Whats the latest ?

abennett · #1 22nd November 2001, 13:59

Has any new deals been signed in the last 6 months ?

Everybody I speak to here in the UK is either currently not working or will be out of work shortly.

I know we have gone through quiet spells in the past, but this ones seems to have crept up on us quietly over the past 6 months (not just because of Sept 11) and it appears to have no end in sight - or do you know different, are there some big deals around the corner.

Are some countries doing well, or is everyone in the same boat ? - Is it time to jump ship and if it is, then to what ?

patvdv · #2 22nd November 2001, 14:07

I thought the UK was doing quite well. It's quiet in Belgium though there are still Baan jobs out there. I hear there's quite some demand for Baan people in France. I think patience is the virtue here although you do have to pay your bills. Personally I am not jumping to any other ship, rather I think you should try to diversify your skillset regardless what the economic situation or job market is like. In that regards, as a technical consultant I have the advantage that I can manage the application also from the underlying layers: OS & DB.

victor_cleto · #3 22nd November 2001, 14:45

www.baan.com shows that Baan is not stopped, but I see more and more of stuff going on related to iBaan, eg.:

KPN Business Unit Broadband Networks Implements iBaan to Deploy Single, Fully-Automated Order Process System
November 20, 2001

[...]

If we have to diversificate, I think we should start looking at how this iBaan works and it is implemented or, like Patrick mentioned, look also at OS + DB (that I also do

)

JamesV · #4 22nd November 2001, 15:55

My company (Open Systems Technologies -- OST) provides hardware, database, platform and infrastructure sales/support for Baan customers. We work with Baan resellers and implementers that do not want to get involved with the technology stack directly.

We have recently seen two new Baan sites installed (first two in over a year), and we have 10+ in our pipeline. Most are small (<75 users) but several are 100-250 users.

As customers become more sophisticated and capable of managing their own systems, Baan admin work has decreased, but I am still seeing plenty of work out there.

-- Jim

James · #5 23rd November 2001, 02:59

Yep - there is plenty of work out there.

UK is indeed quiet at the moment, and has been for the past 6 months. Other European countries, namely Sweden, Holland, Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, have lots more opportunities. Though indeed the job market in Europe is also going through a down phase.

As for admin jobs, work will always be around - so no need to jump ship on that one.

As for projects: corporate spending is on hold in a lot of companies, but "on hold" are the important words. Projects cannot be held forever, especially when IT is more important than ever and IT budgets are ever increasing. This goes for Baan as well as any other companies. Companies are just seeing out this economic downturn before they begin spending again.

Indications show that this economic downturn will not last for long - consequently the job market will soon pick up. All the leading European fund managers and economic analysts state that the underlaying factors and conditions are all in place for the European economy to really take off. The USA is a different picture - indications show that Europe's economy may outperform the US in the next couple of years, especially now that the Eastern European markets are really taking off.

The world is changing - you just have to be able to read and understand whats happening, and then take advantage of it

victor_cleto · #6 23rd November 2001, 13:24

The weekly CNN Europe business europe had one European analyst mentioning that recession was hitting Europe as well, and that Europe was looking at the USA to pick up again... so, we have a contradiction somewhere...
But if this thread starts to take on this way, we will get lost of context

Commandeur · #7 24th November 2001, 01:57

I confirm that in France, there is some project that will start just after euro migration.

A big project will be the french post office ("la poste") that will take baan for all departments (thay have now baan for purchasing departemnt) : thousands of users!

SNECMA that is the biggest customer in france will start new parts of project.

And some current Baan IV customers will migrate to Baan ERP. And all here know that it is not really a migration, products are too differents it's more a new project.