RE: IBM not investing in i5/OS was: iSociety

I think you will find it hard to come up with numbers - one of my
earlier points was that investments were being made if i5/OS as well as
on the hardware side - millions of dollars. Our OS doesn't change for
free......I think significant investments have been made. I can't
rattle off numbers and you might think this statement is mere opinion
but I'd wager not....

Now, you can argue that certain areas are being ignored - application
development tools for example. But when you get into certain areas you
are now getting into the potential domain of the Software Group. Is the
Software Group investing in i5/OS? Not sure how much....they are the
enemy.

Regarding the DB. Everyone can cite an example of some feature that
some DB has had and i5/OS might have come up with later or currently
doesn't have. In most cases I would hold DB2 for i5/OS up against any
other DB. And this has been an area of serious investment - ANSI Core
support, SQI, etc.

Michael Crump

Manager, Computing Services
Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc.
1509 S. Macedonia Ave.
Muncie, IN 47302
765.741.7696
765.741.7012 f

Tradition
Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not
incredibly stupid.
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-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dave Odom
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 4:20 PM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IBM not investing in i5/OS was: iSociety

Back to the original topic... Has anyone done a compare and contrast
between where IBM is AND is not investing in the i5 vs. its other
platforms? That should give you and idea of how serious they are about
the i5 lasting or going the way of OS/2. Also, has anyone done a
compare of the applications available in the market place for all
platforms AND popular with the majority of customers? When you do that
you'll see exactly why the i5 fits where it does in the buying plans of
any CxO that writes the check for a new system and its applications.
Without a serious supply of MODERN apps (ahh, that means NO green
screen), the i5 WILL go the way of OS/2. I think IBM has put the i5 in
mostly maintenance mode instead of growth as it sees the writing on the
wall. It just can't compete with the modern world of *IX and Windoz. I
wish it wasn't so.

Further, and to somewhat illustrate what I say... I was talking to the
president of a major IBM partner this last Friday. He started out years
ago as mostly an iSeries/i5 partner but has since expanded to all other
IBM platforms except for mainframe. He told me MOST of his revenue
comes from the pSeries or the xSeries, NOT from the i5.

Also, yesterday, I was talking with an IBMer about DataPropagator for
the i5 and we got to talking about DB2 under i5/OS. He told me about
some new function in DB2/400 and thought that was just as neat as sliced
bread. I said, see there, that function's a perfect example of how
behind the i5 is; that's been around for YEARS in the real DB2s. This,
and other examples, coupled with the demise of both i5 user groups in
this state in the past several years tells the trend. I think the
platform can be saved but ONLY if it can get up to speed with respect to
the offerings from the other platforms.

Sincerely,

David Odom
Arizona