Hi Richard,
Would you please explain the "architecture change for the 6.x product".
Without knowing the particulars of that situation, I will put my neck on the
line and say that I see good things happening at Sterling.
Last month, I attended a *coming out* party in Nashville for Sterling's new
look and future with the SBC reorg.
It was attended by all of their consultants. Like any company enduring a
takeover, their are changes both internally and externally.
What I saw and heard impressed me. New products that take a company to the
next-level of b2b e-Commerce, improved service and
a new attitude. Now that the *party* is over, and its time to settle down,
let's give them a chance.
Lee LoFrisco
Sterling Commerce Consultant
Cell: 410.963.6218
-----Original Message-----
From: Electronic Data Interchange Issues
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Hurd, Richard A (Rich)
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2000 2:24 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Fwd: In response to Kayla]
I hesitate, too, to put my paddle in the water because my mom told me "If
you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Hence my
silence on our TLW experience.
However, I am minded to reply to Chuck.
> If this 'stunt' were to be pulled on them, no matter WHICH EDI software
> vendor was involved, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend 'pulling the plug'
> and seeking another vendor. This discipline (EDI) is too dynamic for
> companies to be wasting their time doing things that shouldn't be
> necessary, when Sea-changes in the discipline are either upon us now, or
> at the least looming around the corner.
>
The problem is -- and what these software companies are banking on -- is the
software corollary of Newton's law of inertia. If others' EDI departments
are like ours, we can barely keep up with what's going on and what the
future holds. And now we want to switch to a new TRANSLATOR? Where are we
going to find the time for the DD necessary for that little maneuver? Not
to mention the huge hump that you have to get over before you get productive
in the new software? Changing a translator is akin to changing an email
package, albeit not as dramatic a change.
The recent rumblings of Sterling Commerce and their architecture change for
the 6.x product line underlines that. We are a Sterling Gentran shop, and
we have watched those threads with interest. We have a guy who does mapping
for us that we use on a part time basis. I emailed him this story and he
called within 5 minutes, saying "Are they out of their minds?" To him, it
can be seen as the PERFECT opportunity to switch. "Why, if you have to
re-engineer everything, don't you just re-engineer everything in a competing
product?"
But we're not talking Sterling, we're talking Harbinger. Our experience
with their product line although limited is another "Me too" story of too
much promised, and too little delivered. And that's why we're not using
the Harbinger TLW product any more.
And even though Lucent does have some installations of Harbinger, the
division I work for (Lucent Microelectronics) is spinning off to become an
independent semiconductor manufacturer. So although I can't legally tell
people to go buy stock, I can say with confidence that in some near-term
time frame we will be truly Harbinger-free. And that oughta be worth
something. :-{)
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