Re: Iseries Education and marketing -- MIDRANGE-L

Hi Guys, 

  I don't think the decision makers want to dig very deep. They are going to 
look at the the
situation from what they perceive is the correct data for a long term 
platform/erp strategy. They
will think because they cannot walk out to a local university and recruit an 
RPG programmer that
the system is dying.   I see this analysis as an argument to justify investing 
in a new platform.
They will probably also reason that older workers will demand better salaries 
than their younger
counter parts.  If you give managment an opportunity to build a case then the 
platform will get
dumped even though there is not really a valid business need.  Maybe this is a 
symptom of lack of
desire to generate value with existing tools? I guess utilizing existing tools 
is not as glamorous
as shiny new shrink wrap.   

 Vance

--- Booth Martin <booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> We had this discussion at the New England conference a couple of years. 
>   A comment was made about going to the back of the room at COMMON and 
> looking at the backs of the heads to see the "Graying of COMMON".
> 
> So, we went to the back of the room in Framingham and we looked for 
> ourselves.  That was NOT what we saw.  We discussed what we saw:  The 
> number of female heads of hair, the number of really young heads of 
> hair, the number of minorities, and the obvious interest of the audience.
> 
> We concluded that going to COMMON is a perk, awarded to the senior 
> staff; the regional meetings like Framingham are cheaper so the 
> companies send their junior staff, too.
> 
> Last night was the Dallas User Group.  I didn't count, but thinking 
> back, I'd guess half the attendees were under 35, maybe 40.  (I have 
> trouble telling ages)  But certainly the meeting was not a gathering of 
> the old folks.
> 
> 
> 
> steema@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> > They are totally correct about the age of experienced Iseries workers,
> > however, the opportunity exists for a programmer, say a VB person, to
> > learn RPG on the job.
> > 
> > More than once, I have seen a PC programmer we were working in express
> > interest in learning RPG.
> > 
> >   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
> >>
> >> --
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> >>
> > 
> 
> -- 
> -----------------------------------
> Booth Martin
> http://martinvt.com
> -----------------------------------
> -- 
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