Microcommanders have been around for a long time and are installed on thousands of boats. The also were used on many commercial vessels. It was a pretty common install back before engines and transmissions became electronic.

ZF bought up Microcommander years ago and did a complete redesign on the box. One important thing is they must have good power. I think many people installed them with crap power sources. ZF makes a "Automatic Power Selector" that allows the control system to be powered by two battery sources (it's basically a reverse diode isolator). Mercury makes one with 3banks for the Verado steering.

I spoke with a guy that specializes in them and he used to work for the original Mr. Mathers. He said the new ZF design really was an improvement. Most of the issues were/are with bad power. But he also mentioned that there MUST be an emergency engine shutoff at each control station (this is in the manual, too).

On my boat I still need to modify the wiring and install the auto power selector. I'm also working on getting engine start/stops at all 3+ stations.