Reader Feedback On Sundry Recent Stories
March 18, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan
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Feedback on Entry Power7+ Servers: Counting The Costs Of CPUs, IBM i, And SWMA Hey, TPM: You hit the head on the nail with the article on Power 7+ pricing. As you know, we perform hundreds of capacity plans and on the low end it is always the same questions we are trying to answer. 1. Do I need more than eight disk arms for performance? I would say that in 95 percent of the cases, the anwser is yes, which means the 710, 730, and the four-core 720 are not an option. 2. We also answer the question of: How many concurrent user license are needed? We calculated the number of concurrent users and keep track of the maximum counts. We then recommend the customer round that number up to the next 10 or 20. For the medium customer and /or customers consolidating workloads, the issue is how many cores are needed just because of the cost issues you wrote about. This is one big reason the managed service provider (MSP) pricing model IBM has just introduced makes financial sense. An MSP can purchase one IBM i core license and run several companies therefore spreading the cost. Great article. –Randy Feedback on Server Manufacturing Moved Out Of Rochester, Minnesota Hi Timothy, Firstly I wanted to say I greatly enjoy reading your articles. As an IBM i and Power systems techie, with your detail it provides me with many insights and helps keep my finger on the pulse. It is sad to hear that the manufacture of Power Systems is being moved to Mexico. The Rochester plant is such an iconic place, almost a mecca I guess, to me anyway. I’ve had the pleasure of being in Rochester at least six times for benchmarking, and walked through the manufacturing plant many times. I always thought of IBM Rochester as such an upbeat place, and being in the same place as the people who build those systems (hardware and software) is pretty cool. And yeah, it makes a lot of sense to have the design and manufacture in the same place. And heaven forbid that IBM would move technical support operations out of Rochester to a foreign country. It is usually so much better to speak with someone who speaks fluent English. I hope Rochester people can weather yet more IBM layoffs. Thank you, –Jozsef Feedback on H-1B Visas Are No Solution To IT Skills Shortage Hi Dan, Excellent article. I am glad to read that there are a couple of U.S. professionals who are recognizing the H1-B problems. I agree with Rick Flagler’s comment about discouraging students from going into the IT industry. Jim Buck is exactly right about supporting the colleges with intern programs. Where we have them, they work well, but companies are ignoring it and opting for quick and safe solutions. We need IT managers who are committed to developing IT resources with our students and showing them there is a real and challenging career awaiting them. Instead we have too many managers that are afraid of failure so they outsource for the quick cheaper solutions and preserve their bonuses. Who is behind the Information Technology Industry Council? I will bet its biggest supporters are the offshore and onshore staffing/consulting companies making their revenue from displacing U.S. workers. We didn’t outsource our space program or defense industry, so why are we now so eager to outsource the technology birthright that we developed? If all IT workers were unionized, would the unions agree to this outsourcing? The technology worker in the United States does not have a lobbyist in Washington, or at least not an effective voice. Do we turn our colleges and universities into higher learning for basket-weavers or burger flippers? Wake up, America. We were the leader of the world in the 20th century, have we lost the ambition to lead the world in the 21st century? –Bob Langieri, director of staffing services, Excel Technical Search RELATED STORIES Entry Power7+ Servers: Those 720+ and 740+ Boxes Are Gonna Cost Ya Server Manufacturing Moved Out Of Rochester, Minnesota H-1B Visas Are No Solution To IT Skills Shortage
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