© Copyright 2007 iSociety Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
12:30pm US Central Time February 1st, 2007
Angus says: Welcome to the Fireside Chat with Mark Shearer...
 
Question from Susan: What do you think is the best thing about System i? What do you think is the worst thing about System i?
MShearer says: The best thing about System i......
MShearer says: no question is the passionate group of users, application providers and partners
MShearer says: It's a fantastic community!
MShearer says: The worst thing?
MShearer says: I'd say is the fact that in many places..... System i is still the best kept secret in the IT industry.
 
Question from Kendall: Why is IP Telephony such a big deal for System i? As I understand it there are only 10 users in the world at this time. Why would I choose the to put Telephony on my System i?
MShearer says: Almost every company I've spoken to sees a huge opportunity to save money and improve services by implementing IP Telephony.
MShearer says: The System i offering is the industry's first scale-up solution........
MShearer says: that allows you to virtualize the entire IP telephony suite on a single system....
MShearer says: it's simple....it's integrated.
MShearer says: and has a very rapid financial payback.
MShearer says: One other plus:
MShearer says: it's easy to integrate with business applications on the same platform
 
Question from Stephanie Carmel: Mark, on this note of IP Telephony ... what other solution plays do you have in mind for systemi?
MShearer says: Our major thrust this year is going back t basics:  selling industry vertical solutions based upon System i
 
Question from Dkimmel: Why should it be such a secret?
MShearer says: It shouldn't be..... I think by returning to our focus on business solutions, we can generate more attention.
 
Question from Shelliwithani: Hi Mark!  Is there anything in the 2007 plan to expand the marketing to the masses?
MShearer says: There are a couple of key things we're going to do.......
MShearer says: we're going to be very active in collaborative communities like this......
MShearer says: we're going to continue to work with industry leaders like Zend and 3Com......
MShearer says: and we're going to try to speak to businesses in more business terms...... focusing on about 80 industry vertical markets around the world.....
MShearer says: like Labor Unions in NYC.....
MShearer says: Fruit producers in France ....
MShearer says: Physicians offices in the East Coast
MShearer says: These things should make us more visible to specific markets.
 
Question from Gsh: Mark, with all your travels - how have you seen System i ISVs leverage all the newest technologies available?
MShearer says: Honestly..... I think we're just scratching the surface.......
MShearer says: I'm pretty excited about the huge interest in PHP and IP telephony.....
MShearer says: we're going to reach out now to these very industry vertically focused ISVs, and encourage them to
MShearer says: leverage things like BladeCenter attachment, IP telephony etc
 
Question from Don Otis: Mark - Can we look forward to any cross-system sales efforts?  Such as with storage or the like?
MShearer says: Absolutely.  We're already doing this in many markets... but you will continue to see a focus on this especially in
MShearer says: BladeCenter and external SAN storage
 
Question from Eric Figura: Hi Mark,  Is IBM planning on any new marketing campaigns outside of the System i marketplace to promote the wonderful merits of the System i ?
MShearer says: We're working very closely with our SMB colleagues to include the System i
MShearer says: in their solutions marketing and selling initiatives
 
Question from DrFranken: Greetings Mark!  What is Rochester doing to provide smaller servers to replace all the old 170 and small 270 servers  out there? Current i5s are too much for these little companies both in price and performance.
MShearer says: This requirement..... for a more competitive entry level offering...... is COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD BY ME!
MShearer says: I hear this in the US.... .and very loudly in Europe.
MShearer says: Watch this space.  I hear you loud and clear.
 
Question from Kemort: Can you update us on efforts to increase visibility and mindshare for System i via outreach programs to colleges & universities?
MShearer says: This is a personal hot button of mine...... so much so that I joined an advisory board of one university in Asia to better understand what is required........
MShearer says: we have active programs now underway in more than 250 colleges / schools / universities..... and the new twist here
MShearer says: is that we're doing it WITH our clients.  Clients that want to hire skills..... universities that want to place students in jobs...... and this idea seems to be picking up momentum
 
Question from Emkay717: how soon could we expect those smaller servers?
MShearer says: Watch this space.:D
 
Question from Gsh: We keep hearing at COMMON, need to get todays students learning about System i.  What more is being done with that?
MShearer says: As a matter of fact, just today we're kicking off a cool System i innovation challenge for college and university students.  It's covered in today's System iNetwork article.
 
Question from Ilovei: Mark - How relevant do you think iSociety can be to a worldwide audience?
MShearer says: I think the potential is enormous.  People like the idea of having one place to go to search for user experiences, solutions etc.........
MShearer says: everywhere I go, clients are very interested in learning about state of the art
MShearer says: applications that are available.
MShearer says: I think we all work in a global marketplace these days, and I think iSociety could be a unifying collaborative environment far beyond the US...... it has membership in 59 countries already.
 
Question from Gsh: The IP Telephony solution looks great, what other "appliance" type solutions is IBM looking at for System  i ?
MShearer says: As a matter of fact at Lotusphere we previewed the integration
MShearer says: of IP telephony with a broad range of office collaboration and business applications platform.......
MShearer says: just last week.
MShearer says: Going forward, I think we'll look at various ways we might simplify the installation and management of
MShearer says: business applications, in a true SMB office environment...... some very cool experimentation is underway.
 
Question from Vhamberg: That is a fair statement - the early success of the AS/400 was based on solutions
 
Question from Dkimmel: PHP on System i isn't going to be very successful until it works directly with DB2-400 database. Has that been done? Is anyone working on it?
MShearer says: My development team tells me that PHP has been working well with DB2 for i5/OS since June.
 
Question from Larry: What is the acceptance of PHP in i?
MShearer says: Awesome.... actually.  About 4,550 companies have downloaded the PHP offering across 150 countries.
 
Question from Larry: What is the 1% club and how do I join?
MShearer says: I love this idea.  For those of you who haven't heard of this.....
MShearer says: the 1% club refers to the many many System i clients who spend 1% or less of total revenue on IT.
MShearer says: Several of you have suggested that we collect the information of who experiences that
MShearer says: level of productivity....... I think this would be a great topic for an iSociety forum..... the business value of this platform and who is
MShearer says: being really successful in terms of their overall productivity.
 
Question from Susan: What's the future of RPG and/or does IBM really care about RPG?
MShearer says: IBM cares about RPG because thousands of clients still depend on it to run their daily applications.
MShearer says: We are continuing to invest in the RPG environment while we continue to offer choice in development tools.
 
Question from Larry: What is your favorite web site outside of IBM?
MShearer says: The answer for publication ........
MShearer says: is Food.  I'm into food.  I live in New York City when I'm not traveling...... and I use two sites:
MShearer says: Seamlessweb.com (1000 restaurants that deliver to your door after you order online)
MShearer says: and Opentable....to make reservations.
MShearer says: I eat too much food.
 
Question from Gsh: I saw the "Gaming in a Box" announcement last year, are there other partnerships System i is work on?
MShearer says: You bet.  We're working on 79 other industry specific solutions in 15 countries.
 
Question from Emkay717: I wish you had said "IBM cares about RPG because it's a good development environment for business applications".
MShearer says: It is..... and many of our clients feel that way.  It's great technology and since our clients think so.....we care!
 
Question from Trevor: What is your favorite post at i4everyone.com?
MShearer says: Not a chance :-)
 
Question from DrFranken: A recent web musing suggested i5/OS on a blade was coming, how about i5/OS in a 1U form factor?
MShearer says: is this important to you?  I haven't heard a great deal of demand for that.
 
Question from Kemort: To the comment of System i being the best kept secret in IT (and IBM).  What efforts are underway within IBM specifically to bring System i more into the fold. The focus from IBM seems heavily slanted to System x and storage only.
MShearer says: We're working much more closely with our colleagues
MShearer says: in SMB and industry
MShearer says: to do marketing and sales initiatives together.......
MShearer says: part of our overall desire to have a more client-centered, integrated approach to the marketplace.
 
Question from Kemort: On the "getting the word out" front, can you update us on what you have in the works for non-traditional  means of spreading the "gospel of i" to the techno-geek community who really should all LOVE this platform for what it can do? (i.e. non-System i cent
MShearer says: The marketing team has some clever approaches in development to reach audiences that we have not reached in the recent past.  It would be a great question for Elaine Lennox if she were to join you in one of these chats
 
Question from DrFranken: re: 1U and blade: It is important to be able to place smaller servers. Too many  IT managers still think i5's still don't rack mount.  Smaller units  are another  thing to help acceptance in many shops.
MShearer says: Thanks for the input.....
MShearer says: We do have work underway to look at how we package our systems in the small
MShearer says: and medium business marketplace.......
MShearer says: 1U may be one approach; there may be other creative ways to package for SMB
 
Question from Ilovei: what is your vision for iSociety - 3 years from now
MShearer says: I'd really like to see the System i clients, ISVs and partners really leverage the power of collaboration in a very active way...... and really take charge building the community.  The great
MShearer says: power of this to me, being independent from IBM, this is truly your space.... with no constraints (practically)
MShearer says: if we all look to iSociety as the 1st place to go for info
MShearer says: to share it,
MShearer says: comment on it,
MShearer says: find it
MShearer says: it would be the best asset the brand has ever had.
 
Question from Larry: Not counting the Chat feature what is the best feature of iSociety?
MShearer says: I like the idea of all the ecosystem members linking their websites to the search engine here is cool..... it's potential yet to be fully realized.
 
Question from Larry: What's the buzz with Lotus on i?
MShearer says: We had a great showing last week at Lotusphere.  We have always been a great platform for the Lotus software,
MShearer says: and we've previewed the next step in collaboration, bringing together all the latest Lotus middleware
MShearer says: with IP telephony and business applications on one platform.  For example,
MShearer says: the ability to link the 3Com offering with Sametime is really cool.
 
Question from Emkay717: what will make iSociety different from say .. Midrange-l or RPG-l, or WDSC-l?
MShearer says: The breadth and scope of iSociety is really broad..... and integrating.  These are all great resources..... I suspect that
MShearer says: iSociety could go far beyond the more technical side of things, and
MShearer says: talk about business leverage, solutions, skills, tools,
MShearer says: etc.  I like the universal nature of it......one stop shopping
 
Question from Larry: When will we get virtual tape between i5/OS partitions?
MShearer says: If you are using an IASP you can do that between two partitions today......
MShearer says: for a full save/restore including the operating system...... that
MShearer says: capability is further out.
 
Question from Gsh: In the area of skills and education, do we have WW plans to make System i education offerings available on WebSphere, IP Telephony, etc. to all out customers, ISVs, and developers?
MShearer says: I don't know.  If you identify yourself, I'll have someone followup with you.
 
Question from Ilovei: iSociety is sponsoring a contest to create amateur videos about System i - called A Star Is Born - do you plan to enter ?
MShearer says: That would not be a pretty site.  I know my own strengths :|
 
Question from Larry: What are the strongest segments for System i in 2007?
MShearer says: In 2007, we'll continue to see very strong presence in the banking and telecommunications industries, and SMB.  Our huge focus this year is to drive more SMB business through out vertical industry solution focus. .
 
Question from DrFranken: i5/OS and System i can be sold to technical people because it is so elegant and capable.  What can be done to sell to "C" level people who don't (or maybe never did do) bits and bytes?
MShearer says: Selling to C level executives is key for us.  This will need to be a solutions
MShearer says: based discussion
MShearer says: with industry specific skills.  This is the focus of our vertical industry program.........
MShearer says: C level discussion have to be done in the language of the industry and business they're in.
MShearer says: We will do this for selected sub-industry segments.
 
Angus says: Mark, thanks for your participation in the first ever iSociety Fireside chat.
MShearer says: It was my pleasure.  I hope that you'll continue to leverage iSociety to bring this community together!  Good luck with this forum!
Mark Shearer
Held: February 1st, 2007
          12:30pm Central US time
URL: http://isociety.common.org/chat.htm
Note: edited for spelling