Re: Casino switches to AIX

From: M. Lazarus
The public at large knows all about Microsoft, Apple,
AOL, Intel, AMD, etc. products.

Mark,

IBM is putting an emphasis on its Power, Websphere, and DB2 brands, and its virtualization technology, and the public is aware of them. But IBM i, AIX, and Linux are second-tier brands which IBM has chosen to market through ISVs, and they get about the same treatment each from IBM. Ross Mauri indicated that they're equal in his eye, for example.

That doesn't seem like such a bad strategy from a huge services oriented company. It may not sit well with those of us who would prefer to have IBM i in the driver's seat, and to ride on that bus. But IBM's strategy is working for IBM.

So you and I are somewhat out of sync with IBM. What do we do about it? In my case, I began working on an ILE framework for Web applications, then later began developing applications, using my framework. I recently cranked out 28 new database maintenance applications in a two week period, then took another week to work on one particular maintenance application that didn't fit my standard model. My point is that I am about as productive now as when I was developing green-screen interfaces.

I have a development plan. I'm following it. And it seems to be working. It would be nice to ride on IBM's coattails, but if IBM i is going to grow, it will have to come from people like us, in the trenches.

Nathan.