RE: IBM technical conference (was Re: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO BRI NG NEWCUSTOMERS TO THE ISERIES?)

Recent experience has shown that, in some regards, IBM has not always hit
the target when porting features into OS400.  I don't lay blame, it's a
tough business to take a product and cram it full of new feature, and still
have it work flawlessly....  Netserver comes immediately to mind.
Introduced in V4R2(?), it has only recently (*IMO*) become stable enough to
be called "reliable", or up to OS400 standards.  

The point, I guess, is that most OS400 shops won't make the investment to
have an expert of their own to manage or maintain these software ports.
Services can be sold to iSeries customers, just as it can to zSeries and
pSeries customers.  IBM may even be banking on that...

Eric DeLong
Sally Beauty Company
MIS-Project Manager (BSG)
940-898-7863 or ext. 1863



-----Original Message-----
From: G Armour [mailto:garmour400m@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 10:38 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: IBM technical conference (was Re: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO
BRING NEWCUSTOMERS TO THE ISERIES?)


It's late, so I can't be held responsible for saying something stupid,
but...

I guess this just flies in the face of IBM's recent mantra of services,
services, services.  If these apps already exist for zSeries & pSeries,
why make an effort to port them to iSeries if it will eventually cut down
on non-iSeries services revenue?  Wouldn't IBM be happy to keep those apps
on service-demanding zSeries & pSeries?

It sounds like a great idea, though.  If they can get others to jump on
the iSeries bandwagon, I'm all for it.

It sounds like an invitation-only gig anyway, so...  (Al wasn't invited?)

So, let me ask you as an iSeries expert, what do you expect to get out of
it that will help you do your job or help your company?

GA

--- Jim Franz <franz400@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> If you are part of the crowd that thinks running RPGIII is fine, and
> have no
> interest in
> advanced, integrated applications, or portability between hardware
> platforms,
> then the conference in not for you.
> I started this part of the thread with an answer as to "what IBM is
> doing
> to bring more customers to the platform". The answer is that one thing
> they
> are doing
> is hosting a developers conference to show the new features to not only
> iSeries
> developers, but also z and pSeries. IBM is promoting the idea to port
> your
> zSeries
> or pSeries app to the iSeries, or just develop on the iSeries. And with
> more
> ISVs
> (independent software vendors) writing more code for iSeries, we will
> see
> more
> customers on the platform. IBM Partnerworld is for ISVs and Business
> Partners of all
> IBM platforms.
> Because as you stated, " To *support* iSeries in 2004, all one needs to
> do
> is code RPG-III"
> does nothing to bring new customers to the box, and is a major reason
> iSeries
> sales are slipping. Many in the current base are going nowhere with
> their
> applications.
> An upgrade every 5 years is not going to keep this platform going.
> jim


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