RE: OpenSource version of WebFacing (was: alternative to WebFacing) -- MIDRANGE-L

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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
[mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Joe Pluta
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 10:06 PM
To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
Subject: RE: OpenSource version of WebFacing (was: alternative to
WebFacing)


>> Joe, I'm assuming you're modestly referring to yourself.  Either way, I
wonder if that committee was even in the same league as the individual was?

Nope.  Not even close.  I'm a systems architect, and I think I've got a
breadth of experience that makes me very good at that particular niche.
Running a company with 9-figure sales is a bit above my talents.

>>> Aw, you're being overly modest now.  Plenty of people, myself included,
have given Mr. Gerstner advice on how to run his company with 12-digit
sales...:)  My as well set your sites high...ROFL


Roger
Covey ran SSA, with about as iron a fist as I've ever seen.  And while he
was CEO, the company flourished, growing about 50% a year, IIRC.  When he
turned the reins over to a team of supposed experts, they immediately
decided the AS/400 was a dead end, all future profits were in the new Unix
market, and all code was to be rewritten to use SQL.  The company went
bankrupt within a few years of that decision.

>>> Sad... but interesting.  In their defense, most of the ERP ISVs have
gone that same direction.  Mr. McVaney (the Edward of J.D.E.) sounded a
positive note on the iSeries lately, but they and Lawson and seems like most
others decided not to concentrate on their roots in the 400 arena, for
whatever reason.  Maybe that'll change, but too late for SSA.

>>> But I'm not sure if the SSA example shows the value of having an
iron-fisted autocrat.  Or whether it shows that committees aren't
necessarily going to make up for a lack of brain-power.

>>> I almost hate to admit, but Bob C. made a good observation that most of
the dominant companies in the industry are run by a single, iron-fisted
ruler.  Hard to argue with Gates, McNealy, Ellison and Linus.  However,
nobody can deny the concept of synergy, and nobody can look down at what
Intel's accomplished.

>>> So it's theoretically possible that three strong individuals can combine
to form a force as strong as one iron-fisted ruler.  What I hope to do is
write up an organizational structure that, as much as is possible, provides
a framework that allows this to happen.  Still the individuals, the leaders
and those that follow, have to make the right decisions.  No framework is
going to do that for them.

jt

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