Re: Open letter to vendors of IBM i software

Hahaha! Rob, I have the greatest respect for you and the frequent,
helpful, and insightful contributions you've made to this group. But
you're on a fool's errand: software vendors--especially the likes of ******
who, fueled by the demands of VC and private equity firms, raise
maintenance to 30% or more on a product with no major enhancements in
years, know they've got their customers in blue handcuffs and don't shive a
git. You're exactly right in asking vendors to re-earn a maintenance
agreement every year. Blue handcuffs--dear readers, have you added this
item to your technical debt register?

As a devout capitalist, I cringe at the quarter-to-quarter focus of so many
businesses.

Did I mention the name of the firm that won't change your license key on a
purchased toolset (your host system upgrades and gets a new serial number)
because you stopped paying maintenance on a toolset that doesn't require
maintenance? Did I mention the renewal desk failed to mention that little
gotcha when they're trying to weasel $400 out of you? Do I know why their
renewal desk suddenly went silent when I asked for the list of program
changes in the last year? No, no, yes. When I exited, the annual
maintenance was 80% of the original list price of the toolset (conversion
tools used once per RPG source member; I ended up writing my own tools) and
I lost my initial investment and the years of maintenance charges I paid.

I pay maintenance on RDi (it would be nice if SOMEBODY could get around to
fixing LPEX's inability to save preferences), Madcap Flare (sadly, another
case of VC/PE: pricey up front and rapidly-increasing maintenance prices
but they're developing like crazy), TechSmith SnagIt (these folks are a
pleasure to deal with), WinRAR, the usual Microsoft bloatware, and a few
others. A good way to demonstrate loyalty to a software business is to pay
maintenance. If you write good tools, support them, and provide increased
value for my maintenance dollars, you don't have to send me an
invoice--I'll automate an annual maintenance payment *and* I will recommend
you to others.

The smart software vendors know the real money is in a long stream of
maintenance payments--but it's not a fair deal if the vendor fails to
improve the product. I know where my 30% was going--to support the
development of data transfer and automation tools, tools I don't need *and
will never recommend*. I could not face a customer paying me 30% for
maintenance and not giving that customer their money's worth. I'll say
this: in a career that began with the early System/38, I never screwed a
customer (sadly, that courtesy was not reciprocated)--not once--and I did
well.

If you own a software development business and the VC/PE folks come
calling, remember what will happen the day after you sign on the dotted
line: the prices you set will be jacked up substantially because there's
now another layer of ownership expecting a 20% (or better) ROI...and you'll
be getting unhappy phone calls from customers you've worked with for
years. That's the peril of good software that becomes overpriced: the
annuity to the vendor will end and, probably, the business relationship.
Upselling, not upcharging, existing customers is the easiest way to
increase revenue. But a kid with wet ink on an MBA (the ink on mine dried
decades ago) with a spreadsheet won't know that.

I hope you find some vendors who understand and appreciate their
responsibilities to customers: it's more than supplying code, it's
supplying code with no *known* dependencies and that's ready to go when an
IBM i release hits GA. Why would anybody pay for a tool with known defects
or a reliance on a component with a published end-of-life date?

Good luck, and if you have any success, the rest of us will owe you. Again!




On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 8:27 AM Rob Berendt <robertowenberendt@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I've contacted vendors with issues.

On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 11:10 AM Brad Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Do you contact the vendors specifically that have this issue, or are you
hoping they'll see it here?

On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 8:15 AM Rob Berendt <robertowenberendt@xxxxxxxxx

wrote:

We do not pay maintenance money solely to fund your next merger and
acquisition.
Along with new features and compliance with security and regulation we

also

expect more.
We expect that you participate in IBM's early programs and get ready

for

the next release of IBM i.
We expect that you know that IBM updates IBM i every 3 years and that

makes

it almost guaranteed that the next release will be out 2Q 2025.
We expect you to be ready on date of G/A.
We expect that you contact IBM and ask how to get involved with IBM i

Early

Programs.
We expect that you know that IBM has announced some of the upcoming

changes

at sites like https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/668193
We expect that you either have appropriate hardware to run any future
release or are willing to find a cloud account to test on.
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/687283

IBM has given fair warning of upcoming stuff at sites like the above

and

sites like https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/668157 and the

updated

IBM i Roadmap at https://www.ibm.com/products/ibm-i

I have switched vendorS, plural, because of their dragging feet on new
releases.
So when I run WRKJVMJOB and find that you are using a version of Java

which

I likely won't be able to use in just a few months I'm not happy. Or,

if

you list as a software requirement anything else listed on the stuff

going

away after the current version of the OS, I'm not happy.

The fact that you may support some ancient version of IBM i means

nothing

to me. Who spends more on product? Those who won't spend money on new
hardware or operating systems, or, those who do?
--
This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing

list

To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at https://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription

related

questions.

--
This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing

list

To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at https://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription related
questions.

--
This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list
To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at https://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription related
questions.