RE: COM_Net -- MAPICS-L

We had a 2 year prep period before we implemented all of our MAPICS modules
(first AR, AP, GL, FA, then PCC, PDM, IM, BROWSER, then COM, etc.)

As we were coming down the home stretch to implement COM (first site), we
held discussions for the next phase of the I.T. Vision, one of which
involved web enablement.  That's when we looked into COM_Net.  We bought one
(or two?) modules during the same period of time we implemented COM.  It
took 9 months to finish the COM implementation because we were implementing
multiple sites, one after the other.  It was during this same period of time
that we bought one or two more COM_Net modules and training, because it fit
in with our vision of the "next step" of web enablement.  But we still
hadn't actually implemented any of the COM_Net modules.  That's why we were
surprised at the tail end of the process, rather than the beginning.

I did not make this clear in the previous email, so I will do so here.
Passing in a 1000 byte character string is an absolute requirement for us,
and always has been, in every discussion.    The need to pass custom
information came up regularly at the demos, meetings, phone conferences and
was answered with "COM_Net will do that" and the subject changed to other
topics (catalogs, portals, price books, etc).  We had several on-site
meetings with LEXEL and our MAPICS affiliate in the same room together at
the same time.  Everybody asked the right questions.  My opinion was that
everybody did the due diligence.  I believe that our affiliate was misled
evey bit as much as we were.  Coming from an AS400 (sorry: iSeries) RPG
background where ANY program can pass a 1000 byte character string as a
parameter, when somebody says "we need to pass a 1000 byte character string"
and every reply over multiple meetings is "COM_Net will do that", it never
occurred to me or anyone else in I.T. that maybe just maybe the $51,000
worth of COM_Net we bought can't do that one simple little thing. 

So what I am saying is that AT NO TIME were we told that if we bought
COM_Net we would need custom programming, or that custom programming would
even be involved, or that we would have to do the custom programming
ourselves (which we did anyway).  

If you (Dale) know that COM_Net won't pass custom information, we need more
people like you to sit in these meetings, broadcast these emails, and
explain that fact to all the affiliates and LEXEL reps that don't know this.


It IS NOT and WAS NOT a simple misunderstanding.



 

-----Original Message-----
From: DaleGindlesperger@xxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:DaleGindlesperger@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 7:14 PM
To: MAPICS ERP System Discussion
Subject: Re: COM_Net



Albert,

Sounds like you wanted to do something outside of what COM_Net is designed
for - which is to handle COM order entry and order inquiry through a
web-based tool, with add-ons for graphical catalog processing and such.  It
does that quite well.  If you have a custom requirement, I wouldn't be
surprised to find that a "canned" colution (like COM_Net or other MAPICS
module) doesn't cover your requirement(s) out of the box.  Your sales rep
(affiliate, I would assume?) shouldn't have sold you a standard MAPICS
application without also informing you up front that there would be a
customization required to handle a non-standard requirement (1000 character
string?).

Was MAPICS and/or Lexel informed when you purchased the software that you
needed the additional requirement of the 1000-character string to be passed
to a flat file?  I know that they can do customization of the product.
Before I would have cut my losses of a $51,000 investment (ouch!), I would
have found out what the custom programming charges would be to handle my
additional requirements.  But either way, I am floored that you wouldn't
have been informed up front that customization would be required to pass
additional information through from the web server to the iSeries (beyond
the standard data), including the question of where the data would come
from?

Once over to the iSeries, user exits would easily handle the processing of
additional data.  We do a LOT of post-entry processing to feed various
add-on applications, pulling the data from the actual order that was
placed.

Dale Gindlesperger
IT Manager/Special Projects Leader
Fleetwood Folding Trailers, Inc.
258 Beacon Street
Somerset, PA  15501




 

                      Albert Codinha

                      <Acodinha@xstamper        To:
"'mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx'" <mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

                      .com>                     cc:

                      Sent by:                  Subject:  COM_Net

                      mapics-l-bounces@m

                      idrange.com

 

 

                      04/22/2004 06:52

                      PM

                      Please respond to

                      MAPICS ERP System

                      Discussion

 





Be careful what you ask for.
We also were looking for a COM add-on product to web enable ourselves.
We talked to the good folks from LEXEL and decided to buy COM_Net.
After buying $51,000 of original and additional modules, we discovered
ourselves in the position of still lacking the ability to do the ONE THING
that we knew we had to do from DAY ONE: in addition to passing all that
normal COM info in, we needed to pass in a 1000 character string.  We
expected the character string to find it's way to a flat file that we are
already using.
No such luck.  We apparently can "e-catalog" or "i-register" or
"enablize-portalize" with the best of them, but we still can't pass a
character string without buying yet one more module of some kind.
Needless to say we are unhappy about this and took the decision to cut our
losses.  We are in negotiation with MAPICS now to derive a positive outcome
from this.

.....so.....when you hear any COM_Net_sales_oriented person say the words

                                                 "COM_Net will do xyz"

the very next thing YOU ask is

                                                 "Which module of COM_Net
does that?  The one
I am buying?
                   Or the next
module I have to buy now that I am locked into
this module that doesn't do what I was told it will do?"


ps.  We web-enabled ourselves with a custom solution that involves loading
up the COM Offline Load files and then makes a second pass to load up the
character string.







My company is interested in providing people with a way to buy our
products via the web.  What is available that works well with MAPICS.  We
are using
in-house programs at this point for our order entry and shipping processes
but hope to soon begin a project to implement COM.
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Keith Loyd
>
> MECO Corp.
>
> 1500 Industrial Road
>
> Greeneville, Tn  37745
>
> (423) 639-1171
>
> keithl@xxxxxxxx <mailto:keithl@xxxxxxxx>

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