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Technology Stocks : TAVA Technologies (TAVA-NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JDN who wrote (27444)	2/4/1999 10:50:00 PM
From: Karl Drobnic	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 31646

Exploiting the database: I can't say what new uses TAVA is finding for it, but JJ said they are emerging. He also said they are finding the internet an emerging tool. I'd say the internet and the database go together. So that's a clue. What else do we know? Firstly, these are the people who were smart enough to look in the TAVA attic and say, "Hey, we can use these old records to make a database and address the Y2K chip problem." So they've already exploited the database bigtime once. That's a confidence builder. How are databases exploited? One way is for TAVA to keep it private and develop proprietary applications that feed off the database. In that case, we'll probably only have vague and fuzzy hints about its exploitation. The other way to exploit a database is to package and sell the information. For example, Chilton's exploited its massive database of car parts information by packaging it into repair manuals. MaxServ turned its database of old appliance parts into a call center. Everytime you call Sears to order a part for an appliance or to get some troubleshooting advice, the call is routed to the MaxServ database call center (Sears bought MaxServ a couple years ago at a hefty premium). Pharmaceutical Marketing (it was also bought out) used its database of drug and prescription information to help giant pharmaceutical companies construct marketing plans. In general, a database can be used to make a business more efficient, to make it more productive, or to help it sell its product or service. Software that helps sell product or service is in a very big growth phase. Keeping in mind that TAVA's database includes over 75,000 chips that aren't date sensitive, there's a market. As TAVA progresses with connecting the factory floor into "real time" information flow, it might discover that a certain class of embedded chip that is in widespread use (and remember, only TAVA knows how widespread its use is) doesn't respond fast enough to real time demands. Sort of like having a 56k modem when your ISP is still using 28.8 modems. Were I a chipmaker, I'd pay for that knowledge because it would put me in position to have the right product at the right time. Another possibility would be to adapt Rogue Wave's "HotData" software to the TAVA database. Engineers planning installations would use the HotData button to connect directly into the TAVA database to retrieve specific information about this chip, that chip, the next chip, each click of the mouse being a charge to the credit card. But they'd use it because "HotData/TAVA" would be so seamless it would enhance productivity. It's just not very difficult to brainstorm up uses for the database. If you add to that brainstorming people who are experts - say a statistician, a software expert, a couple engineers, and a plant manager, I suspect there would be 50 ideas in an afternoon of brainstorming. But if forced to predict, I'd predict that the uses of the database will develop in response to problems that involve production and efficiency, the factory floor, and the flow of information. That's how the Y2K use developed. Let the next tier of problem develop, and TAVA will a dominating resource, the database, with which to solve the problem - plus the experience of turning a solution into an international opportunity to do business.

To: JDN who wrote (27444)	2/5/1999 12:15:00 PM
From: Mr Logic	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 31646

JDN, OK I am with you there where remediation means replacement or upgrading of plant floor stuff - that's in line with the plant floor implementation & integration work that the company has experience in. In other words they don't fix the problems but can help implement the manufacturer's fix. Still good business I imagine. Regarding changing the company to an integrator and implementor of ERP systems - that will take some doing and it will be very impressive if they can do it. The slump in the ERP market - in part caused by the y2k event - means that trained consultants are starting to slip back onto the market. They could use these guys to 'seed' the others. ERP & middleware is a very tough marketplace right now! Most of the popular ERP systems together with i2 or Manugistics already provide integrated supply chain right back to the plant floor, so TAVA will need to be very clear what their message/market is. The database... maybe we just wait and see. If you think what's in the database: Product Name Product Type Product Description Vendor's Name Vendor report release revision, date and filename Vendor's statement of extent of Year 2000 problems Vendor's statement reference Plant Y2kOne interpretation of vendor's statements Compliance classification as compliant, non-compliant, or suspect and needing further testing Failure horizon - date and time component will fail Expected compliant release date Known date problems - how the failure will affect a plant's operations Correction options Component tests to confirm compliance Change considerations - consequences to be expected from implementing correction options, such as hardware upgrades required by new versions of software Procedures for correction ... then it is all y2k stuff, not that useful after the event. You could make 'useful' queries on this - e.g. "what manufacturers were most compliant" or "what supplier statements were least accurate" - but nothing jumps out as moneymaking. Time will tell how they get on...