approach to APIs that was popular through the 1990s. It works, but it takes a lot of expertise and time to connect different parts of the application. Things tend to break using the old API. In contrast, Acumatica takes advantage of the new generation of standards-based (RESTful) APIs. These APIs use open standards to enable virtually universal app-to-app integration without the need for specialized skillsets and custom code.
Let The Donas Group Help you Migrate from Macola™ to Acumatica
The Donas Group has worked with ERP customers for over 20 years. In this time, we’ve done many Macola™-to-Acumatica migrations and assessed even more. We can offer insights into the best practices required for a successful migration. With our proven approach, you can experience a seamless, and effective migration. Contact us to get started.
Additional Acumatica Resources
Acumatica 2019 R2 New Features