On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 16:42:40 +0100, Phil Payne <[EMAIL PROTECTED] RESEARCH.FREESERVE.CO.UK> wrote:
>> And what about always posting about how cheap the hardware is getting? > >If the hardware (processor) were free it would make little difference. > Snip! > >I have to say I find such posts insulting. Does anyone really >believe we can be fooled so easily? Most of IBM's "pricing >initiatives" over the last decade or so have been disingenuous >at best. One example is the regular "10% technology benefit" >in MSU/MIPS in every generation, because of course it makes >damn all difference given the degressive pricing model. > >The bizarre thing is that some of executives think they're doing >a good job. > I agree completely. IMHO the only thing that IBM can do to stop the flight from the mainframe is to make drastic price cuts for the software. An immediate reduction of 50% coupled with an announcement that there would be annual reductions of 25% might help stop the hemmorrhage, but it's not enough to attract new customers. AFAIK, they don't even publish the software prices any more. IIRC, a previous employer was paying around $20,000 per month for IBM software on a 15 MSU 9672-R24. So what would the software cost on a 1500 MSU box? A million dollars a month? They have completely abandoned the mainframe, and software costs were a big part of the reason. The inflation in software costs caused by cheaper and faster hardware has led all kinds of companies to find every possible alternative to running on the mainframe. Tom Marchant ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
