Nexgen Provides Alternative to Vendor Help Desk

Nexgen complements its BPCS® Year 2000 solution with customized service

Naperville, IL — April 17, 1998 — Nexgen today announced that it is offering help desk and software error correction services to companies using the BPCS® manufacturing software package from System Software Associates, Inc. These services provide an alternative support option for users at the 8,000 locations worldwide using BPCS® . This option will be especially attractive to companies that choose to century-enable their BPCS® software using Nexgen's Y2K conversion tool, Focus/2000. Unlike the vendor's helpline service, Nexgen's BPCS® Help Desk provides support for customers' specific BPCS® environments, including their unique modifications and custom programs.

Nexgen started providing BPCS® help desk services to a specific major customer in 1994. Nexgen has all of the required infrastructure, plus the experienced BPCS® application and technical consultants needed to support a large-scale help desk.

Why are companies seeking alternative BPCS® support options?

Many companies have refused to upgrade to SSA's century-enabled client/server version of the BPCS® software, Version 6.0, because of the high cost, time, and frustration involved. Another SSA option, upgrading to a Y2K-ready copy of an older version, V4.05, will also require significant investments of time and money to perform the upgrade and to century-enable all custom programs and modifications. In spite of these hurdles, many customers have been hesitant to use a non-SSA solution for fear of losing their SSA Helpline support.

"SSA has provided only token help in the form of tools for converting customer modifications for V4.05CD," according to Rick Halsten, President and General Manager of Nexgen. "For a typical customer with extensive modifications, the time required to complete the conversion using SSA's tools would be measured in multiple man-years."

Halsten continues, "This late in the game, companies should be looking for multiple reference accounts successfully using V4.05CD. Nexgen has dozens of referenceable Focus/2000 sites that have gone live with their converted BPCS® software, plus we can now meet the maintenance and help desk needs of these customers."

Concludes Halsten, "Our new help desk service gives customers with older versions of BPCS® , including those outside the USA, the alternative they have been desperately seeking. We have leveraged our extensive BPCS® and help desk experience in order to provide a service which is offered nowhere else. Customers can sign up for just the amount of support they need through our tiered pricing approach."

Availability

This service is available now.

Pricing

Pricing options are flexible, based on the customer's anticipated call volume. Per-hour billing as well as call pack options are available.

About Nexgen

Nexgen Software Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb in the area's High Technology Corridor. Since 1990, Nexgen has focused on providing implementation and custom modification services to BPCS® users. Since 1997, Nexgen has marketed millennium solutions for the BPCS® marketplace through its affiliated companies Nexgen 2K, Inc., Nexgen Asia/Pacific, Inc., and Nexgen Europe, Inc. For more information, contact Focus/2000 Sales at +1 (630) 300-6000, via fax at +1 (630) 300-6122 or via email at info@nexgeninfo.com.

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Focus/2000 is a trademark of Nexgen Software Technologies, Inc.
BPCS® is a registered trademark of System Software Associates, Inc.