History Lesson (AS/400 Heritage)

["Bill Albert" <balbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In December of 1973 I began working for a single plant printing company using a new System/3 model 10.  I had 8 years previous DP experience with S/360-20 and S/3.  I wrote most of the S/3 apps myself and we progressed.  A S/3 model 12 followed, 3370 disks (disaster looking for a place to happen).  We never got to interactive but were trying.  By now we had been acquired, consolidated into the managing entity for the Business Forms Group of a NYSE company.  They had mainframes and when we wanted to upgrade we had to make the trek to corp. and study the matter.  We evaluated Honeywell, Univac, IBM 360 and S/38.  Their Gurus knew nothing of the S/x world and were skeptical of our ability to make it work.  The deciding factor in favor of S/38 was... How many system programmers does it take to run a S/38 shop? - 0.  They had a whole staff of System Programmers to support their s/360 - 50.  Mine was stil a one programmer shop, working on applications not overhead. We converted the S/3 code I wrote in 1973/74 and following to the S/38 in 1980.  It just took a recompile.  It ran and I wouldn't be surprised to find some of it working today.

 

We then focused on the task  of writing new applications for our new online system.  We never looked back.  We got our first AS/400 in 1990(?) and just kept migrating the code.

 

The company grew form a small single plant operation to a large power in the business forms industry.  It went through many leveraged buyouts and still runs much of the same code written for the S/38 (and possibly the S/3).   I have been gone from there a few years and there is some discussion about how to modernize their systems but they are still running the bulk of the work for a division of a totally different NYSE company.

 

Why do I love the S/38, AS/400, i-Series? ... It works!  and it works! and it works!  and It doesn't have to be redone all over every few years.  

 

Now I am a dinosaur.  I still consult on AS/400 projects and am trying very hard to bring myself up to speed on the server, internet, java aspects of the product.  I may even get there before I die.  But I'll probably still be behind the curve as the product just keeps getting better.  (In spite of the lack oh a historian that any IBM powers will listen to.) 

 

On this note I will end.  I could go non about people who made the S/38, AS/400 great such as Jim Sloan, John Sears, Jon Paris, Wayne... and countless expert users... but alas... that is another history lesson.  Go to COMMON.  Go to CUDS.  Put up a sign.  HISTORY Lesson Needed.