re JBA ML - ERP system lifespan

This is an interesting question with many facets, here are some more......

>From an AS/400 point of view many ERP systems in use today are over 10 years 
>old. Few replacements currently being offered do not contain some code at 
>least 10 years old. To replace all the code is too great a task so new systems 
>are often produced putting the code through a convertor, or just putting a new 
>front end on the old database.

The lack of investment in new AS/400 ERP software may also be due to the lower 
prices now expected for ERP software, is it possible to produce a new ERP 
system and make a profit?

The perceived age of AS/400 systems could be a problem for IBM and the AS/400, 
it does not take into account the fact that the AS/400 platform is possibly the 
best ERP platform around, even if it is not called 'Microsoft' or 'Oracle'.

Also the enthusiasm for ERP software has waned, CEO's may think that the ERP 
systems last for ever and are looking at more up to date ways of investing in 
IT such a eBusiness.

So it may be a bad time to jump ship, are the other AS/400 ERP systems likely 
to be around any longer than the one you are using?? Why change to NT, Unix or 
Oracle based systems which maybe less reliable and more difficult to install 
and manage than the 'old' AS/400???

ERP system supplier's problems are symtomatic of an industry which to some 
extent has been devalued by the amount of PC software which you get for your $ 
(due to volume sales). Although Windows is not an ERP solution, it has reduced 
the amount which some companies expect to pay for computer software.

Finally the ability to produce AS/400 RPG systems has reduced as number of RPG 
programmers has reduced making it more difficult to maintain or add new 
features. Many students coming out of college are more proficient in langauges 
such as Java and C adding to the feeling that AS/400 is 'old hat'.

As someone who has been in the business a long time, some things never change 
and the main one is that it is as difficult today to produce a system which 
meets the needs of the user, as it was in 1960.

In fact the big question for the whole market is 'Where do we go from here'????

Let's face it we all wanted to spend less on our ERP systems, is the lack of 
choice the result?

Peter Webb