It's rather unlikely, but if CIO's and other IS professionals awaken to the savings, then it could happen. The real key is for corporate sponsor for a ERP OSS project. I would not suprised me if IBM were to sponsor a ERP OSS project like the Eclipse foundation. To do so would give them more leverage over Oracle and SAP while maintaining a semi-neutral stance.
--- Lan Barnes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sun, Nov 27, 2005 at 03:00:37AM -0800, Randall > Shimizu wrote: > > ERP software is one of the last vestiges of closed > > propietary software. Oracle and SAP's ERP app's > are > > sealed shut. Until recently the SAP language could > not > > communicate outside it's own environment. SAP's > big > > claim is that they offer hosted App's. Oracle's > ERP > > app's is even worse. Oracle wants you to let them > do > > everything. In fact Larry Ellison's mantra is > "don't > > touch that code". It's really ironic because > Oracle's > > code is written in Java. Oracle's ERP app;s are > not > > J2EE compliant so this makes it very difficult to > plug > > in new components. > > > > > > Lan's prediction: OSS will never crack ERP. > Nevernevernever. > > Why? It's psychology. Look at corporate America. The > CEO and the CFO > always hang out together and snicker at the CIO. The > poor CIO is a > second class citizen, spurned, considered nothing > but a cost center, > laughed at behind his back. > > Thursdays when they're at the country club, the CIO > changes behind his > locker door because they snicker at his penis size. > He's spurned and > vilified. > > His ONLY hope of _any_ self-esteem is to spend a > mega-gazillion bucks on > the corporate ERP system. *Then* people will look up > to him! "My ERP > system is bigger and thicker and more expensive than > yours!" he thinks > with satisfaction as he writes a truly frightening > check to SAP or > Oracle. > > Moreover, these systems are such disasters for the > users, and create > such revulsion and resistance that the CIO gets the > incredible emotional > satisfaction of punishing anyone who pushes back. > They're all > insignificant worms anyway, with no appreciation of > the glory of upper > management. > > Now imagine that one of these insignificant worms > (this would be you) > comes to the CIO and humbly says, "Excuse me, Your > Worship, but we could > replace this expensive behemoth with an agile, > home-grown system that > might actually reflect our business processes and > even be written in > English. Yes, we would have to customize it, but it > might actually be > cheaper than hiring the army of SAP/Oracle > consultants we'd need to > customize their products. And there would be no > licensing fees." > > But then the CIO would lose the bragging rights from > the big budget > project. Instead of enhanced ... virility, he's be > identified with > granola-eating, peacenik open source types. He might > have to give up > Thursday golf. > > So it'll never happen. You don't need to get > kickbacks from a huge kluge > to get rewards from it. > > This opinion is registered by one who has seen three > major ERP projects > undertaken, each for a budget that would have fed a > family of four for a > couple of millenia (and housed them and sent their > kids to the Ivy > Leagues). And, yes, I've also learned to find > certain documents in SAP. > You just have to put on your Dark Germanic thinking > cap, because it's > like wandering in the Black Forest at night. > > -- > Lan Barnes [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Linux Guy, SCM Specialist 858-354-0616 > > > -- > [email protected] > http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list > -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
