FW: LawsonGuru Letter, June 2004 -- MIDRANGE-L

A very interesting article .... I love it!
 
Kenneth

 
This Lawson newsletter is put together by a non-Lawson consultant.  This
month it has informative articles on Lawson's commitment to the AS400
(i-series) and the possibilities with MS Reporting Services.  Thought you
might be interested.
 
  
-----Original Message-----
From: LawsonGuru Letter [mailto:letter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 6:29 AM
Subject: LawsonGuru Letter, June 2004

                


 
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June 2004

The LawsonGuru Letter is a free periodic newsletter providing provocative
commentary on issues important to the Lawson Software community. 
The LawsonGuru Letter is published by-and is solely the opinion of-John
Henley of Decision Analytics. Visit Decision Analytics at
http://www.danalytics.com
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of this message. 

The LawsonGuru Letter is not affiliated with Lawson Software. 
  _____  


In this issue: 
1. Guest Spot: Lawson's Commitment to the iSeries - A Commentary
2. Reporting, Part 3: Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
3. Worthwhile Reading
4. Reader Feedback
5. Lawson Tips & Tricks

This month, Patrick Sullivan provides us with a view from the iSeries part
of the Lawson community. I'd like to increase iSeries coverage in the
LawsonGuru Letter; perhaps we can convince Patrick to turn this into a
regular feature? Let me know if you'd like that. Send me an email at
letter-editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:letter-editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> . 
  _____  

1. Guest Spot: Lawson's Commitment to the iSeries - A Commentary 
(by Patrick Sullivan, Sullivan Partners LLC) 

The IBM Midrange (System3x...AS/400..iSeries) community has always had an
interesting dynamic: a fiercely loyal customer base that has received little
to no marketing support from its manufacturer.

Many Midrange professionals-myself included-have surmised that if IBM had
been as market savvy as, for example, Microsoft, today's Midrange line would
not be considered a "dinosaur" as some IT professionals falsely still
believe.

Due to IBM's lack of direction, it is no wonder that software vendors, like
Lawson, questioned continuing development on the platform. It is interesting
to note that Lawson was initially designed for IBM's Midrange line.

Thankfully at CUE (2003), Dean Hagar at Lawson announced the company's
renewed commitment to the iSeries.

This comment was due in large part due to IBM's recent $500 million campaign
to re-energize the iSeries marketing and development efforts-and signaling a
commitment to the industry.

Consider the following findings: 


*       The iSeries was the #1 server in customer satisfaction 2003 (Nikkei
Computer Magazine - 06/28/03 issue). 


*       99% of Fortune 100 companies in 2002 realized benefits from the
iSeries (Fortune Magazine 2003).


*       The iSeries Operating system (OS/400) was engineered to be virus
resistant. 


*       The iSeries has the most comprehensive dynamic partitioning feature
of any midrange server (Forester Research 2004). 


*       The only server in industry to run applications from different
operating environments (0S/400, Windows, Linux, Domino, XML) simultaneously
on a single server. 


*       Websphere Portal Express allows IT departments an easier, more cost
effective solution to consolidate IT and business processing needs. 


*       When consolidating Windows and Linux servers to the iSeries,
customers see: 



1.      A 90% reduction in downtime


2.      A 200% ROI on server workload


3.      An average savings of $180,000 per 100 users/year (IDC - July 2003
Analysis) 

With Mr. Ellison at Oracle ruffling more than a few feathers over at
PeopleSoft/JD Edwards, I believe Lawson today has an opportunity to gain
iSeries clients (over JD Edwards). This opportunity is especially critical
in the Retail vertical (an area where the iSeries has a major presence). 
If this particular software war becomes even more prolonged, the ultimate 
winner could be Lawson. However, Lawson has its own work to do. Their first
priority should be to stop treating the iSeries community as "second class
citizens." 

While Lawson's bread-and-butter verticals of Healthcare and Education are
primarily Unix-based, the iSeries has major presence in the aforementioned
Retail vertical as well as other Public Service industries.
There is no reason why iSeries customers should have to wait longer for a
new software release. While the wait time for 8.x was shorter than for 7.x,
it is still unacceptable. 

With Lawson and IBM's iSeries Division both headquartered in Minnesota-along
with the fact that Business Partners contribute up to 85% of iSeries
revenue-one could hope for a continued partnership that benefits all parties
involved. 

At this year's CUE, my hope is that IBM's commitment-and Lawson's response
to the IBM commitment-is still on track. 

  _____  

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