On 5/21/2013 4:14 AM, Scott Chapman wrote:
Is z/OS v2 going to carry a price increase? AFAIK, that hasn't been announced,
but to plan for a 2 or 3 year ELA at this point I need to plan for what that
price increase might be and when we might migrate to it.
Good question in light of IBM's recent pricing "schizophrenia."
When the z196 came out, they killed off the Technology Dividend which
had for years helped to normalize prices for the entire software
ecosystem: MLC, IPLA, ISV. At the same time they announced AWLC pricing
which lowered z/OS MLC prices by about 5%, for those who installed the
new hardware, but left IPLA and ISV prices unchanged.
Then they implemented a sweeping 6% z/OS MLC price increase in April
2012 that affected _ALL_ customers on all hardware. (Yikes!)
Then, when zEC12 came out they announced "Technology Update Pricing for
AWLC" which lowered z/OS MLC prices by about 5% for those who installed
the new hardware.
Some analysts viewed the April 2012 MLC price increase as likely having
set the stage for a roll-out of z/OS V2 without a price increase to make
the transition to z/OS V2, with an all-new (more restrictive) customer
agreement, an obvious "no-brainer". But, it might have been just another
inducement for customers to upgrade their hardware to zEC12. If so,
IBM's plan seems to have worked--based on their record high 4Q12 MIPS
growth numbers!
AINFA and my crystal ball seems to be on the fritz, but I would be
_highly_ surprised if IBM doesn't use the occasion of the first z/OS
version change in 13 years to raise prices. After all, it seems like
everything else we buy in this world has has seen recent, significant,
price increases. Why should operating system software be immune from
this trend?
--
Edward E Jaffe
Phoenix Software International, Inc
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/
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