RE: Record Locks and the state of the union:

I could not in good conscious recommend JBA at this time (and we are not
even up yet on the distribution modules), although I wonder how much of
this is "familiarity breeds contempt".  We mainly bought JBA because we
viewed them as a total solution (software, services, documentation,
company stability and future direction) and they were more interested in
our business than any other vendor.  Their salespeople appear to be
really good.  However, their training, consulting and documenation were
fairly poor and I'm skeptical when we'll really see some of the neat
stuff I was shown (like Constructor and Visual Components) and we are
now judging them strictly on the quality of their software.  I'm also
unhappy with the non-US orientation of JBA and secondly I am lamenting
their lack of "stature" compared with JDE especially.  However, at the
time we made our decision I didn't have confidence that JDE One World
was a truly "ready to run" solution and their salesperson was less than
interested in our business and we didn't feel safe with some of the
smaller companies after our business.  The one thing I have been happy
with is some of the third party companies we've seen offering consulting
and programming for JBA.  It is nice to have an alternative.  I feel
JBA's database layout is very poorly documented.  There are many
redundant fields and there are many other fields that seem worthwhile
that are not populated by the package.  Our experience with their
telephone support has been fair.  We usually do get the help we need,
but never as fast as we like.  We haven't given up and still plan on
making effective use of JBA software.  We needed so many mods that we
are going to be somewhat of a custom solution anyway.  Hopefully, we'll
get JBA to adopt some of our changes as enhancements
Dan Thomas
Sr. VP Information Systems
Medical Distribution, Inc.
4500 Progress Blvd
Louisville, KY  40218-5058
Phone (502) 454-9013 ext 120
email  DThomas@lpw-mdi.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Renshaw [SMTP:rrenshaw@nutechsystems.com]
> Sent: Monday, June 15, 1998 10:08 AM
> To:   'JBAUSERS-L@midrange.com'
> Subject:      RE: Record Locks and the state of the union:
> 
> My two cents:
> 
> I have worked with JBA, JDE, JDA, BPCS, MAPICS etc, along with other
> sundry 
> packages on various platforms.  It has been my experience that all
> packages 
> have bugs, some significant, others not.  I equate it to buying a car.
> No 
> matter how carefully you inspect it (or someone else inspects it, for
> that 
> matter) after a few months, you're going to notice something doesn't
> work 
> properly, or could have been better designed.  The real key is how the
> 
> problem is addressed.  My experience with JBA is not the most
> encouraging. 
>  (How dare I, a lowly programmer, dare to question the great and
> powerful 
> Oz?...).  They seem almost contemptuous, at times: skeptical at the
> very 
> least.
>       The bottom line is (as has always been) supply and demand.  SAP,
> SSA and 
> Peoplesoft are hot on their heels (if not already ahead of them).  If
> JBA 
> doesn't get with the program, they're going to get run over.   Whoever
> 
> comes up with an efficient, comprehensive and reliable method of
> dealing 
> with bugs is (literally) going to take the money and run.
>       Just out of curiosity, how many of you would still recommend
> JBA?  I was 
> wondering how their word-of-mouth quotient is.  Everyone reading this
> will 
> know how many deals/recommendations happen on the golf course.  Do you
> 
> think they've eroded that support to an appreciable level, if at all?
> 
> 
> Richard Renshaw
> 
> P.S. Sorry if that was a little too close to a rant.
> 
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| To subscribe to this list send email to JBAUSERS-L-SUB@midrange.com.
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