RE: iSeries vs. Unix vs. SQL Server vs. Oracle -- MIDRANGE-L

a 75% reduction in staff? wow!! that is really pretty good, eh? 
 
One question: can they give you the phone number of some place that has laid
off 3 out of 4 of their MIS Staff? If yes, that is really a great solution.
If not... gee, what else have they gotten wrong?
 
One other thought: The firms that have laid off 75 % of their MIS staff...
Has their staff in the operating departments gone up by more bodies than the
MIS staff went down? Did they get their 75% cut in MIS staff by pushing all
of the work out to the departments? 
 
I've heard responses like this before: "Of course there's more people in the
departments now. They're doing the work in Excel where it should have been
done all along." Discussions of accuracy and integrity include comments
like: "Of course there is no way check the results of the spreadsheet. Its
way too complicated. That is why we have to be really really careful." Then
there is my all time favorite "Now that we've switched over every department
has become profitable. Now we can focus on getting the company to turn a
profit." 
 
About the statement that if Microsoft makes it, it must be good... Thats the
case for anyone in the business. IBM is no slouch, either.
 
---------------------------------------------------------
Booth Martin http://www.MartinVT.com
Booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx
---------------------------------------------------------
 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Date: Monday, August 04, 2003 11:46:09 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: iSeries vs. Unix vs. SQL Server vs. Oracle
 
<homer simpson voice>
 
Ahhh look at the shiny object! ::drool:: ::drool::
 
-----Original Message-----
From: David Wright [mailto:dwright@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 12:33 PM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: iSeries vs. Unix vs. SQL Server vs. Oracle
 
 
A few more details about my situation:
 
The packages:
1) SQL Server-Based - This is NOT the best fit for the business in terms of
functionality. It is the front runner, but only because it's gui is more
attractive. And the fact that the salespeople have promised a couple of
things: 75% reduction in MIS expenses/staff, and a 100% match to our
business now & in the future. This is all sales crap, but the GUI has a few
key people convinced. This package does not even have it's own Accounting...
It relies on MS's Solomon Acct, and our CFO has been quoted as saying 'If it
is made by Microsoft, it must be good'...
 
2) iSeries-based - Best fit functionally, and comes with complete source
code (to ensure a fit as needs change in the future. Salespeople were not
flashy, and did not promise the world to everyone. I have a few people
convinced this is the way to go, but our CFO does not like the AS/400
look/feel... This package has 20-30 clients in our business, the SQL Server
package has only 1.
 
Our business:
* We are a small/medium company in the footwear industry with 50-75 users
* Prior to our current ERP package, the company had one package which the
heavily modified for 15+ years
* We are a privately held company with a VERY entrepreneurial atmosphere
* We have had an iSeries for 3+ years now, and my staff are all iSeries pros
* We do have an NT network, but rely on it purely for Exchange and
print/file services
* We do not have SQL Server, but are considering it for our web server
 
My key challenge will be to get past the 'Microsoft makes it good' and 'it's
pretty so it must be efficient' attitudes of a couple of people.
 
The emails so far have helped, and I will continue to search for
case-studies/documents/etc to help support by reliability/scalability claims
..
 
Thanks again,
David