eBPCS - Info on what SSA is doing

[Dennis Munro <DMunro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

System Software Associates Debuts eBPCS
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E is not just the most popular letter in the English language, it is also
the most popular addition to product names these days. So its comes as no
surprise that enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor System
Software Associates (SSA), the second biggest software vendor in the AS/400
market behind J.D. Edwards, has changed the name of its Business Planning
Control System (BPCS) client/server suite to eBPCS. 
The name change doesn't just signify that SSA has gotten the promised BPCS
V6.1 for AS/400 and HP 9000 UNIX servers out the door. This code was
supposed to ship in January, and includes support for the euro as well as
enhanced modules for automotive or pharmaceutical companies. (SSA is not
pushing eBPCS on AIX or Solaris servers, a concession to Hewlett-Packard,
which is helping SSA with the NT implementation of eBPCS due in the third
quarter.) eBPCS is more a shift in SSA's marketing and development focus
than a whole new product, a move away from ERP and towards the broader
e-business and supply chain arenas. 
To that end, eBPCS also includes special middleware, called a semantic
message gateway, to link eBPCS ERP modules into popular third-party programs
such as i2 Technologies' RHYTHM supply chain software as well as Ironside
Technologies' Ironworks and IBM's Net.Commerce e-commerce suites. SSA is
also working with IBM's Lotus division to integrate eBPCS with Domino, and
is working with Business Objects and Cognos to make eBPCS play nicely with
their respective data access and reporting tools; SSA has similarly signed
up Taylor Manufacturing Systems for its capacity scheduling apps, and
Trilogy for its front office and sales automation suite. Pricing for eBPCS,
which will be available at the end of March, starts at $2,500 to $5,000 per
seat, depending on the server and modules selected.

Dilbert's Words Of Wisdom:
"I love deadlines.  I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they
go flying by."

Dennis Munro    
Badger Mining Corporation
dmunro@badgerminingcorp.com <mailto:dmunro@badgerminingcorp.com> 

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