PSFT is EURO ready - from Thursday WSJ.
U.S. MULTINATIONALS barely begin to prepare for the
dawning of the euro.
Even though Europe is set to unite under a single currency
next January, many U.S. companies still aren't dealing with
conversion needs, says Michael Fenollosa, an economist at John
Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Boston. "They may be
underestimating the euro," he adds. Even McDonald's Corp.,
which is preparing for the need to reprice menus and refit
cash registers in Europe, says "there are many unknowns."
The bookkeeping, payroll, database and computer-system
changes that will be needed to do business in Europe may
signal a boon for software firms. Mark Nittler, an executive
at PeopleSoft Inc., a softwaremaker in Pleasanton, Calif.,
expects the euro to spur software-system sales much as has
the year-2000 problem. International Business Machines
Corp., one of the first to prepare, says many of its products
are now "euro-ready," and plans call for the rest to be ready
by year end.
U.S. technology firms hope to profit on sales and consulting
here and abroad. |
