But Wait, There's More

IBM Gives Rebates on Support to iSeries Model 825 Buyers

The iSeries Model 825 (machine type 940x) Enterprise Edition is now eligible for a rebate, but the offer will not be available for long. IBM just introduced the rebate on June 11, and it will expire July 7. Qualifying purchases must be made within that timeframe. To take advantage of the offer, a customer must buy the server and the subscription and support components of the three-year software maintenance package. The value of the rebate equals $31,600, which is 9.5 percent of the cost of a new Model 825 or a little more than one year of Software Maintenance (which costs $25,590 a year), depending on how you want to look at it.

The offer is limited to the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean North countries, and is available through IBM and the business partner channel. Call 800-426-4968 if you don't know how to reach a local sales representative. The reference number for this offer is YE001.

WebSphere Portal Products Get Capacity-On-Demand Pricing

On/Off Capacity on Demand (CoD) pricing has been extended to several WebSphere portal products, allowing users of those products to take advantage of CoD capabilities during times of peak demand. Gaining the capability to benchmark software on processors and to provide immediate access to standby resources is a significant benefit to the on-demand technology IBM is emphasizing.

In the real world, a company using an eight-way iSeries model may want to temporarily kick on extra processors as a seasonal demand pushes a business spike. Charges for the On/Off CoD WebSphere portal software--Portal Enable for iSeries V4.1, Portal Express for Multiplatforms V5.0, and Portal Express Plus for Multiplatforms V5.0--are measured in processor days. The processor-day charges are based on the number of engines (processors) that are activated within the duration of the temporary enablement. The old alternative was to license the software based on an estimate of what was needed during peak days and to pay at that rate whether or not it was being used. With the new pricing model for this software, a one-time-charge software license is acquired for the use of the processor's base permanent capacity. All eligible On/Off CoD software products are licensed under the International Program License Agreement. The agreement generally describes a category of software products with a license fee at the time of purchase and an annual maintenance charge, known as subscription and support. The daily On/Off CoD charges packages both components, license fee, and subscription and support. For more information on the WebSphere portal products, see "WebSphere Portal Express Comes to OS/400."

Labor Statistics Indicate Offshoring Plays Small Role in Job Losses

Oracle Says IBM Wanted to Quash Its Bid for PeopleSoft

IBM's interest in Oracle's bid to purchase PeopleSoft was spotlighted last week during the antitrust trial concerning this potential acquisition. At the center of the storm were confidential and sealed documents that indicate IBM could lose millions of dollars if Oracle acquired PeopleSoft.

The Department of Justice, backed by 10 states, seeks to block Oracle's acquisition based on the idea that there is already limited competition in the market that attends to intricate accounting and personnel software required by the nation's largest organizations, and that Oracle's proposed purchase of PeopleSoft would reduce the competition from three companies to two. SAP, the worldwide market leader, is the third player the DoJ recognizes in this game. Oracle says the definition of this as a three-company market is too narrow.

The documents indicating IBM's potential losses were submitted by Oracle as lawyers to draw attention to IBM's financial stakes in the outcome of this trial and to cast doubt on the credibility of an IBM Business Consulting Services executive called to testify by the Department of Justice.

IBM losses, in the event that Oracle would purchase PeopleSoft, are outlined in this document and are substantial, Oracle's attorney pointed out. The reason is that Oracle's accounting and personnel software won't work with IBM's database software. It was also pointed out that the IBM documents included strategies to help PeopleSoft fend off Oracle. Oracle attorneys have repeatedly spoken out about how the government's antitrust case has been shaped by information from IBM, which wants to avoid a takeover.

If Oracle got PeopleSoft and its new J.D. Edwards unit, Oracle would control one of the biggest drivers of IBM's server, operating system, database, and middleware sales. What would happen to DB2 and WebSphere sales if all of this software were pushed heavily on the Oracle stack? The result is clearly more than simply the millions of dollars that Oracle's lawyers have suggested are at stake for IBM.

Aberdeen Reveals Supply Chain Myths

In the context of supply chain operations, analysts at Aberdeen Group have something they call the Fulfillment Solution Framework, which is designed to sort through technologies that are relevant to fulfillment operations. In explaining what the framework accomplishes, Aberdeen focuses on four interrelated areas--coordinating, planning, executing, and analyzing--and warns that concentration in anything less than all four is a recipe for disaster because each impacts the others. In other words, failure in one area brings failure to all. Tom Ryan, vice president of value chain research at Aberdeen, commented last week in the company newsletter about several myths that he believes are being promoted by "magic bullet" solutions. If you are hearing these talked about around the meeting table, it's time to raise a red flag.

Myth: Improved supply chain visibility diminishes the requirement for excellent planning. Reality: Better supply chain transparency will help identify operational glitches and recurring problems. However, because visibility systems compare actual events against plans, if plans are amiss, the result will be a flood of exception alerts that will cause chaos.

Myth: Distribution center efficiency is all about execution. Reality: Companies invest substantial sums in distribution center execution systems to improve productivity, which leads to repeating inefficient processes. By running frequent review processes and supporting technology to identify when the facility is going out of kilter, it is possible to re-evaluate work areas and re-slot products as justified by potential productivity gains.

OS/400 PTF Guide Moves to Four Hundred Guru Newsletter

For many years now, our partner DLB Associates has been creating the OS/400 PTF Guide to help you suss out the patches to OS/400. The OS/400 PTF Guide has appeared in this last section of this newsletter, and we hope it has been useful to you. The guide will now appear in Four Hundred Guru on Wednesdays.