SeeControl's Affordable, Online Inventory & Asset Management Software

Being a windows form programmer, who works in client-server or WAN based computing environment, I get fascinated by software products that leverage Web technologies --browsers, light client and all that. Software customization is the norm in my field unlike in the world of Web-based application where user-customization is done to a minumum and turnkey is the byword.

SeeControl is an application service provider. In its promotional pitch, SeeControl alternately describes its products and services as On-Demand or Software-as-a-Service(SaaS). There are fine-grained technical differences between the terms, which we will not discuss in details. Whatever their product is called, SeeControl offers web-native software application that clients use from his PC using a Web browser, a digital device like mobile phones, or barcode or Radio-frequency identification (RIFD) readers. The client pays not for software ownership but for the use of the software application. SaaS appeals most to clients who have big computing requirements but are not willing to spend for server computers, server software, and full-time datacenter personnel. SaaS applications are therefore designed to be affordable and entail lesser financial investment than licensed software and customized application. The SaaS vendor assumes the burden of hosting data, providing back-up and fail-over provisions, and product upgrades.

Every SeeControl's product revolves around a sophisticated asset/product identification system using barcode or RIFD tags and readers. This ID system collects the data and sends them to a central datacenter through the Web to provide the count, statistics, and whereabouts of asset and these are the source of data for reports that the client sees.

For the past days I have searched the Web for available information about its SeeControl's Affordable, Online Inventory & Asset Management Software. As a software developer I am interested in SeeControl's application interface. No luck so far in finding material on interface. You will find at the bottom of this post the only video I could download from SeeControl's Web site. It features a SeeControl workspace rather than an application interface.

How affordable is it? I still await SeeControl's response. When queried on pricing as well as on how they secure client's data, SeeControl, through Michael Harper, sent back this e-mail:

Better if we answer your questions live. When are you available?

Until I talk personally with Michael Harper, I will not be able to offer any pricing information. In addition, I still have to know how SeeControl addresses clients' concern about the security of their data while in the hands of the SaaS vendor. What if their data fall in the hand of their competitors? Informations on suppliers, clients, product costs are valuable trade secrets, never to be shared with the whole world. More on this in my next post.