Re: IBM Spin Doctors on AS/400 Marketing

>Easy, easy now.  I don't think anyone of us is saying all management
>decisions are based on 'what you heard recently'.  I believe, as I think

You are wrong. The part of my post you clipped was a response from Dean
saying exactly that. 

>others do, that it occurs fairly often and way too much.  Now, given that
>a 'half a million AS/400 sales' has occured - could it have been much
>more?, is that proof of succesful marketing?, does it help moving forward?

It could have been more, it could have been less. I would call any $13
billion business a success. But that is a matter of perspective. Does it
help moving forward? I don't get the meaning of that question.

>The ads are there for Microsoft.  While they don't necessarily advertise
NT
>they don't need to (which I'm sure is one of your points).  Go check the
>advertisers index and look under Microsoft.......

Right! I do see the ads for Microsoft and their products. Some even for
NT. Now, what I saw here was complaints that IBM advertised IBM as a
solution provider instead of advertising the AS/400. 

This was astonishing to me as I had seen this same list berate IBM for
spending money advertising the new e models instead of spending the money
on something worthwhile. I noticed that IBM just awarded another $10
million to educational institutions yesterday. 

Basically, my feelings and statements were and are that I don't think
advertising the AS/400 is always money well spent. Car manufacturers don't
advertise engines and then when people show up for that 300 hp beauty sell
them the car it's in. I don't think it is any better for the AS/400. 

>My attitude towards management is probably a little bit more cynical than
>yours -
>but I think you give 'management' a lot more credit than they deserve.

That may be. I don't credit management with any super human intelligence,
just the same desire to do their job that I have to do mine. That doesn't
mean they'll get it right every time. 

>>Here's a harsh reality for you, Dean: 100% up time with no applications
>>isn't worth as much to upper management as 50% up time with one
>>application.
>>
>>10,000 applications they don't want < 1 they do.
>
>Speaking of no substance.  What point are you trying to make here?
>No applications?  I've heard of using extremes to prove a point but this
>seems a tad bit out of reach.
>
>10,000 vs 1?  And you're trying to say management is smart?
>
>Reality - 25,000+ AS/400 application, 3,000 C/S AS/400 applications.
>How many NT applications?  2,000?  I just did a product search for
>an AS/400 warehouse management system - I stopped at 50.
>All kinds too - green screen, C/S, java, etc.
>
>Now, hopefully these numbers will continue to increase because survival
>will be impacted.  I think we are agreed on this.

Obviously, you completely missed the point. It doesn't matter if there are
100,000 applications on the AS/400 if nobody wants them. 10,000
applications you don't want is less than one you do. Do you mean to tell
me that if you walk into a computer store, and the guy behind the counter
shows you that there are 10,000 applications that don't have anything to
do with you at all running on machine x, and the app you want is running
on machine y, you would buy machine x? Say that with a straight face.

Now, let's see how this relates to reality. You are Bob, the manager of a
branch of a national company. Each day you pick up a periodical concerning
widget sales, since that is the nature of your business, and you read
through the articles and ads. Once in a while, you find an exciting
article about a software package that will help you to improve sales or
reduce losses, or some other feature that improves the bottom line. When
you find one of those packages, you want to install it and improve your
business. You call central MIS and ask to implement these programs since
they mean more money for the company. You are told, "No! We use AS/400s,
that is NT. You can't run it." After this happens 20 or 30 times, you
start to feel that running AS/400s is costing the company money. 

Then, to top it off, even though you hate giving up the new flashy GUI
screens you ask if it is possible to gain some of the functions you want
by buying an AS/400 version. You fight for months to get MIS to spare the
manpower (because AS/400 guys are hard to come by) to research a package,
or a modification to an existing package, or whatever. The report comes
back that the mods you asked for can be implemented on an enterprise basis
for $500,000. 

Now, Bob is pissed. He thinks MIS is screwing the company because the NT
app could be implemented for a few grand and he can't get the functions he
wants because MIS says it costs a fortune. As a result, your profits are
lower, so your pay is lower, so your bonuses are lower. 

In truth, if MIS was to also research the NT implementation on an
enterprise basis it would probably cost just as much or more. The ad
didn't mention that. But how often does Bob get such an in depth
appraisal? Especially when Bob is likely to state, "I don't want it
enterprise wide, I just want to spend a few grand here in my area to
implement it." 

But this is the 10000 vs 1. Bob doesn't give a damn about the 10,000
applications he hasn't heard about. He cares about the one he has heard
about that will make him money. If you want him to care at all about those
10,000 applications, then someone should tell him about them.

>No one has ever indicated that alternatives should not be explored.
>Competition is good, assuming it's based on a rational thought process and
>not the in-flight magazine syndrome or some similar malady.

Yes, Dean indicated that the idiot management he had to deal with forced
him to report on alternative choices. He stated it in a fashion that
indicated it was the very act of considering alternate implementations
that made management foolish.

>Articles are the form of advertising most noticeable - not the only.
>Zillion articles
>on NT applications?  That means about 1 billion articles per existing NT
>application doesn't it?

Don't bitch at me about it. I know that NT doesn't have nearly as many
native applications as the AS/400. I am not at all pleased with the way
the AS/400 is treated in the press. It is constantly ignored.

>A lot?  What's a lot?  No new AS/400 apps?  Peoplesoft, SAP, Notes,
>Accountmate?

A lot: More than one new application every day for the last four years. I
did not say that there were no new applications for the AS/400. What I
stated was that the new applications for the AS/400 would stop unless IBM
did something about it. 

>Why does IBM have to do something about new applications?  Maybe we have
>stupid management at the software development houses?  Let's see, do I
>write
>apps for the most overhyped OS that lacks stability, integration,
>scalability, and is
>expensive for customers to operate or should we write to the most under
>hyped
>OS that has stability, integration, scalabillity?   Oh it's no big deal,
>the overhyped
>will get all those things in the future.  Besides, who said following the
>lemmings
>was bad?

> Who's stupid here?

Hmm, I would guess the stupid guy would be the one spending millions to
develop an application he won't be able to sell. 

If you want him to develop for the AS/400, then you need to change that
perception. Show him how his product will sell, how he will be able to
find developers at a reasonable cost, how development tools will reduce
his costs and be plentiful, and that he will have a long future of
hardware platform installs to insure a future customer base. 

But calling him stupid because he goes where the money is just shows you
don't know why he's in business in the first place.

>I would have to say that you and I can agree to disagree on this subject
>:-)
>At this point I think I will refrain from responding in the future so as
to
>avoid
>the infinite response syndrome and prove that I don't have to have the
last
>word
>as my wife thinks.  And potentially a nasty note from David.  I have
>enjoyed the
>iscussion.

Well, uh, I guess so long! I don't know that I would have skipped replying
if I had read this first, so what they hey. 



Chris Rehm
Mr.AS400@ibm.net
You have to ask yourself, "How often can I afford to be unexpectedly out of 
business?" 
Get an AS/400.
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