Iseries Education and marketing

[Vance Stanley <w_vance_stanley@xxxxxxxxx>]

 Guys,

  I just had a conversation with my supervisor for about an hour regarding the 
future of the
Iseries with our company. One of the sticking points that upper management is 
using (to justify
phasing the platform out) is the "greying" of the Iseries workforce. There has 
been discussions
about this on this board but, I thought I would just throw this in as just more 
fodder. 
Amazingly, they all agree on  what a great platform it is. They can't complain 
about its cost.
But, I guess any reason is as good as another.   I really think if IBM wants to 
insure the
survival of this platform they will consider dropping some freebie systems off 
at some colleges
(give aways are great for marketing. Just ask Microsoft). They need to do more 
marketing to show
that they are educating a new line of developers (not just in Asia) but, here 
where there will be
exposure.  Otherwise, the perceptions of the MBA's of the future will always be 
tainted against
the platform. 

 Anyway, just my two cents. 

 Vance