Re: MIDRANGE-L Digest V3 #729

> From: Joel Fritz <JFritz@sharperimage.com>
> Subject: RE: AS/400 rebrand
> <snip>
> Personally and selfishly, I wish they'd promote the hell out of the
> 400 and ignore the other computer lines.   


   I see this statement from all you other veterans out there a lot and it
blows me away that anybody would think that people would buy an AS/400 based
on advertising....   you veterans know that the AS/400 sold on vertical
apps....apps that didn't have much competition from Unix and none from Windows
NT in those days.  That has changed, and until we figure out what the soul of
our machine looks like and we present software for sale that people like, the
AS/400 isn't going to sell.  IBM could advertise like they did with OS/2 even,
and it would have the same effect....which is no effect.

   The positioning of the AS/400 as a web server to an industry of web
professionals who won't even work on the AS/400 is just another near fatal
blow to the AS/400, but it's name will be changed to protect the innocent, so
the AS/400 will never die as the Vax did.  The I/500 will die, or whatever
name those dufuses have come up with.

   But IBM is not a factor.  Our AS/400 software is the factor.  Yes, there's
the occasional product like SAP that a customer could buy on a choice of
platforms and the benefits of the AS/400 as server could be sold, but even
then it's nonsense to think that a company doesn't have a heritage, a culture,
and an existing bias for one platform or another.  Whatever they want will be
rationalized.  When's the last time anybody saw an unbiased choice of
platforms to run software?  Not only has IT already made up their mind, but
the software either drives that choice or confirms the choice.  Who has
decided that a platform is what they really want, but the software they want
is on another platform?

   Let's get real, folks.  Software sells computers, and our software doesn't
sell anymore.  There's still no better ERP's, but SAP on Unix and the demise
of BPCS took it's toll.  No amount of marketing AS/400 server characteristics
amounts to a hill of beans in comparison to software selection.  There may be
a company here or there that comes in to the AS/400 from another platform and
buys the AS/400 to run one of these ERP packages, but IBM is fixated on Domino
web serving, even though web people will insist on running on Unix or NT,
based on their preference, and in a way IBM doesn't care because it's a box
running AIX or OS/400 (hype alert: PASE is not AIX) and Domino and Websphere
runs on both.  And if a customer chooses Unix instead then IBM has an
exceelent chance of selling them Unix.

   No, it's us and our software that is the problem.  The sooner we understand
that other platforms have a look and feel and software that sells with that
look, and that we need to create a look for the AS/400 in Java Swing or
VisualAge RPG / ASNA Caviar / OneWorld Windows programs with a unique look and
feel that captures our 5250 session heritage of a display - response cycle. 
If we don't, NT/Windows, Linux/Gnome, and Unix/Motif will continue to capture
our business.  IBM has chosen web pages as our new interface, and the fact
that there is little business software that is effective in web pages shows
that IBM has made a wrong choice, but we are the ones who must provide a
reason to buy the AS/400 with the class software of a powerful new GUI
interface.  That only we can do.

Ralph
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