february 20021© dennis adams associates meeting big blue a personal perspective on developing a...
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February 20021 © Dennis Adams Associates
Meeting Big BlueMeeting Big Blue
A personal perspective on developing a professional relationship with IBM
Dennis Adams
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates2
IntroductionsIntroductions
• This presentation was prepared for the IBM Unix User Group, most of whom are “seasoned” IBM users.
• Having an “outsider’s view” may be useful for experienced IBMers and other customers.
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates3
DisclaimerDisclaimer
• 2001, working with a Bank which had no previous relationship in London with IBM.
• This presentation contains my personal perspective on how the initial engagement with IBM took place.
• No endorsement, implied or otherwise, from anyone else.
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates4
BackgroundBackground
• Investment Banking division of large European Bank
• Mid-Range Systems currently Installed– UNIX: Compaq, HP, Sun– Others: VMS, NT4, Win2000
• Hundreds of systems, and complex international network interconnects
• in the process of reviewing UNIX strategy
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates5
Technical BackgroundTechnical Background
• Investment Banking– Trading online Systems– Settlement Batch orientated communications– Market Risk Analysis Computation Systems– Customer Relationship Management Cross-
selling– Corporate Risk Analysis– Corporate Accounting– “Follow-the-Sun” Worldwide Trading
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates6
Technical IssuesTechnical Issues
• Server Consolidation– DataCentre filling up– “Partitioning” instead of multiple racked servers
may be a better approach
• Single Supplier Relationship– Ease of training costs, standard configurations
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates7
Other Unix VendorsOther Unix Vendors
• Compaq– Solid working Systems– ISV Support ? Commitment to UNIX ?
• Sun– Market Leader– Reliability/Clustering, Responsive to Customer?
• HP– Good ISV support– Living in the past, expensive, no clear roadmap.
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates8
Meeting the Big Blue MonsterMeeting the Big Blue Monster
• Impressive Roadmap of future hardware development (“control of own technology”)
• History of delivery
• Willingness to discuss futures, NDA etc.
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates9
PerceptionPerception
• They make mainframes, don’t they ?
• Good– Reliable, Solid, Datacentre-centric
• Bad– Slow, Unresponsive, out-of-touch
• Grey Adverts– What is their message, exactly ?
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates10
The Engagement ModelThe Engagement Model
• After much confusion, we realised how much more “channel-centric” IBM are, compared with other vendors we know.
• When do we deal with IBM, when with the Channel ?
• What are the ground-rules ?
• Will someone please sell to us !
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates11
Specifications of SystemsSpecifications of Systems
• Who invented configurator ?– Why is configuring a system so complex ?
• We want the “McDonald’s experience”.– Off-the-shelf solutions, which we can tailor– Eventually, we want to be able to order “two of
the usual, George”
• Surely, there is a better template for designing solutions ?
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates12
You want a what ???You want a what ???
• Exactly what is a 660/6H1 ?
• The model range can look confusing– even to IBM salesmen !
• We needed pre-sales technical guidance on parts, typical components, config etc.
• If you are dealing with a new customer, please make the effort to understand their environment and requirements.
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates13
The Benchmark DebateThe Benchmark Debate
• The first systems were investigated a replacements for HP or Compaq machines.– How to compare “like with like” ?
• SpecMark: basic indication of power rating– IBM results tend to be low
• TPC/C: transactional-based indication– IBM is consistently good
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates14
The Benchmark Debate (2)The Benchmark Debate (2)
• When specifying systems for replacing rival UNIX machines, you need to have a meaningful “rule of thumb”– Benchmark Testing is not cost-effective for
dozens of hardware projects at the same time.
• We found that TPC/C appears to over-rate the IBM capability for basic DBMS activity– Is this something that tuning could address ?
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates15
Retraining IssuesRetraining Issues
• Solaris to AIX training a big plus
• Training Courses very well received
• Difficulty of getting trial/evaluation systems
• HACMP training key to large users
• Importance of developing in-house standards and procedures– “Certification” of each hw / sw solution
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates16
Independent Software VendorsIndependent Software Vendors
• A key factor in choice of UNIX vendor is the extent of current and future ISV support
• Any UNIX vendor should ensure that this information is readily available– Products, Versions, Version Support etc.
• Have you tried to verify a list of “wants” without speaking to each ISV in turn ?– Mailshotting, Internal Certification/Testing– AIX 5L support from ISVs ?
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates17
IBM Global ServicesIBM Global Services
• Differentiate themselves from IBM parent
• Effectively sold the pricing model
• Consultancy can “take over” your business
• Sometimes “skills transfer” is even more important than “skills delivery”
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates18
Roadmaps and FuturesRoadmaps and Futures
• The provision of Future Roadmaps and plans enable large organisations to plan effectively– The refreshing thing is that the IBM delivered
• NDAs on future planning gives confidence– No sudden surprises
• At this stage, we do not have enough experience to input to customer feedback
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates19
ConclusionsConclusions
• IBM have a well-organised business model
• They do not necessarily explain themselves very well to “new contacts”
• The specification process could be improved– “Comparing like-with-like”
• Cross-training is excellent
• Pre-engagement may be tentative, but once involved, IBM resources really deliver
February 2002 © Dennis Adams Associates20
The ResultThe Result
• IBM AIX is UNIX of choice
• AIX 4.3.3 currently,– AIX 5.1L under internal certification
• Investment in p-Series 620…680
• p690 “Regatta” is part of our provisional planning for 2002
February 200221 © Dennis Adams Associates
Meeting Big BlueMeeting Big Blue
A personal perspective on developing a professional relationship with IBM
Dennis Adams
http://www.dennisadams.net