Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch

Trevor,

 -mark


At 12/8/06 12:41 PM, you wrote:

Mark,

What you are referring to - about age and 70s/80s - is OS/400. That has been
renamed to i5/OS. BUT - it is only a small part of what a System i can do.
The pillars of a System i include i5/OS (which has more
feature/functionality than OS/400), Linux 64-bit native, AIX 5L, Windows and
Linux with ix integration.

It IS our responsibility for getting the word out. If we are going to have a
future with this server, we are responsible to market this incredible
platform to everyone. We have left it to IBM for a long time, we have whined
about what they have done - and if you want it to have a future, step up. As
has been mentioned, iSociety is a means to that end.

Or, we can call it an AS/400 and remain a dinosaur. Your personal choice.

On my behalf, I am doing everything I can to promote the brand - which, btw,
is System i. Changing the name is not the ONLY thing we must do in our
head - but it is a VERY SIMPLE thing to change. Vernacular is everything.

Trevor

----- Original Message -----
From: "M Lazarus" <mlazarus@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch


> Trevor,
>
> You are reinforcing my position!  Who is responsible for getting the word
> out - me?  You or IBM?  Who has the resources to do it?  IBM!  Who is the
> largest beneficiary of getting the word out?  IBM!
>
> I need to communicate with customers or potential customers.  People
> (outside of the fold) know the IBM Midrange box as AS/400.  (Although
> it's usually followed by: "Is that system still around?  I thought it was
> gone years ago!")  Explaining that it's the best business platform
> around, new technology, new name, blah, blah, blah... usually gets a
> polite smile, or an "Oh, really?"  In their minds, even the new
> technology is sorely lagging behind (and it's hard to disagree on many
> points.)
>
> Sorry, but pushing the new name is only a paint job on an aging car,
> until the gaping holes are filled in.  It's fine to start using the new
> name, but it's a small nit compared to the real problem.
>
> To address your DVD analogy, you can say that you're recording to disc.
> Does that mean a diskette, hard disk, CD-R, CD-RW, CD+R, CD+RW, DVD (with
> all it's flavors), mini-disc, etc?  The answer, on a fairly high level,
> is that it DOESN'T MATTER!  You are recording to some digital media.  A
> similar analogy applies to the IBM Midrange platform.  The user knows
> what we mean.  And they usually don't care.
>
> Its roots *are* in '70s and '80s technology.  That's not always a bad
> thing - the technology is solid.  But in many areas that count, it's
> showing its age.  Only IBM can realistically rectify that.  IBM should be
> a leader, but they're barely a follower!  Around 12-15 YEARS after the
> GUI started becoming popular on the desktop and the i5 doesn't have a
> native, built-in GUI???
>
> That's just the reality, as I see it.
>
> -mark
>
>
>> Mark,
>>
>> There is no name game refrain here. There is only ONE family name for
>> this
>> platform - System i. No one knows about System i - yet it is the best
>> platform on the planet. Why don't they know? Because we keep calling it
>> an
>> AS/400 - something from last century.
>>
>> If WE, collectively, would start calling it System i, there would be less
>> of
>> the "it's old" refrain. Why this is not obvious, I cannot imagine. It is
>> like calling my DVD collection VHS - that was the precursor, not the
>> current
>> technology. That was the heritage, not the present. Who would you buy a
>> movie player from in today's world? Not the VHS salesman. Not the luddite
>> who says VHS is the best thing - even though they are using a DVD - or
>> even
>> a DVR for that matter.
>>
>> We have to STOP saying AS/400 before we lose the System i.
>>
>> Trevor
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "M. Lazarus" <mlazarus@xxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 12:01 AM
>> Subject: Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch
>>
>>
>>> Trevor,
>>>
>>>  We've heard the "name game" refrain for a while, but IMHO, that's
>>> missing the mark by a long shot.  That's like saying that the entire
>>> Ferrari line won't sell if I paint some pink.  As "modern" as this
>>> platform is, there are some gaping holes that only IBM can fix, but
>>> they choose not to.  I'll throw out a few, others can chime in with
>>> additional items and details.
>>>
>>> 1) IBM seems to be embarrassed by the box.  Put a pSeries up against
>>> an iSeries in a potential sale and chances are the pSeries will win,
>>> if there's an IBM sales rep involved.  They don't market it
>>> properly.  All of us in the field recognize that.  Since I don't
>>> believe that the parade of IBM'ers over the years in charge of
>>> marketing the box are stupid, the only conclusion I can come to is
>>> that it's deliberately being sabotaged.  I don't know why, but I'm
>>> not privy to those meetings.
>>>
>>> 2) A native GUI is mandatory.  I don't want to hear about HATS,
>>> Websphere or other screen scraper technology.  A simple DDS interface
>>> will make it accessible to the masses.  This needs to be part of the
>>> OS, right out of the box, w/ no additional configuration required.
>>>
>>> 3) Printing and viewing popular PC images are a royal pain, without
>>> conversions or add-ons.  Could you imagine if Microsoft charged extra
>>> to print standard graphics files?
>>>
>>> 4) Pricing.  Take a page out of Microsoft's marketing
>>> machine.  Purchasing this machine should be a slam dunk for any IT
>>> manager.  IBM loves to throw out the 3-5 year ROI calculation when
>>> trying to make a sale.  I say - keep that value and introduce a new
>>> concept:  Being competitive with a PC server solution -
>>> NOW!  Corporate wants to hear that we can budget and afford this
>>> solution - NOW!  Shareholders want to hear that we saved money THIS
>>> year, not in 3 - 5 years.
>>> -----------
>>>
>>>  The many name changes are just adding insult to injury.  But since
>>> they're not marketing it properly, positive brand recognition is not
>>> there anyway.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  -mark
>>>
>>>
>>> At 12/7/06 11:59 PM, you wrote:
>>>>Way too long to read for the lack of any solution. It starts with a call
>>>>to
>>>>fight, carries on with a call to fight for an OUTDATED server (AS/400)
>>>> and
>>>>ends with suggestions for IBM to do something. That does not fly any
>>>>more -
>>>>we have to get off OUR collective behinds and DO something. IBM needs
>>>> OUR
>>>>help to keep this platform in OUR world.
>>>>
>>>>You can't fight a fight for a system that is no longer available for
>>>>purchase - that is, an AS/400. While we keep on calling our platform an
>>>>AS/400, and still call ourselves AS/400 developers/programmers/people,
>>>> we
>>>>will remain stuck in the past and die the betamax death. We can write
>>>> all
>>>>we
>>>>want about what IBM should do, but writing does nothing if you are still
>>>>writing about AS/400. And this article switches between AS/400 and
>>>> System
>>>>i
>>>>like they are the same thing. If I.T. collectively thinks AS/400 is
>>>>outdated, then painting System i with the outdated "AS/400" brush is the
>>>>first thing to STOP DOING.
>>>>
>>>>We work on System i - this is the family of servers which WERE AS/400
>>>>servers, THEN iSeries servers, but are now System i5. You do not buy a
>>>> new
>>>>AS/400 from IBM - you buy a System i5 server. This is THE most modern
>>>>platform on the planet, and if we just moved into the 21st century, we
>>>>would
>>>>not have to be "fighting the AS/400 fight".
>>>>
>>>>Fight the System i fight.
>>>>AS/400 is our past, not our present.
>>>>AS/400 is our heritage, not our future.
>>>>AS/400 is dead. Long live the System i.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>>From: "Neil Palmer" <neilpalmer400mr@xxxxxxxx>
>>>>To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 10:27 PM
>>>>Subject: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> > Well worth a read:
>>>> >
>>>> > Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch
>>>> >
>>>> > http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh120406-story03.html
>>>> >
>>>> > Neil Palmer, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
>>>
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>>
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>
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