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Technology Stocks : SAP A.G. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ibexx who wrote (2763)	11/8/1998 10:11:00 AM
From: Edwarda	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3424

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but has DJ Levy's post of Nov.6 slipped past most people? Also check out treetopflier's posts on the JDEC thread. To be really optimistic over the near term, you have to be arguing with the companies themselves. This is rarely a wise idea when they are issuing cautions. Even a gorilla such as SAP and even an adept and foreseeing company such as PSFT can get hurt if the market dries up for a while--and so can investors. One might be suspicious of Baan's management in light of all the other Byzantine issues, granted, but PeopleSoft's management is providing the selfsame information as SAP's. SAP's management said on the last earnings conference call that Y2K issues were causing shifts in the revenue stream. The early adopters and companies looking to sidestep Y2K have already shelled out the money and are in the implementation and testing process now. They are busy with what they already have and so are not eager to buy lots more software. Meanwhile, those that have not already made the commitment to ERP are chasing down their Y2K problems and diverting funds from other IT projects--such as ERP. SAP said during the conference call that they did not expect to see a pickup in demand until the middle of calendar 1999. Based on surveys, SoundView expects even the second half of 1999 to be slim pickings as companies focus on last-minute testing of their systems. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to conclude that, regardless of their individual merits, all of these companies' stocks are going to be difficult over the near term.