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Technology Stocks : Information Architects (IARC): E-Commerce & EIP -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Runner who wrote (4607)	2/25/1998 1:23:00 AM
From: Bert Zed	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10786

It is pretty early over here and I can't sleep so I am off to do a quick 50/60 miles on the bike. A couple of thoughts have occurred to me which is always dangerous ! There is more and more of a concensous on this side of the pond that the Euro programming work is going to be almost as large a problem as Y2K. But I suspect that it is not going to be so much of an automated tool bias, more of a body shop approach. Second point and intrinsically linked to the above in the medium to long term is the point raised by tech a while back with regard to shortage of skilled manpower. Companies are getting absolutely desperate to recruit. For some companies it is so bad that they have upped salaries/packages by at least 100% in the past two years. This also has a knock on effect within the companies non fee earning salary structure. For instance if I used to earn say $50k pa as a junior in house systems support techie, I am not going to be happy if peers who joined the company with me 2 years ago are suddenly on a very enhanced package including better car, (vital to retaining staff in the U.K.), bonus if they are still employed in say three years time, evergreening share options, etc, etc. This problem will also effect Admin/Marketing staff. The Financial Controller isn't going to be happy if senior project managers are now on a bigger wack than they are are. The underlying point to this is that recruiting is becoming more and more expensive. Present staff are being offered recruiting bounties for successful introductions, packages are being enhanced continuously with golden hellos becoming prevalent, special advertising campaigns are becoming commonplace instead of just relying on a steady dribble of CVs across the HR departments desks. The result is that companies with a business model which consists of say three revenue streams, say 40% software license fee, 40% services to implement that application and 20% ongoing maintenance fee are running into a major problem. That 40% license fee is almost pure profit if they own the IPR. Sure they make a decent profit on the services but it may be only 20%-40% contribution, no where near the 75%-95% they make on the license. Because they are struggling so badly with finding the staff to implement each new license they are going to run out of the ability to sell the licenses quickly enough. In desperation, they will have to look beyond upping the recruiting effort. They will have to start to buy competitors, buy companies whose staff have the skill sets they are desperate for or even buy contracting firms to get hold of the manpower. I can see companies like Alydaar who have assembled skilled work forces increasingly coming into play as acquisition targets, not just for their inherent profitability but for their second most valuable resource after their software license stream. Any thoughts guys?

To: Runner who wrote (4607)	2/25/1998 9:18:00 AM
From: Tech Master	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10786

Runner- I hate when this happens.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wednesday February 25, 8:10 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Compuware Corporation Strong Demand for Year 2000 Compliance Services Prompts Compuware To Open New Professional Services Offices Compuware to Aid Businesses in Atlanta and Indianapolis with Year 2000 Readiness FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Compuware Corporation (Nasdaq: CPWR - news) today announced it would offer Year 2000 compliance services including product management, automated code conversion and application testing, through two new professional services offices it has opened in Atlanta and Indianapolis. Strong demand from businesses seeking such services prompted the action. ''Automated code conversion and efficient testing processes are the keys to success in Year 2000 compliance. The problem for most IT shops is that they do not have enough reliable resources in this area,'' said Steve Fagan, Senior Vice President of Professional Services. ''Compuware's combination of highly skilled technicians and wide range of proven testing products and services offer the solution that companies are searching for to meet the Year 2000 challenge.'' Compuware leads the industry in offering a comprehensive solution to automate and speed Year 2000 compliance efforts. PRODUCTION 2000, Compuware's beginning-to-end Year 2000 offering, combines the people, products and practices necessary to accomplish the conversion with one dependable supplier. Many Compuware clients are currently using the speed and accuracy of the PRODUCTION 2000 conversion factories for automated code remediation. For those customers already focused on testing, QASolutions, an innovative packaged service for building a reliable and repeatable testing process, is also available as part of PRODUCTION 2000. QASolutions leverages the strength of Compuware's QACenter suite of mainframe, client/server and Internet products to develop a long term process for existing applications and new application development. Compuware Corporation Compuware's Professional Services Division provides comprehensive solutions for complex technology initiatives. Consultants with a broad range of knowledge and expertise assist with strategy and design, development and testing, application deployment and production management -- which help turn business applications into corporate technology assets. The Division's professionals perform expert services to leverage the power of Compuware's products, as well provide platform-independent consulting and implementation services. Professional Services also offers clients superior project management capabilities, skilled resources to bridge technology gaps and outstanding technical training. Compuware Corporation is a leading worldwide provider of software products and professional services that help information technology professionals efficiently develop, implement and support the applications that run their businesses. Founded in 1973, Compuware today ranks as one of the largest independent software vendors in the world. The Company's products have been licensed by nearly 11,000 organizations worldwide. The Company's professional services organization has a staff approaching 5,000 people. Compuware, with calendar 1997 revenues in excess of $1 billion, is a world leader in client/server development technology. For more information on Compuware, please contact the corporate offices at 800-521-9353. Compuware also can be found on the World Wide Web at compuware.com. SOURCE: Compuware Corporation