We use MP2 and have no interest in upgrading to 7i. Datastream support for MP2 has been poor to mediocre for the 5 years we have used it, but we have gotten to the point where we can use it and are not interested in the costs / effort required to upgrade or switch.


Anyone have any idea what will become of MP2 after Datastream is aquired?

For those who want to know more about Datastream being aquired:

Datastream Signs Definitive Agreement to Be Acquired By Infor for $10.26 Per Share in Cash

Terry O

Maybe it is not the end of MP2, after all MP2 has been around for more then a decade.
If I am not wrong MP2 was build around a paradox database using the embedded PAL language from Borland. Something similar as Access with a VB coat on. Good for "small" companies.

MP5 on the other hand was build on the Client-Server architecture, which makes use of Database servers like Oracle and SQL-Server, which are nowadays found in Medium to Big companies.

Datastream aquired the CMMS Rapier somewhere in the late nineties, launched the windows version and called it MP5

Datastream 7i is the web-enabled version of MP5 and is for "big" players (lot of concurrent users etc..)

When MP5 was released Datastream was targeting another market segment that was domain of the Oracle Relational Database Systems.

With the merger I see Datastream competing with SAP.

MP2 was once their flagship for small bussiness, and the typical MP2 company wouldn't jump to SAP.

About the E-procurement I do not know, we don't use it, but one of the reasons for upgrading from MP5 to 7i is was the increasing number of users, and configuring all the individual computers. With the web-enabled version this support is easier (at least for the IT department).

But there are lot of "old" products that still work, and if it does the job, why upgrade?

Our company is looking at Datastream 7i. We were in a selection process for the last few months and have decided that 7i is what we want. Another organization in our community uses MP2 and indicated they have been pleased with it and recommended that whatever CMMS we decided to go with, to be sure we did the annual support because they always had and found it beneficial to do so. From that, it was my understanding that Datastream was still supporting MP2. From my past readings on this board, it appears that some users aren't getting that support. I asked Datastream about that issue as I am not interested in acquiring a CMMS that won't be supported in the future. From the web seminars that were listed on Datastreams site in the past, it is evident that they have wanted to move MP2 users over to 7i (one web seminar was about the top 10 reasons to switch to 7i). I believe they have officially said that they will support MP2 through 2008, but through more recent conversations, they are suggesting that this may be much longer. From what I have gathered, the acquisition by Infor will actually breath some new life into MP2 as there is a continued need for MP2 in smaller organizations.
Acquisitions do cause concern on the customers' part (as I must admit that I had), but from what third parties are saying, my concerns have been lessened considerably. It appears that it will be a good mix with little overlap in product from the two companies.

If there are any doubts at all about future support why use Datastream? There are many other excellent systems available at lower prices. My experience of both Datastream and MP2 was different for your partner company. I was tasked with implementing this in my company a number of years ago and I thought that it was a dog of a system. It was full of bugs and support here in the UK was terrible. I don't know what you pay for it now but its cost was horrendously high at that time. (I was forced to use it as a result of a corporate decision).

I believe that Datastream are (were) living in the past price wise. There are so many better systems now available at a fraction of their prices. If you don't need an expensive system don't buy one. I tend to preach the prudent approach to CMMS implementation.

[added: I should have perhaps have qualified this by sayng that Datastream are not the only "Tier 1" provider to be over charging. A few of the big name companies charge unreasonable amounts for what is essentially, only a database.]