RE: Marketing question about AS/400 name

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: jallen@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
> I know this topic has been discussed before (beaten to
> death) and I am not asking for a lengthy discussion about
> IBM and how they messed up with renaming the AS/400.
>
> I would like to hear suggestions on the correct way to write
> the fact that we offer software for the AS/400, System i,
> iSeries, i5 etc. etc.

Trevor would tell you (rightly) that the name "System i" pretty much
encompasses everything.  Unfortunately not even Trevor can keep up with the
name changes; in a recent post he alluded to the fact that there is no
longer a "5" in System i servers.  He never did get back to us on how the
new naming works, and thus it's hard to imagine customers understanding.

Personally, I would do one of two things depending on my potential client
base.

If I wanted to be progressive and position myself for the future, I would
use the term "System i" whenever I am talking generically about the products
I support, and then in teeny little letters say that System i include the
entire midrange family, from AS/400 on.

If, however I was really worried about the older crowd, I would use the
combined term AS/400-iSeries, because those two names have the highest
recognition today.  However, as Trevor points out, continuing to use the
older names probably slows down the uptake of the new ones.  But I'm not
worried about that unless IBM has finally settled on the naming, and as of
the second quarter of this year, it seems they still hadn't.

Joe

Note: My product line is PSC/400.  That's the family name, and I'm having
trouble ditching it.  At the same time, my new product is iQ, which plays on
the little "i".  So I'm somewhat schizophrenic in this debate, anyway.