Re: What About Price vs. Performance?

You know how when you're watching a movie and it really makes you feel 
patriotic? Well, reading 
Joe's reply gave me a proud feeling and the urge to salute. Good answer, Joe.

Jeff

---- MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com wrote:
> Nathan, I have heard this particular point raised by dozens of people, and 
>the answer is always 
the same: TCO vs. initial price.
> 
> You keep saying you want answers to counterbalance the PERCEIVED 
>price/performance benefit 
of Intel.  So, what do you want?  Do you want someone to say that the AS/400 is 
cheaper than the 
Intel box?  Well, it's not and won't be.  Ever.  Just like Wintel is more 
expensive than Linux.  If I go to 
Linux, I can throw together a 1GHz, 1GB machine with 80GB of fast disk for 
about $1000.  This 
machine will absolutely scream for web application serving, by far beating the 
pants off of anything 
else you can get for a grand.  So anyone who says Wintel is the right answer 
should REALLY be 
looking at Linux.
> 
> So why don't we move all of our applications to Linux?  Well, because Linux 
>is harder to maintain 
and doesn't scale nicely and doesn't have all the wonderful development tools 
I'm used to on the 
AS/400 for building large-scale business applications.  Try to write a working 
business application 
in C++ that accesses customer data, tracks promotions and deals, provides 
picking and ship 
confirmation from lot numbers, supports government licensing (such as FDA), 
projects 
requirements, manages your warehouse, prints orders and pick lists with bar 
coding, accepts 
payments of all types, handles dunning, supports RMAs, performs currency 
translations, provides 
online inquiries into historical data going back for years, and integrates with 
a multi-company, 
multi-currency general ledger.
> 
> Ain't gonna do it.  You're not going to do it in Visual Basic, either.
> 
> So, if you don't, and won't ever, need the trappings of an enterprise 
>business application, maybe 
you don't need an AS/400.  Unless you need things like a single-tape backup, 
24/7 operation, easy 
to use menuing systems, 99.9% uptime, and integrated web and email serving all 
on a single 
machine.  A machine that has regular OS upgrades that don't break your existing 
applications and 
can usually be done overnight without a whole lot of technical knowledge.  Oh, 
and did I mention the 
fact that the AS/400 has never had a native virus?  And that it runs COBOL and 
RPG, two of the best 
languages for writing business applications?  With a native database?  And it 
supports Java 
natively?  And SQL?  And can act as your central server, not just for email, 
but for printing and file 
serving as your company grows?
> 
> But it costs more than a Wintel box.  Yes indeed.  But you get what you pay 
>for.  And if you can't sell 
that, then you need to learn Linux, because that's how you can hook the bottom 
feeders.  A nice 
Linux box for web serving, a Wintel desktop and Microsoft Office for all those 
pesky back-end needs, 
and a 24/7 pager link to the consultant.
> 
> Joe
> 
> ---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
> From: "Nathan M. Andelin" <nathanma@haaga.com>
> Reply-To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 11:40:27 -0600
> 
> >In my opinion, the appropriate place for Windows is on the desktop.  The
> appropriate place for OS/400 is for hosting database applications, Web and
> otherwise.   One of the obsticles, is this issue of price vs. performance.
> The true cost of ownership argument makes sense to me, but that kind of
> thing is hard to define.  Price and performance are real easy to understand.
> 
> Microsoft, and others are doing a good job of spreading the message that PCs
> handle large volumes of transactions, cost less, and can be deployed in
> farms.  People get the impression that a server is a simple commodity.  If
> it fails, just get another one and plug it into the rack.
> 
> In raising this thread, I've been looking for answers to counter-balance the
> price vs. performance advantage offered by Intel.  Thanks to those who have
> answered.  Hopefully, more will respond.
> 
> Nathan.
> 
> 
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