Re: Modernizing applications

Hans,

Thanks for your intelligent response. It certainly is difficult to reply
without passion and emotion, and you have succeeded in cutting through the
crap.

From my perspective, I know Bob is right on a few fronts and wrong on many.

The market for our platform has certainly shrunk over the last decade, and
it is still shrinking. However, it is not going away in some time. For Bob
to be preaching that it will die ~tomorrow~ is essentially spreading fear.
And, my concern is that was on a forum that is pro-i.

I do think Bob is wrong on many fronts, including claiming to be an
i-nsider. To me, claiming you are an insider and yet preaching demise does
not seem to fit properly. His view of the world is flavored by his approach
to the customers. I have been at many conferences when people rushed out of
his sessions asking why Bob said "RPG is dead", followed by a strong denial
from Bob. I have personally seen both. He sold EGL to the world and managed
a very small following, yet is no longer at IBM - which seems to mean (just
reading between the lines) that EGL has not been successful in finding its
feet in the iWorld. When you have an approach that is ~telling~ people to
get out of something, it seems to me that few people are going to be telling
you about their plans and futures. Yet, he continues this rhetoric and
claims he understands the customer base.

The iPlatform is not dead yet. Some pundits have been preaching this for
years, yet we still have a strong community. Bob claims that I work for a
small software company, and he got that wrong, too. I am also an independent
consultant who works around the globe on advising and strategizing about
modernization approaches, primarily to iCustomers. In recent months in my
sphere, there has been NOT one single migration away from the i. And, in
fact, there are many more stories where the 'planned' migration from the i
has been reversed, primarily due to spreading education about how strong the
platform is, how IBM is investing in the future of the platform, and the
directions of RPG. Yesterday, I received several emails about modernizing
the i and leveraging their investments. One of the emails discussed how they
were migrating from another platform to at least 12 550s. If I am, and
others are seeing all this activity, then the doom and gloom from Bob's
fingers is simply not correct. His "facts" are definitely in question.

As to your point about understanding what is happening, that can not be
gained from one apparently disgruntled ex-IBMer who looks like he is now
selling modernization and appears to have an agenda. There are more facts
available than his.

As to your point about planning for the future, that is key. I speak around
the world on many modernization subjects, and while i is strong in many
shops, there are more and more platforms being added to the company
portfolio. That does not mean i goes away, but it does become part of a
bigger world - and that is key to planning for the future. And for several
years now, I have been presenting a session about being an IT survivor. This
is personal and encourages iDevelopers to expand their world. What is
wonderful about our platform is that you CAN expand in many ways right on
the i. And beyond that, having skills that leverage your i experience while
becoming a well rounded IT developer is also key.

Your points are extremely valid. We just don't need the constant screaming
about platform demise, and not on public iForums. It is just not happening
to the agenda set by the naysayers.

Trevor




On 8/20/09 9:12 AM, "Hans Boldt" <hans@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Trevor wrote:

Bob,

Your not-so-humble-opinion is rather terrifying, and does not
match the opinions of many IBMers and ex-IBMers. You seem to be
alone in this FUD. While many people have been predicting the
demise of the AS/400 for a long time, there is still a strong
community of iCustomers who will continue to use this platform
for many many years to come. On this forum of i-advocates, you
come and spread fear? Why would you do that?

Trevor: He's not the alone in his opinions. But in his blog, Bob has
described the current situation in a more blunt, direct, and authoritative
manner than I ever could. That the iSeries is in decline cannot be denied.
The signs are everywhere. And the signs have been there to see for much of
the past decade.

I still think back to the major "staffing action" that happened in the
summer of 2003. During that re-org, a substantial number of iSeries
developers in the Toronto Lab, including me, were shuffled to other areas.
But few people outside of IBM knew what was happening. Specifically, I was
told not to comment on it publicly. And for years after, one very senior
technical person kept up the pretense that he was still involved with the
iSeries.

After 4 years on a zSeries related compiler, I left IBM. At the time
(2007), I figured my iSeries skills were my most marketable, and so, over
half a year, I scoured the job listings for iSeries opportunities. I
applied to all but one position. Neither gave me so much as an
acknowledgment of receipt of my resume. One headhunter basically told me
that the iSeries job market had pretty much dried up in this city. Perhaps
a city of 3 million people is too small to support much iSeries business?

(BTW, of the two iSeries jobs I applied for, one was close to home, but
involved AS/400 programming. Since the company was structured as an income
trust, they probably would never upgrade to anything more recent unless
they had to. The other position sounded much more interesting, but would
have involved a long commute across the city on the most expensive toll
road in North America. I'm now working on Linux and Windows systems.)

I know what Bob is saying is not very popular in these quarters. But it's
important to understand what's happening and plan appropriately for the
future.

Cheers! Hans