The best and the worst

Computerworld - Top 10 Corporate IT Failures In the 1990s

1. Project: The "Confirm" reservation system for hotel and rental car bookings
   Companies: AMR Corp., Budget Rent A Car Corp., Hilton Hotels Corp., Marriott International Inc.
   What happened? After four years and $125 million spent on development, the project crumbled in 1992 when it became clear that Confirm would miss its deadline by as much as two years.


2. Project: Conversion to a new order entry system from The Baan Co.
   Company: Snap-on Inc.
   What happened? Despite three years of design and implementation, a new order entry system installed in December 1997 cost the tools company $50 million in lost sales for the first half of 1998.


3. Project: SAP ERP system
   Company: FoxMeyer Corp.
   What happened? Drug distributor FoxMeyer has claimed that a bungled enterprise resource planning (ERP) installation in 1996 helped drive it into bankruptcy. The case is still unresolved.


4. Project: SAP ERP system
   Company: W.W. Grainger Inc.
   WHAT HAPPENED? Grainger spent at least $9 million on SAP software and services in 1998 and 1999. During the worst six months, Grainger lost $19 million in sales and $23 million in profits.
   
5. Project: Trips, a reservation and bus-dispatch system
   Company: Greyhound Lines Inc.
   What happened? Greyhound spent at least $6 million in the early 1990s building Trips. The debacle spurred a $61.4 million loss for the first half of 1994.


6. Project: IBM-led installation and integration of SAP, Manugistics Group Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc. software
   Company: Hershey Foods Corp.
   What happened? To meet 1999's Halloween and Christmas candy rush, Hershey compressed the rollout of a new $112 million ERP system by several months. Sales fell 12% in the quarter after the system went live.


7. Project: Systems integration with merger target Consolidated Rail Corp.
   Company: Norfolk Southern Corp.
   What happened? Norfolk Southern lost more than $113 million in business during its 1998-1999 railroad merger with Conrail.


8. Project: New billing and claims processing system based on Unix International and Oracle Corp. databases
   Company: Oxford Health Plans Inc.
   What happened? A 1996 migration to a new set of applications for health maintenance organization operations resulted in hordes of doctors and patients who were angry about payment delays. All told, Oxford overestimated revenue by $173.5 million in 1997 and $218.2 million in 1998.


9. Project: Oracle ERP and application integration
   Company: Tri Valley Growers
   What happened? A giant agricultural co-operative, Tri Valley bought at least $6 million worth of ERP software and services from Oracle in 1996. Tri Valley eventually stopped using the Oracle software and stopped paying the vendor. Oracle denied all claims. The case was settled in January 2002.


10. Project: Software for estimating project costs and figuring engineering specifications, to be built and installed by Andersen Consulting
    Company: Universal Oil Products LLC
    What happened? After a 1991 ERP deal with Andersen resulted in unusable systems for Universal Oil, the industrial engineering firm cried fraud, negligence and neglect in a $100 million lawsuit in 1995.

SOURCE: Computerworld, November 2000

Most Costly Computer Viruses
Based on worldwide economic impact:

1. 1. Love Bug (2000) $8.75B


2. Code Red (2001) $2.62B


3. SirCam (2001) $1.15B


4. Melissa (1999) $1.1B


5. Explorer (1999) $1.02B


6. Nimda (2001) $635M

SOURCE: Computer Economics, Carlsbad, Calif., 2002

U.S. Companies with Most U.S. Patents in 2001

1. IBM 3,453


2. Micron Technology Inc. 1,643


3. Lucent Technologies Inc. 1,119


4. General Electric Co. 1,112


5. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. 1,090


6. Hewlett-Packard Co. 982


7. Philips Electronics 882North America Corp.


8. Intel Corp. 811


9. Texas Instruments Inc. 806


10. Motorola Inc. 785

SOURCE: IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, Wilmington, Del., January 2002

Top 10 Best Places to Work in IT

1. The Home Depot Inc.


2. PricewaterhouseCoopers


3. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.


4. Sears, Roebuck and Co.


5. UnitedHealth Group Inc.


6. Comerica Inc.


7. FedEx Services


8. J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.


9. Minnesota Life Insurance Co.


10. FleetBoston Financial Corp.

SOURCE: Computerworld's annual Best Places to Work in IT survey, 1994-2002

This Date in History: September 30
On this day in 1980, Xerox, working with Intel and Digital Equipment, published the specifications for Ethernet. Using Ethernet, the time to send a page from computer to printer could be reduced from 15 minutes to 12 seconds.

On this day in 1985, Microsoft released Excel, which it claimed was the fastest spreadsheet available for the IBM PC. Microsoft had announced the product in May and said it would be delivered in September. With the software's Sept. 30 arrival, the company kept its promise.

On this day in 1996, AOL sponsored the Monday Night Football game in Philadelphia to announce the latest version of its online service. The company invited analysts and reporters to the event and handed out free software in the parking lot. SOURCE: HistoryChannel.com, 2002