RE: Native GUI (was Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch) -- MIDRANGE-L

.. please see my earlier e-mail about network downtime.


Proper infrastructure is a requirement regardless of your topology.  A
little redundancy, some commercial-grade gear, and a decent networking
staff goes a long way.  Besides, while Twinax controllers, powered star
panels, and so on are reliable they are not immune to failure.  And when
they do fail they require vendor support or people with more specialized
knowledge to affect a repair.

Why cannot the old mingle with the new?


Because someone has to pay to support it.  Sure, the cost of supporting
a pure-dumb tube environment may be less but who has a pure environment?

I don't know how your company is but in many companies the job of the
help desk is extraordinarily complex.  The app and hardware support
matrix is insane.  Simplifying the mix enables the help desk to provide
better (faster and more accurate) support.  It also reduces their
training requirements (as well as the training requirements for the
users).

Also, hiring decent admins/technicians is harder and more expensive when
your hardware is proprietary or has limited market penetration.  I know
I'm paid more than the average Windows admin even though I only have 2
machines to administer compared to the industry average of n Windows
servers/admin.

Personally, I'd rather my company's IT budget go to the bonus pool than
to supporting yet another hardware platform.


I'll add that while deploying a tube in a distribution warehouse might
make sense, when you decide you want to deliver employee communications
via email and employee manuals via PDF you'll wind up with something on
the desktop that runs a browser.  So you'll either have a crowded
desktop or you'll replace the tube with a PC or other browser-equipped
device.

Here, we do most all of our communications via email & intranet.  90+%
of our applications are delivered via browser.  Want to enter time in
the payroll system?  Browser.  View your paycheck history, update your
benefits & beneficiary info, do your mid-year and annual review, look up
the holiday schedule, change your direct deposit info, file an expense
report, and downloading a medical claim form are all things we do via
browser today.  By web-delivering these items, we provide the employee
with a lot of self-service capabilities that ultimately reduce our costs
and improve service delivery.  Sure, some of that can be done via tube
but not all.

They and the majority of people using computers just want to be able

to do their job. 

Agreed.  And a browser is generally already familiar to people.  They
come to the job knowing how to point and click.  Sure, they still need
application training, but at least they already understand the bulk of
the UI and the hardware they'll be using.

Hey, I know that 5250 is more efficient and that a dumb terminal is
faster and probably more accurate in a heads-down data entry
environment.  I know the comm requirements are far less.  But the world
has spoken and what it said is use a browser.  If we want a
modern-looking UI, the browser is the only real option.

And here at least we no longer do dedicated heads-down data entry.  Data
is generally fed from other systems.


John A. Jones, CISSP
Americas Information Security Officer
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.
V: +1-630-455-2787 F: +1-312-601-1782
john.jones@xxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Raby, Steve
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 8:24 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Native GUI (was Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than
Switch)

It is difficult to work from home when you are a forklift driver in the
warehouse, please see my earlier e-mail about network downtime. WHY oh
WHY MUST there be only ONE solution??????? Why cannot the old mingle
with the new? Brilliant if you have unlimited funds and resources and
the backup to be able to ensure that nothing goes wrong ever, but in the
REAL world this is not always the case. And so horror of horrors we have
old terminals because there is no need to change them to something LESS
reliable just because it is more modern and you dont want to give the
wrong impression, like the guys in the warehouse give a damn whether we
have a commodore 64, an iSeries or a Megadoodle 6500!!! They and the
majority of people using computers just want to be able to do their job.




-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]Namens Jones, John (US)
Verzonden: maandag 11 december 2006 15:10
Aan: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Onderwerp: RE: Native GUI (was Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than
Switch)



1. Dumb terminals are a dead end.  It's way past time to move on.  It
doesn't matter if they're more reliable, cheaper, more efficient, or
have other superior traits.  They've lost the battle.  This isn't just
my opinion and I don't say it because terminals don't work for my
situation; it's the opinion of the market.  Goodbye, Betamax.  For those
of you who still use dumb tubes, I have to ask in what way do they NOT
promote the idea of the iSeries being an ugly, old, outdated system?
Also, there're no reasonable capability to support mobile and home-based
workers.  Without raising a lot of concerns over security, buying a lot
of extra equipment, and other things there's no ability to deploy access
via dumb terminal to customers.

 

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