Beware ”Scope Creep” on ERP Projects

If you’re installing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, beware of “scope creep.” That’s the advice Philip E. Theiss, vice president of finance for Natural Organics, a privately held company based in Melville, N.Y., has gleaned from his company’s recent “technology lobotomy” — the trans...

By David Katz • March 27, 2001

Of Men and Mice: An ERP Case Study

For Lee C. Wilbur, there was the matter of the mice. To be sure, like other senior financial executives at outfits installing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, Wilbur, CFO of The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, has found that people problems can cause as many mishaps as flawed ...

By David Katz • March 21, 2001

Explore the Trendline➔

The CFO Strategy for Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence’s impact on the office of the CFO continues to evolve, and finance chiefs must be aware of the opportunities it will create for growth. 

By CFO.com staff

Bill-Paying Services Follow the Money

For years, commercial banks have hawked electronic bill payment as a magic elixir for relieving the everyday hassle of running a small business, but they had few takers. Now that’s beginning to change: A trio of service companies are convincing single-proprietor firms and other small businesses t...

By John Xenakis • March 21, 2001

Intel and IBM Pair up for Wireless Market

Intel Corp. announced Tuesday morning that it will use IBM’s WebSphere Everyplace middleware as the embedded software for its Personal Internet Client Architecture (Intel PCA) for wireless devices and Internet appliances. Intel said the two companies will jointly develop hardware and software for...

By CFO Editorial Staff • March 20, 2001

CFO Gears His Start-Up for Microsoft .NET

Richard Mahoney wasn’t exactly looking to leave the hotel business, but after 20 years, he wasn’t opposed to a change of pace, either. So early last year, when an executive recruiter called the former CFO for Wyndham Hotels, he was more than willing to go on the interview. After meeting with Mitc...

By Joseph Radigan • March 20, 2001

The B2B Exchange Myth

When the dot com bubble burst, and business-to-consumer companies lay vanquished in their own blood, optimists claimed that the big winner would be the business-to-business sector. The Internet might have failed as a means of selling goods and services to consumers, they reasoned, but it could st...

By Jennifer Caplan • March 20, 2001

3Com Unveils a Wireless LAN for Small Business

Tuesday morning, 3Com Corp. unveiled a wireless network for small business networks of 100 users. The network runs at a speed of 11 Mbps and uses the Wi-Fi standard for transmitting data. The printed-circuit board that adapts individual PCs and notebooks for the network costs $219.3Com says it is...

By CFO Editorial Staff • March 20, 2001

Intel Unveils 1 Gigahertz Chip for Notebook PCs

Dow Jones CustomClips Copyright 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel Corp. introduced a new microprocessor chip for laptop computers, its first mobile processor to operate at a speed of 1 gigahertz.Monday’s announcement ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • March 19, 2001

Compaq Gets Fourth CFO in Two Years

Late last week, Compaq Computer announced it was promoting Jeff Clarke to senior vice president and CFO, replacing Jesse Greene, who was named senior vice president for strategic planning. Clarke had been vice president of finance and strategy for Compaq Sales and Services. In a prepared statemen...

By Joseph Radigan • March 19, 2001

Ten Steps to Outsourcing

Outsourcing of information technology never went out of fashion, but lately, it’s become more popular as the economy weakens and companies look to slash their IT spending. Those CFOs who are looking to outsource may want to review a few helpful pointers from Frank J. Casale, chairman and CEO of T...

By Michelle Gabrielle • March 12, 2001

Web Video Provider Upgrades to Oracle

It didn’t take long for Vingage Corp., a two-year-old Reston, Va.-based company that makes products for delivering video over the Internet, to reach a turning point. When the firm was founded in 1999 with 12 employees, it was able to get by with a PC-based Peachtree Accounting system for small bu...

By Jennifer Caplan • March 7, 2001

Can PeopleSoft Handle the Software Slump?

Until recently, precious few technology companies had it as good as PeopleSoft Inc. CFO Kevin Parker had the good fortune to tout his company’s strong results from 2000 and an optimistic outlook for 2001. That made the company a rare outpost of financial stability. Unfortunately, some of the opti...

By Craig Schneider • March 6, 2001

How Not to Spend $400 Million

You could be next. At least that’s what some experts say about the potential for more companies to meet the same fate as athletic footwear maker Nike, which last week said the problems it had implementing i2 Technologies’ supply chain management software would cause it to miss third-quarter forec...

By Craig Schneider • March 5, 2001

Oracle Stumbles in the Application Race

Oracle Corp.’s management blamed the weakening U.S. economy and clients’ reluctance to commit to new technology purchases for its bombshell announcement that its fiscal third quarter sales fell would fall short of forecasts when they are reported later this month. The problems stalled new orders ...

By Joseph Radigan • March 2, 2001

E&Y Distributes Web Access Program

Ernst & Young has agreed to distribute CrossLogix Inc.’s software for managing corporate Internet access to its business clients.Great Plains unveiled FRx Financial Reporting Version 6.0 for its Solomon IV customers. The upgrade allows users of Great Plains software to consolidate data from m...

By CFO Editorial Staff • March 2, 2001

Accounting Software: Microsoft Moves In

The announcement may be four months old, but the industry is still buzzing about Microsoft’s acquisition of Great Plains Software. While only time will tell what effect the deal will have on midrange accounting software, companies that suddenly find themselves competing with the world’s largest s...

By Theresa W. Carey • March 1, 2001

Which Way to Turn?

WHICH WAY TO TURN?As the economy sputters, most companies seem ready to spend less on technology, but some may crank it up.By Scott LeibsSigns of an economic slowdown are prompting many companies to reevaluate IT budgets, but analysts caution that knee-jerk cost-cutting may be unwise. A December ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • March 1, 2001

Baan Americas Gets a New President

New Boss for BaanBaan promoted Susan Heystee to president of its Herndon, Va.-based Baan Americas operation. Heystee had been the firm’s vice president of field operations. After joining Baan in 1997 as vice president and director of consulting for the firm’s Canadian subsidiary, Heystee was late...

By CFO Editorial Staff • March 1, 2001

Tech Standard Addresses Web Privacy

Consumer Privacy and CRMMarket research firm Meridien Research says a new technology standard, the Customer Profile Exchange Specification, CPEX Version 1.0, may be the key to both protecting customer privacy on Web sites and ensuring efficient sharing of data across companies and among business ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Feb. 28, 2001

Boeing Automates its Payables and Payroll

Boeing’s Bottom LineThe Boeing Co.’s Aerospace Operations subsidiary licensed Bottomline’s PayBase Universal Payments Engine to automate its accounts payable and payroll operations. Boeing will use the system with its existing back- office systems, including PeopleSoft’s human resources applicati...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Feb. 27, 2001

Doomsday for B2B?

Information Week says the technology shake-out is leading some well known firms, including high-tech companies like Dell Computer, to question their investments in business-to-business E-marketplaces. The greater efficiency that is typically assumed to be the major selling point for using E-marke...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Feb. 26, 2001

IBM Signs Marketing Pacts with Baan and Lawson

IBM Ramps up its ERP StrategyIBM has been busily shoring up its dealings with publishers of enterprise resource planning systems. First, the company announced an agreement to market Baan’s iBaan Internet-enabled system. It also struck a deal with Lawson Software to sell E-commerce systems to heal...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Feb. 26, 2001

Is Wireless Broadband Ready for Prime Time?

This week’s InfoWorld weighs the pros and cons of fixed-broadband wireless networks, a technology that makes use of the wireless spectrum for sending and receiving data. Signals are transmitted between telecom carrier base stations and customer sites within a 35-mile radius. Regulatory hurdles an...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Feb. 26, 2001

Geac Gets Some Breathing Room

Geac Pays Back Some of its Debt Troubled Geac Computer received an extra month to work its way out of its financial problems. The company said on Thursday that its bank lenders are willing to continue renegotiating the terms of the unpaid balance on its line of credit until March 16. Geac’s plead...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Feb. 23, 2001

Baan’s E-commerce Push Gathers Steam

Baan Gets BusyBaan sold a license for its iBaan E-commerce system to Komatsu Mining Systems of Vernon Hills, Ill. Komatsu has integrated iBaan with its existing enterprise resource planning system to support B2B E-commerce activity with more than 200 customers and suppliers. The company plans to ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Feb. 22, 2001