The Next Thousand Days

Waters may have managed the Micromass conversion within its tight time frame. But that does not guarantee that it can repeat the process effectively as it grows.

Giga analyst Byron Miller notes that he has yet to meet a company much larger than Waters that is capable of supporting a single global instance of ERP software, as Waters is trying to do. The complexity of defining the business processes required to handle different customers and product lines becomes overwhelming.

And the Micromass integration isn't over. To convert its manufacturing operations, Waters is putting employees from Micromass' Manchester headquarters in leadership positions, something that did not happen in the first 99 days. "The idea is that we don't come to the table saying our idea is the right way, the best way, the only way," Talon says.

Newton, meanwhile, keeps a bottle of champagne in his office for the day when Waters is finally done with integration projects. How long before he opens it? "Years and years," he says, smiling. "We're really never done."