Re: Casino switches to AIX -- MIDRANGE-L

Trevor,

See inline:

At 11/21/08 12:42 AM, you wrote:

Mark,

In an effort to keep this in the big picture, and avoid splitting hairs on
lots of little out of context sentences, I will answer some.

> the reality is that the marketplace has effectively
>rejected it. The feedback is that it's too confusing.
I think this is where you start spreading FUD. Uncertainty, and doubt, for
sure. A few pundits on midrange-L who disagree is not marketplace rejection.
A lot of people in the marketplace who are uneducated on the new name is not
wholesale rejection. The word is being spread, inside and outside IBM.

I am not commenting on the marketplace as a whole, rather as one that attempts to spread the word, I am commenting on the feedback I am personally receiving. Put simply: Techies and occasionally managers that are tuned into the i world are often aware of the system and its changes. Almost everyone else has no idea what the system is about, let alone its changes. When I try to tell them about the changes, they are somewhat interested in the technological advances, but their eyes glaze over when I try to straighten out the naming confusion. It's a losing battle.

> We get a few ads around Common and then silence.
This is not a marketing campaign - this is advertising. Which is part of a
marketing campaign. Grassroots word of mouth is marketing. Awareness is
marketing. I think all the complaints about IBM's marketing of the i are
really about not seeing an ad in the place "I want to see it". And, how many
of us who frequent midrange-l are marketing experts? Ultimately, this really
is a frivolous, and just noisy, claim.
Besides, if that was marketing, IBM would just create a new ad now and then
to shut up the 'faithful'. Personally, this is not the approach I would
suggest to a "multi-billion dollar corporation".

Grassroots word of mouth should not be the primary method of marketing, if you know what's good for you. It can be a wonderful adjunct, bolstering your product's image, but to rely on it? No way! How long has the midrange faithful been extolling the platform? 25, 30 years?? You are moving the onus of the success of the platform from IBM, where it belongs, to the ISV's, who are trying to survive.

The public at large knows all about Microsoft, Apple, AOL, Intel, AMD, etc. products. Why? Is it because they have superior products or because they have gotten the word out to the general public? The public spreading the word is a bonus. All of these companies advertise SPECIFIC products. They don't just mention their company name and hope that people will come flocking to them to find out what offerings there are.

> How many new "competitive" i installs have you been
> involved with this past year?
All of them. We sell software. The majority have some form of Windows
software package/s to replace, and we have installed several Power5 515s,
and have ordered a bunch of Power6 520 M15s. All of them against Windows
applications and solutions. And, this is as a member of the IBM VIP program.

Two things stand out - when it was a System i, the sale was harder, since
the Windows competitor called it an AS/400. Since the Power6, competing
against Windows has been so much easier - they can't and don't say that IBM
i on Power Systems is "just an AS/400". Our sales cycle has shortened as the
"old AS/400" attack is gone.

I'm glad that it's working for you, but I seem to be fighting an uphill battle. Based on a lot of the feedback on this list, many others are facing the same difficulties.

I think we have a different perspective on this. I see the positive impact
of the new platform, and I see a strong future of being able to also deploy
IBM i and Windows in a blade center - a future where we make even more IBM
server sales. When I worked in a hardware business partner, we upgraded
AS/400s and iSeries - where the terminology was a challenge. Now, from a
software perspective, the hardware is de-emphasized. Our customers have no
idea they have DB2 or green screens under the covers of their modern
application. I work everyday with applications running on i that are
competitive - because they have the look and feel of a windows/browser
application, the depth of functionality that comes from the years of
experience we have in the industry, and the rock-solid OS+server under the
covers.
I don't think you get to see that, so you seem much more jaded than i. Or,
is that I?

We have yet to see how the market reacts to the "i on a blade" packaging. How many i vendors (KBM included!) are charging the same price for green screen as GUI applications or tools? IBM is leading the pack decoupling GUI tools from the basic package. GUI is a de facto standard today.

Also, a GUI I/O is not "native" to RPG, the primary development language on the i, further making the transition more difficult.

Trevor

On 11/20/08 12:27 AM, "M. Lazarus" <mlazarus@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Trevor,
>
> Inline:
>
> At 11/19/08 11:30 AM, you wrote:
>> Mark,
>>
>> You have made some great points. I appreciate that you are kicking ideas
>> around, rather than doom+gloom. This is the kind of debate that is needed.
>>
>> I am not an advocate of the name 'changes'. And, in fact, if you have read
>> anything I have written here since April, I have stopped pushing anything
>> related to the name 'change'. I am an advocate of promoting the platform. I
>> am an advocate of promoting the future of the platform, not living in the
>> glorious past. To put it simply, if you replace your current server and OS,
>> or if you buy a new one from IBM, then you will be ordering IBM i on a Power
>> System.
>
> The thought process behind the name changes may have some merit
> (refreshing the line, reflecting new hardware, the merging of the
> hardware lines, etc.), but the reality is that the marketplace has
> effectively rejected it. The feedback is that it's too
> confusing. Brand recognition has been lost. It has been pointed out
> that even IBM is not consistent in its referral to the brand.
>
>
>> And yes, I see that as a NEW platform, albeit one that can run our heritage
>> as we need. And, even if that is just a marketing statement, it takes away
>> the attack by the opposition that it is just another old AS/400. You talk
>> about marketing, but have you considered this may be one of the MOST
>> effective marketing tools we have?
>
> Good thought, but it doesn't seem to be working.
>
>
>> IBM definitely should be marketing their systems. And, in fact, they do.
>> What the average person does not see is the ad on tv, or in the airline
>> magazine, etc. Because IBM does not do those for IBM i. If you don't see
>> those, does that mean IBM are not marketing? Read the transcript of the
>> Fireside chat with Ross Mauri (http://isociety.org/Chat20081111.html) Quote:
>> "our marketing spend to attract new customers is not TV ads ... it's
>> investment in co-marketing programs with ISVs ... we have seen real results
>> from those types of programs because they speak directly to customers
>> business needs more so than a generic TV spot"
>
> The "p" systems are mostly targeted to the SAME potential customer
> base. Does p get TV and executive magazine ad placement? I'd
> venture to say that it does. Why the different treatment?
>
>
>> My point is, that instead of complaining about what IBM are supposedly not
>> doing, we as a community should DO something. And 'marketing' is just one of
>> those things. I regularly ask user groups several questions.
>
>
> Your questions are red herrings. They are designed from the get-go
> to be dramatic failures.
>
>> 1. How many of you told someone else about the i this
>> week/month/year. The number of people
>> who have is ALWAYS small. Very small to none.
>
> Most techies are not in a position to do that effectively. The
> vast majority do NOT work for software vendors and have little daily
> opportunity to pass along the message. Even those that do work for
> ISV's, most are techies that don't directly deal with potential
> customers. That leaves a very small pool of potential people to
> promote the platform.
>
>
>> 2. How many of you called someone and invited them to this meeting?
>> Again, small to none.
>
> So what? The UG meetings are generally for existing customers that
> are looking to make the most of their investment.
>
>
>> 3. How many of you come to this user group even when there is a
>> topic you are not
>> interested in. Again, none to small.
>
> Again, a non-starter: See #2. Wasting time at a lecture that is
> not of interest to the individual is not a productive use of
> time. What does this question have to do with promoting the box?
>
>
>> What I see is a lot of noise about how
>> things are not going 'my way', but when asked to do simple things that may
>> cost you nothing, yet help promote the FUTURE of the platform (as opposed to
>> the glorious past), our community shuts down (and says I am harassing them
>> about a 'name'). Poor defense, really.
>
> As I mentioned, the ISV's in the trenches that are interacting with
> the customers and potential customers are already doing that. The
> griping about the name is directly related to that: It's making the
> job much more difficult. If we weren't trying to promote it the
> renames wouldn't mean anything to us, right?
>
>
>> You say "Once IBM steps up to the plate and does what it should" as though
>> you know what IBM ~should~ do. Have you any suggestions about how to run a "
>> multi-billion dollar corporation"? Or the marketing thereof? If you did,
>> then we could get all our ideas together in the one place - er, say a forum?
>> and we could SHOW IBM what we mean - rather than just complaining. I tried
>> that when we had System i - with i4everyone.com, but it was rather lonely
>> out there. Yeah, I know, we are all programming and have little time to
>> 'play'. But, I believe in the platform, and I believe in its future, and I
>> am willing to invest in its future. You want one of my iGuru buttons? Or,
>> would you prefer iNerd? Those cost ~me~, but I think they have had an impact
>> on the world - one button at a time.
>
> Out of curiosity, what do you feel is wrong with the current forums
> and methods of communicating with IBM, that you felt the need "split
> off" into a new forum?
>
> We've SHOWN IBM plenty, we've made our voices heard ad nauseam at
> Common, in the forums, via web page feedback. We get a few ads
> around Common and then silence. What else would it take for IBM get
> the message?
>
> Why would I need to know how to run "a multi-billion dollar
> corporation or the marketing thereof," in order to state the obvious
> - that the marketing efforts are sorely lacking? Most of what to do
> is either common sense or well established.
>
>
>> I remember a few COMMON conferences back where iSociety handed out over 30
>> Podcast Factory packages, and they got promises from all of those people to
>> make a podcast to promote System i. Do you know how many i podcasts were
>> produced with those? ZERO. How do we get people to DO something - anything
>> at all to PROMOTE the platform. Not just say great things, but say them
>> where OTHER people can read them? Not just say we will do something,
>> but DO it.
>
> A) We ARE doing our part.
> B) All of these private efforts will not convert the unconverted,
> since they don't know about it (because IBM won't give it true name
> recognition) and therefore have no reason to attend / participate in
> those activities.
>
>
>> And, while "Shouting how great this system is does not make the reality of
>> the lost sales and clients any less painful or any less real" may be true,
>> shouting (showing your passion and being active about it) is ONE of the ways
>> we as a community can DO something at little to NO cost.
>
> See above.
>
>
>> Shout on.
>
> We're shouting, but few are listening. How many new "competitive"
> i installs have you been involved with this past year? I haven't
> heard of any companies switching to the platform in a while.
>
> -mark