Dell's ERP systems fail; costing customers and revDell Canada experienced a major service interruption in mid-May due to a failure with their ERP systems (the centralized systems they use to create, process, manufacture, and ship orders to customers). The system was down completely for over a week in Canada, and Dell was unable to process orders and they had no issues/crisis management plan or communication plan to deal with the problem. Even after they restored their systems, they continued (and still continue) to experience technical difficulties with their own systems.
Dell has managed to thicken their bureaucracy to try and keep this problem contained from reaching the media/public. I was one of Dell's customers who was a victim of the service outage, and I subsequently cancelled my order today (after waiting for over a month to receive an order that was yet to be manufactured), and I am sure many others cancelled their orders as well. There is no doubt in my mind that their will be a reduction in consolidated sales figures for the quarter. What I'm not certain of is whether this was strictly an issue with Dell's Canadian operations, or if this was an international problem with their ERP systems. Either way, it will result in lower sales, or permanently fractured customer relationships (in my case, I had recommended and purchased Dell products for over 15 years...never again).
Anyway, as an investor, I felt this was important for people to know, especially since Dell has come off their best year-end ever!