Tony, I wish I could say that everything you wrote is true, but not in my "neck of the woods". I am currently on a project that the IS Director wants the green screen "gone". And yes, his IQ is much higher than 23. Furthermore, he wants to be able to migrate to Oracle in the future. The current green screen system works very well, but it is time to move on. The logic is not that the GUI applications are much slower, but that with GUI applications, the data entry can be spread out to other people. Why need speed when you can spread out the data entry? In addition, the users need to be able to utilize mainstream software packages without going through the process of flattening out the file structure or going through the contortions of exporting the data.
I will say, I do find it ironic that I am the only U2 analyst working on the conversion while there are three other full time java programmers doing essentially the same job (In phase one, the plan is to move to System Builder, phase two Java front-end, phase three (I hope that it never comes to that) :)). Steve >Whenever I propose that people take their existing apps, do some marketing, >and make a go of it in the mainstream world, the conversation often turns >toward "but we need more tools". People want the magic silver bullet that >will make their procedural code into event-driven, their green screens into >GUI, and their MV data structures into relational tables. While integration >with DB2 and other technologies is a good idea, my focus is on the wealth of >business rules that already exist and are fully usable right where they are. > >The silver bullet will never come, so people must decide if they are in >business to grow, or if they only want to stay in business long enough to >retire. IBM is sitting on assets (you guys and your apps) that can be >posititioned now against mainstream offerings if people are actually willing >to compete at the feature level rather than at the asthetic level. I >understand that Joe Businessman has an average IQ of 23 but "it has to be >GUI" is not a valid business position. All of us know that a green screen >enables people to be much more productive than a GUI - GUI has had long >enough to hang itself and to prove that "pretty" is neither fast, nor does >it imply functional. MV resellers need to stop coming up with excuses why >their technology won't sell and putting it on someone else to develop the >"whatever it is" they need to move forward. If GUI is the only thing >stopping an app from going mainstream then there are tools in our market to >address that issue. I'll be happy to help people migrate their apps to GUI >and integrate with GUI technologies if that's what it takes, but "GUI" >cannot be the strategy, "GUI" is one tactical step among many. IBM has >solid positioning for those other tactical steps that VARs need to take in >order to get their apps out there. That is all I'm suggesting - that IBM >should use its business strength to market and popularize MV technology and >business apps, not that they should continue with years of development to >make these apps look like everything else out there. This is a business >initiative, not a technical one. I think Joe Businessman may be ready for >that. > >Tony >Nebula R&D > >> Do you mean the upcoming upgrade that will 'support' direct >> use of DB2 files instead of Uniwhatever? >> >> Or a conversion of Unibasic/Query/Proc into native mode DB2? >> Roger >> >> > Um, I think IBM calls this an os/400... >> > >> > Face it. If IBM is smart, they won't reinvent the wheel >> > with UniVerse >> > or UniData, they will provide a set of tools that will extract the >> > application and host it on os/400, DB/2 or something else that they >> > have put bucket loads of cash into over the years. >> > Don Kibbey >------- >u2-users mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.u2ug.org/listinfo/u2-users ------- u2-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.u2ug.org/listinfo/u2-users
