RE: ERP Vendors

Rob,

Great points. We started this week looking at getting a different G/L application (and maybe A/P), and I just put all of these in my requirements list.

Thanks.

Jerry C. Adams
IBM System i Programmer/Analyst
--
B&W Wholesale
office: 615-995-7024
email: jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of rob@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 7:31 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: ERP Vendors

You may be right but salaries, extra hours and whatnot never figure into
management's calculations. Another point on this is that a refresher on
the use of the software should probably be done every few years anyway.
Apathy to features, turnover, upgraded new versions, etc. We're putting
everyone (stress everyone) in the company through ERP training. Then,
upon completion of that, will they go through software training. Most new
employees seem to have only had "take menu option this, this and that"
training.

Another factor is what possible changes to annual maintenance costs are
you going to achieve?

Or, ask what happens if you purchase a new i in 3 to 5 years? Take the
current CPW and multiply by a %. Look at other factors. Number of
processors may or may not be a consideration. (We dropped a number of
processors on an older model when moving to a newer model.) But you may
want to ask anyway if you add a processor. Or memory.

Or add an offsite HA machine. What do they charge to run it on the HA
machine? Plan on doing switch testing a few times a year and running it
on the back up machine. Are you allowed to query the data on the HA
machine to relieve query workload on the primary? If you have to get a
key every time you switch is their key center available at odd times or is
it only available 8am to 9am Bangladesh time? If you start out loading
your HA machine at the center office and then move it offsite, what
charge, if any, is there to change the physical location? (Don't question
that some software companies have the gumption to charge for some of
this.)

If you use a development machine or a development lpar, what, if anything,
do they charge for the development use for testing?

Let's say your name is Group Dekko and the Dekko family sold you off but
only allows you to use their family name for x number of years. What fee
is there to change your company name?

We plan on being sold in a few more years to yet another holding company.
What fee will there be to change that on the records?

Do they charge per user? Are you expecting growth? What about web user
access?

Are they available as one of the package deals that IBM puts out so you
can get a discounted new model of i?

Add this up, and any other misc charge you can think of, and come up with
a 5 year cost of ownership.

Now add in benefits and losses of the features of one package versus the
other.

Rob Berendt