Saying our little campaign had a good month would be a drastic understatement.
There is, in fact, a very decent amount of customer and business partner demand for IBM Sametime, IBM Connections and Lotus Notes Traveler on IBM i. More and more people, especially ones running Sametime 7.5 who are at the IBM i 7.1 upgrade crossroads, are coming out of the woodwork and making their voices heard.
How fast do you think we can get to half a million? By Lotusphere 2012 in January? I really believe we can. Heck, a couple of really big customers may put the one million mark within reach. Either of those milestones are quite the achievement and a very strong statement.
Please spread the word. We need your vote.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Have You Already Moved Away from Domino on i?
Did your company move away from Lotus Domino to another platform?
Did you used to run Domino on IBM i (or iSeries, System i or AS/400)?
If you answered yes to both, I would like to hear from you and understand your story. Feel free to e-mail me privately.
Did you used to run Domino on IBM i (or iSeries, System i or AS/400)?
If you answered yes to both, I would like to hear from you and understand your story. Feel free to e-mail me privately.
Monday, November 21, 2011
ICS on IBM i - More Coverage!
Thanks to Linda Harty at System i Network for putting this little piece together on the ICS on IBM i campaign!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Lotus on IBM i - The Reasons Why YOU Should Care
I had some correspondence last week with a customer who is running Domino on IBM i. He didn't feel the need to fill out my little survey due to the fact he had no intention of purchasing Sametime or Connections and had no use for Lotus Notes Traveler. I strongly disagree that he has no reason to jump in and offer support. Let me tell you why.
My very valid point to EVERYONE running IBM i (or supported i operating systems on iSeries and System i) would be:
If you ever were to investigate running those other Lotus products in the future, wouldn't you at least like the option of extending your Lotus environment on IBM i?
With IBM i customers hidden and silently content in the woodwork IBM has already:
What's next? Will they take IBM i out of the picture completely for IBM Collaboration Solutions products? Will you have to launch the next versions of Quickr on Linux or Windows?
What about removing IBM i support for Lotus Domino? They wouldn't do THAT would they?
Of course they would.
Especially if they don't see a business case for Lotus Domino on IBM i! Does your company do anything without a business case?
Guess what buddy? IBM didn't see a business case for Sametime and Connections on IBM i! It's pretty obvious that if they thought there were a business case then you wouldn't be reading this.
It may be quite easy for IBM to continue on the Linux/Windows trend and just assume IBM i customers will continue to take it on the chin and migrate Lotus services to one of those operating systems OR they may think there's not enough of us out there that matters. I bet there are literally millions of Lotus on IBM i user licenses out there. Don't let them take you for granted and force you to use Linux or Windows. Or the alternative for some...to investigate other options (i.e., NOT Lotus) that DO run on IBM i. I love Lotus...but IBM i is my business platform. Not Windows/Linux/AIX or cloud offerings.
You know something? That's how IBM i customers think. When we investigate financial systems, payroll systems, HR systems, warehouse management systems...what's the 1st question we ask a vendor? "Does it run on IBM i?" The filter starts there.
This is the writing on the wall and you heard it first here. If you DON'T speak up, I bet you that in a couple of years you won't see native Lotus Domino on IBM i. As I've heard probably 100 times in the last few months: "You can run (Sametime, Connections, Traveler) on a Linux guest partition on IBM i, can't you?" It's not hard to see Quickr or Lotus Domino on that list. You can call it FUD if you like, but it's common sense. **I've been informed that Connections and Sametime may be supported on Linux, however not Linux on Power Systems. The suggestion to run this software on IBM i Linux guest partitions, or even Linux in a LPAR, is not even a supported configuration by IBM! Check the system requirements pages and you'll see that 2/3 of Power Systems operating systems not able to run Connections, Sametime and Traveler!
Make the business case for IBM i.
Click here and show them that you, as paying and loyal IBM i customers, want support for Lotus products on IBM i.
My very valid point to EVERYONE running IBM i (or supported i operating systems on iSeries and System i) would be:
If you ever were to investigate running those other Lotus products in the future, wouldn't you at least like the option of extending your Lotus environment on IBM i?
With IBM i customers hidden and silently content in the woodwork IBM has already:
- Decided to launch Connections and Lotus Notes Traveler without support for IBM i.
- Only provided support for approximately HALF of the Sametime 8.5.2 components on IBM i. Existing Sametime customers are forced to tread water on Sametime 7.5 or migrate services to Linux and Windows.
What's next? Will they take IBM i out of the picture completely for IBM Collaboration Solutions products? Will you have to launch the next versions of Quickr on Linux or Windows?
What about removing IBM i support for Lotus Domino? They wouldn't do THAT would they?
Of course they would.
Especially if they don't see a business case for Lotus Domino on IBM i! Does your company do anything without a business case?
Guess what buddy? IBM didn't see a business case for Sametime and Connections on IBM i! It's pretty obvious that if they thought there were a business case then you wouldn't be reading this.
It may be quite easy for IBM to continue on the Linux/Windows trend and just assume IBM i customers will continue to take it on the chin and migrate Lotus services to one of those operating systems OR they may think there's not enough of us out there that matters. I bet there are literally millions of Lotus on IBM i user licenses out there. Don't let them take you for granted and force you to use Linux or Windows. Or the alternative for some...to investigate other options (i.e., NOT Lotus) that DO run on IBM i. I love Lotus...but IBM i is my business platform. Not Windows/Linux/AIX or cloud offerings.
You know something? That's how IBM i customers think. When we investigate financial systems, payroll systems, HR systems, warehouse management systems...what's the 1st question we ask a vendor? "Does it run on IBM i?" The filter starts there.
This is the writing on the wall and you heard it first here. If you DON'T speak up, I bet you that in a couple of years you won't see native Lotus Domino on IBM i. As I've heard probably 100 times in the last few months: "You can run (Sametime, Connections, Traveler) on a Linux guest partition on IBM i, can't you?" It's not hard to see Quickr or Lotus Domino on that list. You can call it FUD if you like, but it's common sense. **I've been informed that Connections and Sametime may be supported on Linux, however not Linux on Power Systems. The suggestion to run this software on IBM i Linux guest partitions, or even Linux in a LPAR, is not even a supported configuration by IBM! Check the system requirements pages and you'll see that 2/3 of Power Systems operating systems not able to run Connections, Sametime and Traveler!
Make the business case for IBM i.
Click here and show them that you, as paying and loyal IBM i customers, want support for Lotus products on IBM i.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
IBM i on Power or AS/400 Tin Can?
Initial Clarifications
IBM i is an operating system. IBM i is the grandchild of OS/400, the operating system of the AS/400 hardware platform. OS/400 gave way to the i5/OS name with the advent of the Power5 processor, and then renamed IBM i. IBM i is not OS/400, OS400, i5/OS or even iOS (that's Apple).
IBM Power Systems is a server platform launched in 2008 that featured the Power6 (now Power7) processor and runs the operating systems IBM i, AIX and Linux. Initially the AS/400 and RS/6000 hardware platforms were separate entities. Eventually those two systems began sharing nearly identical hardware starting around 2001 with the Power4 processor and the rebranding of the AS/400 into the iSeries and RS/6000 into the pSeries. I recall a conversation I had in 2002 with a very senior IBM employee who joked that the only hardware difference between the new iSeries and pSeries servers was the shade of black paint.
I'm Canadian and call my sofa a Chesterfield. Goofy, eh? Look it up.
I call a faucet a tap.
I hate to think of my car's dashboard as an "instrument panel" and the air conditioner a "climate control system." That's really goofy language.
AND I used to call an aluminum can or a tin plated can a "tin can." I probably always would have. But I choose otherwise because it's not really a tin can.
It's hard to invoke a change of terminology on an oft-used, well recognizable product, especially when the main characteristics of those things stay the same, or at least appear very similar on the surface...especially to a layman. Presently a tin plated can or a flip top aluminum can isn't like a tin can welded together with lead when it was invented some 200 years ago. The weight is probably considerably different. You're not going to die from lead poisoning from a can of soup you bought last week...well, hopefully not. However, the main characteristic of a 2011 "tin can" remains the same by the shape (cylindrical) and the function (storing and preserving foods, chemicals, oil, etc.).
Yes, Power Systems running IBM i is hardly the same technology as a circa 1988 AS/400 server. But the positive and recognizable characteristics of what we all know and depend on about the platform either remain the same or are even far more advanced in scale and scope. The security, stability and scalability of IBM i on Power is all too familiar on the surface, being a staple of the AS/400 and it's successors, but do you really believe an AS/400e model 150 is as secure, stable and scalable as IBM i on a Power Systems 720?
I'm a big user and advocate of IBM Collaboration Solutions, which if you're paying attention, is the slow and quiet re-brand of the Lotus product line. It's not Lotus Sametime, Lotus Connections and Lotus Quickr anymore...it's IBM Sametime, IBM Connections and IBM Quickr. We still have our Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino, but I'd imagine those names will eventually follow suit with the re-branding to IBM Notes and IBM Domino or something similar.
In the IBM Collaboration Solutions world, if you met another customer running Lotus Domino 6 and Lotus Notes 6 ONLY FOR E-MAIL, you'd be appalled with what functionality they're not taking advantage of because they're not on version 8.5.x and using Notes as a collaboration, instant messaging, calendaring/scheduling and yes, as a social business tool. Their users would be so much happier and productive if they had the new clients with the oodles of new features available. Their admins would benefit from major Domino Administrator advancements. Their servers would be much more effective running the newer code, especially on newer hardware. Developers could be using Xpages to build modern applications!
I've been talking to IBM employees, business partners, consultants, and customer peers as part of the effort to bring Sametime, Connections and Lotus Notes Traveler to IBM i. I've been branded the "iSeries guy" in a lot of those circles. Some IBM employees refer to IBM i as iSeries or AS/400. I use the IBM i brand and I see it rubbing off on some of them. It doesn't take much effort.
It's interesting to say, but the name AS/400 conjures up negative responses (old, being the most obvious). The name Lotus has a similar stigma, but if you look at Lotus Notes 5, 10 or 15 years ago you'll see major differences in the product being developed and delivered today. I would say that IBM wants to put as much space possible between what they have on the shelf now than what they had on the shelf 20 years ago. Can you blame them?
I came into the industry just as the iSeries branding was taking off and that name stuck with me. Times change. Technology changes with them. Names change too. Am I a fan of re-branding? Not really, but it is what it is. The brand was changed because the technology evolved. It took me a couple of years running IBM i on Power Systems to actually say "I run IBM i on Power Systems." Say it out loud. It's strange at first, huh? And I only started doing it, quite reluctantly, after Trevor Perry called me on it. In public. That just rubbed me the wrong way in a big way. I felt embarrassed and singled out because he's a fairly well known person in the IBM i world...and there he is...throwing jabs at me.
Then I got mad. Who was he, the Name Police? He was "attacking" me, after all so I fired tweets and emails back and forth with him for a few days until I sat down and wrote a really long blog post, tearing into his very simple argument and stating how IBM i is just a marketing ploy and euphemistic language and that it's the same technology, only evolved with a different name.
I never posted it because the light bulb turned on. It hit me. It's not the "same technology, only evolved." You can't have that. You can't evolve into something and still be the same thing. IBM i on Power Systems is the evolution of what IBM has been doing with midrange computing since even before the AS/400. But it's not the same technology as before. It can do the old and faithful stuff, yes, but it does newer things, different things, better things. If you're using it only to run some RPGII applications, then maybe you should go run, quickly, to a seminar. I sent Trevor a note asking for a truce and thanking him for calling me out on it. He was right.
Although some may be using PHP on IBM i, calling it PHP on AS/400 is a disservice to the people who made PHP on IBM i possible. You can't do PHP on an AS/400. Aaron Bartell recently announced the Young i Professionals and IBM have ported PostGreSQL to IBM i. An AS/400 can't do that. As a guy who's rallying hard to get IBM to port some software to IBM i, I can appreciate those efforts more than you'd imagine. Saying you can run it on AS/400 is an insult to those efforts.
If you have Power Systems hardware then please make an effort to call it Power Systems. If you run IBM i, then please call it IBM i. Otherwise, you cost justified, promoted and purchased a tin can you rely on every day that hasn't changed in 10 years since when the iSeries was announced. I doubt you'd want your name attached to that decision. I sure wouldn't.
IBM i is an operating system. IBM i is the grandchild of OS/400, the operating system of the AS/400 hardware platform. OS/400 gave way to the i5/OS name with the advent of the Power5 processor, and then renamed IBM i. IBM i is not OS/400, OS400, i5/OS or even iOS (that's Apple).
IBM Power Systems is a server platform launched in 2008 that featured the Power6 (now Power7) processor and runs the operating systems IBM i, AIX and Linux. Initially the AS/400 and RS/6000 hardware platforms were separate entities. Eventually those two systems began sharing nearly identical hardware starting around 2001 with the Power4 processor and the rebranding of the AS/400 into the iSeries and RS/6000 into the pSeries. I recall a conversation I had in 2002 with a very senior IBM employee who joked that the only hardware difference between the new iSeries and pSeries servers was the shade of black paint.
I'm Canadian and call my sofa a Chesterfield. Goofy, eh? Look it up.
I call a faucet a tap.
I hate to think of my car's dashboard as an "instrument panel" and the air conditioner a "climate control system." That's really goofy language.
AND I used to call an aluminum can or a tin plated can a "tin can." I probably always would have. But I choose otherwise because it's not really a tin can.
It's hard to invoke a change of terminology on an oft-used, well recognizable product, especially when the main characteristics of those things stay the same, or at least appear very similar on the surface...especially to a layman. Presently a tin plated can or a flip top aluminum can isn't like a tin can welded together with lead when it was invented some 200 years ago. The weight is probably considerably different. You're not going to die from lead poisoning from a can of soup you bought last week...well, hopefully not. However, the main characteristic of a 2011 "tin can" remains the same by the shape (cylindrical) and the function (storing and preserving foods, chemicals, oil, etc.).
Yes, Power Systems running IBM i is hardly the same technology as a circa 1988 AS/400 server. But the positive and recognizable characteristics of what we all know and depend on about the platform either remain the same or are even far more advanced in scale and scope. The security, stability and scalability of IBM i on Power is all too familiar on the surface, being a staple of the AS/400 and it's successors, but do you really believe an AS/400e model 150 is as secure, stable and scalable as IBM i on a Power Systems 720?
I'm a big user and advocate of IBM Collaboration Solutions, which if you're paying attention, is the slow and quiet re-brand of the Lotus product line. It's not Lotus Sametime, Lotus Connections and Lotus Quickr anymore...it's IBM Sametime, IBM Connections and IBM Quickr. We still have our Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino, but I'd imagine those names will eventually follow suit with the re-branding to IBM Notes and IBM Domino or something similar.
In the IBM Collaboration Solutions world, if you met another customer running Lotus Domino 6 and Lotus Notes 6 ONLY FOR E-MAIL, you'd be appalled with what functionality they're not taking advantage of because they're not on version 8.5.x and using Notes as a collaboration, instant messaging, calendaring/scheduling and yes, as a social business tool. Their users would be so much happier and productive if they had the new clients with the oodles of new features available. Their admins would benefit from major Domino Administrator advancements. Their servers would be much more effective running the newer code, especially on newer hardware. Developers could be using Xpages to build modern applications!
I've been talking to IBM employees, business partners, consultants, and customer peers as part of the effort to bring Sametime, Connections and Lotus Notes Traveler to IBM i. I've been branded the "iSeries guy" in a lot of those circles. Some IBM employees refer to IBM i as iSeries or AS/400. I use the IBM i brand and I see it rubbing off on some of them. It doesn't take much effort.
It's interesting to say, but the name AS/400 conjures up negative responses (old, being the most obvious). The name Lotus has a similar stigma, but if you look at Lotus Notes 5, 10 or 15 years ago you'll see major differences in the product being developed and delivered today. I would say that IBM wants to put as much space possible between what they have on the shelf now than what they had on the shelf 20 years ago. Can you blame them?
I came into the industry just as the iSeries branding was taking off and that name stuck with me. Times change. Technology changes with them. Names change too. Am I a fan of re-branding? Not really, but it is what it is. The brand was changed because the technology evolved. It took me a couple of years running IBM i on Power Systems to actually say "I run IBM i on Power Systems." Say it out loud. It's strange at first, huh? And I only started doing it, quite reluctantly, after Trevor Perry called me on it. In public. That just rubbed me the wrong way in a big way. I felt embarrassed and singled out because he's a fairly well known person in the IBM i world...and there he is...throwing jabs at me.
Then I got mad. Who was he, the Name Police? He was "attacking" me, after all so I fired tweets and emails back and forth with him for a few days until I sat down and wrote a really long blog post, tearing into his very simple argument and stating how IBM i is just a marketing ploy and euphemistic language and that it's the same technology, only evolved with a different name.
I never posted it because the light bulb turned on. It hit me. It's not the "same technology, only evolved." You can't have that. You can't evolve into something and still be the same thing. IBM i on Power Systems is the evolution of what IBM has been doing with midrange computing since even before the AS/400. But it's not the same technology as before. It can do the old and faithful stuff, yes, but it does newer things, different things, better things. If you're using it only to run some RPGII applications, then maybe you should go run, quickly, to a seminar. I sent Trevor a note asking for a truce and thanking him for calling me out on it. He was right.
Although some may be using PHP on IBM i, calling it PHP on AS/400 is a disservice to the people who made PHP on IBM i possible. You can't do PHP on an AS/400. Aaron Bartell recently announced the Young i Professionals and IBM have ported PostGreSQL to IBM i. An AS/400 can't do that. As a guy who's rallying hard to get IBM to port some software to IBM i, I can appreciate those efforts more than you'd imagine. Saying you can run it on AS/400 is an insult to those efforts.
If you have Power Systems hardware then please make an effort to call it Power Systems. If you run IBM i, then please call it IBM i. Otherwise, you cost justified, promoted and purchased a tin can you rely on every day that hasn't changed in 10 years since when the iSeries was announced. I doubt you'd want your name attached to that decision. I sure wouldn't.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Cloud Services: Terms and Conditions
Here are two terms and conditions excerpts from a couple of popular cloud storage vendors. I'm not trying to spread FUD because cloud computing really is a fantastic concept. I'm just offering fair warning for you to do your own research and take responsibility for your data.
Displayed very clearly, these two excerpts make it pretty clear the liability is on you, no matter what happens to your data.
From Carbonite:
"CARBONITE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE CARBONITE PRODUCTS, THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS, OR BETA SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE CARBONITE PRODUCTS, THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS, OR BETA SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE CARBONITE PRODUCTS, THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS, OR BETA SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ENCRYPTION ALGORITHIMS, ASSOCIATED KEYS AND OTHER SECURITY MEASURES WILL BE SECURE OR EFFECTIVE."
From Amazon Web Services:
"THE SERVICE OFFERINGS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS.” WE AND OUR AFFILIATES AND LICENSORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE REGARDING THE SERVICE OFFERINGS OR THE THIRD PARTY CONTENT, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE OFFERINGS OR THIRD PARTY CONTENT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR FREE OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING YOUR CONTENT OR THE THIRD PARTY CONTENT, WILL BE SECURE OR NOT OTHERWISE LOST OR DAMAGED."
Displayed very clearly, these two excerpts make it pretty clear the liability is on you, no matter what happens to your data.
From Carbonite:
"CARBONITE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE CARBONITE PRODUCTS, THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS, OR BETA SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE CARBONITE PRODUCTS, THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS, OR BETA SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE CARBONITE PRODUCTS, THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS, OR BETA SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ENCRYPTION ALGORITHIMS, ASSOCIATED KEYS AND OTHER SECURITY MEASURES WILL BE SECURE OR EFFECTIVE."
From Amazon Web Services:
"THE SERVICE OFFERINGS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS.” WE AND OUR AFFILIATES AND LICENSORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE REGARDING THE SERVICE OFFERINGS OR THE THIRD PARTY CONTENT, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE OFFERINGS OR THIRD PARTY CONTENT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR FREE OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING YOUR CONTENT OR THE THIRD PARTY CONTENT, WILL BE SECURE OR NOT OTHERWISE LOST OR DAMAGED."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)