[Fwd: Bring focus to AS/400 Marketing!!!]

Hi Folks !

An interesting note I found on the Ignite400 list !

Chuck

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• Subject: Bring focus to AS/400 Marketing!!!
• From: ign_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx(IGNITE400 MEMBERS LIST)
• Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 09:57:45 -0500
• Delivered-To: CLEWIS@IQUEST.NET

From: John Myers - MM <jmyersmm@sbsusa.com>

(This is a response to Bruce Hobbs posting of "A new beginning or the end 
of the AS/400?" concerning IBM's announcement concerning LINUX.)

I write this wearing several hats.  This includes being an IBM Stockholder, 
an AS/400-Internet-centric <http://www.sbsusa.com/>company President, a 
college professor teaching an <http://www.sbsusa.com/it107/>AS/400 course, 
and as a computing professional in the AS/400-System 38 zone since 
1980.  Hopefully those that know me know that I don't participate in the 
rants that fill the mainstream AS/400 lists.  You can make your own 
judgements about what I write.

<rant>

Quite frankly, 6 years ago, my company was distancing ourselves from the 
AS/400 because it was going down a path that made it look like the Apple 
Mac (extremely competent, but not, in any way, mainstream).  Today, we are 
more AS/400-centric than ever.  The difference is the emergence of the 
Internet and IBM's general philosophy shift 5 years ago to move towards 
emerging standards.

LINUX is simply a variant of UNIX.  For those of you that are not aware, 
you can already run AIX (IBM's UNIX) in the AS/400 internal PC 
processor.  IBM's support of either of these variants of UNIX has nothing 
to do with the fate of the AS/400.  Rather it has everything to do with 
providing server platform alternatives to M$ Windows servers.  IBM's 
classic business strategy (since the 1970's) has been to provide 
alternative computing (server) platforms that are optimized to the problem 
that you are trying to solve.  The LINUX announcement is simply a 
continuation of this strategy.

If I were President of the "AS/400 company", the first move that I would 
make is to bring focus to what the AS/400 is all about.  At present, there 
seems to be a flood of "buzzwords" coming from AS/400 middle management 
without any central coordination.  Folks that know me think that I know a 
lot about the IBM AS/400 & Internet.  Please excuse me, but I don't know 
what "WebSphere" is really all about.  Yes, Java is a very interesting 
programming concept, but without adequate bandwidth, it simply can't get 
the job done today.

The AS/400 is intended to make ordinary people extraordinary.  Ordinary 
people look for results today.  Unfortunately,  "Where do you want to go 
today?" is the marketing slogan of a $ignificant "Magic Box" competitor.

The problem is that too many people within IBM are trying to look smart, 
rather than taking the time to really educate the public about what 
differentiates the AS/400 from other servers.  Product differentiation is 
the soul of effective marketing for non-commodity products!  When consumers 
don't know or feel confident in what they are doing, they don't do 
anything!  This is why the AS/400 division isn't making its sales numbers.

The impact of this "AS/400 Corporation corporate culture" permeates the 
sales efforts.  AS/400 eBusiness certification currently requires a 
"superman" to qualify ... unfortunately the AS/400 is designed to make 
ordinary people extraordinary.  How may Business Partners have qualified 
under eBusiness ... I suspect not many!  In addition, I guarantee that my 
eBusiness customers haven't received any marketing exposures directly from 
IBM educating them what WebSphere is and how it will immediately benefit 
their organizations.

The end result of arrogance is failure!

The AS/400 should be a tool in the computing professional's toolchest.   It 
shouldn't be the only one or the subject of a religion.  My students come 
into my class without a clue about what "server based computing" or "large 
scale computing solutions" are.  They leave with the realization that there 
is more to the world than Windows and the ability to comprehend AS/400 
solutions.  Effective marketing would have them knowing the "AS/400 Story" 
prior to ever setting foot in my class.

The AS/400 CAN be the biggest early 21st Century success story in the 
computing universe.  It will not be, however, until the "President of the 
AS/400 Corporation" gets back to the basic "blocking & tackling" and 
clearly communicates the product differentiation story of the AS/400 to the 
marketplace!  This includes both the traditional benefits as well as the 
"eBusiness" benefits in a form that the average customer can understand and 
implement effectively TODAY.

There's an old joke about the {fill in the name of your favorite company} 
salesman that sits on the edge of the bed all night saying how great it 
will be & never consummates the marriage.  That's how I feel about what IBM 
has done with the AS/400 message.

</rant>

No disrespect intended, but I have a large vested interest in the success 
of the AS/400 in terms of the performance of both my IBM and my company's 
stock.  IBM'ers ... please pass the word up the chain that a least one IBM 
stockholder is unhappy with the treatment of a significant portion of the 
IBM Corporation.

Sincerely,


John Myers
IBM Certified Specialist - AS/400 Technical Solutions
Strategic Business Systems, Inc.
300 Lake Street, Suite B, Ramsey, NJ 07446  USA
E-mail: mailto:jmyers@sbsusa.com   Phone: +1 (201) EASY 400   x131
Web:    http://www.sbsusa.com      Fax:   +1 (201) 327-6984

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