To paraphrase the above quote, it's not about old technology or new technology or any particular kind of technology; it's the profitable use of technology that is or should be the primary focus of IS.
Most companies are in business to make money, and technology-old, new, or whatever-is just one resource used to accomplish that goal. Often, IS gets caught up in a pointless and heated "old vs. new" debate. What is needed is a stable, reliable, accurate, and cost-effective tool that does what the user wants when he wants and at a price he can afford.
To illustrate, let's compare the "old" IBM with the "new" IBM. Let's look at a fictional account of how IBM changed its stance on the S/36 and how its innovative use of this "old" technology is winning new customers, retaining old ones, and-not incidentally-contributing to the bottom line.
The time is several years ago, and the company is IBM. The situation is grim: Sales are way down, and the red ink from highly visible losses dominates the news. Critics openly call for the dismantling of IBM and the elimination of its AS/400 and mainframe divisions. Lou Gerstner, the new CEO and chairman of the board, is attending his first staff meeting. Lou walks into a large room filled with blue suits and begins the meeting.
"Gentlemen, this company is awash in a sea of red ink. Unless something is done quickly, IBM could end up in Chapter 11. Getting costs down is our first short-term priority, but, for the long term, this company needs new strategies, new tactics, and a commitment to customer satisfaction. With that said, I want to hear what you have to say."
Division executives deliver well-rehearsed briefings on new technology projects. But, every so often, there is a minor disturbance at the fence that circles the grounds. Lou finally walks over to the window to find out what is going on. Looking out, he sees well-dressed executives- sometimes singly, sometimes in pairs or small groups-run up to the fence, lob packages over, and leave. Intrigued, Lou asks the assembled blue suits what is going on.
After a few awkward seconds, one of the suits answers, "System/36 owners. They are a constant nuisance and ought to be locked up."
"That's right," concurred another. "They refuse to accept that we don't do the S/36 anymore. They need to migrate to the AS/400."
"What is a S/36, and what exactly do they want?" asks a still-puzzled Lou.
"The S/36 is an old system that IBM hasn't manufactured in years. What they want is a new S/36 that will run their old software faster and still give them access to some of the newer communications and programming technology. We still have some maintenance contracts, but our primary focus continues to be the AS/400, which has a S/36 environment just for them. Our sales reps will be happy to migrate them over. If they don't want to do that, we can always sell them a LAN or a UNIX box."
"What are they throwing over the fence?" asks a bemused Lou.
"Money," replies a suit, "and a note explaining who they are and what they want. There is also a PO attached and the name of someone in Purchasing to contact. We have a full-time employee who gathers it up and returns it."
Lou asks, "Can we do what they want? Can we sell them a faster, smaller, more efficient computer that will run their old software without change yet give them access to advanced technology?"
"Absolutely," replies the suit from Rochester. "We have had SSP, the S/36 operating system, up and running for several years on AS/400 hardware. While not quite as easy as a save and restore, migrating to the AS/400 is still quite simple. Batch throughput and interactive response times are three to five times faster. Main memory and DASD limits have for all practical purposes been removed. New capabilities include running multiple virtual machines on the same hardware and running OS/400 at the same time. And it doesn't require a rewrite of the application software; that problem almost killed DEC's ALPHA-based system. All in all, it's a good business system- highly reliable, stable, and cost effective."
Lou asks in a slightly annoyed voice, "Then, why don't we sell it to them? Sounds like a win-win situation to me: IBM makes money, and loyal customers remain happy."
"That's old technology," replies one suit snidely. "We don't do old technology."
"That's right," chimes in another. "IBM is the premier new-technology company in the world."
"Why, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Microsoft would have a field day with something like that!" cries a third. "I can hear them laughing at our selling, again, such an outdated technology. And the press! I can just see the negative headlines now."
Lou says in a firm and commanding voice, "This is precisely what I mean when I talk about a new strategy and a new focus on customer satisfaction. Go invite those S/36 owners in. I will be in to talk to them. Have the guards gather up that money and forward it to Sales and Order Entry; we are going to sell some computers. As for HP and Microsoft, if making a profit and keeping loyal customers happy is a cause for their laughter, I'll cry all the way to the bank."
Fictional, yes. Far-fetched...umm... maybe. The old IBM stonewalled at best and totally ignored at worst the S/36 base for years. The new IBM, with its focus on customer satisfaction, delivered an Advanced System 36 that, by all accounts, is taking the established base by storm.
Customers benefit by having a well-defined upgrade path, access to new technology, and the ability to continue to operate in a way that works best for them. The introduction of the AS/36 is not the only reason for IBM's successful turnaround, but it exemplifies the change in attitude that puts customer needs over the ego of new technology. IBM's adaptation of an old technology, SSP, to new technology, RISC-based AS/400, benefits everyone involved, except, of course, IBM's competitors.
Mark Suhr is an ITS manager for Anacomp Magnetics. He has 10 years experience in the IBM midrange environment, including the S/36. He can be reached by email at
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