I want someone who can be a partner in this venture-who will take the strategy and run with it. It's made me think about issues involving my organization more broadly than I have recently. But it's easy to just consolidate. We've got to come through with a better understanding of the process itself and streamline the process. AS400 is very proprietary software.
Open systems seems to be the direction of the future.
The role of the traditional programmer is going to change, and we understand that change is our future. Streamlining his department to compete against private enterprises, such as FedEx, and new communications technologies that offer alternatives to traditional mail delivery. We're like a big ship at sea that can't turn around on a dime. Once we identify what to improve, it takes up to a year to get it through the bureaucracy. Plus, there's no guarantee that by the time we're ready there will still be funding available.