Re: Happy Birthday ! -- MIDRANGE-L

Don,

In a message dated 98-06-23 08:02:10 EDT, you write:

<<Mucho snippero everywhereo, to go with those "blender drinks" ;-)>>
> Face it, the trend and paradyms are a bit scary and nebulous....  FACT:
>  IBM's lost the desktop;

Can't argue that one.

>  FACT:  IBM's lost the server arena (they should have bought Netware back
years
>  ago!)

Why?  Someone up there was probably smart enough to realize that "Big Blue"
would do an even better job of letting the product stagnate than Novell has
done.  IBM wasn't ready for the kind of open relationship it gave Lotus when
NetWare for SAA was negotiated.  I applaud IBM for having the courage to _NOT_
buy Novell, given their corporate culture at the time.

> ; Evolving fact: software for the 400
>  is more and more being farmed out to 3rd/4th parties(aka, "business
>  partners/VAR/VAD/IR...name dujour") some of which can't do a proper config
>  of a 400 to save their collective butts!  And IBM still refuses to
>  properly police their VARs for technical quality...and the perception of
>  IBM by the populace is based on the VAR...NOT the good folks in
>  Roch/Toronto/Welsley/Boulder/Almaden...etc...  Attempting to use
>  "certification" to ameliate this isn't going to work...this market just
>  doen't put that much stock in certs.   FACT:  When you call your
>  local IBM'er you v.likely to hear "you're not a big enough account, go
>  call a VAR..." as your reply.  I don't know you folks but this doesn't
>  give me warm fuzzies at nite!

Ooooooh, and a _YES_ to that.  Even when IBM does system configuration itself,
_their own people_ are rather "hit or miss" as to what kind of quality you
get.  Just last month I kept telling a client that they had too much memory in
the machine pool, yet IBM kept telling them that it was fine.  Even after
pointing out the passage in the "Work Management Guide" that states
(paraphrasing) "If machine pool faulting is too low (below .4) it may cause
degradation of other subsystems", their IBM rep said that it was fine.
Meanwhile, the other pools are faulting like crazy despite a plethora of
memory and DASD arms.  I'm almost to the point of saying "If you can't get
John Sears or Frank Soltis in person, don't waste your money on IBM system
management services.".

VAR certification has been a big gripe of mine since the /400 was announced.
Nobody reads certs because IBM sent them to this company and they mistakenly
assume that the company is qualified to do what they want.  I'm reminded of
the AS/400 VARs that handled Eastern NC when the /400 first shipped.  It's
absolutely amazing to me that there are even any AS/400's remaining in the
area.  Almost all I encounter are poorly configured, tuned, and running S/36E
programs that aren't suited to the customer's business.  I actually had a
retail client with 19 stores running S/36 software that was originally written
for a _POTATO FARM_.  Instead of Al Barsa, Eastern NC got Al Bundy -- and I'll
bet that there are plenty of regions in similar shape.

>  SO, why am I concerned? Frankly, I'm concerned about a infrastucture
>  fragmentation...and what it could mean to my group and my clients...
>  IBM appears to be positioning themselves much more as market follower than
>  ever before.....and I REALLY don't like the idea of who they're
>  following...cuz by the time I hear of Windows/400 I hope like heck I'm
>  sitting on a beach burning out blenders and getting some major league eye
>  strain...:)

And I don't understand this.  They're still crankin' out the patents better
than everyone in the world, but seem reluctant to take advantage of them.
It's still "The _MARKETING_ IBM", and I still think the next button should
read "Mega-Dittos Al!"!

>  ...but that's just my opinion...I could be wrong...:)

Not that I can see.  Just save me a spot on the beach, I'll provide my own
blenders...

Thanks!

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

"Be like a postage stamp -- stick to one thing until you get there." --
Margaret Carty
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