Re: Fast400 Value to iSeries community is less than zero

[Evan Harris <spanner@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark,

>At 11/10/01 09:14 AM +1300, you wrote:
>>CFINT is merely IBM's way of saying "if you choose to do things in the
>>traditional old-fashioned way, I'm gonna reap the maximum benefit".
>
>  I think that that's a "dirty trick"!  How would you feel if, when you
>decided to add another module to your primary software package (remember
>that you are paying for the new software), the vendor said that you now had
>to pay a new premium for your existing software!!!  This is how /400
>customers view the tax.

Normally I would expect to pay to use a new module :) I'm not sure I quite
grasped what you were getting at here to be honest.

To extend your analogy somewhat, I see it more as a situation where the
vendor delivers a software package which I know contains all the modules
available to the package *but* I am only paying for some of the modules.
I/we are then crying foul when we can't use the other modules that are there.

This is complicated somewhat by the fact that instead of just making the
modules unavailable, the performance of the whole package suffers when I
try and use the modules I have not paid for.

This is because the CFINT mechanism which probably looked very elegant
mathematically to someone is extremely crude in its effect and application
in real life.

>>Whether we agree with this or not, we do have the option of re-engineering
>>our architecture - it's a question of whether we choose to invest in R&D
>>for our applications (and thereby get  out from under the so called "tax"
>>or shell out for hardware and stay stuck with it.
>
>  The legal, moral, business arguments can go on forever, but the bottom
>line for future sales is perception.  If the customer base feels cheated in
>any way, then sales will suffer.
>
>  -mark

Agreed. The clumsy mechanism IBM has chosen to simulate different hardware
capacities creates a very negative perception. Sales and therefore
perception are important to all of us who hope to profit from continued
iSeries market presence.

If nothing else IBM has a PR job on its hands to fix the negative
impression its governor creates.

Regards
Evan Harris