You're all REALLY missing the point (Was: NOTICE to IBM: You're all missing the point!) -- RPG400-L

R
Hello All,

Yet another series of diatribes I should know better than to join, however ...

The point is not really loyalty, nor how wonderful the AS/400 is technically,
but how
much money can be made from it. That is what happens when you put a biscuit
manufacturer in charge of things.

IBM's current view is that they are no longer in the hardware and software
business.
They are in the services business. Hardware and software is merely a tool to
that end.
Hence the focus on e-business.

They now hold the same view as the other services groups -- KPMG, Arthur
Anderson, CSC,
etc. -- and that view is "What can I sell that will generate the most money?".
Note:
that is not the most profit on an individual sale but the most money in the
long term.

If a customer is sold an AS/400 it is basically a one-time sale. Sell the
hardware and
software and perhaps some services to install it and get it running. Then
what? A few
phone calls a few times a year "So, Mr Customer, How're things? Anything I can
help you
with?" "No Thanks," the customer replies "We're doing all right!" An
occasional
upgrade? That situation does not help keep the hordes of 'consultants'
employed by
these service organisations in work. They would have to find NEW customers all
the
time. It is far better to sell customers a Unix or NT solution where you know
you will
be back every second week doing something for them. So none of these
'consulting'
outfits is interested in selling a solution that doesn't have a huge amount of
added
service possibilities.

It is also much easier to sell something to a prospect if that prospect has
been
conditioned to think that what you are selling is what they want. That is
Micros~1
main claim -- their marketing is so good most people believe that they want
what
Micros~1 has. Imagine yourself as a technical consultant presenting the new
network/desktop strategy/solution to a large organisation. If you suggest
Win2K
everyone will nod their head and think you know your stuff, if you suggest some
form of
*nix for the network and some variant of Win-whatever for the desktop, many
heads will
nod and a few will request that you make a technical case for the suggestion.
If
however, you suggest Warp Server for e-business as the network solution and
Macintosh
systems for the desktop, which is arguably the better solution (excluding
AS/400s) you
***WILL*** have to justify it and will end up arguing the case with every man
and his
dog who reads a PC magazine trumpeting Win-blows.

So what they do is sell you what you want, not what is good for you. Wake up
customers, you are doing yourselves a disservice.

IBM used to care about the customer. They may have been regarded as the "Evil
Empire"
before Gates and his mob of cut-throats usurped that position (although the DOJ
and the
anti-trust suits against IBM effectively left a power vacuum that someone would
fill)
but it was mostly competitors who felt that way about IBM, not customers.
That's not
to say that IBM hasn't been guilty of playing fast and loose with
pre-announcing
vapour-ware but generally what they were doing was in the best interests of the
customer.

One of Thomas Watson Jr.'s beliefs was "IBM should first take care of
customer's
profits, then should take care of employee's profits, and if those two are
taken care
of then shareholder's profits will be taken care of automatically." Can
anyone tell
I've recently re-read "Father, Son, and Company"? The cookie monster should
take a
leaf from Watson's book (but no company songs, OK!). IBM (well, the management
really)
only care about the stockholders profits now. Why? Because some of the
largest
stockholders are IBM's management! Gerstner wants to retire rich(er).

So what do we need to do to improve the position of the AS/400? Open source
isn't
going to do it. It doesn't matter how many AS/400 programmers provide
open-source
utilities and products. The AS/400 is not in the same boat as Linux or eveR
OS/2
(except that it's sinking -- sounds like time for the "Bailing Programmers"
exercise).
Linux will survive as open source because the OS is available and device
drivers etc
can be built. It can also be obtained without recourse to a large corporation.
OS/2
is similar if you currently own it. Anyone with a C compiler can write device
drivers
for new hardware, tools, and applications also even if IBM stop selling it.
That is
not the case with the AS/400. If IBM stop selling or supporting it then it
will die.
No amount of work on our part will keep it going. We cannot support new
hardware since
no-one will be manufacturing it. No-one will run an AS/400 at home just 'cause
they
like it. They will do that with Linux, OS/2, BeOS, Mac (or even the poisonous
concoction that is Windoze).

The ideal solution is for IBM to do what is right and proper, and stop sleeping
with
the enemy. Piss off AIX, Linux, and Win-whatever. Concentrate on the good
aspects of
what IBM currently have. The mainframe, AS/400, and OS/2. Don't just sell the
customer whatever they think they want, rather sell them what is good for them.
But do
it without arrogance (or least a minimum of arrogance). Sell the benfits.
There are
reasons that Token-ring is better than Ethernet, OS/400 is better than Unix,
OS/2 is
better than Win666. Inform customers about why IBM's solutions are the right
way, sell
them that which will improve THEIR bottom line and THAT will improve IBM's
bottom line.
Can you imagine OS/390 as a web server? How many transaction per hour do you
think
that can support? Can an NT or *nix farm compete? Hah! The new AS/400's are
well and
truly into mainframe territory now. They've been low-end mainframes for quite
some
time but the new 24-way 800's are the fastest commercial machines available.
Imagine
those used in e-business? Don't look for services in the "support a piece of
junk"
arena, rather look to adding value to the customer's current business. Help
the
**customer** make more money and they will make you money.

Another solution is to make the AS/400 harder to support. Not less reliable
but make
it require a raft of bodies to manage it. It seems that Rochester has embarked
down
that road with QSHELL, WebSphere, PASE, etc. All this stuff is much harder
than it has
to be. And it has all been ported to the AS/400 with the minimum amount of
400-ese.
None of this stuff looks like it belongs on our box. It looks like *nix.
That's great
for the vendors of *nix applications -- minimal work, new market. It's great
for IGS
and their ilk -- more services. It's even great for the customer from a very
narrow
point of view -- more applications, more commonality. But it's not great for
the
customer from a wider view point because it costs more to support. That hurts
the
customer's profits.

Don't get me wrong, I happen to think that Java is great (it's not going to
replace
programming as we know it but will have a significant impact in client-server
development, e-business, and cross-platform development). I think WebSphere is
magic
-- when it works, but it is a royal pain when it doesn't. Is the problem in
the HTTP
config, or the WebSphere config, or the Java config, or is it just that
WebSphere
doesn't feel like playing properly at the moment? Your guess is as good as
mine! I
have seen enough of WebSphere to know that sometimes it just refuses to
properly
compile JSPs, so you retry until it does -- but you waste a lot of time
checking the
config and examining your code before you realise that it's just the way
WebSphere is.
Great for services 'cause all that investigation is chargable time but it's not
productive and it certainly isn't right!

Another possibility. Let's put Win2k on the AS/400 hardware as a native
operating
system. Rumour has it the MickeySoft suggested that to IBM -- I wonder in
whose
interest that would be? It sounds like a good way to kill OS/400 completely.
The
hardware stays reliaRle but the OS haemorrhages regularly? That's good for
support
services. Put it in separate partitions (LPAR) to reduce the damage. Or
Rochester
apply their collective genius and make Win2K reliable in the process of porting
it.
Then what? Rochester becomes a purveyor of hardware only and is bought out by
uSoft to
ensure that OS/400 is truly removed as a threat. Where does that leave us?
Programming in VB or J++ on AS/400 hardware? That's neither fun nor to the
customer's
benefit. Where is the inovation from Rochester then? They have already lost a
significant number of their best people to the likes of the D.H.Andrews Group.
And
those who are left are doing their best to help Micros~1 replace the AS/400.
We
already require Win-whatever to manage and configure an AS/400. How much more
help
will Rochester and IBM give to the new Evil Empire? Will they stop when the
AS/400 is
relegated to simply a DB server or Java server? Or will they actually help
nail the
coffin shut and fill in the grave on top of themselves?

IBM are currently rolling out Win2K as the internal platform of choice --
desktop, file
and print serving, and mail. Despite the fact that is is more expensive and
less
reliable than the VM system it is replacing in many spots. Despite the fact
that it is
actually cheaper to continue to use OS/2 than buy Win666 and spend REAL money
(green
dollars rather than blue dollars) even if the discount is good. What position
will IBM
find itself in when it is totally dependant on software from MickeySoft? Do
you really
think Balmer is a better bet than Gates? Gates may have been the Emperor but
Balmer is
the Dark Lord of the Sith. He's far more politically astute than Gates. He'll
nod to
the DOJ, say the right things, and make one hand appear to be complying but the
other
hand will be squeezing tighter and tighter. All of us in the IT industry are
in for a
very rough time with Darth Vader at the helm. IBM is one of the few
organisations with
the resources to combat that and not only survive but be in a stronger position
afterwards.

The final, and to my mind best, choice is to stay with the AS/400 but be very
vocal in
demanding better marketing. Realise that you get what you pay for and stop
opting for
the cheapest solution. AS/400 hardware could probably be cheaper but the
software is
expensive because (for the most part) it works properly. It costs money to
develop
good quality software. PC software is cheap because much of it is crap and
because it
has a larger market and can amortise costs over a larger user base. Follow the
example
of TeamOS/2. Be vocal about the benefits of the AS/400, make sure your
organisations
realise exactly what it does for them, and how much more expensive it would be
to
replace it with something else. If we can persuade the customer that it is
better to
buy quality then IBM will listen because they will have to. The ground will
have
shifted and we'll all be much happier campers.

IBM has some very capable people and Rochester has more than their fair share
but none
of that will help unless we can change IBM's perception of what it is we (as
customers)
want. To do that we (the techo's) have to change the customer's (our employers
and
others) perception. We have to be honest and ethical and vociferous.

Since I'm in a slagging mood I'd also like to bitch about Dr F.S. as the
"Father of the
AS/400". There were at least a dozen other MAJOR players in the development of
the
S/38 and its follow-on. One thesis does not a daddy make! I understand his
contribution and the advantages of picking one person as the focal point, but
credit
where credit's due. And that means more than a couple of cursory sentences in
a book.
That particular monicker has been irritating me for quite a while.

This should be a candidate for a "In My Not-So Humble Opinion" piece.

Regards,
Simon Coulter.

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