SSA Interview

"QUOTE: We, as a company, have a policy of not sunsetting any product. 
UNQUOTE
perhaps a misconception on my part ... I thought many versions of BPCS had 

already been sunsetted ... does this mean that BPCS will never be 
sunsetted, but they will continue to sunset some versions, or does it mean 

that all current versions can continue to infinity?"

Al,

SSA GT stopped sunsetting their BPCS releases as soon as Mike G. took over 
as CEO.  We were concerned about that very subject two years ago when we 
attended the 2001 SSA GT Conference in Boca Raton, FL.  We had (and still 
have) two environments of 4.05 CD and were making budgetary arrangements 
to convert them to the latest version (6.1.02 at the time) due to 
anticipating a sunset announcement, but got a big surprise instead.  Mike 
took the stage at the conference and said sunsetting had changed - as long 
as someone was willing to pay OGS for a version and/or platform they will 
keep it viable.  However, as fewer people are paying OGS on a release the 
level of service will go down as the amount of OGS fees per customer goes 
up.  Basically the OGS fees received for each version will have to support 
the activities to keep that release viable.  Some may view this as a 
penalty to be on less utilized platforms and/or versions, but I view it as 
a well thought out plan.  SSA will not force you off a version, but will 
charge you higher fees to adequately maintain the version.  If you don't 
like the fees for that version and/or platform, move to one of the others 
for better support, functionality, and fee structure.  The choice is yours 
- not forced upon you by SSA.

With that same mentality, at the same meeting he also said that versions 
and platforms which were in the majority of the user base would be 
addressed first with new functionality and then that functionality would be 
evaluated for release on other versions and/or platforms on a case by case 
basis. 
Again - the ability to make money driving which versions and/or platforms 
get functionality increases.  Prior SSA management wanted their software 
to run on everything without thinking about the financial implications of 
such a decision.  Back then, the complaint was that OGS dollars were 
funding the silliness of creating a UNIX version of BPCS - which they were 
and SSA didn't get very much of a return on that investment and neither 
did those of us on the AS/400 platform.  With new mentality at SSA GT of 
each version/platform needing to support itself, I would not want to be 
running BPCS on any platform other than the AS/400 since 95% of the user 
base is on it.  Understand that this is not a comment on the capabilities 
of the AS/400 versus other platforms - it is the fact that other platforms 
will have to pay a more aggressive OGS fee structure as the user base 
shrinks, may not see additional functionality unless the business case is 
made, and will see a lower level of support since fewer resources would be 
devoted to a such a small percentage of the user base.

On your comment on AS/400 upgrading and BPCS key generation - I suspect 
people are looking to upgrade their box for variety of reasons.  For some 
it may be due to migrating to another release of BPCS.  Others may have a 
growth curve that is forcing them to increase their box capabilities.  But 
I suspect the two main drivers of companies upgrading their AS/400s are 
IBM's method of OS/400 releases and hardware maintenance cost.  First - 
IBM has forced AS/400  obsolescence with their OS/400 releases.  Each new 
release is not supported on older AS/400s and they do not support more 
than two releases of OS/400.  If you want to be current on your OS/400 
release and receive software maintenance, you are forced to upgrade your 
AS/400 every so often.  Second - the hardware maintenance cost of older 
AS/400s is higher than new AS/400s.  At some point, it is better to invest 
those monies in new hardware rather than keep the old functional.  At my 
company, our analysis showed that replacing our current 5 AS/400s with a 
new AS/400 that has more interactive and total CPW, more DASD, and more 
internal memory was cheaper and would break even at the two year mark if 
purchased and day one if leased.

Timothy C. Luce, MBA, CPIM
Director of Application Development
ESAB - North America
tluce@xxxxxxxx
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This communication and any files transmitted with it contain information which 
is confidential and which may also be privileged. It is for the exclusive use 
of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please 
note that any disclosure, copying, printing or use whatsoever of this 
communication or the information contained in it is strictly prohibited. If you 
have received this communication in error, please notify the author and then 
delete the e-mail together with any copies of it.

Information or opinions in this message that do not relate to the business of 
ESAB shall be treated as neither given nor endorsed by it.  ESAB does not 
accept liability for any changes which may occur in transmission due to 
network, machine or software failure or manufacture or operator error. Although 
this communication and any file(s) transmitted with it are believed to be free 
of any virus or any other defect which might affect any computer or IT system 
into which they are received and opened, it is the responsibility of the 
recipient to ensure that they are virus free and no responsibility will be 
accepted by ESAB for any loss or damage arising in any way from receipt or use 
thereof.