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Pete, I knew that. You'll notice that I was nice and didn't reference the fact that they screwed up the Revolutionary War. For that matter, I didn't even mention anything about tea parties. Al Al Barsa, Jr. Barsa Consulting Group, LLC 400>390 914-251-1234 914-251-9406 fax http://www.barsaconsulting.com http://www.taatool.com Pete Massiello <pmassiello@os-sol To: midrange-l@midrange.com utions.com> cc: Sent by: Subject: Re: Thank for your correspondence - The letter I got from the folks at midrange-l-admin@m FAST400 idrange.com 07/08/2002 06:50 PM Please respond to midrange-l Al, Great reply. One issue, I think they are a UK company, so they are probably not to happy about 4th of July to begin with :). Wishing them a happy 4th probably just doesn't do it for them. I am sure you will mention them in Sound-off. Pete Al Barsa wrote: >Hi, > >Last week, I gave an interview to Newswire, the Internet newsletter put out >by Penton Publishing. This promoted Colin Wells to write me the following >correspondence. My public reply also follows: > > > Mr. Barsa, in response to your statement from the newswire ("IBM >will ultimately beat up Fast400"), you sure are putting a lot of >faith in IBM. IBM has already failed several times to defeat >FAST400. > > The response to FAST400 has been tremendous! We have hundreds of >customers, some with hundreds of boxes, and some with large >multi-processors. > > > We understand that your opinion is biased. After all, you make >money from selling those expensive interactive cards. Please >mention us in your next Sound-Off speech at COMMON. > > >Colin Wells >The Storage Solutions Group > > > > >Below is my response, in the public domain: > > > >Mr. Wells, > >I agree that the response to FAST400 has likely been tremendous. >(Regardless if it has or not, if I were selling it, I would be claiming >that!) However what you are doing threatens the entire AS/400 community. >The interactive pricing scheme is integral to IBM's pricing strategy for >the product line. Whether you (or IBM) likes it or not, the ease of green >screen programming is one of the reasons why customers pick this platform >every day. IBM makes this platform as the very best in the world, even if >that choose not to market it effectively. (You notice that no one calls it >the iSeries, it's still the AS/400.) > >My opinions regarding AS/400 technology are simply my opinions, based on >years working in this architecture. Customers hire me (and my firm) every >day, and groups hire me to speak frequently because they respect those >opinions. Privately, I speak to IBM regarding many of my thoughts about >the product line almost every day They are free not to take my calls, and >not to follow my opinions, yet they take the calls and usually take my >opinions. My opinions are not clouded by profit incentives, as hardware >profit is a very small component of my business. If my opinions get you >mad, I am sorry. I frequently piss-off IBM, and they are free to terminate >my business partner relationships anytime they please. > >I recognize that many customers (including you) are mad at IBM for levying >a premium for interactive processing power, but you need to understand what >your actions will ultimately cause. IBM is in the business of making >money, and if IBM management doesn't make enough money, the IBM Board >(representing the stockholders) will fire them and get new management that >can make money. This is a simple business proposition. > >You are absolutely correct that I am putting a lot of faith in IBM, and IBM >will ultimately prevail. (Their long-term track record for this is very >good.) In the short term, they will continue to defy your product with >fixes that render your FAST400 impotent. In the longer term, they will >re-engineer OS/400 so as to not be thwartable by products like yours. >Ultimately you will lose by one of two venues: > >o IBM will change the product architecturally to put you out of >business. > or >o If IBM fails (at thwarting your product), they will do away with the >premium for interactive. I understand that this is what you want, however >this will have two consequences: > 1). The one you will not like: this will put you out of business. > 2). The one that all AS/400 customers will not like, IBM will have > to raise the price of systems high enough to keep the iSeries portion > of the company viable, which will have a significant (upward) effect > on the price of systems. > >Your long term outlook is bleak. In my opinion, any customer that >purchases your product might be buying a fast high, but ultimately they >will have to pay the piper. IBM states that FAST400 will invalidate >customer contracts for OS/400 support and service, but in reality I suspect >that: >1). If you have done any way near as good a job that you claim, IBM will >have a hard time detecting this. >2). IBM states that they could sue customers,. and I agree that they have >that right, if they can figure out who's using it. In reality I suspect >that they will not do this. > >With reference to your last comment, I had not considered mentioning >FAST400 at Soundoff next COMMON, but now I will consider it. You probably >wouldn't like what I have to say. > >I trust that you had a Happy Fourth of July. > >Regards > >Al > >Al Barsa, Jr. >Barsa Consulting Group, LLC > >400>390 > >914-251-1234 >914-251-9406 fax > >http://www.barsaconsulting.com >http://www.taatool.com > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list >To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com >To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, >visit: http://lists.midrange.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/midrange-l >or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@midrange.com >Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives >at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l. > > >. > _______________________________________________ This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, visit: http://lists.midrange.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/midrange-l or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@midrange.com Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
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