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  3. January 2007

Re: giving an iSeries system to each college

Which can be illustrative of a number of things.

   * The prevalence of PC's
   * That one System i programmer can do the work of multiple PC
     programmers (I'm the only programmer /  operator  / administrator
     / dba / etc for a large company)
I know that in the Nashville area System i jobs are scarce for, primarily, two reasons: 

   * Programmers are staying put (unlike previous decades when they
     jumped from job-to-job almost annually)
   * No new (that our LUG has been able to see) penetration by the System i
I know of a couple of System/36 shops nearby (not 36E, real S/36's). Which is a measure of the reliability of the systems IBM makes.
Take, for example, the current hype around Vista. Sure, when a new i5/OS release comes out, there's hype, but only in the System i press, not in the mainstream press. iSociety is nice, but it's currently like preaching to the choir. Remember the Coke -vs- Pepsi challenges? Maybe we need a System i -vs- Intel/Oracle/(your choice here) challenge that a non-technical type (aka businessman) can understand ("Wow, I coulda had an i5!").
The colleges and tech schools teach what people want just as Wal-Mart sells what people want. And what people want is a matter of perception (advertising, press, etc.). But it's a hard sell. My best friend was the COO of a large company in VA (since retired). He once asked me, "Just what the hell is an iSeries?" Naturally, I took the opening and ran with it. His closing response was, "Sounds very interesting. I'll talk to my network people on Monday." Whether he actually did or not is moot; he was going to get feedback from someone who knew nothing about an iSeries. 


        * Jerry C. Adams
*IBM System i5/iSeries Programmer/Analyst
B&W Wholesale Distributors, Inc.* *
voice
        615.995.7024
fax
        615.995.1201
email
        jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>



Hayes, Joe wrote:

Our local community college had a tremendous program that was ran by
Jerry Fotral (who wrote the as/400 book).
It also suffered from poor enrollment, and when last I heard, the
program was not in good shape.  Everyone was signing up for PC
programming classes. 
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces+joe.hayes=fiserv.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces+joe.hayes=fiserv.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of fkany@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:00 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: giving an iSeries system to each college

I tried to register at Volunteer State Community College(Livingston, TN
campus) to take a few JAVA classes.  The instructor told me they dropped
JAVA and are now teaching C#.  This was in September 06.




             Jerry Adams

             <jerry@bwwholesal

             e.com>
To Sent by: Midrange Systems Technical 

             midrange-l-bounce         Discussion

             s@xxxxxxxxxxxx            <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
cc 
             01/25/2007 06:46
Subject AM Re: giving an iSeries system to 

                                       each college


             Please respond to

             Midrange Systems

                 Technical

                Discussion

             <midrange-l@midra

                 nge.com>






Nashville Tech dropped its RPG programming class several years ago.  The
only other thing they had was an Operations class.

The RPG class was III.  I tried convincing them to change it to IV but,
they said, employers wanted III (probably true, sigh).  The other
"reason" I fear is because the instructor didn't know IV.

Anyway, they, as Mark pointed out, dropped it because they couldn't get
enough enrollment.  Most of us don't think of it, but colleges are
businesses.  Unless the course is mandatory for a core offering, such as
engineering, or has enough students to "pay" for the instructor,
facilities, etc., it's a money loser and is dropped.  I guess an
exception might be made for an endowment.  Wanna set one up, Aaron?
That was certainly be a way of getting involved.

And the people who make the business decisions regarding systems (as
well as other things), are *not* programmers.  It is necessary to
convince and prove to these people that the iSeries is not a legacy
system, that it can do damn near anything, etc.  As Mark pointed out,
it's a Catch-22: The colleges won't start the courses until there's a
demand; the businessmen say, "There are no people available to make this
thing go."


             * Jerry C. Adams
*IBM System i5/iSeries Programmer/Analyst B&W Wholesale Distributors,
Inc.* * voice
             615.995.7024
fax
             615.995.1201
email
             jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>



Nick_Radich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Actually I thought that all of the Colleges, etc..., had dropped it. It was a surprise to hear about the one in Mankato still going. From what I
have heard, even most of the schools on the northern and western side of Wisconson had dropped it as well. 

Nick



Nick Radich
Sr. Programmer/Analyst
EPC Molding, Inc.
Direct  (320) 679-6683
Toll free  (800) 388-2155  ext. 6683
Fax  (320) 679-4516
nick_radich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx



"albartell" <albartell@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
01/24/07 02:27 PM
Please respond to
Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>


To
"'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx> cc

Subject
RE: giving an iSeries system to each college
CALL TO ACTION...If you want to see System i education offered in your 


area, GET INVOLVED

It would be nice to be able to assess the situation a little more and

gain
insight to where we could even apply our skills and donate our time. I was surprised at Nick's statement of Mankato MN being the last tech college 
in
MN that offers iSeries/RPG specific curriculum - is that really the case Nick? It would be cool to have a page on ibm.com devoted to the success stories so the wheel doesn't need to be recreated. I am guessing the one 


in
Kansas has some formidable support and man hours put into it, what about the staff that is already stretched too thin? How can they best
leverage upcoming programs? How can they best get in touch with area businesses that are running i5's to find people to donate their time? 

Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark S. Waterbury 
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 1:49 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: giving an iSeries system to each college
The success of any program like the IBM System i Academic Initiative (formerly iSeries Scholars Program, nee PIE), is predicated on several 


things that MUST HAPPEN (not necessarily in this order):
1. availability of necessary infrastructure (e.g. access to an i5/OS system either locally or remotely) and any i5-related software students need to use (especially on their PCs, for IDEs, etc.)
2. availability of full-time i5/OS administrators or programmers from industry who are willing and able to serve as "adjunct faculty" to teach part-time courses in a local community college or university, and/or to act as a part-time administrators for any i5 systems on campus -OR- availability of full-time faculty with the necessary knowledge to do the same. 

3. availability of textbooks, preferably with "instructor's guide" and
lesson plans, suggested homework exercises, sample quizzes and exams, etc., so that anyone trying to teach the course for the first time can
get "up and running" quickly. (This was a major inhibitor over the past 5 years at several schools I was involved with.) Many college professors will not even attempt to teach a new course without this 
kind of support.

(Oh, by the way, Microsoft does an EXCELLENT JOB in providing all of

these

kinds of materials to colleges, for their recommended courses, at very

low

cost.)
4. students willing to enroll in such courses. Without enough students, most colleges will be forced to CANCEL those courses, as they cannot afford to run them "at a loss" (or at least "break even" with regard to paying adjunct faculty, etc.) Many students are not willing to take any courses 


in
a curriculum for "some platform they never heard of" -- especially if

they

have little or no faith that there will be any jobs available upon the



completion of such coursework.  This is a big "CATCH-22" ... I know of
several community colleges that listed several AS/400 related courses in their catalog, but NO ONE EVER SIGNED-UP for those courses. There needs 
to
be some kind of advertising-marketing in the local community to attract student interest, such as having potential employers (companies that use 
i5)
come on campus and give a lecture to the students in the "introduction
to computers" courses to explain that there are jobs in the local market for people with i5 skills. This requires some cooperation and assistance 
from

the i5 community -- most colleges generally cannot or will not be able
do this adequately by themselves (there are of course some rare exceptions who do a very good job of this "promotional" work.) 

CALL TO ACTION
If you want to see System i education offered in your area, GET INVOLVED ... Volunteer to serve on a local college's CIS Advisory Board (or whatever they call it), so you can have input into their curriculum, etc. -- volunteer to help to "spread the word" ... Employers who use System i in the local community could pay for their employees to sign-up for and take courses (evening or week-ends) at the local colleges, in these courses ... For example, how many RPG programmers would like to learn Java for iSeries? 
etc.
It is not easy -- it requres a commitment of your time, effort, etc.; it can take a year or more to "get the ball rolling" -- perhaps you may even 
need

to volunteer to teach one or two courses the first time around.
If we don't take any action, we will continue to get the same results we are seeing now -- very few colleges are currently offering ANY courses 
related

to IBM System i, p or z.  (Think globally, act locally.)

Sincerely,

Mark S. Waterbury

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