Re: Switching to RDI from SEU (was: WDSC V7 Turbo Boost)

[Trevor Perry <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Aaron,

There is still one (small) thing that will ensure that the tools sell. They
are still bundled with the hardware for sale. For new boxes and upgrades,
the price of the tools is part of the entire sale.

That being said, I had a server configured recently and the person doing it
missed the numbers - I got back a small server and the software was 8 times
the cost of the hardware - yes, 8 times. That was mostly the toolset.

Normally, though, the toolset is about 90% of the cost of the server
hardware for a small server config (which is higher than ever). I have
recently done several, and can not explain the pricing in the configurator.
I even asked a prominent (Rational) IBMer to help explain, and that lead to
a dead-end. If I were to decide if Rational were in business to make money
OR to support their customers for modern toolsets, I would have to choose
the former. Which, ironically, the latter will cause the former not to be
met.. The recent price 'cuts' that are included in 'bundles', while they
have helped a little, really have not come close to the suggestions of the
community.

Then again, if you order a new Power6 520 server, you ~must~ order the ECS
modem. Maybe that is how you download upgrades to the toolset? If you price
software high, the customer should expect them to take a long time to
download? :-)

Trevor



On 1/9/09 9:34 AM, "Aaron Bartell" <aaronbartell@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I think adoption will slow considerably given the fact that there is no
> low cost entry into the "new WDSC" (i.e. RDi).  I still firmly believe
> IBM is shooting themselves in the foot by approaching it the way they
> did without even giving a single-seat-no-charge copy of RDi with every
> compiler purchase.  Get it into every shop so it becomes the house-hold
> name for doing RPG development, and then when the shop needs more than
> one license they get to get out their checkbook (but at this point they
> full recognize the ROI).
>
> A 90-day trial will work well enough for existing WDSC users to
> determine if they want to pay for RDi, but I hardly believe it is enough
> time for an average SEU RPG programmer to make the switch from scratch.
>
> It becomes an up-hill battle to educate people on such an excellent tool
> (which I believe it to be the best out there) when the only real way
> they can experience it is to get out their empty checkbook.  In the past
> I have done quite a few articles, sessions, newsletters, etc, promoting
> WDSC because it was simply a matter of getting through the politics and
> installing it on machines.  How do authors/writers promote it now that
> it costs so much?  I really wish IBM would have taken the MyEclipseIDE
> approach of charging maybe $50/year/user and then have all support done
> through an online forum and let the community resolve most of the issues
> instead of having to open up a PMR.  Heck, the IBM'ers on this list are
> already doing that to some extent (which I think is absolutely wonderful
> btw).
>
> Those are my thoughts for a Friday :-)
>
> Aaron Bartell
> http://mowyourlawn.com
>
> Trevor Perry wrote:
> > David,
> >
> > Sorry - I finally realized you said 95% of THE shop.
> >
> > I am finding more and more shops are getting over their problems with the
> > older versions of WDSC, and are adopting it fresh. If you treat it like it
> > IS new, you may be able to convert everyone over!
> >
> > Good luck,
> > Trevor
> >
> >
> > On 1/9/09 8:57 AM, "Trevor Perry" <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >