I sat in on the same meeting as Joe and want to provide some input. Note my
input is very opinion based :-)
I know we all like things for free, but I can see where IBM is coming from.
They need to make money from the products they are producing so they can pay
staff. I won't disagree many iSeries shops have paid for RDi for years to
come and shouldn't have to pay for it again, but it's one of those cases of
"we're at where we're at, now how do we make the situation better?".
The key is will they price themselves out of System i shops, or will they
make it palatable based on ROI? They will be able to provide MUCH more ROI
via features and being able to hire more staff to get things out the door
quicker - what if that makes the difference of your shop staying on the
iSeries vs. going to .NET? Haven't we said all along the reason people move
to Microsoft is because of looks? The tough part is will they add their
version of features or our version of features. Please proceed to my rant
:-)
<rant>
IBM develops great software for modernization, but they are trying to kill a
flock of birds with a single stone. The "stone" is RBDe/EGL and the "flock"
is every single developer they have ever sold to in the past 15 years.
RBDe/EGL will do great in the general public space as it solves something
that has plagued Java forever - it rips out the complexity for business
minded programmers and gets them "there" in a fraction of the time it would
have taken to write the same in JSP or JSF or Struts.
The issue is that we already have a non-complex language/DB/OS combo by
which to develop our applications (i.e. RPG/DB2/i5OS), and the ONLY thing we
lack is a better presentation layer. RBDe/EGL is IBM's answer to our
requests for the presentation layer - they missed the boat in a big way
because they spent big money developing something that is a distant second
place to what we really need/want. The crazy thing is that they have a
majority of the software developed (both in compilers and tools like RDi)
allowing them to give us a presentation layer that wouldn't require anything
more than learning a few new keywords, bifs and opcodes. Would it take some
time to develop something like that? sure, but it would also give them
leverage to bring in *new* business vs. trying to keep existing customers.
IBM, when will you stop playing around with our businesses and give us
native functionality?
I don't buy that iSeries customers developing homegrown software are
clamoring for platform independence, and if that is in fact what you are
hearing, you have to factor in a couple things:
1) IBM hasn't been real encouraging on the RPG front with all its roadmaps
and what not - you can scare people into wanting platform independence.
2) How many times has IBM stated that platform independence is the way to
go? - A LOT. After awhile people start believing it even though it isn't
really what they need. It's simply leading the witness.
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jsi/lowres/jsin63l.jpg.
Platform independence for iSeries vendors is understandable as they want to
sell software to the masses, but again, platform independence for iSeries
home grown software is just plain silly - we are already on our platform of
choice, we just need IBM to follow us in our pursuit of their box.
IBM, how long will it take you to REALLY hear our needs and wants?
Java/Net.Data/VisualAgeRPG/EGL are not what we have asked for!
</rant>
On the other side of the sphere, I must say that I have seen individuals in
IBM forced to bend their knee to this latest approach even though they saw
the light in providing a more native functionality. To you IBM'ers I say
"KEEP IT UP"! Don't give up just because you're not the one holding the
stone. Is there anyway we could do a side IBM pilot project where members
from the community worked with IBM to come up with a more "native" approach
to iSeries modernization?
It is now our responsibility to make sure IBM understands where we want them
to go with our modernization specifically for the System i platform. Who do
we "write a letter to" so we can voice our concerns and needs?
If you made it all the way through this email then you deserve a kiss from
the Furry Java Llama:
http://www.jaunted.com/files/3873/LlamaTeeth.jpg
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
midrange.com
