Re: Staying Current

From Al Macintyre

> Subj:  Staying Current
>  From:    mcdonald_sb@willis.com
>  
>  I have been working with the 400 for 6 years and think it is a great 
system.
>  IBM has created a stable environment when everything else has been going 
up 
> and down.

I have been working with the 400, & the systems that IBM had before the 400, 
since the early 1960's & the trend line has been consistent ... a stable 
environment in which IBM does not give us what the computer market place has 
had for a while, until IBM can get us a stable reliable version of it.  Some 
users will hollar that they want this or that & why can't they get it NOW 
with our IBM platform, but there just is no comparison to the competition on 
topics such as up time, recovery from the rare disaster, security, 
compatibility across versions, ease of hotkeying between totally different 
environments, real cost of long term operations (purchase cost is higher ... 
IBM needs to find some way to penetrate that market barrier so the idiots who 
buy garbage because it is low priced can be exposed to the different universe 
of IBM), and ease of interconnecting with non-IBM stuff.  It just gets better 
& better.

But IBM business practices are being beaten down by the influx of top 
management that learned what is normal from the non-IBM world.

>  My question is with all the new changes to the 400 
> (If that is even what it will be called in the future) 
> how do determine which way to go to stay current.  

Your question assmes that someone can get current in the first place - I 
think it is more important to be competent in what your company has 
installed, at perhaps the Jedi Knight level, and generally familiar with the 
new stuff available that you have not installed, at just a mite more 
knowlegeable level than you expect of CNN anchor persons.

This has been going on with great intensity since before you became a 400 
guru, and I suspect the trend will just intensify.  Lots of stuff will become 
HOT & get lots of trade press coverage ... but will it last ... the history 
of computers is littered with topics that are DEAD DEAD DEAD abandoned now, 
but were HOT for a few short years.  You do not need the same level of 
competence for each new buzz-concept that might be dead in a few years than 
you do for what you have already invested in.

Depending on what corporate management will permit & depending on what 
educational methods are found to be most comfortable to different people who 
need continuing education (different methods work best with different 
people), I suggest a spectrum of 

subscribe to some quality 400 technical publications, starting with News/400
http://www.as400network.com

I have about 75 back issues in my cubicle & not a month goes by without me 
referring to some article relevant to what I am working on ... one co-worker 
has about 15 in his office with articles on topics he is very into ... and we 
constantly raid each other's collections, even though mine is bigger than 
everyone else's combined.  During our Y2K conversion, when we had an in-house 
class for 10 department managers & power users in Query/400, I set aside a 
separate collection of issues in the past 3 years with contemporary tips on 
using Query, and I had daily visitors in my cubicle, browsing them & 
borrowing from that collection.  Those folks produced some very sophisticated 
Query products.

Get away to some user conferences - COMMON, IBM, local
Encourage diversity of attendees from your firm.  
I think that if you have a staffer who has been with the firm for a couple of 
years, they should get to go to COMMON or IBM school, then get to go again 
every 3-4 years to the conferences, and several times a year to IBM school (I 
have the education card)..
COMMON moves around the country - get the calendar of when it will be closest 
to your territory & plan for several people from your company to attend 
whichever ones will be most economical for you in travel time cost etc.

I always try to use Bed & Breakfast when I go to Common ... think $40-50 per 
nite downtown (much less in the suburbs) as compared to the Hotel $200-500 
per nite.  Money saved here is money that can be spent on books from 
News/400, education on CD Rom, audio tapes, more often trips to future 
education.  Distance from conference site is critical to maximize awake time 
there.  The best was Chicago - just one HUGE city block away, within walking 
distance.  The worst was Dallas - 1 hour commute one way.

IBM School tends to be in the suburbs of major cities where the hotel prices 
are typically significantly below $100 for one nite & have "free" meals for 
breakfast & supper, with restaurants all around the schools.  I have tried 
driving, walking, bus, taxi & am able to maximize education at minimum 
expenditures.  This also gets me into good habits for the occasional 
education out of my own wallet.

IBM education has a great chart of "What do you need to get competent in" .. 
here are the classes you need to take
http://www.training.ibm.com/ibmedu/spotlight/as400.html

There are places that have taken the standard IBM classes & souped them up
All the trade publications have seminars & classes like the IBM stuff

> I have worked in basically smaller shops to keep from getting confined to 
just
>  doing one thing on the 400.  But I have reading about the changes (That 
> change from week to week) for the 400 and am confused as to 
> where I need to point my people for further education.

An excellent topic for a discussion.

>  As they say this is a managers nightmare.  
>  As we are responsible for keeping 
>  the system and staff semi current.
>  
>  Any Ideas would be appreciated
>  
>  I know this is going to be an personal opinion type of question 
> so if you wish
>  to respond to my direct account and take it off line that would be fine.
>  
>  Thanks in Advance
>  
>  Steve

Feel free to contact me on this outside_L since I can get more long winded on 
topics I am enthusiastically interested in than the style of the _L really 
desires.

Al Macintyre  ©¿©
http://www.cen-elec.com MIS Manager Programmer & Computer Janitor
When in doubt, read the manual, assuming you can find the right one.
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