Re: Help me Justify iSeries

[Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 5/26/05, ron_adams@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <ron_adams@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> My boss has the impression that running on the iSeries/AS400 is more
> costly than a Wintel platform with something like Oracle or SQL Server.
> 
> I'm a staunch supporter of the iSeries, however, my boss who came from a
> Microsoft environment seems to think its so much more expensive to stay on
> the iSeries due to hardware and software costs. How can I convince him
> that this where our business needs to be? Or, has the time come to give up
> the fight?

Ron,

If your boss was coming from a Linux/PHP/Java background you have a
strong case to make for the iSeries. That is the environment that IBM
is focusing all of its resources on and the iSeries has an important
role to play in that arena.   The fact that your boss came to your
organization with a Windows background tells me your shop has a lot of
Windows to it.  If so, then you have to watch out for yourself because
by pushing the iSeries you will be advocating a use of that system
that IBM does not emphasize anymore.  The iSeries has a place in a
Windows centric environment, but that place is not in the center of
the organization.  Commenting blindly, the demand for your services at
this company, other than supporting the legacy apps, is in knowing how
the .NET applications can access the applications on the iSeries.

-Steve

> 
> BTW: the scale-tipping factor was the high cost of a backup machine for
> D-R purposes. We're looking at about $20K to buy a new low-end 520 with
> V5R3 and enough DASD to put in another location as a hot-site. The
> production machine is an Enterprise Class 520 that we purchased in Sept of
> last year. The total cost including all of our software licenses was
> around $200K.  I hate to say it, but I think he may be right. I agree that
> iSeries is a stable and secure platfor that is highly capable of running
> our business, but unfortunately, they're only looking at the bottom line.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ron Adams
> --
> This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list
> To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
> visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
> or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
> at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
> 
>