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SAP is a firm that sells mainframe software. This software is 2000-compliant. It is also very expensive. It takes anywhere from 18 months to 24 months to install. Then the original data must be reformatted. To make the switch is not easy. At this late date, it is close to impossible, which is why few large organizations have bought the product to make the switch from legacy systems
In an article about a shake-up in the organization's senior management, the reporter quoted the total revenues of the firm: under $3.5 billion, not all of which is y2k-related. The standard estimates of $600 billion to $2 trillion to make the needed y2k repairs dwarfs SAP's revenues. Yet it is among the largest software firms, especially in the market for 2000-compliant mainframe software. SAP is no silver bullet.
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In 1997, SAP, a maker of enterprise management software, reported that its sales rose 62 percent, to $3.4 billion, while net profit climbed 63 percent, to $516 million. For 1998, it forecast a 30 percent to 35 percent sales increase. . . .
On the strength of its popular R/3 program, SAP has captured about 33 percent of its market and has become the world's fourth largest software developer.
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