Students want free or reduced-cost certifications, business users want better marketing.
COMMON Europe conducted its annual 2009 Top Concerns survey in May and June with global participation. It obtained 547 participants from Europe, Americas, and Australasia, including customers, IBM employees, and IBM Business Partners and ISVs. The Top Concerns Survey enables COMMON Europe to understand member priorities and to influence IBM and its Business Partners as well as to share priorities among worldwide users.
The survey showed that "satisfy internal customers" and "treat data security and confidentiality as a business risk" are the topmost concerns for worldwide Power system/System i or other IBM systems users. They are followed by "improve IT security and continuity", "receive consistent high quality service and support from vendors", "keep the skills current for the existing staff", and "make me grow as a more competent individual." Surprisingly, "correctly measure the value of IT to business" and "assure better data warehousing" are 14 and 16 in a list of 16.
Responses
Here is a summary of the responses to a series of questions pertaining to activities or trends in IT shops this year:
1) IT running (in charge of its own) budgets in 2009: 39 percent decreased, 9 percent increased, 8 percent stable and 44 percent do not know;
2) New-project investment 2009: 40 percent decreased, 12 percent increased, 11 percent stable and 36 percent do not know;
3) Migrating in 2009 to IBM i 6.1: 9.0 percent already done, 4.2 percent ordered, 28.2 percent planned, 45.1 percent not yet, 7.6 percent not user and 5.9 percent no information;
4) Migrating in 2009 to Power Systems: 23.9 percent already done, 1.7 percent ordered, 13.0 percent planned; 40.8 percent not yet; 14.1 percent not user and 6.5 percent no information;
5) Migrating in 2009 to blades with IBM i 6.1: 2.3 percent already done, 1.1 percent ordered, 4.5 percent planned, 56.6 percent not yet, 28.2 percent not user and 7.3 percent no information.
Participants also expressed concerns that were not polled by the survey. These included "better marketing of the System i, System i survival" and "modernize applications" were the most frequently cited unlisted concerns.
Academic Concerns
COMMON Europe says it is pleased to have conducted the first Top Academic Concerns Survey for IBM Academic Initiative participants. There have been 48 responses to date by students and professors. A special voting for Polish students is still underway. This special set of questions was selected by the students and staff at Austrian and Polish Academic Initiative institutions. As with the traditional survey, the one for the academic community was available on the COMMON Europe website www.comeur.org and offered its own incentives for Web and "on-the-spot" voting.
COMMON did a preliminary analysis of results from student participation in the Top Academic Concerns survey that shows "free academic System i certification (for students)" and "recycle used systems for students (instead of destroying them)" are the top academic concerns for participating students. They are followed by "discounted IBM professional certifications for students", "free or discounted attendance to conferences for students", and "easier access to demo and training (on) IBM Power Systems." For more information on the Top Academic Concerns 2009, contact Christoph Cuscoleca, at
COMMON Europe said it can point to System i policy and platform changes, including "server consolidation, low-cost disks and memory, user-based pricing, availability of a reasonably priced low-end server, removal of the 'interactive tax,' secure perspective, and data encryption" as outcomes it believes are directly or indirectly related to results of earlier COMMON Europe surveys.
IBM's Alison Butterill, application development offering manager, Power Systems Software, helped with a prize drawing at COMMON Europe's Congress and Power Academy by randomly selecting the winning names for awarding many great prizes; results were announced June 9 during the closing session.
Top Concerns and Top Academic Concerns 2009 preliminary results are available at the COMMON Europe web site www.comeur.org. These surveys are global and multilingual in order to reach Power System and System i customers as well as IBM Academic Initiative participants worldwide. Respondents rated 16 Top Concerns on a scale of 1 to 10 and each added a "Golden Concern."
About COMMON Europe
COMMON Europe (CE), an association of IBM computer users, is an umbrella organization of national IBM user associations, representing most European countries. Its aims are "boost peer networking, provide advanced education and training, spearhead IBM strategy, accelerate an ongoing open dialogue with IBM and influence the setting of international standards". It is a non profit association of companies, organizations and individuals, who are involved in IT solutions, using IBM mid-range architecture and solutions. For more information, please visit www.comeur.org or contact Jan Leth-Kjaer, COMMON Europe president, at
About Top Concerns Surveys
The Top Concerns Surveys are a strategic feature of COMMON Europe. For previous results, please visit www.comeur.org or contact Ranga (Shrirang U.) Deshpande, project leader, at
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online