Re: IBM investment in i -- MIDRANGE-L

Trevor,

Just playing devils advocate here, because I KNOW you
are dedicated to ________
(fill in the blank from the list:)
AS/400
eServer iSeries
iSeries
eServer i5
System i5
System i
i
irene

and I really DO appreciate/envy your enthusiasm.

But (apart from the fact i5/OS, AIX & Linux have been
running on the same hardware for years) if one could
say IBM has brought "i" to the mainstream because it
now runs on the same hardware platform as AIX & Linux,
could one not also say IBM brought OS/2 to the
mainstream because it ran on the same hardware
platform as Windows?

;-)

...Neil

--- Trevor Perry <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I take offense at the accusation that "nobody is
selling the box".

I work for a small software company. We sell our
software to run on IBM i.
That means, when we sell our applications, we sell a
server. This week, I
have configured a couple of Power Systems, and the
new blade center is a
huge advantage for us. We work hard to sell our
applications, promote IBM i,
and as a consequence, we sell hardware for IBM. And
we are not alone. The
number of 515 servers sold recently has grown
significantly. Where did those
sales come from?

The hardest fight we have had has not been lack of
support from IBM, but an
inherent lack of support from the community who
remain mired in a past. When
we competed against Windows in the past, we had to
fight the "AS/400 is old"
slam, propagated not only by the competition, but by
everyone inside our
community who stubbornly refuses to move into a
future because IBM has not
done it their particular way. Now, we can install
(what appears to be) ONE
server that runs IBM i and Windows!! Customers are
loving that they can have
their Windows AND run a great application on a
'single' server. IBM has just
made it easier for us to be in business, and now it
is easier for us to
"sell the box".

Whatever complaints you have, whatever myopic vision
of a glorious green
past you have, the world is a better place with IBM
bringing IBM i to the
mainstream.

On 5/7/08 11:10 AM, "Pat Barber"
<mboceanside@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Booth Martin wrote:

When the IBM salesman calls on his AS/400 accounts

in the

foreseeable future, what is he going to be selling

them?

IBM has only "managed decline" to offer.

This is exactly what the problem is in my opinion.

IBM or very few other folks are actuallly out

there

trying to sell the product.

I am not aware of a single IBM rep in the two

state area I work in.

I believe when IBM killed the small business

partner program back in

1998, there was a marked decline in the sales of

any boxes. There is

nobody in my geographic area that actually goes

out and makes sales

calls on customers(cold calling).

IBM hasn't had a sales force in several years and

counts on the large

Business Partners that are left to sell to the

existing accounts.

These BPs are "not" selling to small accounts.

They have no financial

interest
in a small 520/525 account. When these small

starter systems started

dying off, there was nobody there to pick up the

slack.

I define a small account as a box that sells for

less that $25K.

These used to be the heart and soul of the box and

their decline is why we

are whining today. NOBODY is selling these

machines.

I have several friends that are CE's or retired

CE's and I hear the talk

about the
lack of new installs, which directly affects their

careers.

Forget the "IBM ain't selling the box".... Nobody

is selling the box.

Neil Palmer, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

(This account not monitored for personal mail,
remove the last two letters before @ for that)

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