Re: Casino switches to AIX

Trevor,

I'd like to address a few points you've made.

- You mention FUD. Is this truly misplaced FUD by a few wimps or is there a real basis for some fear, uncertainty and doubt? By and large, for the last 20 years, the faithful have been telling anyone that will listen that this is the greatest business platform out there. *WE* have been doing our jobs spreading the word. It's IBM that has let the ball drop - over and over again.

- You are an advocate of the name changes. Your position is that it succeeds in giving the world the impression that this revamped midrange box is now a new and improved product. Most of the people in the trenches, as voiced very loudly on this list, DISAGREE with that assertion. Why? Because we are the ones speaking to out clients and potential customers. The customers do not know or care what it is called. They want to know:

1) What will it cost?

2) What can it do for me?

3) What does it look like?

The answers are:

1) INITIALLY more than a Windows or Linux solution. So we lose out on the sale, when a side by side short term comparison is made. Few companies are looking at the long term picture, when it comes to IT budgets. This has been true for a while, but is more acute now.

2) We've got some great business applications, but basic functionality that everyone expects to be included in ALL systems nowadays, e.g. graphical integration, printing, email management, etc. are sorely stuck in the last decade.

3) To a user, the interaction with the computer *IS* the computer. The current state of the native screen output looks tired, compared to just about any other system the user has dealt with.


As I mentioned above, we are doing our part. IBM's marketing is not. IBM has millions (or even billions) of marketing dollars to spend. We do not. Once IBM steps up to the plate and does what it should, the faithful will have something real to shout from the rooftops. Until then, existing customers will be leaving and few new customers will be joining.

Is it just me or is it a ludicrous notion that a multi-billion dollar corporation needs our charitable marketing contributions to keep a profitable product line alive???

BTW, despite what you may think, this is NOT a gloom+doom, "all is lost" post. We're on this list to get the most out of the system and kick around ideas on how to promote its success. Shouting how great this system is does not make the reality of the lost sales and clients any less painful or any less real.

-mark


At 11/18/08 07:50 AM, you wrote:

Mark,

The faithful will leave when they are scared off by the FUD. That comes from
the moaning and complaining from places like this list. Which is where this
conversation sat for a while. If the doom+gloom was swamped by the positive,
then the faithful will remain faithful. The hard part is, while everyone is
convinced this is a great platform, they DON'T say it. If it ain't broke,
why talk about it? How do we get the faithful to make noise to overcome the
whining from the people saying "I told you so"?

I advocate that we, as a group, as the IBM i faithful, rally around the IBM
i on Power Systems and spread the word. Stop whining about, in fact, stop
even ~talking~ about the 'name changes'. Stop saying IBM should do
~any~thing. Start being positive about how this platform is the best, and if
you want one, go to IBM and ask for IBM i on Power Systems. There are plenty
of forums and public places for us to do that, and we need to overwhelm the
FUD spreaders with positive noise.

I challenge the members of midrange-L to email one person every week and
annoy the crap out of them with pro-i propaganda. I challenge them to make
so much noise that the IT industry wants IBM i for every shop. Steal David's
sig line (IBM i on Power -- For when you can't afford to be out of
business), or make up your own.

And, if you need a place to put it, I will resurrect www.i4everyone.com and
you can post your noise there.

Let US make a difference.

Trevor
~~
IBM i - power on Power.
~~


On 11/17/08 9:38 PM, "M. Lazarus" <mlazarus@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Trevor,
>
> I am a huge proponent of the system. I was just reporting my
> recent observations in my little corner of the world. The conclusion
> I have come to, is that even the Midrange Faithful are NO LONGER faithful!
>
> IMHO, that is HUGE! The bread and butter income from this platform
> is not from new accounts. It's from the already converted. If they
> feel that they are be abandoned in any way or if it becomes less than
> cost effective to stay with the platform, inertia will probably not
> retain them.
>
> Bringing PHP (and any popular PASE apps) to the i is a brilliant
> way of getting additional applications to the system. But, the
> biggest obstacles still remain for the many million lines of existing
> code: How can John Doe software vendor and Jill production shop
> refactor their system or develop new systems by leveraging their
> existing software and their in-house talent???
>
> This is the reality that I'm dealing with. I can't just tell the
> client that he now has to hire a PHP guy to maintain his new
> system. Screen scraping is a short term solution at best. 3rd party
> solutions are not cheap and should not be necessary. It's about time
> that one of the promises of the box (simplicity) be applied to a very
> basic functionality: The GUI. This is what my clients want to
> see. I can't deliver that in a cost effective manner now.
>
> -mark