Re: IBM Spin Doctors on AS/400 Marketing

>>  I am sure you mean well, but:
>>  1) Software Development Houses (surprise!) DO deal with end users.
>>  2) Four weeks of working in a software development house isn't likely
to
>>  erase my memory of the prior twenty years experience in end user shops.
>
>Sorry, but (referring to 2) it seems to have.  Despite mounds of (albeit
>anecdotal, it _IS_ the Internet after all) evidence from the list, you
still
>"stick to your guns" regarding this insane premise that management makes
IS
>choices based upon facts and "what's best for the company" rather than
"what
>they've heard" recently.  Granted, I have a mere eighteen years'
experience
>in the industry, but I have seen EVERY SINGLE ONE of the presented
anecdotes
>and _MORE_.  You must have either had your head in the sand, or simply not
>been listening to management demands.

Dean, it seems that you are out of touch with reality. Do you suppose that
the half a million AS/400 sales occured because that's "what they heard"?
I have been in management making those management decisions, have you? I
would hope so, with eighteen years experience. So, did YOU make your
decisions based on what you heard recently? No? But everyone except you is
an idiot? 

Wake up, Dean. 

I read, "IBM needs to advertise more to counter Microsoft." I say,  "I
don't think that advertising is the answer." Response is: "Microsoft has
turned the crowd with smiley faced NT ads." I say, "I haven't seen these
ads, can you tell me about them?" Response, "Chris, Chris, Chris, it
doesn't matter that they don't really exist, it is the perception that
they do that is important." 

And...

"Management is stupid so IBM needs to counter the non-existant Microsoft
ads with ads that will convince management that AS/400s are hip and cool.
The proof that this is necessary is the bunch of anecdotes we can recite
about stupid mistakes."

No substance, nothing. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a pointy
haired boss. Isn't that what you would say about someone who made such a
judgement based on anecdotes they read on the internet?

Here's a harsh reality for you, Dean: 100% up time with no applications
isn't worth as much to upper management as 50% up time with one
application.

10,000 applications they don't want < 1 they do.

So, 500,000 AS/400 installs indicates that there are still valued
applications on them. Similar indications from mainframes and Unix
platforms. 

But, as the APPLICATIONS capture the interest of the buying public, NT
will happily overtake other platforms. The solution? I think it is to
develop and market APPLICATIONS which run on the AS/400. Brand name
recognition is important. It can help to close a deal and it does help to
get the foot in the door. I would like to see Rochester enhance AS/400
brand recognition, but I do understand that advertising the AS/400 might
not bring as much business to that platform as simply advertising IBM as a
solutions provider for hot topic applications and then turning those
buyers to the AS/400 once in the door.

>Ummmm, what did you say you'd been doing for the last twenty years?  Are
you
>_SERIOUSLY_ saying that you _HAVEN'T_ yet received the "UNIX is taking
over
>the world" speech from upper management somewhere??!!  NT is the
replacement
>for UNIX in the _NEW_ "taking over the world" catchphrase.  After all,
it's
>so "OPEN".  Ye Gods!  The only way that I was able to avoid the UNIX
>onslaught in past "real job" positions was to do some serious research and
>present real dollars to management regarding what it would take to switch
>from our current platform to UNIX.  This also involved asking "just which
>platform would you like?", "just what flavor of UNIX would you like (AIX,
V,
>HP/UX, SCO, Open/VAX)?", and "what database/security system would you
like?".
> UNIX has been a ubiquitous presence in the life of every single IS
manager
>and IBM salesperson for _AT LEAST_ the last ten years -- I find it
difficult
>to believe that you would present this as an argument.

More anecdote crap which supports nothing. Sorry you had trouble holding a
real job. Unix never had much of a foothold in the gaming industry in Las
Vegas. It never bothered me. 

By the way, perhaps the reason you had trouble with management is your
failing to understand what your job is. Riding along on IBM's platform is
fun, but it is your job to explore the cost/benefit of other platforms and
explore alternatives. Rather than bitch that you were forced to show that
to upper management, you should consider the fact that only really stupid
managers would not bother to explore alternatives.

>No offense, but how often can you contradict yourself?  You've done it in
>your other notes on this subject, but do you not see the irony in
discussing
>NT's omnipresence in "the trades" and stating in the same breath that "IBM
>can't change that with some glossy ads"?  NT has _NO_ "new, flashy,
feature
>rich applications".  As was stated in an article on this thread before,
name
>_ONE_ application for which you should purchase NT.  I didn't think you
>could.  So, why is everyone purchasing NT other than management edicts and
>the "that's the way everyone's going" mentality?

Dean, I think this really indicates where you completely miss the point.
As has been pointed out (not by me) NT is NOT being advertised. As has
been pointed out (by me), NT makes headlines in the trades all the time.
How? With a zillion articles on applications. My argument is that IBM
needs to get applications that will make trade press in the same way.
Yours is that IBM should pay for glossy ads. 

NT has a LOT of new, feature rich applications. Data warehousing, credit
management systems, accounting, groupware, etc., etc. Name one I would
buy? READ MY GODDAMN TAG, DEAN. I wouldn't buy them. That doesn't mean I
am so dense I won't admit they are there. In a few years, I will be buying
NT apps, because NT will reach the stability of the AS/400 and there won't
be any new AS/400 apps UNLESS IBM DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Perhaps your problem, Dean, is that you don't actually read the trade mags
or research products. If you insist on management by anecdote you will
soon be the subject of a Dilbert cartoon.

>Dean Asmussen


Chris Rehm
Mr.AS400@ibm.net
You have to ask yourself, "How often can I afford to be unexpectedly out of 
business?" 
Get an AS/400.
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