On the other hand, we're a very small company, and have the flexibility to move very fast in whatever direction we choose. We currently have a customer request for some advanced workflow features in Conversant. Some of those features are going into a custom plugin for this customer, and the rest is going directly into the product itself.
What are "workflow features", if I may ask?
I think you're downplaying the real value of Conversant. As you're always telling me (and everyone), Conversant is an groupware package with a CMS built on it. But you can build anything on it, groupware speaking. It's the most important thing about Conversant: if a company's needs change, so can Conversant. Say Inside builds a custom CMS. Can they then use the same tools they sweated over to manage group scheduling? No--time for another custom tool for that. Hope the programmers for the original tool are still around... And so on, one custom tool at a time. As the staff changes, each new person has to be brought up to speed with the new tool. Ugh!
Disclaimer: I'm happy being able to program my watch correctly, and I haven't worked in a normal corporate environment in years. But it's got to be easier to build everything on a standard system than to custom design, and redesign, all the time.
And *further*, if a company absolutely must have control over every line of code, if memory serves at some point the plan was to Open Source Conversant (note to companies: I don't work for Macrobyte Resources, please don't take me as knowing anything here). If that's correct, you get the added advantage of writing your own custom codes when you need or want to.
