Re: System management software -- MIDRANGE-L

Jerome,

In a message dated 97-04-24 21:27:54 EDT, you write:

> Have been administering TurnOver with SET/TURN (the AS/SET interface) in 
>  a large BPCS 5.1 environment for the last 2 years; they have both worked 
>  very well and the support has been great. The really nice thing about it 
>  is the integration of the various tools, and as Dean said the 
>  flexibility. If there's something you need that it doesn't do out of the 
>  box, it has the hooks so that you can code something to enhance it in 
>  most all cases. And the support staff is very willing to help you with 
>  any how-tos you'll need.
>  
>  With Change Management, planning is key, and you need thick skin to 
>  support programmers as users. Politically, CMSs tend to bring your 
>  methodology problems to the surface, and some shops are happier in 
>  denial. People that don't like change then tend to point at the CMS as 
>  the problem. 
>  
>  When programmers start to say that a CMS "slows them down," you must 
>  point out that problems caused by their speed slow the organization down, 
>  and that the CMS is there to speed the organization up. The ones that 
>  complain are typically the ones that don't play well with others.
>  
>  Be sure you have real management buy-in on Change Management, not just 
>  approval to purchase, or you may become the messenger.
>  
>  Dean, what sorts of problems are you having with SET/TURN? Or have they 
>  been cleared up? It runs well for us. Let me know about specific 
>  problems, will be glad to take a stab at them...

I'm quoting your entire reply so that I can cc: BPCS-L.  We don't really have
any problems with Turnover itself, it's nice to be able to set up object type
codes of RPGB and DSPFB so that we can use the BPCS create utilities for
those programs that are not yet "AS/Setized" under 5.1.

We finally "pinned down" the occasional problems we were having under the old
version of SET/TURN when the new version was installed.  We are using the new
"environment" feature, and the product adds 5 (count 'em, FIVE!)  library
list entries to your job.  As we have SEVERAL third-party products installed,
as well as 4 promotion levels in each BPCS environment, we were (and still
are in some cases) running out of library list entries.  When the library
list gets full, SET/TURN will check out the native objects (RPG, DSPF, PRTF,
etc.) and will MARK the action diagram as being checked out; however, the
action diagram will not be copied to the "development" application set.  The
only way to fix this is to free up the library list, manually check back in
the native objects, and the check out the diagram again.  It's annoying, but
workable.

I wish that SoftLanding would consider the limited nature of the library
list, and come up with a way of cutting down their entries.  Otherwise, the
product works GREAT!

Regards,

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-Mail:  DAsmussen@AOL.COM

"A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be ANYWHERE
else." -- Len Wein
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