I was driving to work a few weeks ago, listening to the local news on the radio when a story came on about a woman who had buried a hatchet blade a half an inch deep in her husband’s neck while he was relaxing in his easy chair. He reportedly jumped up from his chair, clutched his neck, and yelled, “Call 911! I think you done killed me!” Of all of the reactions that I thought this guy might have, this was surely the last. I almost ran off the road because I was laughing so hard.

The story went on to report that the man had been treated and released from the hospital. He was also telling anyone who would listen that he still wanted his wife back. This request was going to be a bit difficult to grant since, by this time, she was behind bars in the county jail, arrested on charges of attempted murder.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

This story just drives home the point that people can get so used to something that they don’t want to give it up, no matter what the cost. This poor guy almost had his head taken off by his wife, but she was so integral to his daily life that he was willing to forgive all just to maintain the status quo.

You might be shaking your head by this time, wondering how someone could be so foolish. I’ll tell you what, though; I hear of a similar mind-set every day in our midrange world. I’ll bet you do, too. It’s demonstrated by all those businesses that hang on to their S/36s just because the system currently works. These businesses usually don’t have a huge budget for purchasing new equipment, so, unless the system goes completely belly-up, they are not even going to think about buying a new computer. To make things worse, S/36 shops in general don’t have many programmers, either. This complication makes the cost of moving to a new computer like the AS/400 even more expensive since code and data conversion will need to be farmed out to consultants.

In light of these facts, it’s not really that hard to understand why these businesses continue to keep this aging, out-of-date technology around. For a business with a slow cash flow, it just doesn’t make sense to pump upwards of $100,000 into a new system when the current system works.

What these businesses (or more precisely, business owners or managers) fail to see is that the longer they keep the old systems around, the more they lock their businesses in the past. Some day, they are going to find that there are no longer any vendors left who support that “state-of-the-art” software that was purchased back in 1986. When the only programmer on staff quits to take a job at an AS/400 shop because he is tired of not keeping up with the rest of the world, they will learn that programmers trained in RPG II and the use of flat files can no longer be found. There are hardly any schools turning out RPG III/RPG IV programmers these days. Just try to find one that still teaches a course in RPG II!

I’m Not Going to Do It

An attempt to save money now by not moving to the AS/400 and its relational database will only end up costing a business more money in the long run. Consider what will happen when a business has to turn to a consulting company to handle its day-to-day S/36 needs. As more and more businesses finally realize that this antiquated technology is costing them too much money and move to the AS/400, there will be fewer opportunities for consulting companies to place people in S/36 shops. The lack of job opportunities will, in turn, prevent the consultants from keeping those old skills sharp.

Actually, the weakening of S/36 skills is already becoming a problem for consulting companies since most consultants really don’t want to take assignments on S/36s. My experience has been that consultants will avoid taking on one of these gigs at all costs; they feel their marketability will suffer if they don’t work on the latest and greatest hardware and software. This means even higher costs for a business when the consultants charge ever- higher prices for their services as they test the waters to see what the market will bear.

Today, a business might pay $55 an hour for a consultant’s services. If, in three to five years, an experienced S/36 programmer is nowhere to be found, the consultant’s rate will most likely skyrocket. That same business may then find itself paying as much as $150 per hour for this skill, and there’s no guarantee that the $150 will be purchasing an experienced S/36 programmer, either.

Time to Take a Quantum Leap

So what’s a business with a S/36 or Advanced 36 to do? If your business happens to be in this situation, you, along with the rest of the world, are probably already scrambling to meet the Y2K deadline. Since time, money, and effort are already being geared toward the IS department, why not spend a little bit more, relatively speaking, and do the job right? Remember that old carpenter’s maxim: Measure twice, cut once. By the same token, why put in the blood, sweat, and tears simply getting that old software Y2K ready and then having to go back into it at some future date to convert it to the AS/400?

Now is the moment to jump into your time machine and join the rest of us in the 21st century. Talk to IBM or one of its Business Partners and find out what it will take to move to the AS/400. If you are still on a S/36 or an Advanced 36, you won’t find a better time than right now to migrate to the best midrange system in the world.