RE: Thoughts on Enterprise Rent-a-car

I dont think its the sort of thing most companies brag about!

-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Kestenbaum [mailto:pike4@ix.netcom.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 5:21 AM
To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
Subject: Re: Thoughts on Enterprise Rent-a-car


I am curious as to one thing. A horror story such as this one, is never
publicized. I have a simialr one, I'm sure there are many. Why 
is this not
generally known?
Phil
----- Original Message -----
From: <booth@martinvt.com>
To: <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 3:20 PM
Subject: RE: Thoughts on Enterprise Rent-a-car


> A local firm went from a hard-fought for $450,000 Annual 
Capital budget to
> a new CIO and a $4,000,000 Capital budget for the first year 
and figures
> close to that each year thereafter.  One complicated interactive user
> application went from 3 minutes per transactions to 3 transactions per
> hour.
>
> But how do you show this to a star-struck management?
>
> _______________________
> Booth Martin
> Booth@MartinVT.com
> http://www.MartinVT.com
> _______________________
>
>
>
>
> "Art Tostaine, Jr." <Art@link400.com>
> Sent by: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
> 06/21/2000 09:32 AM
> Please respond to MIDRANGE-L
>
>
>         To:     <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
>         cc:
>         Subject:        RE: Thoughts on Enterprise Rent-a-car
>
> This is happening RIGHT NOW at a customer of mine.  All is true except
> they got sold before they got
> a new CIO.
>
> The CIO's goal was to get them on a more modern "NT" 
platform.  Before he
> was hired, and they were
> using my code on the 400, they had NO inhouse staff.  Just my 
consulting
> firm doing AS/400 and
> application support, and another guy running around hooking up PC's to
> talk to the 400 and run a UPS
> manifesting system (written by him in Paradox)
>
> The CIO gets hired to fix everything, now there are 9 people 
on staff, and
> not one new application
> rolled out by them in 2 years.
>
> They have a mighty slow TCP/IP WAN in place though.
>
> Art Tostaine, Jr.
> CCA, Inc.
> Jackson, NJ 08527
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
> [mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Wynn Osborne
> Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 12:13 AM
> To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject: Thoughts on Enterprise Rent-a-car
>
>
> Is it a new CIO? CEO? COO?
>
> In my somewhat limited time in this business, I've noticed 
the following
> trend several times. Maybe it applies here.
>
>
> A new dude is hired. The company thinks he's an operational 
God. His first
> words are, "No wonder this company's having problems. The 
computer system
> stinks!" "Damn, he's right.", utters the CEO. "Fix it!"
>
> The dude consumes a few years making a comfortable living, 
implements his
> bold new "5 year plan for turning the company around", fires 
a bunch of
> people, installs new hardware & software, receives that big 
bonus, orders
> new cherry wood furniture, and plays Mr. Politician for the 
remainder of
> his tenure.
>
> Then one day, the dude's current boss notices (usually at the end of a
> business cycle, e.g., a recession), "Damn these IT guys sure 
cost us a lot
> for damn little. We need a new CIO."
>
> Thus begins iteration 2. Iteration 2 happens without notice because
> Iteration 1 started so long ago that nobody on the payroll 
was around when
> iteration 1 began.
>
> The process repeats itself until either the company is bought 
by another
> company, or the company goes out of business.
>
> If the former occurs, the process again repeats itself, starting with
> iteration 1. Why iteration 1 and not, say iteration 10? 
Because any such
> iterations occurring before the company was sold are 
irrelevant, a.k.a.,
> "Those idiots couldn't do anything right. We'll do it the right way."
>
> If the latter occurs, the company had it coming anyway since 
the problem
> never was with the computer system to begin with---it was the 
way they ran
> the business.
>
> Quite simple really :-)
>
> Wynn
>
>
>
>
> At 01:49 AM 6/21/00 GMT, you wrote:
> >It has to be more than that.  Even AS/400 DASD is cheaper 
than throwing
> >out an installed system.
> >
> >What will the software be?  Is it to be a ERP package?  Some new
> >E-Application Suite that has been proven and tested for 15 
or 20 years?
> >_______________________
> >Booth Martin
> >Booth@MartinVT.com
> >http://www.MartinVT.com
> >_______________________
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >"R. Bruce Hoffman, Jr." <rbruceh@attglobal.net>
> >Sent by: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
> >06/20/2000 09:27 PM
> >Please respond to MIDRANGE-L
> >
> >
> >        To:     <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
> >        cc:
> >        Subject:        Re: Enterprise Rent-a-car
> >
> >CHEAP DASD.
> >
> >
> >
> >===========================================================
> >R. Bruce Hoffman, Jr.
> > -- IBM Certified AS/400 Professional System Administrator
> > -- IBM Certified AS/400 Professional Network Administrator
> > -- IBM Certified Specialist - AS/400 Administrator
> > -- IBM Certified Specialist - RPG IV Developer
> >
> >"If all you have is RPG, then everything looks like a 400!"
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Colin Williams <colin.williams@technocrats.co.uk>
> >To: 'MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com' <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
> >Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 10:51 AM
> >Subject: RE: Enterprise Rent-a-car
> >
> >
> >>But what do they think they will be able to do  on the RS/6000, that
> >>they can't currently do on the AS/400?
> >>
> >>-----Original Message-----
> >>From: Jim Oberholtzer [mailto:joberhol@compures.com]
> >>Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 2:28 PM
> >>To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> >>Subject: Re: Enterprise Rent-a-car
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Yup,  OUT with the 400 in with the 6000
> >>
> >>Why not?  IBM sells a boatload of new hardware, the AS/400 
becomes less
> >>viable by loosing its largest data center, and soon we can 
all go home,
> >>Sounds like IBM New York got exactly what it wanted thanks 
to the tragic
> >>box campaign.
> >>
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