alpha pricing

I am the person who made that post and it should have said "not going smoothly". I posted it primarily to get some discussion generated. Even with the error it sparked no responses.

I personally think it indicates Alpha is trying to generate sales. The existing pricing structure is not working.When I looked at the v12 Desktop thread there are only 35 threads and I believe this indicates reduced interest in v12 as a viable desktop platform.

Overall the Alpha message board has lost its old vibrancy, it feels dead right now. No excitement.... I find that kind of sad for a company that just release what they claim to be the best version ever. In truth it can't hold a candle to the Instant Developer platform I working with now.

I'm embarking on a switch to Outsystems, Community version. I'm not sure any platform can beat that. I know the pricing can't be beat. The only issue one might have is the size of the app. I bought the 2nd subscription last December and must say, had I known it would turn out this way (what would be included in v12) I would not have spent 1 cent. None! Nada!! Zilch!!! I really didn't think they would do much to the current DT but I thought they would at least allow for the WCD to be easily utilized by creating a few to easily launch it as is done with the DT. That, would be a fabulous way to complete the develop once deploy all. That can never be done using the current DT.

Unless Alpha sees the error of their ways and makes some significant changes, they are on their way to extinction. So sad, too bad but it's true. With the bulk of their customers DT users, they, in effect, aced them out. There is no incentive for them to purchase AA unless they do web or mobile and both have their issues simply because they are the new kids on the block with no incentive for anyone to join in. My guess is that if the Alpha web  and mobile knew about the Outsystems community version, the exodus with be thunderous. Alpha is not in the same league.

I could say more but that's enough for now.

kenn

OutSystems is a beauty. It's your Prom-Queen under the software platforms! I just finished an app for OutSystems and it was a bit of an exploration to knowledge from the past (having worked with OS in the past) and it surely was a sheer joy! Next, I wanted to do a mobile site for that app, so, having the negative experience with Alpha Anywhere figuring things out without any documentation (failed) I thought: "Well, let's see what OS brings to the table!". Heck, in just a few minutes my first mobile site was up-and-running! How astonishingly easy! Compared with Alpha Anywhere...... oh man!

I tried to create a mobile site with AA, but got stuck on the component that decides between Mobile and Standard site. No documentation, and it simply did not work. Result: lots of frustration and anger. In the end, I just deleted the lot! OutSystems wiped this feeling away in a few minutes of great user experience! The logic is schematic and completely drag-drop-configure. In a few seconds the mobile site was there, and in a few minutes more the mobile page was up-and-running. You can easily re-use components from the standard site with a few mouse clicks. I can't imagine anything better than OutSystems. They already "had" me in the past, but now again: they have me.

The only issue is that it is damn pricey. But there is a new license form in the making, so we just need to wait that one out. In the meantime, if you can work with the community version for your apps, than this is a platform that is very difficult to beat, and it surely is not beaten by something like Alpha Anywhere!

Just 1 example:
IntelliWarp: look how OutSystems creates a complete (and fully editable) page for you automatically in 1 second ! Look at this video

Just recieved another offer from as at 799 a year. Of course, nothing was mentioned of the was.

And since the most valuable forum members (as has been proved in the past) are keeping away from it nowadays, or even are banned :-), one can truly ask himself what is left of that forum. Not much I guess.

Alpha has clearly skipped it's desktop section. That's pretty much clear if you look at all outgoing commercial messages. It's all about web and mobile, and nowhere ever the desktop version is referenced anymore. The "old style"-desktop users feel that to be true too. They haven't seen any significant improvements to their tooling kit in A LONG TIME.
More strongly put, their newest flagship "Alpha Anywhere" doesn't offer ANY significant upgrades to their desktop tooling. So what does Alpha Software expect? That those loyal oldtime Alpha customers who would not find anything of value for their main issue of importance, the desktop, would simply go along with them and pay for... nothing added?
That is a pity thought of course. Who in their right minds would do THAT?

Next, see what they inflicted upon their customers with this v12 - Alpha Anywhere product? "You MUST update within the next 3 days otherwise your software will stop working" ?
Say again?

You can't take such a company serious anymore. Even more so, I don't even think they can be trusted anymore. And I agree with Ken who wrote on the Alpha Forum that this shows how easily Alpha can make or brake our Alpha-related business. Scary. Especially in the hands of a company like Alpha Software which is clearly lacking entrepreneurial and managerial skills and stuffs us with software without industry standard quality control. It's a shame it even happened. Nevertheless, not many users are complaining about it. That is a token on the wall I think. It gives me reason to believe that there are not many customers left.

For me it is clear, that Alpha has given the boot to the desktop. They hold on to it because of legacy reasons and it would cost them more to remove it than to keep it. But it has become a dead-end road. I offered them a way out with WCD but they choose not to take it. It could have stretched their desktop capability with a decade more without the need to invest much. But they are not that creative to see that. Instead, their desktop users are now stuck with "Windows 3.1 style" tooling that is not upgraded anymore and have a dark perspective on Alpha's future for them. A foolish move.

We have seen that before with Alpha. They seem to have a talent for making all the wrong moves.

Well, I guess that Steve is just trying to make a living. He will probably not grow fat on it, since that has been tried before.

Many times. Remember Pace Training ? They are still promoting themselves on their website as a primary training partner for Alpha Five.
But back then (when it didn't work either!) the costs even were dramatically lower... $595. Instead of the staggering amounts that the new trainers group is asking. But hey, they offer a huge discount as well! How convenient.... :-) What a business.... that's NEVER going to work.

As said, it didn't work for PACE either. On their site one can read: "The 2009 training schedule will be posted soon." Hahahaha.
It's 2013 and their training schedule for 2009 for Alpha Five will be posted SOON. Well, that should say enough.... they didn't even bother to remove it...
And back then you should have seen how THAT was promoted by Alpha Software. Well, you can promote something as much as you want, reality has some surprises of it's own....

I don't think that Steve's new employer is much in sync with the typical Alpha customer. It looks a lot like they are planning to change that typical customer at Alpha's into a "corporate" alternative, but those who have knowledge and experience with the both (corporate entities and Alpha Five) know that is of course very unlikely to happen. And you just can't take an advance by raising the course fees upfront of that to happen...

Furthermore, I don't think it's very elegant to self proclaim yourself a "master instructor". I would love to see the official government accreditations for that. One simply does not call himself "a master". The student does that if he thinks you are worthy of that title.