Re: COMMON -- MIDRANGE-L

Janet, all,

I've been watching this little thread and after a bit of thought it
makes perfect business sense.

Let's say that IBM rebrands their Netfinity, RS/6000 and AS/400 into
something like eServer2k or AS/6000 or Netfinity/400 or whatever. The
real strength that IBM has had in the midrange market is partially due
to a loyal (vocal) user base.  Not to mention that the AS/400 is a rock
solid machine.  But you knew that ;)

Now, from my own personal experience as a former business partner some
of the folks at IBM are notorious for under sizing the machine to meet
the user's needs just to get in the door.  Once committed, the hook is
set and down the upgrade path you go.  It's no different than IBM
selling a 170 then announcing a new machine that leaves your 170 in the
back parking lot, 'cause you can't get there from where you're at.  You
have to buy a new machine.

This news is an expansion of that same tactic but IBM can use the newly
branded machine running *nix as bait.   Once in the door, as the
customer grows they will eventually hear: "You need to replace your
processor with a (whatever the AS/400 will be called by then)."

Those things that separate OS/400 from the other OS's will be the rung
on the evolutionary ladder that the smaller machines will may or may not
ever reach.

Who knows, maybe some day the PASE will fade away to where you can have
multiple cards in a box, one running NT/2000, one running AIX, one
running Linux, and another running OS/400 and if you opened up the box
you would find a tiny LAN/SAN.  Instead of having a 24 box NT farm, you
have a 24 cpu AS/400 box.

But whatever happens, it's a perfect opportunity to test Darwins theory
of adaptability ;-)




jkrueger@andrewscg.com wrote:
> 
> >> Hey,
> 
> >> Under the  "I just wanted to be the first to say it"   department
> 
> >> Who's going to the LAST(?)  AS/400 COMMON ??
> 
> >> John Carr
> 
> >> http://www.informationweek.com/797/ibm.htm
> <<... Sources say Gerstner and Palmisano have all but signed off on a plan
> to unify IBM's Netfinity,
> RS/6000, AS/400, and mainframe servers under a single brand by the fourth
> quarter.>>
> 
> What a depressing thought, John...  Even if the rebranding occurs, and IBM
> continues to fail at advertising what was the AS/400, won't there still be a
> midrange user community with a lot in common that would still want to continue
> meeting and learning from one another?  Surely the user community doesn't have
> to vanish even if the AS/400 ends up in a masquerade costume, does it???
> 
> I'll be in Baltimore, but I sure don't want it to be the last conference...
> 
> What does everyone else think???
>
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