I of course do not speak for any software vendor -- not even really the one I work for, much less IBM -- but my impression is that SMP/E will remain the main vehicle for much IBM and big software vendor software. Note what John says: "SMP/E agnostic," NOT "replaces SMP/E."
Speaking of my ISV employer, we have struggled with SMP/E. Here is the dilemma we face: - we have no one who is a drop-dead SMP/E packaging design expert. - when we go to people who are SMP/E packaging experts they say "your IEBCOPY install is a work of art! It is so simple! Why would you want to change? SMP/E is waaaaay overkill." - but some larger customers really, really, really want SMP/E. One Sysprog said something to me like "yeah, SMP/E is awful, but it's the same awful for everything. (Goes to Tom Brennan's point.) I'm sure your install is great, but it's unique, and I have limited learning time." I participated in John's project because I hope it solves that conundrum for us. We shall see. Charles -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2016 8:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: ISVs, SMP/E, ... (was: Installation Improvements ...) On Tue, 4 Oct 2016 09:08:33 -0400, John Eells wrote: > >*Whoa*! Don't panic. This DOES NOT signal that IBM will move everything >out of SMP/E management. There are no plans to change the packaging for >products that really need SMP/E or something just like it. But, >Software Management now supports non-SMP/E-packaged products too. > Will SMP/E remain the preferred channel for ISVs? IBM generously provided GIMZIP, enabling ISVs to package in formats suitable for RECEIVE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
