Re: IBM Spin Doctors on AS/400 Marketing

John
would  you  believe I  keyed in CL and came up  with  this article  Vs.
ZERO  for AS/400 or AS400 search.  Of all things  educational 

                           Goodbye Minis
                                 Alan Radding
                                  (05/16/94)

    Anyone pursuing a career

    in minicomputers should develop alternative skills. Although some
vendors still seem
    promising for the short term, the traditional minicomputer as we know
it represents a dead
    end.

    Traditional minis those large, proprietary systems ``are on their way
out. The time for
    denial is past,'' says Richard Buchanan, senior analyst of the
computing strategy service at
    Forrester Research, Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. Vendors themselves are
giving up on the
    minicomputer (see related story), but user companies have been slower
to jump ship
    because their systems still serve their business needs. 

    ``Sixty percent of the installed AS/400 base is sticking with it for
now,'' Buchanan
    concedes, but the future belongs to open client/server computing, not
proprietary
    host-based systems. In fact, IBM's latest announcements concerning
re-engineering the
    AS/400 focus squarely on advanced client/server computing and openness.

    In the short term, the AS/400 continues to thrive and, unlike other
minicomputers, has a
    strong demand for experienced people. ``All you see are ads for AS/400
programmers,''
    says Paul Dravillas, associate professor at Moraine Valley Community
College in Palos
    Hill, Ill. 

    In response to that demand, Dravillas helped organize and now teaches a
for-credit
    AS/400 certificate program that attracts several hundred students a
year. Eighty-five
    percent of its graduates get jobs working with the AS/400. 

    Bunker Hill Community College in Boston provides courses in AS/400
basics, RPG,
    advanced RPG and the AS/400 database. 

    ``There aren't enough programmers and programmer/analysts around for
the AS/400,''
    notes Dick Grenham, an AS/400 consultant and part-time instructor at
Bunker Hill. ``I
    know three or four companies that are looking for people right now.'' 

    An independent consultant in Framingham, Mass., Grenham, a former IBM
employee,
    says he's in high demand for his services, mainly coding and
performance-tuning the
    AS/400. In response to a new interest in AS/400 communications, he
organized Bunker
    Hill's seminar on TCP/IP for the AS/400.

    For people with basic computer skills, learning the AS/400 isn't
difficult. The machine
    supports RPG/400, Cobol and CL as its programming languages. RPG/400,
which is
    very similar to the RPG used on the System/38, is the primary
programming language.
    ``You don't have to be a rocket scientist to program an AS/400 using
RPG,'' Dravillas
    adds. 

    AS/400 programmers who want to enjoy a long and healthy career with the
platform and
    to be prepared for whatever comes afterward should enhance their basic
AS/400 RPG
    skills with SQL database experience, knowledge of fourth-generation
languages, TCP/IP
    communications and even object-oriented programming, Buchanan advises. 

    This same advice applies even more to other minicomputer professionals:
Acquire the
    open systems, client/server skill set as quickly as possible. 

    By itself, a traditional minicomputer career has no future. n 

    Going, going, gone

    Whether they admit it or not, the major minicomputer vendors have
abandoned their
    minicomputers or are in the process of doing so.

    DG made the commitment to Unix several years ago with its Aviion line,
which has
    enjoyed modest success. Its MV minicomputer lines make up 14% of its
revenue, down
    from 29% a year ago.

    Despite efforts to reposition the VAX/VMS line, Digital's future lies
with Alpha/Unix.
    VAX/VMS professionals would be wise to follow Digital's lead and add
Unix/ RISC,
    client/server computing to their skills.

    The company still markets its MPE-based minicomputers, but its main
efforts revolve
    around its Unix-based, multiprocessor RISC servers.

    The AS/400 remains the last thriving minicomputer platform, and the
core of its installed
    base will be slow to move away. However, IBM is evolving the AS/400 into a
    high-powered RISC machine with a focus on advanced client/server
capabilities and
    openness. 

    The resurrected Wang is not focusing on minicomputers but imaging,
document
    management, data access and other hot software categories. 
At 02:36 PM 11/2/97 +0000, you wrote:
>
>RE:    Re: IBM Spin Doctors on AS/400 Marketing
>
>>4.) Ads are not the sole answer and not even the most important - we are
>>talking about marketing not just advertising.
>
>Try this kids;
>
>1. Signon to HTTP://WWW.COMPUTERWORLD.COM
>2. Down at the bottom do a "FIND"  and keyin NT.
>3. Record how many hits.
>4  Repeat step 2 with  'AS/400 or AS400'
>5. Record how many hits.
>
>(My suggestion, If you feel the results do not reflect the number of 
>articles the AS/400 deserves. ) 
>
>6.  Use the "Contact Editors"  hotspot and tell them what you think.
>
> I would like to say "lets have a goal of 10,000 letters to the editor"
>But that would be a inproper use of this list,  so I won't say
>"Lets have a goal of 10,000 letters to the editor"
>
>John Carr
>+---
>| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
>| To submit a new message, send your mail to "MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com".
>| To unsubscribe from this list send email to MAJORDOMO@midrange.com
>|    and specify 'unsubscribe MIDRANGE-L' in the body of your message.
>| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
>+---
>
+---
| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to "MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com".
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to MAJORDOMO@midrange.com
|    and specify 'unsubscribe MIDRANGE-L' in the body of your message.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
+---