Part of it is the current state of "globalization". What percentage of SSA's
customers 15 years ago still have manufacturing facilities in the US?
Another is the cost of maintenance on products that have had minimal or no
enhancements. I have clients who won't (or can't) upgrade their machines
because they would have to pay a fortune to (insert software company name
here) just to get the keys to run the software on a new serial number. It
used to be that IBM would allow a customer to bring his old serial number
with him to a new machine, but I don't think that's the case anymore.
Paul Nelson
Cell 708-670-6978
Office 512-392-2577
nelsonp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-nontech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-nontech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
fbocch2595@xxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 10:11 AM
To: midrange-nontech@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: iSeries revenue plummets
I think the?fact that we don't have any increase in medium to large type
companies contributes to the iSeries not being an option.??
When I worked for SSA it seemed all large manufacturing shops used it but
where are those shops now?? Some of them are still here but there's no new
ones cropping up anywhere.??
?
-----Original Message-----
From: Crump, Mike <Mike.Crump@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Non-Technical Discussion about the AS400 / iSeries
<midrange-nontech@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:28 am
Subject: RE: iSeries revenue plummets
I think there are also some sheer numbers and economics types of issues.
The system never sells on acquisition price. That immediately
eliminates a large number of customers. New or existing.
Dropping prices immediately to match the market is not without it's
negatives. One, I hate to get into the my OS is better than your OS but
I firmly believe there is a value in i5/OS that you don't get with other
OS. So it can stand to reason that it's worth some sort of premium.
Two, even if you drop prices today will not result in an immediate
increase in sales that will offset the loss in profitability. So you
eliminate your profit and you don't get a whole lot in return.
Windows and X systems aren't running some sort of phenomenal campaign
here. They have an immediate advantage just due to sheer numbers. You
would have to be stupid to fail in these markets.
You need the magic 10% growth number. 10% increase in number of systems
sold from the previous year. 10% new customers from the previous year.
You get those numbers and you might attract more new applications and
you might stop existing vendors from treating the existing customer base
as a cash cow.
Michael Crump
Manager, Computing Services
Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc.
1509 S. Macedonia Ave.
Muncie, IN 47302
765.741.7696
765.741.7012 f
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-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-nontech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-nontech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael Ryan
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 8:08 AM
To: Non-Technical Discussion about the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: iSeries revenue plummets
While I'm a System i fanboy, it's difficult to see why new customers
would choose the System i. I didn't think that was true a few years
ago, but other OS's (UNIX/Windows) have become stronger and more
reliable. Plus, other OS's have new software being developed for them.
I don't think the number of competitive reinstalls from Brand X to
System i is very large - I'd be interested to know that number. PHP
and MySQL are good technologies that could make the System i a
platform of choice, but I think the cost seems prohibitive to
potential new customers.
I think the System i is the best business system on the market, but
the market continues to move in a different direction.
On Nov 20, 2007 8:00 AM, Aaron Bartell <albartell@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Flashy-ness sells hardware. Unfortunately it isn't the flashy-ness of
the
hardware I am talking about, but instead what a developer sees as the
quickest path to their endpoint. There is a huge increase in the
language
and development environment determining what overall system is chosen.
That
is why we are seeing so many shops going Microsoft .NET - it is VERY
flashy
despite it's fragile nature. Sure, they are catching up, but they are
merely trying to get to what IBM has had for years.
The System i5 can sustain itself pretty well with it's existing
customer
base, but as for new customers I am not so sure. What would be
somebody's
reason for becoming a new System i5 customer? I'd guess nobody would
choose
RPG as their "new" language moving forward. PHP and MySQL on the
machine,
with all the new virtualization stuff included, might make some people
jump
on the box.
Thoughts?
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-nontech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-nontech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
fbocch2595@xxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 6:51 AM
To: midrange-nontech@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: iSeries revenue plummets
What are the aspects of the iSeries that make it the best business
machine??
Are those things enough to keep companies buying it in numbers that
will
keep the platform alive??
-----Original Message-----
From: Abacusflorida@xxxxxxx
To: midrange-nontech@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:45 pm
Subject: Re: iSeries revenue plummets
Sad to say - They deserve to plummet.
When is the last time you saw any advertising outside of a technical
communication about the I-series (as/400)? TV, Super bowl,
non-I-series
magazine.
I have I-series clients that receive no mail, calls, or anything
about
I-series. I personally think that the switch years ago from IBM
sales reps
to
business partners was a cost reduction technique that will ultimately
spell
the
death of the I-series. Perhaps they don't have the financial
where-with-all
to
mass-market. It's a shame that the "greatest" business computer will
be
extinct without someone selling it. IBM sure isn't.
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