OpenEdge Architect: Why Not?

I met with some of the members of the New England PUG (Progress User Group) today.  We talked about several things and asked them many questions.  Among those questions were these:
    1) Are you using OpenEdge Architect today?
    2) If not, why not?

There were not many using the product (I remember one hand going up), and there were several reasons why not.  In general, there seemed to be a fear to give up the development tool they were currently using.  Fair enough.  When I get my hands on any tool that I really like and am comfortable with I tend to keep it.  And I'm pretty hesitant to have anyone take it from me.

So here's a few questions that I want you to weigh in on:

1. The same questions that I asked the NE PUG?  Are you using OpenEdge Architect today and if not why not?
2. Assuming you are not, what would it take to introduce you to the tool and get you using it?  Is it a case of not wanting to give up the old tool to get the new?  Are you worried about it being as good as your existing tool?  Compatibility issues? 

To burn off the stress of being in the software industry, I turn perfectly good pieces of wood into useless sawdust.  OK, on a good day that's called "woodworking".  Over the years, I've learned both the comfort of an old, familiar tool and the joy of finding things that I can do with new tools.   It's no different with software tools.  We  want you to be  comfortable and confident with your tools, but we also want to introduce you to new capabilities and methodologies.

So tell us what it would take to move you from your current tools to OpenEdge Architect.  We've got a big new release coming up in 2008 and OpenEdge Architect will be an integral part of the capabilities in that release.  So let's do some work now to get ready together.

Comments

[Anne Disney]

We tried it about a year or so ago and gave up almost immediately because
a) the installation seemed huge - at least the way we did it; it seemed to replicate our entire source code directory system for each user
b) couldn't easily find any resources to walk us through the entire process of installing, customising, and learning to use it.
c) seemed overwhelming when it was finally up on our screens, couldn't navigate smoothly, although we'd seen a demo at Exchange (?) where it seemed very easy
d) had some now-forgotten problem with a library, and were too busy to pursue it further - gave up.

A good web site with links to all the needed resources, tutorials, etc. might motivate us to try again.

[Don Beattie]

We've had been evaluating the product since the 10.1A beta and found Architect exciting, but lacking. After using it for a few consulting projects (10.1B), I convinced our senior management to upgrade. We've been using 10.1B and 10.1C for a few months now and its wonderful. We use Roundtable and SourceSafe and it is so much easier to do stuff than it was with the 9.1E versions of the products. Our productivity level increases daily and has easily surpassed our 9.1E level.