Mass. In part, that's because the packaged suites already include some of the base functionality needed to support multicurrency transactions. All of the packaged application vendors, including J.D. Edwards, still have to upgrade their software to handle the euro's unique requirements, however. When the euro is introduced, for example, existing conversion rates will be replaced by a new euro-based conversion rate. Likewise, all packaged suites require a conversion tool to transform a system's financial data into euros. Oracle Corp. and Baan Co., meanwhile, are beginning to pick up steam on the issue, says Hurwitz's Greenbaum.
Companies dealing with legacy systems face a much more difficult task.
For them, meeting the euro requirements will entail nothing short of lots of custom coding. Generally speaking, it's not going to be easy. That means auditing not only financial systems, but order entry, fulfillment, warehouse management systems and even electronic commerce applications that link into back-end systems. CCD Online Systems, in Los Angeles, and Computer Horizons Corp., in Mountain Lakes, N.J., which both sell automated Y2K conversion tools, plan to offer similar products to help companies through their euro fixes. But Hurwitz and other experts recommend that companies facing the euro issue seriously consider moving to a packaged application rather than getting bogged down in costly, time-consuming legacy conversions.