Re: AS/400 History

["Rick Baird" <rbbaird@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

boothm@ibm.net wrote:
> 
> Hey, I saw one in the Boston Globe this week.  Big ad, major money.  Gosh
> what'll IBM do if they start getting serious orders for these machines?

> >BTW, was I stoned or did I actually see a REAL AS/400 advert in Business
> >Week this week????

Y'all shouldn't be too suprised, (or maybe you should!!).

According to one of the side bar articles with that pro-as/400
computerworld piece that everyone was talking about, the as/400 group
is planning a marketing blitz (a blitz compared with previous as/400
marketing).  

Well it's about time!  

Rick

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/98071359F2

Users to IBM: Focus on marketing
by Jaikumar Vijayan

If IBM has earned kudos from users for building a reliable box in the
AS/400, those same customers have also slammed the company for
allegedly failing to promote the product aggressively. 

Users of the platform argue that the box's proprietary past combined
with IBM's failure to communicate its present strengths have pushed
the AS/400 down the priority list for software vendors and IS
managers. 

Tom Jerash, recently appointed general manager of IBM's AS/400 group,
acknowledged the concerns and said addressing them was his No. 1
priority. 

"The AS/400 is a growth server for IBM. We are planning for it, and we
are investing in it appropriately," he said. IBM will spend "several
millions of dollars" in a global publicity blitz in September,
including new ad campaigns, customer seminars and direct-mail
campaigns, Jerash said. -- Jaikumar Vijayan
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