RES: Food for Thought

Dear Trevor,

Maybe that fits to DR2, but how can I change my perspective?

Almost nobody knows what the platform does, ranging from "AS/400" to "Power
Servers" it simply don't exists for most IT people.

As I know, there's just one single school teaching something about i down
here.

Of course that I always talked about i to everyone wich asks me, but
excluding me and IBM, how many are doing this here? 50? 100? Maybe 1,000?
How can that compare to Microsoft or Linux efforts? It's just a drop on the
ocean...

Notice that despite all of that IBM is selling a lot of boxes down here, I
just think what stratospherical numbers could be reached with some more
extra effort.


Thanks,


Rubens

-----Mensagem original-----
De: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Em nome de Trevor Perry
Enviada em: terça-feira, 18 de novembro de 2008 11:38
Para: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Assunto: Re: Food for Thought

DR2,

I encourage you to change your perspective.

You say:

They NEVER learned it in school, they didn't learn it coming up from
the ranks...etc...

The IBM Academic Initiative is making inroads to answer this.
http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/university/scholars/academicinitiative/
Stop whining about it, and get engaged.

So what if they have not learned it in school? That is not the only way IT
leaders become aware. The IBM i faithful have it in their power to promote
the platform to the (currently) uneducated. Spread the word, not the FUD.
Stop whining about it, and get engaged.

You say:

You need to realize that IBM has allowed this marketplace to evolve
this way as part of THEIR corporate strategy and frankly I don't think
they give a tinker's damn about your or me, individually....
it's all about services...

If, for IBM, services equal revenue, then let's find some IBM i solutions
that need services, and promote those into IBM. Spread the word!
Stop whining about it, and get engaged.

You say:

As for the rest of us, it's clearly time to evolve...and I don't have
to say I like it...

It would be nice, however, that you stopped spreading doom+gloom. I was told
once that if I discovered a problem, then I should only report it when I had
a solution to offer. Your entire approach to the platform is simply a
multitude of complaints. Can you stop 'reporting' your perceived problems,
and think about ways to solve?
Stop whining about it, and get engaged.

TP1


On 11/18/08 7:43 AM, "Don" <dr2@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

Well, that's a HUGE load of crap. I don't think you've talked to many
people in the market place, Trevor.

What we've found from surveying the current and past members of the DC
user's group and good sample of the current and former user base in
VA, DC, MD, WV and DE is that the new management that's coming in to
the company DOES NOT KNOW the (insert Trevor's latest politically correct

name here).

They NEVER learned it in school, they didn't learn it coming up from
the ranks...etc... Uh, we've had this conversation before, you just
refused to listen.

Current management has been trained on Windows, Unix mutations and
Mainframe for the VAST predominance. They have not been trained or
exposed to (insert
here) in the least! I've spoken with MANY CIO's and higher level corp
types..and the top two reasons that are taking the vast majority of
the responses are:

I'm moving to (platformx) BECAUSE IT'S WHAT I KNOW.

I'm moving to (platformx) because that's where the APPLICATION is and
MANAGEMENT has made the decision and told me to implement the
application, which runs on (platformx). MANY former (insert here)
users have been directly told by their management something like
"forget the (iseries)! If you want your job, you do what I tell you
and implement (platformx)!" Guess what!? They like being able to pay

their mortgage.

This ISN'T my opinion...this is coming form surveying and ACTUALLY
TALKING TO a lot of the user base in mid-atlantic!

This is frankly hard market analysis that we have to deal with in Mid
Atlantic...Now, things may be different for Trevor down in Long Island...
But in the rest of the world, and after talking with my fellow
leadership in the User Group community, our findings are not really
much different from what's happening in the other places.

SO, Trevor, please, stop promoting Trevor and understand the market place.

You need to realize that IBM has allowed this marketplace to evolve
this way as part of THEIR corporate strategy and frankly I don't think
they give a tinker's damn about your or me, individually....it's all about

services...

SO, Trevor, I recommend you focus your efforts to getting sytem-I in
the SCHOOLS, colleges and universities, broaden the base of
applications, actually do marketing and education to higher levels of
management as well as to those coming up through the ranks, so that
they actually know that this is the superior environment that we've
all known and appreciated....but also keep in mind, you're fighting a
$33 billion market cap company called IBM...

As for the rest of us, it's clearly time to evolve...and I don't have
to say I like it...

DR2

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