Jon,
So why aren't you recruiting .Net or PHP or Java programmers and teaching them RPG? Not getting at you...
It's cool. I know that you are not "getting at" me. What you say is true. I can't argue with your experience. But it has been mine that luring this talent into our fold is very, very difficult. They have been "window-fied" (SHUDDER!!) Database is spelled SQL Server or Oracle rather than DB2.
To your point, I have tried frequently to implement cross-training (or at least, cross-exposure) and having my face laughed in too often hurts. :-)
And from what I've seen, a good .Net developer is at least as expensive as a seasoned i developer (if not more).
steve
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jon Paris
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 9:26 AM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IBM BP's that used to be ISERIES now migrating to windows
On Feb 1, 2011, at 10:09 AM, midrange-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
It is not only the migration by business and BP's that are moving away from the IBM i platform, it is the academic one.
While there was a lot of drift the recent initiatives have helped a lot - the list of schools in the program is here:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/university/ibmi/schools.html and this is the home page for the Power i program
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/university/ibmi/index.html
The hub system housed at the University of Nebraska is helping provide access to schools so that they no longer have to own their own box.
But academia is always a tough sell. They will basically go with what they get given.
The average age of our IBM i development staff has got to be approaching 50. The .Net component of our shop's average age is closer to 30. I can't recall the last tech interview I'd done for the IBM i that the candidate was under 40 years.
So why aren't you recruiting .Net or PHP or Java programmers and teaching them RPG? Not getting at you - but it gets really tiresome always hearing about aging (and expensive) RPG programmers when it is so easy to tech modern RPG to any programmer. We've done several classes lately and have taught RPG to Java, .Net, VB, C# and C++ programmers how to code in modern RPG. With almost zero exceptions they like RPG and really like that they can focus on coding business apps and not have to manage the DB etc.
No schools seem to be teaching the benefits of the IBM i.
See the list above. But I agree that IBM needs to do a better job getting into the MBA programs and showing the value proposition.
With no "young blood", it is just a matter of time and attrition.
Yes it is - which is why those of us who appreciate the platform should work to recruit new fans.
Jon Paris
www.Partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com
midrange.com
