Stories about: Vertex

Consumers who buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon Wireless without a contract will pay less than European consumers for the device, but they will pay more for accessing the Internet.

Many CIOs aim to become more strategic IT leaders. But it isn't easy.

The U.S. General Services Administration has awarded IBM a contract of up to US$74.4 million over eight years to consolidate nine databases that track government contract data across all U.S. civilian agencies and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Kennametal, a $2 billion maker of construction tools, has spent $10 million on ERP maintenance contracts during the past 13 years and not once could the company take advantage of upgrades, says CIO Steve Hanna. The company's implementation was too customized: The time and effort needed to tweak and test the upgrade outweighed any benefits, he says. But Hanna kept trying. Late last year, he priced the cost of consultants to help with an ERP re-implementation and was shocked by estimates ranging from $15 million up to $54 million.

When Mark Alperin went looking to replace his aging ERP system in 2006, he found himself in the same place as many CIOs of midsize companies - not feeling terribly sought after by software vendors who prioritize large enterprise accounts, and facing few choices. Alperin serves as COO with CIO responsibilities for Vertex Distribution, a manufacturer and distributor of rivets, screws and other fasteners. He wasn't happy with the two main packages for his industry, from Activant Solutions and Microsoft (neither of which he was using, nor did he want to use).

Getting different vendors to truly integrate complex software is impossible. But that doesn't mean a more limited form of interfacing can't be achieved.