Hi Sharon
I'd almost make a bet that this company has fire insurance. How can they not
"insure" their IT assets ?
I understand what drives companies not to upgrade, and once that decision is
made it gets even harder to justify as it becomes progressively more
expensive to do the upgrade, but my opinion is that it displays extremely
poor judgement or poor management.
How long can the company run without a computer system ? What is the plan if
something as simple as a fan decides to die ? Everything in the machine that
is mechanical will fail at some point in time
If you don't have a complete replacement MACHINE on hand, with a compatible
tape drive, or know where to get one, then the chances of being able to
continue your operations in the event of a problem you didn't anticipate are
fairly remote. What is your disaster recovery plan and what does it cover.?
Have you rehearsed it ?
I say this from first hand experience having seen a couple of machines in
this situation literally stop working, dead. One took 3 days to cobble
together a solution, one never worked again.
I know how this stuff comes about and it's almost always the cost of
maintenance or upgrade for the application software, but regardless of that,
it simply does not make any sense to run unsupported. If you do that you
should be accruing or accounting for the savings somewhere to buy your
replacement machine. You're going to need the money sooner or later.
Regards
Evan Harris
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Wintermute, Sharon
Sent: Friday, 3 October 2008 4:28 a.m.
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Another iSeries bites the dust
Not every company wants new functionality. That's the business decision
they have made. They don't want the bells and whistles. The simplest
approach is all they want. That's where every company has their own
decision to make. If they don't want to invest in newer technology
that's fine, but they should be criticized or made to feel like a second
class citizen for doing so.
Sharon
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Pete Massiello
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 9:52 AM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: Another iSeries bites the dust
Sharon,
I can definitely see where both of you are coming from, and I
think
we need to distinguish between nice to have and required, which is
definitely the instance on that small customer with a 150 and a nice to
have
Power 5 515.
There needs to be quite a difference for a small company to make
that move and make that investment. Going back to the truck, while they
will both get you from point A to Point B, the newer truck is probably
more
fuel efficient (really only matters if you drive considerable distance
for
payback), but then I wouldn't want to be in an older truck without
Airbags &
Crumple-zones, GPS Navigation, all wheel drive, etc. That is the
difference
between those two trucks, and likewise the two machines.
The machine has to fit the customer and their budget. Keeping
their
old machine will allow them to continue to run the same old
applications.
Putting in a new machine will allow them to use features and functions
like
Web Query or other new functions they may need to expand the business.
JMHO
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Wintermute, Sharon
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 10:00 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Another iSeries bites the dust
Lukas,
Unsupported software? That's my responsibility. In the last 5 years I
have had to make a total of 3 changes to support his business. If he
doesn't want to upgrade that's his call. You can get replacement parts,
he just didn't have them on-hand. Now he keeps drives on site instead
of waiting.
I disagree with the idea that you have to be on the latest and greatest
to be competitive. Power5 systems are fine if you need that, for his
needs the 150 is perfect. Not running on a power5 is not WRONG.
The definition of a good product is not necessarily that it is "current
and supported" by the manufacturer. As long as it provides a benefit to
the business then it is filling its need.
Don't you realize how many products are "not supported" yet still being
used? Why should I buy that 2009 truck when the 1986 version still
works and can be "supported"?
Don't inflict your bias on others.
Sharon
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lukas Beeler
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 8:44 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Another iSeries bites the dust
On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 3:25 PM, Wintermute, Sharon
<Sharon.Wintermute@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
No that's one tough system.
No, that's luck. Running unsupported software on hardware that no
longer has a ready supply for replacements parts is stupid, no matter
which way you put it.
If you're not running at least a POWER5 machine today, you're doing
something wrong.
Note: That doesn't mean you necessarely have to run into a brick wall.
It might work perfectly. Until.
We have some customers that are still running NT4 SBS. Does that make
it a good product in todays world? Hell no. It just means that some of
the customers running really outdates hard and software can get lucky
and not have their entire IT infrastructure fall on their head.
midrange.com
