Re: IBM's Frank Soltis "let go" -- MIDRANGE-L

I had to read this several times...let me write down the history as it
happened according to Neil.

1. Dr. Frank's budget was cut
2. Neil complained at COMMON
3. Dr. Frank's budget was restored
4. In a cost-cutting effort, IBM does a "let go" on Dr. Frank

So, Neil, you were responsible for getting Dr. Frank's budget reinstated,
which seems to be the cause of Dr. Frank's "letting go". Neil, are you ok
with causing Dr. Frank to leave IBM? What a responsibility....

And, before you complain, this is simply just another perspective based on
the 'facts'. If all of you can twist IBM's actions to fit your own biased
view, so can anone else...

How about, instead of whining, bitching, moaning and complaining about IBM -
a larger business that most of you have ever run - and celebrate the career
that Dr. Frank had at IBM, and celebrate what he represents to the industry.
I, for one, believe Dr. Frank to be a strong influence on the community, and
I enjoyed listening to him one-on-one or in an audience.

Now, what I want to know, is what will Frank do next? What will the title of
his next book be? ("How Neil caused me to leave IBM"? or "My fantastic
career"?) What is the next speaking circuit where he will appear? How famous
will he get post-IBM? Will he win Indy 500?

On 11/12/08 11:41 AM, "Neil Palmer" <neilpalmer400mr@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

To be precise, Frank was told his job was going away back in January. By the
time of COMMON in Nashville his travel budget had been eliminated (it
miraculously reappeared almost instantly after I mentioned this during the
Town Hall meeting). Frank was told his last day is December 10th. IBM pulled
the same trick they did on Malcolm Haines last year, he was informed his job
was going away and offered a choice of some boring bureaucrat alternatives.
This is so IBM can claim they "chose" to retire, in the same way a chicken
"chooses" to die when you cut its head off.

It's just more proof that IBM doesn't care about "i", or certainly doesn't
care what the customers of "i" want or care about the people who loyally
worked for "i". I asked a question during Ross Mauri's fireside chat
yesterday about his unfortunate use of the word "strategic" in his recent
letter to customers in describing the "i" operating environment. As we all
know declaring a product "strategic" is IBM code to signal its impending
demise, and I asked if he could assure us that the "i" product and all its
important advocates can look forward to many more years of useful service.
For some reason that question never appeared during the chat.

It's plain to see that there's a purge going on of the Rochester faithful by
the Armonk politburo. It's all about services revenue and "i" just doesn't
play that game for IBM because of its ease of use. Don Rima pulled his head
out of the sand years ago, it's time we all did the same.

PS - Dr. Frank is speaking at the Toronto User Group meeting on Wednesday
November 19th. If you're in the Toronto area you may want to catch one of his
last appearances as an IBM'er.
See http://www.tug.ca/

Neil Palmer, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

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

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