Clem, Good start, but I have another idea that might also help. IBM's actual pool of customers has, I think we would all agree, been shrinking. Yes they have been selling more MIPS and lots of physical machines, but to an increasingly limited set of customers.
The biggest bang for the buck IBM could have would be to provide the scale and pricing to encourage small businesses to "bet the farm" on IBM mainframe computing technology (not "i", not "p", not "x" but "z"). What about adding a reference to how IBM *used* to supply the administrative computing technology to universities all over the world and now can count such installations on the fingers of one or two hands? Why shouldn't IBM get back into that arena in a big way with donations and outright grants to universities to run their very own z/Arch hardware (not share some remote resource at a perhaps *competing* university)? Even if they only are used as secure DB servers and Linux farms, it gets the technology into the university, and who knows what can flow from that? TCO is important to university trustees as well as corporations, and what's "greener" than reducing a university's carbon footprint with z/Arch technology? Unfortunately, I also have to remind us all of the statement made by a previous IBM CEO (and no, I don't remember which one) who told his shareholders and investor analysts in no uncertain terms that IBM would always be in "high margin" businesses, and that if any part of their business became low margin or commoditized, IBM would exit that business forthwith. (C.F. the IBM printer and PC businesses, now no longer in the IBM sales catalog.) Under 200 MIPS z/Arch is obviously a low margin business ripe for commoditization (that is, after all, what we're asking him to do here). I suspect our pleas will fall on quite deaf ears. However, it is still worth asking, IMHO. Thank you for taking this on. Peter > -----Original Message----- > From: Clement Clarke [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 8:32 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: T3 Sues IBM To Break its Mainframe Monopoly > > Hi Roger, Sam and Doc and other interested people, > > I have just learned that Sam is in Oz (for the first time ever). See > http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22874620-16123,00.html > > In the past, I have spoken to a few people in IBM (gosh, I worked there > for 4 years), and, if we are quick it might be possible to get it > discussed. > > I've written something fairly quickly, and stood on the shoulders of > others by incorporating their comments. I'll send it to Sam first thing > tomorrow (it is sleep time in Oz) after you have commented. > > It is here: > http://members.ozemail.com.au/~oscarptyltd/Letter%20to%20Sam%20Palmisano.h > tml This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
