RE: System i - Mentioned twice in SD Times -- MIDRANGE-L

Don,

I can't argue one bit with your points. Unfortunately, a good amount of
this is water under the bridge and it can't be fixed at this point. I'm
not sure what we can do about it. Believe me, I was the poster child
of absolute disgust when the eServer charlie foxtrot was announced.

While I believe the damage is done and will continue in some ways I
really think that part of Trevor's point and what I think we should be
working on moving forward is that the operating system is what actually
makes the difference. Not saying hardware wasn't part of the success
but year in and year out it's the OS that has made this system have a
low cost of ownership, good reliability (yes you have hardware helping),
good security, good productivity, etc.

Right now the pSeries and iSeries are for all purposes the same hardware
platform. They are not the same OS platform.

If any change occurs I would suggest that frustration towards the
hardware name change be directed at the lack of marketing, publicity,
and concrete actions involving the operating system i5/OS. My guess is
that another name change will cause more FUD in the market. My guess is
that public perception will be confusion as well as anger. My guess is
that competitors will use this to their advantage. There could be
bright spots in the name change - look for those. But mostly, IBM needs
to be held accountable for what else occurs with this change. Not words
- actions. Not names - actions.

Michael Crump

Manager, Computing Services
Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc.
1509 S. Macedonia Ave.
Muncie, IN 47302
765.741.7696
765.741.7012 f

Destiny
You were meant for me. Perhaps as punishment.

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-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Don
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:59 PM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: System i - Mentioned twice in SD Times

Trevor wrote:

I care about the platform.

======

Trevor, I don't think there's any doubt in anyone's mind that you do.
Certainly not in mine.

What amazes alot of us, is the need to befuddle the industry by changing
the
names every 2 or so years for whatever wild hair whim that comes out
of.....
:)

ANYONE with a solid and successful history of a product that's been in
the
marketplace for the intermediate to long term, will tell you, without
fail,
that stable product recognition is one of THE key elements to the
success of
a product. IBM has insisted on shooting this product in the foot via
their
naming wild hairs... What if Ford changed the name of the Mustang every
couple years...maybe this year it should be called 'The Wildebeastie'
Or
maybe the Crown Victoria should become the Fergie?...think people would
be
as loyal? Perhaps Aunt Jemima should now be Cousin Jen? Log Cabin
syrup
should be Old Joe's brown sugar sauce.... Want a long list of similar
examples? Maybe Oracle should chance its database product's name to,
oh,
maybe, Delphi?

I submit, there are basically 5 big reasons why this product line
doesn't
have the marketplace acceptance that it's peers from MS, Sun, Red
Hat...etc
do: 1 - Name changes too frequent. 2-Condemning the end user to the
channel. 3-Lack of historical patrol of the channel and
BP's/MAP's/VAR's/etc. 4-Lack of presence in the education realm.
5-Lack of
serious marketing presence.

Combined, these 5 items are making the existence and promotion of this
system very challenging.

And we all wish it weren't so...trust me...

Viva i-Power...or whatever.... :)

Don in DC