The year 2000 will not cause accounting, inventory, and other data-related problems for Baan customers. Because the company designed its enterprise business resource planning (ERP) software in the early 1990s with a four-digit year numbering system (01/01/1999 rather than 01/01/99), Baan`s customer base is already Year 2000 compliant. With the Gartner Group predicting that it will cost $1,10 per line of code to fix - and with an estimated 225 billion lines currently affected, companies worldwide may spend $600 billion in dealing with the year 2000 problem. These costs may be too much to bear, forcing an estimated 10 percent of all companies out of business if they do not address the issue in time, according to Gartner. All Baan products from Triton III forward are year 2000 compliant, so customers are not required to purchase additional software products or newer releases to solve year 2000 issues. The small percentage of customers using Triton II or earlier who own a technical support contract will automatically be year 2000 compliant through a minor upgrade at no cost. Doug Sallen, vice president of corporate marketing, says: "The fact that Baan has millennium-proofed its software means one less application that our customers will have to worry about. This translates into extraordinary time and cost savings for our customers. Additionally, we encourage our customers to quickly embark on year 2000 projects for their entire computer system if they have not done so already." The year 2000 problem is quickly becoming one of the most important business information technology issues of the decade. For organisations not using year 2000 compliant software, the turn of the century will impact virtually all enterprise data, from inventory management and customer orders, to accounts payable. The Gartner Group predicts certain markets will be particularly impacted by the year 2000 problem. These include automotive, process and heavy industry/project, which are typically dominated by mainframe computers where all dates were handled using the two-digit convention. "Baan`s focus on our four vertical markets and their supply chains - automotive, electronics, heavy equipment, and process - coupled with our products` resolution of the year 2000 issue, means business continuity for our customers and their supply chain," says Sallen. "The fact that our customers do not have to convert their Baan applications will not only be a tremendous cost savings, but will help ensure their success in the century ahead."
Share
Editorial contacts