Hi, Tom I agree that IBM needs to pay more attention to the needs of smaller customers. Just for the record GEICO is not currently a member of the zBLC. We count on direct interaction with IBM and IBM involvement with SHARE where we work with IBM along with our peers some from small companies and some from not so small companies.
If VSE did not matter do you suppose there would even be z/VSE? Someone at IBM obviously thinks it has some life left in it and value for customers who will be willing upgrade and pay. WAVV is still kicking http://www.wavv.org/ I think IBM is investing in z/VM but new work is mostly in z/VM as a virtualization hypervisor not z/VM as an application platform. I know that doesn't make old school VM folk happy but I think it probably makes sense. IBM needs to pay more attention to the needs of very small customers and consultants, ISVs too small to justify an IT operation much less a z9. Fiasco seems quite accurate to describe the situation into which IBM & FLEX have gotten themselves. The dropped the ball lets just hope they find a way to pick it up again soon. These smallest customers with very limited needs well suited to a zPad support some of IBM's largest customers and other larger ISVs who support IBM's largest customers. For Want of a Nail..... Still it seems to me that ISV software pricing is the biggest problem for small customers not IBM. Best Regards, Sam Knutson, GEICO Performance and Availability Management mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (office) 301.986.3574 "Think big, act bold, start simple, grow fast..." -----Original Message----- Shane and Chris, of course, have summed up this problem with customary skill and diplomacy. The issue is that IBM is listening primarily to its zBLC group, made up primarily of its largest, spendy-est customers. Those customers are generally thriving on the z-platform, due in no small part to the tremendous attention paid to their needs. The small fry, on the other hand, are seeing less and less from IBM ... and the smaller ISVs are in the active/passive process of being choked by the Flex-vs.- IBM fiasco. Small customers are still tolerated, but there isn't much being done to help their business use of z/OS (or z/VM for that matter; and does z/VSE even matter anymore?). SHARE doesn't have near the impact that the zBLC has and that may not be able to change - unless the zBLC members wish to make it so. (And why would they?? Does the harem really want another wife?) -- Tom Schmidt Madison, WI ==================== This email/fax message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution of this email/fax is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all paper and electronic copies of the original message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
