In the beginning were applications. Then these applications were maintained. Andthe maintained applications were merged with another company and had to interfacewith their maintained applications that were never before imagined or designed forworking with other applications. And these applications aged and were maintainedsome more. Then application packages appeared and were added to the collectionof applications. Soon there was a complex mess of epic proportions. More maintenance, more requirements, more time passing, more mergers, moresmall applications and trying to get information out of the stockpile of applicationswas an impossibility. Into this arena came ERP applications such as SAP, BAAN, J D Edwards, and ahost of other players. The ERP applications offered to take the Gordian approachand smite the applications stockpile a mighty blow by creating new applicationssensitive to current requirements which were also integrated. The appeal to thebusiness person was enormous and soon ERP applications were everywhere. Indeed,as time passed, ERP applications began to make a dent in the older applicationsstockpile.