Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch -- MIDRANGE-L

Trevor,

I think that we can all agree that the Midrange faithful have beentrying to get the word out for 15+ years. What's missing from themarketing equation is IBM. If IBM can't step up the plate and showthe world that they are proud of this system, then how are we to beexpected to overcome it?

You say "step up" - what do you propose? That we take up acollection to tell the world the new name and how great the systemis? Yeah, we whine about what IBM should be doing, because we're theguys in the field and IBM IS NOT LISTENING TO US!!!

I have no problem calling the system by any name that gets thepoint across. But, to think that that is the root cause, or even amajor cause of the failure to market this box, is to delude ourselves.

I must disagree about "Vernacular is everything." As I mentionedbefore, if the major modernization gaps have not been filled, thenwe can call it by any name, past present or futuristic and itwouldn't make one bit of difference.


 -mark


At 12/8/06 12:41 PM, you wrote:

Mark,

What you are referring to - about age and 70s/80s - is OS/400. That has been
renamed to i5/OS. BUT - it is only a small part of what a System i can do.
The pillars of a System i include i5/OS (which has more
feature/functionality than OS/400), Linux 64-bit native, AIX 5L, Windows and
Linux with ix integration.

It IS our responsibility for getting the word out. If we are going to have a
future with this server, we are responsible to market this incredible
platform to everyone. We have left it to IBM for a long time, we have whined
about what they have done - and if you want it to have a future, step up. As
has been mentioned, iSociety is a means to that end.

Or, we can call it an AS/400 and remain a dinosaur. Your personal choice.

On my behalf, I am doing everything I can to promote the brand - which, btw,
is System i. Changing the name is not the ONLY thing we must do in our
head - but it is a VERY SIMPLE thing to change. Vernacular is everything.

Trevor

----- Original Message -----
From: "M Lazarus" <mlazarus@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch


> Trevor,
>
> You are reinforcing my position!  Who is responsible for getting the word
> out - me?  You or IBM?  Who has the resources to do it?  IBM!  Who is the
> largest beneficiary of getting the word out?  IBM!
>
> I need to communicate with customers or potential customers.  People
> (outside of the fold) know the IBM Midrange box as AS/400.  (Although
> it's usually followed by: "Is that system still around?  I thought it was
> gone years ago!")  Explaining that it's the best business platform
> around, new technology, new name, blah, blah, blah... usually gets a
> polite smile, or an "Oh, really?"  In their minds, even the new
> technology is sorely lagging behind (and it's hard to disagree on many
> points.)
>
> Sorry, but pushing the new name is only a paint job on an aging car,
> until the gaping holes are filled in.  It's fine to start using the new
> name, but it's a small nit compared to the real problem.
>
> To address your DVD analogy, you can say that you're recording to disc.
> Does that mean a diskette, hard disk, CD-R, CD-RW, CD+R, CD+RW, DVD (with
> all it's flavors), mini-disc, etc?  The answer, on a fairly high level,
> is that it DOESN'T MATTER!  You are recording to some digital media.  A
> similar analogy applies to the IBM Midrange platform.  The user knows
> what we mean.  And they usually don't care.
>
> Its roots *are* in '70s and '80s technology.  That's not always a bad
> thing - the technology is solid.  But in many areas that count, it's
> showing its age.  Only IBM can realistically rectify that.  IBM should be
> a leader, but they're barely a follower!  Around 12-15 YEARS after the
> GUI started becoming popular on the desktop and the i5 doesn't have a
> native, built-in GUI???
>
> That's just the reality, as I see it.
>
> -mark
>
>
>> Mark,
>>
>> There is no name game refrain here. There is only ONE family name for
>> this
>> platform - System i. No one knows about System i - yet it is the best
>> platform on the planet. Why don't they know? Because we keep calling it
>> an
>> AS/400 - something from last century.
>>
>> If WE, collectively, would start calling it System i, there would be less
>> of
>> the "it's old" refrain. Why this is not obvious, I cannot imagine. It is
>> like calling my DVD collection VHS - that was the precursor, not the
>> current
>> technology. That was the heritage, not the present. Who would you buy a
>> movie player from in today's world? Not the VHS salesman. Not the luddite
>> who says VHS is the best thing - even though they are using a DVD - or
>> even
>> a DVR for that matter.
>>
>> We have to STOP saying AS/400 before we lose the System i.
>>
>> Trevor
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "M. Lazarus" <mlazarus@xxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 12:01 AM
>> Subject: Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch
>>
>>
>>> Trevor,
>>>
>>>  We've heard the "name game" refrain for a while, but IMHO, that's
>>> missing the mark by a long shot.  That's like saying that the entire
>>> Ferrari line won't sell if I paint some pink.  As "modern" as this
>>> platform is, there are some gaping holes that only IBM can fix, but
>>> they choose not to.  I'll throw out a few, others can chime in with
>>> additional items and details.
>>>
>>> 1) IBM seems to be embarrassed by the box.  Put a pSeries up against
>>> an iSeries in a potential sale and chances are the pSeries will win,
>>> if there's an IBM sales rep involved.  They don't market it
>>> properly.  All of us in the field recognize that.  Since I don't
>>> believe that the parade of IBM'ers over the years in charge of
>>> marketing the box are stupid, the only conclusion I can come to is
>>> that it's deliberately being sabotaged.  I don't know why, but I'm
>>> not privy to those meetings.
>>>
>>> 2) A native GUI is mandatory.  I don't want to hear about HATS,
>>> Websphere or other screen scraper technology.  A simple DDS interface
>>> will make it accessible to the masses.  This needs to be part of the
>>> OS, right out of the box, w/ no additional configuration required.
>>>
>>> 3) Printing and viewing popular PC images are a royal pain, without
>>> conversions or add-ons.  Could you imagine if Microsoft charged extra
>>> to print standard graphics files?
>>>
>>> 4) Pricing.  Take a page out of Microsoft's marketing
>>> machine.  Purchasing this machine should be a slam dunk for any IT
>>> manager.  IBM loves to throw out the 3-5 year ROI calculation when
>>> trying to make a sale.  I say - keep that value and introduce a new
>>> concept:  Being competitive with a PC server solution -
>>> NOW!  Corporate wants to hear that we can budget and afford this
>>> solution - NOW!  Shareholders want to hear that we saved money THIS
>>> year, not in 3 - 5 years.
>>> -----------
>>>
>>>  The many name changes are just adding insult to injury.  But since
>>> they're not marketing it properly, positive brand recognition is not
>>> there anyway.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  -mark
>>>
>>>
>>> At 12/7/06 11:59 PM, you wrote:
>>>>Way too long to read for the lack of any solution. It starts with a call
>>>>to
>>>>fight, carries on with a call to fight for an OUTDATED server (AS/400)
>>>> and
>>>>ends with suggestions for IBM to do something. That does not fly any
>>>>more -
>>>>we have to get off OUR collective behinds and DO something. IBM needs
>>>> OUR
>>>>help to keep this platform in OUR world.
>>>>
>>>>You can't fight a fight for a system that is no longer available for
>>>>purchase - that is, an AS/400. While we keep on calling our platform an
>>>>AS/400, and still call ourselves AS/400 developers/programmers/people,
>>>> we
>>>>will remain stuck in the past and die the betamax death. We can write
>>>> all
>>>>we
>>>>want about what IBM should do, but writing does nothing if you are still
>>>>writing about AS/400. And this article switches between AS/400 and
>>>> System
>>>>i
>>>>like they are the same thing. If I.T. collectively thinks AS/400 is
>>>>outdated, then painting System i with the outdated "AS/400" brush is the
>>>>first thing to STOP DOING.
>>>>
>>>>We work on System i - this is the family of servers which WERE AS/400
>>>>servers, THEN iSeries servers, but are now System i5. You do not buy a
>>>> new
>>>>AS/400 from IBM - you buy a System i5 server. This is THE most modern
>>>>platform on the planet, and if we just moved into the 21st century, we
>>>>would
>>>>not have to be "fighting the AS/400 fight".
>>>>
>>>>Fight the System i fight.
>>>>AS/400 is our past, not our present.
>>>>AS/400 is our heritage, not our future.
>>>>AS/400 is dead. Long live the System i.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>>From: "Neil Palmer" <neilpalmer400mr@xxxxxxxx>
>>>>To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 10:27 PM
>>>>Subject: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> > Well worth a read:
>>>> >
>>>> > Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch
>>>> >
>>>> > http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh120406-story03.html
>>>> >
>>>> > Neil Palmer, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
>>>
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