In message <B15783736822E848BEA35ED07C6F53D617D360@localhost>, Duane
Percox <[log in to unmask]> writes

<A great deal of sense, including>

>I'm sure the ibm folks have done a good job of keeping this platform going,
>especially given the rather large installed base.

>While I can see this would be of interest to their installed base and to
>others who might have an internal MIS shop focus and want the stability of a
>cobol friendly mid-range proprietary system, I don't find the economics of a
>proprietary platform working to the advantage of an ISV who isn't already on
>the box. In the small/mid-range it comes down to TCO and ISV's who can
>deploy on more standard solutions will have a much lower TCO.

Having been with an ISV for many years, I absolutely agree with you.

Now being in an internal MIS shop, I absolutely agree with you there as
well. :-)

The HP3000 was a 'tough sell', and the AS400 will be a similar tough
sell. With my old ISV hat on, I wouldn't dream of porting off the HP3000
onto the AS400. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

But as an internal MIS shop box, the AS400 is very attractive. So
attractive, we've already got a few, right alongside the HP3000s, albeit
running different (packaged) apps.

Of course, the second aspect of all this, even for an internal MIS shop,
is that what you are doing is so specialised that a package is out of
the question - even if you are bespoke/homegrown on the HP3000 right now
- and you've *got* to either homestead, or redevelop, or use a
soup-to-nuts migration service.

And probably only the second of those options sees you looking at the
AS400.

I reckon the days when the TCO of an AS400 over Unixen, or whatever,
still tips in favour of the proprietary box are still with us for a
homegrown/bespoke/one-off application.

But they are long gone for packages; the ISV is expected to bear the
extra pain of the less orderly development environment (which may put
the cost of the software, and the support, up by some percentage),
because the TCO on commodity hardware still comes in way lower than on
proprietary. Or at least is perceived to be (did a pair of new
cartridges for my inkjet *really* just cost me more than half what I
paid for the printer? And yes it did originally come with proper full
ones, and not 'starter' cartridges).

>This is why I think porting an mpe solution to os/400 is nothing more than
>treading water and not affording you the potential to sieze upon the
>opportunities that will present themselves over the next 2-5 years.

I take it you are addressing just ISVs here, Duane?

>Something I always like to remember as I evaluate choices and the
>'solutions' that are being proposed by individuals/vendors is to "follow the
>money". When it comes to business people are rarely altruistic - more
>typically they have their financial interests placed foremost in their
>minds. This being recently evidenced by cases of investment firms touting
>stocks publicly that they know are 'dogs'.

I wonder if the days of software companies touting packages they know
are 'dogs' are still continuing, too?

>duane percox
>'migrate smoothly and swiftly with intelligence and creativity'

Amen to that. But how to translate it into practice - there's the rub.
--
Roy Brown        'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be
Kelmscott Ltd     useful, or believe to be beautiful'  William Morris

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