Hey! We all know that IBM's iSeries line of products is stalled in the marketplace. The MC Press forums have hosted a barrage of rants on how to turn things around. These debates either show a lack of understanding on how we got into this fix, exposing the writer's ignorance, or demonstrate a limited point of view. I want you to know that we are part of the problem.
Buckle up for a wild ride. This article will require you to hold more than one idea in your mind at the same time. My proposals are not convenient to treasured beliefs, which is a first step toward turning a losing team into a winning team.
First, IBM's sales policies are a disaster. It amazes me how IBM has been shoved aside by Microsoft and seems to have forgotten how to sell, even with some time, superior products. We need to resurrect Buck Rogers, IBM's legendary salesman whose signature trademark was his patchwork blazer in the '60s and '70s. Buck had fire in his belly, which IBM now lacks. The current sales management is so appropriate and buttoned down that I doubt they ever held a fork incorrectly. And they are clueless about how to reach out to twenty- and thirty-something developers. I say, fire them all and get some wild people who have rampages of creativity!
Second, as lousy as IBM's sales policies have been, we have an even bigger problem: antiquated product lines. For example, IBM's SQL Server, called DB2, is 10 years behind Microsoft's SQL 2000. Most of IBM's recent products—SQL, C prototypes, Web serving—have all been "tack-ons."
The jewel in IBM's crown is WebSphere, a total non-starter. Since WebSphere shops dominate COMMON and other conferences, you would think they are everywhere, but they are not. WebSphere is notorious for being a resource suck. This fact has not gone unnoticed by ASP.NET 2.0 developers and other Microsoft software engineers, programmers, and server application specialists. The AS/400/iSeries/System i (or whatever they want to call it) is regarded, at best, as a "legacy" system—at worst as totally out of touch with the realities of the software development world.
The System i is dangerously on the brink of being a niche system for security-paranoid customers, the government, the military, etc. If you absolutely, positively must never be hacked for the next billion years and need the ultimate in fault tolerance, the System i is your baby.
Third and finally, the hard part: We are complicit in IBM's coddling of the programmers who, of course, never want change if it inconveniences them! We have been so indulged and coddled throughout the entire life of the 3X computers that the iSeries is...well...boring! Hey, fellow iSeries programmers, look around you! What do you see but a sea of gray heads? We wanted more power and features but no pain. Believe me, to truly innovate, we must experience some pain! Hey! That happens all the time in the Microsoft world. You should have heard the rages from VB6 programmers when they were forced on to VB.NET.
There seems to exist an attitude that if IBM disturbs anything, someone might be inconvenienced. Oh no! We can't have that, now can we, for heaven's sake?
I am sick and tired of hearing people complain that free-form RPG does not support the MOVE operation. Get over it! Use the equals sign (=) like the rest of the world does!
So to really grok what is necessary to create an iSeries turnaround, we have to hold three ideas in our heads at the same time:
1. Fire almost the entire IBM sales management team and most of the salespeople. Get some people with fire in their bellies who think outside the box. No, IBM, "outside the box" does not mean a boundary violation!
2. Create winning products that recognize the white elephant in the room: Microsoft has won. To attract developers, IBM's Visual Studio will have to be entirely .NET, object-oriented, and bull-necked with performance. IBM's Client Access needs lightning performance. For God's sake, fix DB2! Make SQL integral to the iSeries. We need C#, .NET, VB.NET, and—for those of you who insist on RPG—RPG.NET. IBM, buy out ASNA, because their proprietary product is not making headway. ASNA has only 90 employees and is therefore not credible.
3. IBM, stop coddling us. We need challenge. And stop indulging your aging programming pool. We're all eventually going to be dead or retired anyway!
I really believe that IBM could have a major role in information technology. What is happening is a crying shame. History is littered with the corpses of the high and mighty. But there have been some inspiring stories of major entities that re-invented themselves.
I care. Do you care?
John DeCoville has strong opinions on a variety of topics, and you may see more of those opinions in future IMHO columns.
IMHO: What Will It Take to Turn the System i Around?
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