Input/Discussion for ISVs (was Innovis EDI software)

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark Villa
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 6:59 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Innovis EDI software

Let me put a bit of a slant on it.

Your 270 was eaten by an earthquake.
The only sensible replacement is your 515 on the P05 tier but comes with
a minimum complement of 4 times the CPW. An exact duplicate is no longer
available. (Curious, how much would the charge be for a straight
replacement?)
<SNIP>

I'd like to ask a question or three from the other side of the fence.

Note that I'm a mainframe (z/OS environment) developer and only
sometimes get to deal with i/Series systems..

Currently AS/400, i/Series, i5, I/5, or whatever the marketing weenies
want to do with it (yes, I have an attitude here, I'll get over it
eventually), is not a growing market if it is anything like the old
S/370 Architecture (now z/Architecture) based mainframes.

As a software vendor, you develop a product(s). To support that
product(s), and meet contractual obligations, there must be phone
support from 8a-9p per some time zone (or whatever, you get the point).
This requires a certain staffing level.

The vendor must have hardware that represents the customer base, and be
running releases of the O/S that is representative of the customer base
(at the supported levels if there is any requirement for such). This
also requires a certain amount of staffing to keep things straight and
do testing, validation and verification (new releases/versions and
fixes).

Somehow, fixes must be written and then provided to the customers. AND
there must be development to keep up with customer needs, changes to the
environments, etc.

How do you price maint, upgrades, hardware swaps, etc. to ensure that
you have sufficient revenue to continue in business?

Please note, I am not at all trying to justify poor behavior, pricing
policies, etc. of any vendor (given that I happen to work for one that
was mentioned in this thread). Just asking how it is expected that a
business will have the software it needs, assuming it does not grow its
own.

Regards,
Steve Thompson

-- All opinions expressed by me are my own and may not necessarily
reflect those of my employer. --