RE: ALF Expense Analysis -- MAPICS-L

Konrad,

I have no short-term plan to argue for the implementation of a competing
ERP solution so the comparison with other solutions isn't relative to
this particular project at this point in time. 

Plan-A is to reach an agreement that is fair to us, and yet continues to
provide a feeder system for the MAPICS development effort. If it isn't a
win-win solution the problem has really not been solved in my opinion.

I also share your concerns about supporting an ERP solution that has
Java, RPG, Visual Basic, ASP and Smalltalk all rolled up in one package
but I can't start with that now. I choose to pick my fights one at a
time...
Dale Walker




-----Original Message-----
From: Konrad Underkofler [mailto:kdunderk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 12:16 PM
To: MAPICS ERP System Discussion
Subject: RE: ALF Expense Analysis

Dale,

In your comparison you should also compare costs with competing ERP
packages. One of the downsides of a heavily legacy product like XA is
that everything is ala carte. With newer packages the capabilities are
better integrated and considered a core part of the base system,
therefore no extra cost. Most of the more current packages also have a
far more current feature set with support for many things XA users have
traditionally had to code themselves or find an addon for, not to
mention much easier customization. Finally, there is a substantial
benefit to coherent integrated technology aimed at preventing bugs
through design than remediation. Does anyone really want Java, RPG,
Visual Basic, ASP and Smalltalk all rolled up in one package? 

Good luck in your comparison. 

Regards

Konrad

-----Original Message-----
From: Walker, Dale [mailto:DWalker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 11:57 AM
To: mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ALF Expense Analysis


I am in the midst of analyzing our ALF costs/benefits and am involved in
ongoing talks with my MAPICS affiliate regarding the continual annual
ALF increases that we have been experiencing with the goal of working
towards a mutually beneficial solution. I only wish that our business
could impose considerable price increases like this each and every year.
>From a personal perspective we have found ourselves in a position where
the ALF expense is consuming a significant enough portion of the budget
that it is now directly hindering our ability to implement and leverage
some of the newer modules and I have to believe that we are not alone in
this situation. If left unchecked, we will surely find ourselves
essentially "left-behind" because of the heavy baggage that we carry
each year with the mounting ALF charges. 

 

As many of you have most likely done in the past I am talking with
various MAPICS accounts in order to make a comparison between ILF & ALF
charges and to determine what the "norm" is.  My initial goal was to use
this data for internal decision making purposes only but if you wish to
receive a summary of my findings you can send me your statistics as
noted below. I will share my findings with those who chose to
participate but I will not disclose any company names.

 

*      Modules installed & current ALF charges for each

*      Concurrent user license? If so, how many?

*      Tier based license? If so, what tier? How many average concurrent
users?

*      ALF price changes +- occurring in past years

*      Include any comments regarding your satisfaction of the value of
ALF expenses.  
Improving satisfaction? 
Decreasing satisfaction? 
Neutral?

*      Company name & contact email address 

 

Being in IT for 20+ years I can appreciate the difficulty of how
software solutions are priced; both in terms of initial acquisition cost
and ongoing support costs. If ever there was a topic ripe for
controversy this is it. There is a little black area, a little white
area, and a LARGE gray area when it comes to software pricing. The
intent of this exercise is not to initiate some sort of widespread
witch-hunt but is aimed at helping those who participate to determine
how each of our individual ALF charges compare with other MAPICS
accounts by using a direct comparison of actual charges incurred.  Based
on this information we should all be able to make better informed
decisions in the future.

 

 

 

Dale Walker

VP, Management Information Systems

Gross-Given Mfg. Co. / Automatic Products Intnl' 

St. Paul, MN

 

direct       651-290-4349

fax           651-224-5559

cell          651-270-4150

 

dwalker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

www.automaticproducts.com <http://www.automaticproducts.com/> 

 

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