Re: Casino switches to AIX

Trevor,

Inline:

At 11/19/08 11:30 AM, you wrote:

Mark,

You have made some great points. I appreciate that you are kicking ideas
around, rather than doom+gloom. This is the kind of debate that is needed.

I am not an advocate of the name 'changes'. And, in fact, if you have read
anything I have written here since April, I have stopped pushing anything
related to the name 'change'. I am an advocate of promoting the platform. I
am an advocate of promoting the future of the platform, not living in the
glorious past. To put it simply, if you replace your current server and OS,
or if you buy a new one from IBM, then you will be ordering IBM i on a Power
System.

The thought process behind the name changes may have some merit (refreshing the line, reflecting new hardware, the merging of the hardware lines, etc.), but the reality is that the marketplace has effectively rejected it. The feedback is that it's too confusing. Brand recognition has been lost. It has been pointed out that even IBM is not consistent in its referral to the brand.

And yes, I see that as a NEW platform, albeit one that can run our heritage
as we need. And, even if that is just a marketing statement, it takes away
the attack by the opposition that it is just another old AS/400. You talk
about marketing, but have you considered this may be one of the MOST
effective marketing tools we have?

Good thought, but it doesn't seem to be working.

IBM definitely should be marketing their systems. And, in fact, they do.
What the average person does not see is the ad on tv, or in the airline
magazine, etc. Because IBM does not do those for IBM i. If you don't see
those, does that mean IBM are not marketing? Read the transcript of the
Fireside chat with Ross Mauri (http://isociety.org/Chat20081111.html) Quote:
"our marketing spend to attract new customers is not TV ads ... it's
investment in co-marketing programs with ISVs ... we have seen real results
from those types of programs because they speak directly to customers
business needs more so than a generic TV spot"

The "p" systems are mostly targeted to the SAME potential customer base. Does p get TV and executive magazine ad placement? I'd venture to say that it does. Why the different treatment?

My point is, that instead of complaining about what IBM are supposedly not
doing, we as a community should DO something. And 'marketing' is just one of
those things. I regularly ask user groups several questions.

Your questions are red herrings. They are designed from the get-go to be dramatic failures.

1. How many of you told someone else about the i this week/month/year. The number of people
who have is ALWAYS small. Very small to none.

Most techies are not in a position to do that effectively. The vast majority do NOT work for software vendors and have little daily opportunity to pass along the message. Even those that do work for ISV's, most are techies that don't directly deal with potential customers. That leaves a very small pool of potential people to promote the platform.

2. How many of you called someone and invited them to this meeting? Again, small to none.

So what? The UG meetings are generally for existing customers that are looking to make the most of their investment.

3. How many of you come to this user group even when there is a topic you are not
interested in. Again, none to small.

Again, a non-starter: See #2. Wasting time at a lecture that is not of interest to the individual is not a productive use of time. What does this question have to do with promoting the box?

What I see is a lot of noise about how
things are not going 'my way', but when asked to do simple things that may
cost you nothing, yet help promote the FUTURE of the platform (as opposed to
the glorious past), our community shuts down (and says I am harassing them
about a 'name'). Poor defense, really.

As I mentioned, the ISV's in the trenches that are interacting with the customers and potential customers are already doing that. The griping about the name is directly related to that: It's making the job much more difficult. If we weren't trying to promote it the renames wouldn't mean anything to us, right?

You say "Once IBM steps up to the plate and does what it should" as though
you know what IBM ~should~ do. Have you any suggestions about how to run a "
multi-billion dollar corporation"? Or the marketing thereof? If you did,
then we could get all our ideas together in the one place - er, say a forum?
and we could SHOW IBM what we mean - rather than just complaining. I tried
that when we had System i - with i4everyone.com, but it was rather lonely
out there. Yeah, I know, we are all programming and have little time to
'play'. But, I believe in the platform, and I believe in its future, and I
am willing to invest in its future. You want one of my iGuru buttons? Or,
would you prefer iNerd? Those cost ~me~, but I think they have had an impact
on the world - one button at a time.

Out of curiosity, what do you feel is wrong with the current forums and methods of communicating with IBM, that you felt the need "split off" into a new forum?

We've SHOWN IBM plenty, we've made our voices heard ad nauseam at Common, in the forums, via web page feedback. We get a few ads around Common and then silence. What else would it take for IBM get the message?

Why would I need to know how to run "a multi-billion dollar corporation or the marketing thereof," in order to state the obvious - that the marketing efforts are sorely lacking? Most of what to do is either common sense or well established.

I remember a few COMMON conferences back where iSociety handed out over 30
Podcast Factory packages, and they got promises from all of those people to
make a podcast to promote System i. Do you know how many i podcasts were
produced with those? ZERO. How do we get people to DO something - anything
at all to PROMOTE the platform. Not just say great things, but say them
where OTHER people can read them? Not just say we will do something, but DO it.

A) We ARE doing our part.
B) All of these private efforts will not convert the unconverted, since they don't know about it (because IBM won't give it true name recognition) and therefore have no reason to attend / participate in those activities.

And, while "Shouting how great this system is does not make the reality of
the lost sales and clients any less painful or any less real" may be true,
shouting (showing your passion and being active about it) is ONE of the ways
we as a community can DO something at little to NO cost.

See above.

Shout on.

We're shouting, but few are listening. How many new "competitive" i installs have you been involved with this past year? I haven't heard of any companies switching to the platform in a while.

-mark

Trevor


On 11/19/08 10:30 AM, "M. Lazarus" <mlazarus@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 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