RE: Java versus RPG on iSeries

["Eyers, Daniel" <daniel.eyers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dieter,

<snip>
>> but the great disadvantage is: every s*** (edit)
>> (yes I mean s***) (edit) ever programmed in rpg runs today without any 
>change.

I had to re-read several times before I realized the wisdom of your post.  If I 
understand you, you suggest that because
RPG is so completely downward compatible, it discourages change.  We see this 
thinking *all the time* in our shop. Our
MRP package should have been put out to pasture *years* ago (we patched it to 
be Y2K).  Because it continues to work, we
dismiss any new implementations as too expensive because, after all, we already 
have a system that sort of works.

RPG is increasingly in danger of missing "disruptive technologies" 
(Christensen: The Innovator's Dilemma) that will
eventually (and must) increase the cost of ownership of RPG.  As the code base 
ages, the increase of the cost of
maintaining that code base is exponential.  Why are so many Fortune 500 
companies implementing Linux?  Simply, the cost
of ownership is significantly cheaper than traditional other models.

Simple question to all:  Are your businesses the same as they were say five 
years ago?  Ten years?  I work in the
aerospace industry; it is *not* the same as it was even a year ago.  September 
11 significantly changed the rules.

If we don't adapt to new technologies, we will not survive. We must use IS as a 
strategic differentiator to get products
to market faster than our competitors, to manage our marketing programs, and 
reduce our overall cost per transaction for
orders.  Our reliance on RPG is holding us back as we continue to nursemaid an 
already ancient codebase to help us meet
our strategic goals.

dan