SYS21 - Alliance comments & perpective

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I have had the honor and pleasure of representing System 21 on the planning 
committee for Alliance 2002. For those of you who attended I hope you found it 
of value and will plan on attending future Alliance conferences. For those of 
you who were unable to attend, please let me know what would make it important 
for you to attend next year. This conference, along with user groups, are 
intended to give you the value you expect. The only way we can be sure to 
deliver that value is to hear from you and incorporate your ideas into the 
planning process. Planning for the next user group meeting and the next 
Alliance will begin very soon.



 The next Great Lakes and Automotive user group meetings are scheduled for 
August 26, 2002. The location to be announced.



 The next Alliance will be held in Orlando, Florida at Disney World again and 
will be May 11 through May 14, 2003.



 We need as many System 21 customers, as possible, to identify and present 
topics of interest. Please let me hear from you.



Alliance 2002, was an event full of enthusiasm from the key note speakers, 
excitement in the announcements regarding System 21, education and information 
in the sessions and fun in the after hours activities. I have received 
primarily positive feedback from those I have spoken to who attended. There is 
always much room for improvement and the suggestions and comments given to me 
will be incorporated in the planning of the next Alliance.



The announcements regarding System 21 global support, the next major release, 
code named "Aurora", and how Geac will continue to support user groups were 
news to the attendees.



In the solution center, many new products and enhancements were demonstrated. 
Of particular interest were enCompass, the new System 21 interface for 
launching tasks from a web browser, and the KPI pack, the new Business 
Intelligence initiative that consists of data extraction and TM1 data cube 
definitions across the System 21 database.



I feel confidant that System 21, or the next version of it, will continue to 
evolve and become even more stable and effective in handling our businesses. I 
have faith in the development team to continue to enhance the product through 
the surveys and feedback from users. However, we all need to begin planning now 
to migrate to this new release in the next couple of years. Older versions will 
begin to not be supported until we are all eventually on the newest release. I 
understand that there will soon be an opportunity to see the functionality in 
"Aurora", possibly via webcasts.



 I do not doubt that support will continue to be effective using the Answerlink 
tool. Geac has done a good job in improving support over the last couple of 
years and I know that the user community will continue to expect and get the 
support they deserve through the maintenance fees.



User groups will continue to meet and it is my hope that they will become 
larger in numbers and stronger. The voice of the user community needs to be 
clear, strong and focused on enhancements and communicating their needs to 
Geac. Geac has committed to listening and helping make the Geac products we use 
an effective tool with which we run our businesses and to realize a respectable 
ROI.



  The user community will have the opportunity to sign on to webcasts for 
education on product functionality, etc. Again, we must let Geac know what we 
need to see. Aurora and the commerce.connect applications are some that 
immediately come to mind. This venue should prove to be the most effective use 
of time and money for Geac and the user community.



I hope to hear from you soon with your suggestions and comments. I will 
continue to work with the user groups and Alliance planning committee to help 
you receive the value you want and deserve.



Annette Y. Petree

Controller

GB Manufacturing Company

Facilitator

Great Lakes User Group

 419-822-5323  x124



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