A number of organizations have determined their existing system is a Y2K train wreck and are implementing ERP systems from SAP, JBA and others. For these organizations the on line date for the ERP systems is 01/01/00 or before. It is a do or die thing.

I am new to ERP myself but I do know that switching to a completely new system in a short period of time is a potential mine field if not done right. Maintenence is often much greater with ERP, control flags must be properly set and users must be properly trained and motivated.

I wonder how many failures may occur, the organization itself. What we're talking about here are organizations that can't go back.

-- Ed (ed@lizzardranch.com), September 15, 1999

Answers

As Bang & Oulfsen recently discovered to their chagrin ....

-- Rob Somerville (merville@globalnet.co.uk), September 15, 1999.

Interesting, Ed...

I've been giving ERP (enterprise resource planning--I think!--a way of stepping beyond separate accounts payable, inventory, ordering, billing applications and linking a whole enterprise together with a coherent software package)and the follow-on approach EAI (enterprise application integration) some serious thought in the last couple of days.

My concern is that these systems that link enterprises, their suppliers and their customers all together may increase the possibility of data corruption of ostensibly remediated systems.

On the other hand, the various ERP and EAI systems out there may lessen the chance of data corruption. I'd love to hear from some of the software professionals out there on this issue.

Best regards, as always

-- William in Dallas (bcheek@onramp.net), September 15, 1999.

A major system installation and cutover tends to take a LOT more time than was originally anticipated. If an organization goes to something like ERP as a shortcut to "fix" their Y2K problems, they could be seriously misjudging the effort required for a smooth cutover.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 15, 1999.