Method Community

I've been working on selling Method to my company for a while: As far as I know, it is the best option for my company given our requirements and desires. I'm also a fan of what seems to be a philosophy you guys have of open access of data and customization, allowing us to link data together in ways Quickbooks only does in its wet dreams. I like Method, is what I'm saying.

So far, there's only one major complaint I have about Method, but it's a big one. So much of a big one that it was immediately noticed and questioned by my boss when I finally got to present a runthrough of the software to him. A big enough problem that it is likely that we won't be able to use this otherwise excellent software if this problem continues:

Method CRM is too slow!

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. The delays in loading various screens and moving around the CRM become very annoying after about 5 minutes of use. But worse than that, it can prevent quality customer service. If I'm on the phone with a customer and I have to wait anywhere from 5-30 seconds for every new window or popup, that can become a big problem: especially since there can be so much variability in load times.

That unreliability can sometimes go to the next level: I've had multiple occurences of going to open a popup window in Method, only to get the loading symbol and a message up top saying "Window is still loading, please try again...". I just went through the latest of these occurences, which lasted through 20 minutes of constant reattempts from multiple computers, internet connections, and logging out and back in. It's pretty rare, to be fair, but not so uncommon as to not be a serious issue.

Anyway, I'm posting this here for two reasons: First, I'm hoping that my feedback as a paying customer who is still on the fence will reach not just the helpful support staff on this forum, but also the management and engineering team. I want you guys to be aware that, despite my cheerleading for Method CRM, this slowness issue could be a dealbreaker for my company. Second, I'm hoping to learn what Alocet's stance on the issue is, what priority they are giving to it, and when I might expect a change. My Method account manager hinted that there was some work being done on the underlying architecture aimed at boosting load speeds, but he couldn't tell me when a change would come.

smohyee - We hear you loud and clear.  

First of all, make sure you are on FireFox or Chrome.  Internet Explorer is problematic.

However, the browser isn't the entire issue.  There is a lot of overhead in the current version that we are in the process of cutting out.  In fact, in the "labs" we've been able to cut the loading of the "Activity" screen and "Edit Customer" screen down to 1/4 of the current speed.  Yes.  1/4 - I promise, it brought tears to my eyes when I first saw it myself.

This "labs" version is probably two weeks still from going live,   We've been beating it up in-house, and because it has cut out so much of the previous overhead, it's also cut out some of the necessary functionality by mistake.  Once it stabilizes, you won't need us to let you know it's been published - you'll notice it instantly.

Paul

Just two weeks, you say? Excellent! It's great to know its a priority for you guys. This answer has filled me with an irrational level of hope and joy

And as always, thanks for the prompt response!

Paul, this is a blessing!!

We have been anticipating this for a long time! I hope what you are syaing is true! (1/4 of the speed).

My only concern is we have alot of customization (with alot of actions) and I am wondering if the slow speed I am seeing is becasue of my customization, not Method. Some screen loads go through 75 actions, will I still see slow load times with this new update?

Thanks

Bryan

Bryan - A couple things I want to stress first.

1) Every update we do has optimizations in it.  These happen every couple of weeks, and target areas we identify as needing work.

2) The current performance update that we are working on targets grid loading, filtering and refreshing.   It just so happens that this update has had the biggest impact I've seen on performance for a while.  From this, we see 1/4 time on the Activity and Customer screen specifically, where there is a lot of grid loading and a lot of on screen load actions, so we are using these screens as our benchmarks.  Other screens will vary in their results, but it is safe to say that any screen that has grids on it will see a performance increase, especially screens that have a lot of objects on them.

 3) After this update, there will be another performance targeted update, followed by another targeted performance update, etc....so it's not as if this is "THE big update".

Also, worth pointing out is that 75 actions isn't really a big deal. It's what you do in those actions that matters.  Looping in actions is the big time sucker, so avoid loops whenever possible. 

3 customization tips -

(1) Keep your screen smaller than larger - so if there are fields and grids you hardly use, consider moving them to a separate popup.

(2) Don't pile fields into a same table when child tables serve better (like don't have CustomerShoeColor1,CustomerShoeColor2 in the customer table, instead have a separate table calls Shoes!).

(3) Optimize actions so that they don't do unnecessary things, like don't have the screen saving or refreshing data that doesn't need to be saved or refreshed.

Paul

Thank You Paul for the tips.

One question, since most of my screens are customized, ie activity screen, customer list screen, etc. Will the changes you make on your end affect my screens too, or only the Method "Standard" screens?

Sorry for the dumb question but this has always been on my mind and I just wonder how the cusomized screens get affected in these updates.

Thanks

Bryan

Bryan-

The changes discussed here are platform changes meaning they should affect both standard and customized screens.

-Michael

I wanted to update this post.  Today was our target release date of the version discussed above.  There looks to be a 1 week slippage, as the optimization has broken things, caught by our QA process (quality assurance, i.e. testing).  

There have been two server enhancements in the last week, however, that you might have noticed, especially on Chrome and Firefox.  

Expect the bigger update next Thursday.

Paul

Greetings

This is what i found interesting about speed and using Method.

1. If I am on my laptop using a home wireless connection my average screen load speed is about 5-8 sec

2. If i am on my laptop using Verizion wireless connection my average screen load speed is about 3-6 sec

3. If i am on my laptop using a wired connection my average screen load time is about 2-6 secs

4. If i am on my desktop using a wired connection my average screen load time is about 1 sec. 

5. If i am on my friends desk top at his office with a T1 connection my average screen load time is less than a 1/4 of a sec. 

JohnM

We are planning to start using Method CRM for our sales department now only using Quickbooks.   Is your connectivity still slow?

This is a interesting question.  What are you going to use for a comparison?

GH1701:

Is your connectivity still slow?

While this thread is a little old, as Paul mentioned above - every update has optimizations in it.  From the last post on this thread until now there have been a number of updates so the speed should be quite improved.  Don't forget to check out our release notes as we discuss the changes made for each update.

~C