Re: CL enhancements

Chris,

>I don't think IBM is in a position to try and win customers on technical
>merit. 

 Why not?

>Improving the infrastructure of the AS/400 will probably not make
>them an additional dime. 

 That's what will make them the most!!!! 

>Take a look at it, what we (as IBM buyers) are asking for is to improve the
>infrastructure of machines we already have so that we will not need to buy
>new machines. We would also like to see these improvements for free. What
>incentive does IBM have to fulfill this?

 You seem to think that we got OS/400 for free.  You also must be getting
upgrades for free.  Otherwise the above paragraph doesn't make much sense...


>Your machine still does everything you bought it to do, this isn't a bug
>fix or something that IBM promised you. So if you want something from the
>vendor there should be a reason for the vendor to deliver.

>I know that "Customer Goodwill" is going to pop up somewhere, so try and
>quantify that. I mean, how many customers are going to note these
>improvements and how many of the people who notice them are the people who
>contribute to the buying decisions?

>I am not against this! I am just trying to be practical.

 How's this for practical:  I'm currently working w/ a multi-Billion (w/ a
"B"!) dollar company that is dumping about 14 AS/400s, the smallest an F70,
the largest the high-end 320.  I'm estimating about $25 million worth of
equipment.  Why?  Part of the reason is due to IBM's lack of responsiveness
to some the EVERYDAY challenges we face.  CASE CLOSED!!

 -mark

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