RE: BPCS 6.1mm performance and the AS/400

Dean, Rosalie, Chick

>It is my understanding that, in general, the new sizer is far more accurate
>than was the old one.  It is also my understanding that, in some cases, IBM
>and SSA definitions of some activity levels are not clearly defined enough
to
>achieve the desired result among typical customers -- thus making _my_ old
>rule of doubling the memory and increasing by a processor level over the
>indicated values still valid.

>FWIW, my current primary client ordered a "preconfigured" system from IBM
>that was supposedly "optimized" for BPCS.  Unfortunately, over half of the
>LPP's that they ordered weren't installed, the system was still running out
>of QBASE, and BPCS wasn't even on it.  I welcome the partnership between
IBM
>and SSA, but it still needs a little work...

As an IBM and SSA hardware partner I think there is a pretty good
partnership between IBM and SSA for sizing AS/400 systems using BPCS
Software.  I have been sizing and supporting AS/400 BPCS customers for about
5 years now, and with the new SSA/BPCS sizing document there has been many
satisfied customers.  IBM will even guarantee the performance of a new
AS/400 for BPCS if the customer follows the recommendations from the IBM/SSA
sizing center.  How many other hardware and software companies will step up
to that guarantee?

As an IBM and SSA hardware partner, some of our biggest challenges, is
getting the sizer questionnaire filled out accurately, we all know the
saying garbage in garbage out.  My assumption is that many IT Managers have
the same problem getting their end users to accurately estimate their
activity and growth. Sizing a system (for any application) is not an exact
science, it is still an educated guess.  How does the SSA/BPCS sizer know
the impact of another application running on the same system?  How does the
SSA/BPCS sizer know that the customer's use of their system is growing at
50%, even though the customer's business is only growing at 20%?  How does
the SSA/BPCS sizer know that the customer allows their end user to execute
batch jobs interactively (Not the method most customer use)?

Bottom line, the SSA/BPCS sizing questionnaire suggests a base line system
sizing and configuration.  This is a free service from IBM, SSA and their
hardware partners.  From this base line configuration, working with a
competent partner, a customized software and hardware system configuration
can be jointly developed.

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