RE: Fast400 Value to iSeries community is less than zero -- MIDRANGE-L

Nathan, Chris

Nathan, I hope your prediction is wrong, but it wouldn't surprise me either.
OTOH, all things change with time.  Eventually IBM will do away with the
governor altogether.  Either because:
a) The platform has lost so many of it's green-screen customers to
ever-improving competition.
b) The platform disappears because it's not profitable enough.
c) IBM re-structures it's pricing to make the profits elsewhere.
d) Other.

Playing the odds, I predict option d).


I'm sort of losing the drift of the end of this post.  I don't completely
understand your POS software, Chris, and I think Nathan's asking why your
POS software would become more expensive, if the governor was software
instead of hardware.  I'm not sure I understand that one, Chris.  But I'm
not sure that's what's being said, either.


I think most reasonable people would agree that a 400 that makes a profit is
a good thing.  There are certainly better and worse methods of making that
profit.  I think most everyone will agree that a governor is a pretty ODD
way of making a profit, if they can't agree on anything else.


But I think Chris summed it up best when he stated what it would take to
accomplish option c) above:  "Now, if the iSeries is as profitable as it has
been in the past, then there might be room for IBM to reduce costs and still
be making as good a margin as they do in other areas. I think it is good for
user's groups and customers to keep pressure on IBM to do this. But I don't
know how to determine what the profitability of this area is within IBM."
I'm not certain that IBM knows how to determine that profitability
either...;-)

IBM execs have researchers who I'm sure are scanning this list, among a lot
of other things.  So this list is putting /some/ pressure on IBM.  User
groups and customers and vendors could also organize efforts to convert
their passion for the iSeries into increased sales volumes of the system, so
as to make up some of the difference in margin.


I gotta say one thing:  I don't think it's the customer's responsibility to
*determine* IBM's profitability, nor is that likely to happen in anybody's
lifetime.  The customers don't have to cough up the cash if the iSeries hits
a slump and starts losing money, as I'm sure it's done in the past and will
do again in the future.

Since it "ain't a happ'nin thing", I don't see many alternatives for user
groups and customers to pursue, other than Chris' approach above..  That are
feasible anyway...  Other than voting with their preferences using the
time-honored approach:  with their purchasing power.  Businesses are
essentially voting in favor of the governor, as long as they stick with
green-screen programming.

JMHO.

jt




> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-l-admin@midrange.com
> [mailto:midrange-l-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Nathan M. Andelin
> Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2001 7:09 PM
> To: midrange-l@midrange.com
> Subject: Re: Fast400 Value to iSeries community is less than zero
>
>
> From: "Chris Rehm" <javadisciple@earthlink.net>
> > If IBM has been using such means to maintain a profit and
> > they can no longer use those means, what will they do?
> > Will they decide that they've lost the battle and now they
> > just have to go ahead and sell their products at lower prices
> > regardless of their profit or loss? Will they just find some
> > other way of protecting their margin? Will they just
> > discontinue the line of (without artificial protection) less
> > profitable hardware?
>
> I suggest that IBM get rid of its cycle burning governor, and ask a price
> for a 5250 license.  My prediction, however, is that Rochester will close
> the loophole that Tiger Tools discovered, and continue business as normal.
>
> > Is it worth it to your customers to modify the system in order
> > to beat IBM out of some revenue if this threatens the future
> > viability of the platform?
>
> Maybe I haven't been clear.  I don't want customers to screw IBM.  I don't
> want IBM to lose money.  I don't think Tiger Tools is a good solution.  I
> hope nobody buys their product.
>
> On the other hand, I'd like IBM to remove the governor, and sell
> Interactive
> Features as software.  You seem to be saying that a cycle burning
> interactive governor is good for IBM.  I disagree.  I think artificial,
> contrived stuff like this alienates IBM from its customers and
> hurts IBM in
> competitive situations.
>
> > Well, I know that I've written some code that this would
> > kick off the iSeries. Just because I know I like to use the
> > 5250 screen (its easy to code to) and remove the heavy
> > labor to server jobs. So I have some POS stuff that would
> > become a lot more expensive. Right now, those screens sit
> > around waiting for a sale most of the time.
>
> Two points.  5250 workload is not a constant.  Sometimes it's 100%.
> Sometimes it's 0%.  Companies must buy according to peak demand,
> even though
> usage between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. may average 3%.  A session
> license is
> not much different.  Having the service available, when you needed it, is
> what counts.  Secondly, its usually pretty easy to convert POS
> stuff to use
> a data queue, socket, or BSC interface.
>
>
> Nathan M. Andelin
> www.relational-data.com
>
>
>
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