HAHA. I had to laugh at your post...
You have no idea of the needs of our company, what we are running hardware
or software wise, so I will prove to you that yet another blanket
statement is over stepping its bounds....
I quote you as saying...
When you talk about "value added" do you consider the value added by
being able to plan and execute a processor upgrade in three months vs.
nine because your O/S is two releases back? Do you consider the added
risk of having to do an unload/reload to a new release because your old
machine doesn't support the new release? How about the extra effort
involved in doing a skip release upgrade? Do you think that you're not
"gaining a whole lot" because the next release doesn't come with a
snazzy new theme on the GUI?
Or are things like "Improved system integrity and performance, Support
for new processor capabilities, Support for regulatory requirements with
encryption of backups and data on disk, New high availability solutions
manager, Improved performance for Java and WebSphere applications and
Expanded virtualization capabilities just words to your company?
Let me go point by point...
First, we are on V5R4, just one release behind. We are current on PTF's
so I think we ok there. Just put up a new box with Power 6 hardware at
the new year, hmmm no problems, no 3 months of planning, just ordered it
and installed it. We have HA going strong now for over a year, 1 main,
with 2 targets. All on the same release and working without a problem.
Personally its kind of offensive that you think my knowledge and
observability of the system is going to be oh so easily swayed by snazzy
new themes and GUIs. Its a server, it doesn't need to be super pretty.
Usable, yes. Stable, yes. IBM i, YES!
We don't at this time have a need for performance increases since we don't
even come close to maxing out our current box. Does 6.1 offer some
processor capabilities that V5R4M5 doesn't? Especially that I can't live
without right now? Regulatory requirements... well since we are a private
company and don't store sensitive data such as SSN or CC Numbers it
doesn't matter. If we need to do that in the future, we will address it
and do what we need to do. We have one Java app running under WebSphere
right now that loads quicker than a blink of an eye, so really there would
be no noticable gain for us there. We don't use virtualization on IBM i
so that isn't needed for us either.
So all these things you mentioned don't really apply to our company all
that much. I'm glad you are an advocate for the i. I am as well, but
lets not get all self righteous.
Thanks
Bryce Martin
Programmer/Analyst I
570-546-4777
"Ingvaldson, Scott" <Scott.Ingvaldson@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
03/15/2010 12:51 PM
Please respond to
Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To
"Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
cc
Subject
RE: Bleeding edge Was: DDL Record Select
It's all about the value added to each company to make that move. We
would love to go to 6.1
but we don't have the time right now and honestly we wouldn't really
be gaining a whole lot.
It's funny (and kinda sad) how often comments like that get made. I
used to know of a company that wouldn't even install PTFs until they had
been out for at least a year because they didn't want to be "bleeding
edge." Then invariably it would take two or three tries to get them to
apply properly because they couldn't get all the steps right twice in a
row and any defectives in the package had long since fallen off the
SupportLine radar.
When you talk about "value added" do you consider the value added by
being able to plan and execute a processor upgrade in three months vs.
nine because your O/S is two releases back? Do you consider the added
risk of having to do an unload/reload to a new release because your old
machine doesn't support the new release? How about the extra effort
involved in doing a skip release upgrade? Do you think that you're not
"gaining a whole lot" because the next release doesn't come with a
snazzy new theme on the GUI?
Or are things like "Improved system integrity and performance, Support
for new processor capabilities, Support for regulatory requirements with
encryption of backups and data on disk, New high availability solutions
manager, Improved performance for Java and WebSphere applications and
Expanded virtualization capabilities just words to your company?
It's our job to effectively communicate the advantages of upgrading to
our management. If we don't they will continue to do what they've
always done, your i will continue to work as it always has, and
eventually someone will say something bright like "SQL server on a dual
quad-core processor with 64GB memory will blow away your old AS/400."
Yes, I'm an i bigot, I believe in what I do.
Regards,
Scott Ingvaldson
Senior IBM Support Specialist
Fiserv Midwest
-----Original Message-----
From: Bryce Martin [mailto:BMartin@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 7:55 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Bleeding edge Was: DDL Record Select
Just in case you missed the memo Lukas... is 6.1 not V6R1. 7.1 is in
beta.... V7R1 doesn't exist. Time to update your IBM Terminology
Database
:D
On another note, just because a company is not on 6.1 doesn't mean they
are ignoring their IT infrastructure. Its all about the value added to
each company to make that move. We would love to go to 6.1 but we don't
have the time right now and honestly we wouldn't really be gaining a
whole
lot. We like being current, it is something we are always try to do
when
we are afforded the opportunity. So making blanket statements like that
aren't productive to the argument.
Thanks
Bryce Martin
Programmer/Analyst I
midrange.com
