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Technology Stocks : VIAS VIASOFT & THE Y2K PROBLEM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 246810 who wrote (1869)	11/21/1998 8:53:00 AM
From: TEDennis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2067

246810: Re: "Now that Steve has his hand back on the throttle, won't the company tone become more entrepreneurial, as hoped?" Steve had his hand on the throttle as this company transitioned from an entrepreneurial gangbuster to whatever it is today. It took a few years for it to slow down, and that was with several of the entrepreneurial spirits still there making things happen behind the scenes. Now that the go-getters are all gone, and the "safe haven" crew is at 2nd-level and mid-level management positions, it will be extremely difficult to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The inertia is too great. There's a quicker way. I vote for letting somebody acquire them. Clean house. The sad news with that is that the management group who let this happen will be rewarded the most, because they'll get huge severance packages. But, nobody said life was fair. TED

To: 246810 who wrote (1869)	11/21/1998 11:41:00 AM
From: JDRogers	Respond to of 2067

246810 Re: So, I am a little confused by "strategic." I also believe that the Euro Conversion will be a very big source of revenue. But it will not be a long term revenue source because it is not in the path that the company is trying to go... I think I quoted the question and answer fairly accurately. Steve's message was they were working on getting the company back on the track of mainframe application knowledge, modernization, redevelopment, etc. and that the Y2k and Euro conversions were just that, "conversions" which, once they are done, they are over. Viasoft's future is in the redevelopment, re-hosting, redeployment of the large (huge) mission critical mainframe applications which companies cannot function without. Their business edge is that they have a tool set and body of knowledge which understands how to gather and understand the structure and relationships of these systems. Toolsets which can provide this information to the customer can bring in six figures per sale with a steady stream of maintenance and upgrade revenue. I believe this is what Steve was trying to explain at the shareholders meeting. However, as TED pointed out is his message, Viasoft's management needs to get their act together and retain the few "go getters" that are left which still posses this critical "body of knowledge". JDR