RE: Accounting Packages

[D.BALE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

>>JDE   - I have been at a couple of different companies that
>>have this; from the users view point, very powerful, very
>>flexible.   IF you want to modify any code; watch out, anyone
>>with less than 7 years in the field is going to get lost and
>>frustrated with the code; that amount of user flexibility
>>comes at a very high cost when working on the code "in-house".
>>Interfacing can be tricky; unless it was just not policy or
>>maybe the other companies that I worked at had lost the
>>manuals; I was given none...

Mark, out of all the ones you mentioned, I have had experience only with JDE
World (NOT OneWorld).  And only as a contractor who was given very minimal
introduction to the JDE programmer tools.  I have seen the programmer manuals,
and they are decent, but by no means comprehensive.  Still, from the
programmer's point of view, I put JDE heads & shoulders above JBA & BPCS.  I
spent a year slogging my way through JBA - absolutely horrid source code with
absolutely NO, NADA, NICHT technical documentation, you are forced to rely on
someone who has been through the ropes with JBA.  You want to know, for
example, what STATUS = '2' means?  If you don't have a JBA pro onhand, call
JBA support!  And wait for a return call the next day.

After working with JBA, I'm a firm believer that the ERP package selection
process should include source code review by experienced programmers.  (I
know, it will never happen, but if it did, JBA would be out of business
quicker than it took me to write this post.)  If you need any more reasons to
stay away from JBA, contact me privately.  REMEMBER, THIS IS JUST MY .02, YMMV.

I haven't seen BPCS since 4 years ago, but I seem to recall that it was VERY
complex software, and training was REQUIRED for any programmer who was going
to modify the source code.  Maybe it's better now, I don't know.

Dan Bale
IT - AS/400
Handleman Company
248-362-4400  Ext. 4952
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