Trevor wrote:
Bob,
Your not-so-humble-opinion is rather terrifying, and does not
match the opinions of many IBMers and ex-IBMers. You seem to be
alone in this FUD. While many people have been predicting the
demise of the AS/400 for a long time, there is still a strong
community of iCustomers who will continue to use this platform
for many many years to come. On this forum of i-advocates, you
come and spread fear? Why would you do that?
Trevor: He's not the alone in his opinions. But in his blog, Bob has
described the current situation in a more blunt, direct, and authoritative
manner than I ever could. That the iSeries is in decline cannot be denied.
The signs are everywhere. And the signs have been there to see for much of
the past decade.
I still think back to the major "staffing action" that happened in the
summer of 2003. During that re-org, a substantial number of iSeries
developers in the Toronto Lab, including me, were shuffled to other areas.
But few people outside of IBM knew what was happening. Specifically, I was
told not to comment on it publicly. And for years after, one very senior
technical person kept up the pretense that he was still involved with the
iSeries.
After 4 years on a zSeries related compiler, I left IBM. At the time
(2007), I figured my iSeries skills were my most marketable, and so, over
half a year, I scoured the job listings for iSeries opportunities. I
applied to all but one position. Neither gave me so much as an
acknowledgment of receipt of my resume. One headhunter basically told me
that the iSeries job market had pretty much dried up in this city. Perhaps
a city of 3 million people is too small to support much iSeries business?
(BTW, of the two iSeries jobs I applied for, one was close to home, but
involved AS/400 programming. Since the company was structured as an income
trust, they probably would never upgrade to anything more recent unless
they had to. The other position sounded much more interesting, but would
have involved a long commute across the city on the most expensive toll
road in North America. I'm now working on Linux and Windows systems.)
I know what Bob is saying is not very popular in these quarters. But it's
important to understand what's happening and plan appropriately for the
future.
Cheers! Hans
midrange.com
