Ha,
I rather have a combintion on the HP3000, IMAGE, ODBC/32 with ACCESS frontend. for windows clients.
The HP3000/IMAGE will deliver fast and Solid performance without overhead on page level locking and minimum DBA maintenance.
An ODBC technology will deliver speed and compatibility on the windows system
The MS Office/Access VBA will deliver nice GUI and best performance on Windows clients.
Few experinced developers can deliver tailored ERP system on fration of 4 mil$.
Peter Chong
Sr. ERP/MRP Analyst.
L3 Communications
714.956.9200 x 363
http://www.powerparagon.com
>>> David Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> 03/22/00 06:38PM >>>
If Golfsmith was using HP e3000's and ADBC I would have my golf clubs
today:-)
Another Oracle nightmare:
-----Original Message-----
From: Comments <<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]>
To: David Thatcher <<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 7:30 PM
Subject: RE: Your Oracle System
Dear Customer,
Due to the tremendous volume of e-mail messages we have received in recent
weeks, we have simply been unable to stay abreast of responses. We have four
people working on the e-mails full time, and are still unable to stay
current. I am embarrassed our computer system problems have caused you to
write letters, faxes and e-mails. I must apologize that we experienced these
unexpected and not so quickly solvable problems.
In the spring of last year, Golfsmith launched a new company-wide $4.8
million computer software upgrade to better service the customer. Since
implementing the system on January 1st, we have been experiencing
unbelievable difficulties. It is fair to say that we have spent millions of
dollars over and above the original Oracle licensing fees working to solve
the problems. We heard that with most conversions to a new operating system,
everything that could go wrong, would go wrong--and it has. We tested the
new system extensively (with 50 users) in November and everything was fine.
We then waited until the slowest time of the golf year to implement it.
However, when we flipped the switch in January and had 400+ users at one
time, the system "bogged down." A short time later when we applied a fix
recommended by Oracle, the system crashed. We were completely down and had
no computer system for about a week. We were taking orders by hand. We had
all 150 order takers on the phone, and hundreds of customers were still in
queue. We shipped orders manually, but could not come close to keeping up
with demand. We didn't even have computers to tell customers the status of
their orders, and we were literally dead in the water!
We finally got the computer system (over 500 computers company-wide) back
up, fixed most of the system's speed issues and resumed shipping in late
January. At that time there were over 30,000 orders that had been taken by
hand that had to be keyed-in and shipped. As of today, all of those orders
have been entered, and 99% of them have been shipped. If the merchandise for
your order is available, it shipped. If any products you ordered are not
available, they will be automatically shipped as soon as they become
available. As I write, all orders are shipping on schedule. In January we
shipped nearly as many packages as we have ever shipped in any January. So
far in February we have shipped over 50,000 packages, making this our
busiest February ever to date. So while we have been fighting the terrific
systems problems, we are also experiencing our busiest time ever for so
early in the year.
I hope everyone understands how much we regret and are distressed by these
problems. It has been a nightmare for us. And please understand that we are
working feverishly and have the worst behind us. Our 20 person technology
staff is working 15-18 hour days, 7 days a week.
At Golfsmith, we pride ourselves on being a "customer service" company,
and this situation has been agonizing, to say the least. Our company
philosophy has always been that the world really doesn't need another golf
supplier, and that the only reason to be in business is to be the very best
in terms of customer service. Then something like this happens and we're all
crushed.
We understand that you are our customers, and that you often have
customers of your own. I cannot apologize enough. We are doing everything
possible to work our way through these problems. Again, I want to reiterate
that the worst is behind us. In the meantime, we hope you will continue to
work with us through this difficult period.
Carl F. Paul
President
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