AS/400

SunGard Looks for Growth with New Reseller Program

I like what SunGard brings to the table. I like the idea that they are doing well right now too.

“SunGard’s Availability Services business unit last week launched a new reseller partner program to augment its direct-sales approach and expand its offerings to small and mid size businesses. The new program covers all of the company’s offerings–everything from traditional tape-based backup to hot site recovery and full high availability (HA) replication–and is aimed at generating referrals from resellers and “white box” versions of SunGard’s services that partners can resell themselves.

SunGard has always sold its disaster recovery (DR) and HA services using a direct-sales model. Considering that a good percentage of SunGard’s customers are big, Fortune 500-size companies, it’s always made a lot of sense to develop and maintain a close relationship with this upscale clientele, instead of relying on partners to do it.”

LINK :: ITJungle - SunGard Looks for Growth with New Reseller Program

LINK :: SunGard

Open Ended Question - What are you going to do?

The owners of this site hate it when I put up open ended questions hoping for some feedback. And to make them happy I am going to keep doing it. It’s just that I hope to get some answers and I do from time to time.

1. How large an IBM i do you have now?
2. Does your company or customer seem happy with the IBM i System?
3. How many IBM i Systems do you have now?
4. How many partitions?
5. Do you run LInux on the POWER Platform?
6. Do you run AiX on the POWER Platform?
7. Do you run Windows on your POWER Platform?
8. Are there plans to move away from the IBM i?
9. If you are moving away from the IBM i what platform are you moving too?
10. When your current lease is up do you plan on getting a new IBM i?

I know these are the kinds of questions IBM is looking at, but in order to keep the blog freash along with my writting it essential to know where the IBM i is going and what you use it for. You don’t have to tell anyone where you work or what you use it for.

I spoke to soon, IBM is discounting…

I just posted that IBM is not doing anything, and I have to take some of that back now. According to THE FOUR HUNDRED they are offering iLoyalty Blitz for all current IBM i owners.

LINK :: IT Jungle - THE FOUR HUNDRED - IBM and Resellers Do the iLoyalty Blitz

“The basic idea, according to the internal documents that I have been able to get my hands on concerning the iLoyalty Blitz, is to get customers interested in new Power Systems i machinery with “as few touches as possible” and the hopes of closing a sale in only two phone calls. The first call to the customer is a value call, to discuss the benefits of moving to the new technology and sharing some examples of how moving to a new Power Systems i box can cost no more or even less than supporting a vintage OS/400 machine. That first call is to get some detailed information so the salesperson can do a tailored pitch in the second call and then toss in these two deals mentioned above and any other applicable discounts, rebates, and promotions, as well as low-rate or deferred-payment financing for the system from IBM Global Finance.” - Timothy Prickett Morgan

COMMON giving back - 5K Race/Walk & Blood Drive

You will not catch me at the blood drive. I have a fear of needles and blood and while I am typing this I am breaking out in a cold sweat. I know it’s ok to see blood and needles are just medicines great technological advances, but I must have been a CIVIL WAR solider reincarnate who had one of those half in needles and lost a limb, because I hate them all.

On the other side, I am also not a runner, but I would like to try to run all 5K of it. I am getting in shape and would love to see a good turn out for the event. So sign up now and race me to the end. I am planning on winning it. Wouldn’t that be grand, 5′11′ stout man from NC wins 5K technology race…I can smell the gatorade already!

LINK :: COMMON Cares - 5K Run/Walk and Blood Drive

Public Service :: COMMON is coming to RENO

Are you going to be in RENO? I am!

COMMON is having it’s convenetion in RENO and you need to be there. If you are an IBM i or an AIX person looking for POWER solutions, please come to the COMMON Annual Meeting in RENO, NV this year. We would love to have you.

LINK :: COMMON in RENO

January 2009 - Wrap up and Thoughts

Well January 2009 is over. Time is flying and the economy is not getting much better is it? It’s getting harder to work harder when you are seeing people loose their jobs. I hate it when the economy goes to the crapper. I don’t like it one bit, and the media, in my opinion, is not helping. They are not reporting anything but news that would make a normal well mannered person want to go jump off a bridge. I am not suggesting you do that but why can’t the media report something other than bad bad bad all the time.

We have a running joke in our house when the news is on, you can almost her them saying, if you watch this news your family could die, and we all just laugh. The truth is the media never wants to report the fuzzy, happy, stories. I think it kills them.  I would like to see one day a week when the media does not make me want to turn the news off with all the bad news and do some good news.

I am also tired of companies keeping on CEOs that make millions and all this while the company is tanking and they get to lay off  5000 people. Hey CEO person, cut you and your EXECS salary down to 100K a year and then start cutting jobs. The way I see it we can either fire one $5 million a year EXEC or 300 people. Hummm. I will keep the 300 people who work hard and really need the money and let the one do nothing exec. figure it out. I get tired of hearing about bonuses too from companies that were telling us they needed a hand out 6 months ago and passed out money to retain executives. You have to be kidding me?

I hope the economy comes back soon and I hope all the people I know who don’t have work find some. How can we solve this economic problem. We can spend a little. I really don’t think it’s as bad as the government says it is either. We were out tonight trying to find a place to eat and every place was packed. The shops were packed and the mall was busy. Nothing but big companies seem to be doing bad who miss managed money and kept on to many high payed execs.

I also can’t wait to be in RENO and here what fancy story IBM has worked up as to why the IBM i and POWER Systems sales numbers are all off. Who will they blame? I am sure no System i’ and iSeries servers are coming off lease in 2009, they all somehow came off last year and none of them are going to be delivered this year?  While IBM lays off people they still fail to know how to sell some of the best hardware in the business. Funny DELL and HP are figuring it out and they are putting Windows onto their server and they still sell? What is the IBM i missing that it can’t seem to fly of the shelves at IBM? Sales staff? NO! Price? Maybe? Commitment from IBM? Maybe? A one sentence tag line? YES? How about CIOs and IT Managers who undrstand it and can order it today and get it next week? YES, we need that.

Why can’t I order an IBM i from IBM today and get it by next Friday? WHY?

You don’t have to answer I know it already and plan to ask it in RENO!

COMMON - Please Register Now for RENO

LINK :: To register for COMMON in 2009 in RENO, NV

Save the date for the COMMON’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Reno, Nevada, taking place from April 26 - 30, 2009 - the largest gathering of the Power Systems user community. Registration is now open - click here to register!

This is COMMON’s largest educational event of the year. Five full days of in-depth IBM i and AIX education that includes all-day pre-conference workshops, all-day Integrated Seminars, open labs and a wide variety of regular-length sessions.

The Annual Meeting will kickoff on Sunday, April 26th with the Opening Session, followed by four days of leading-edge IBM i and AIX-related education, closing with the fun and exciting Power Down Main Event on Thursday, April 30th. Of course, as is expected from all COMMON conferences, there will be plenty of social and networking events taking place throughout the week.

The COMMON 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition is the premier educational and networking event that you and your team will not want to miss.

Be sure to schedule time to browse the world’s largest Power Systems Exposition. Make sure to allow plenty of time because it encompasses more than 90 industry exhibitors including IBM. The COMMON Exposition provides a one-stop source of up-to-the minute information and ideas for the IT industry. Discover what’s new in the IBM i and AIX world and give your company ways to reduce costs and improve productivity. Also, since many different technologies are on display, you can compare alternatives and determine what’s right for you.

USB Flash Support for AiX

<!– div.lotusnotesemailheader{display: none;} –><!– div.lotusnotesemailheader{display: inline;} –> This feature has been available in Linux on POWER, but is now available in AIX:

USB flash drive support was included in AIX 5.3 TL9 and 6.1

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1IZ20000

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1IZ19954

David Vasta - Linux for IBM i: Introducing Linux to IBM i people-PART 1

The IBM i is a great platform. Not many of you out there will argue that point. It’s solid, robust and very powerful. Part of that power is just that power or the hardware that we now call Power. The operating system (OS) is nothing unless it has rock-solid hardware to run on. So part of the IBM i’s stability is the hardware. Another fine example of a powerful OS that runs on Power is AIX. The problem is that not everything needs an IBM i or an AIX partition. Sometimes, you just need a file and print server or maybe a DNS or mail router. Of course you could do this all on Windows, but that gets really expensive and it does not run on Power. So, what do you do? Linux on Power: It’s easy, cheap and very powerful, much like its AIX cousin.

The next hurdle is the OS and how it works. If you have never seen Unix or Linux, your first few weeks can be painful. So lets take this one step at a time and talk about Linux, you the Administrator and what to do with your new best friend.

LINK :: Linux for IBM i: Introducing Linux to IBM i people

Biased CIOs spend more money and don’t solve problems, they create them

What happens when an IBM AS/400, iSeries, System i, i5/OS, POWER System, Lotus Domino/Notes) IT shop doing fine, keeping the company running and is stable, has happy employees, happy users and then out of no where a new CIO or IT Manager is hired who:

1. Does not understand IBMs offering from both the IBM Systems side and the Lotus side?
2. Is biased towards another major technology company for no other reason or with out any logic or facts.

Bias is defined as; a particular tendency or inclination, esp. one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice.

Now that we have established what bias is we can move on with the problem.

So there you are a loyal and hard working IBM i Admin, you and the Lotus Admin work hard to keep the company running. The companies main application for work is housed on the IBM i and everyone uses mail that comes out of Lotus Notes, plus Lotus has a feature no other application server has out there, rapid visual development, and there is always the one Lotus Developer, building applications for end users so they they can store information, access different types of data and make use of the Lotus and IBM i applications, and extend them to the company.

Everything is humming along, working well. Cost are in check, and with even more consolidation to the IBM i you could save more money.

The one summers day, or any season for that matter, a new CIO or IT Manager is hired into your company. Right after he says hello to everyone, his next comment is “We are going to replace all that IBM technology with Microsoft (or SUN).”

Continued »