Common Connect - August 2009

the future of IT By Justin Porter
Don’t Know Much About History….
Young i Professionals

There are many operating systems we, as business professionals, could choose from. We choose Power Systems because it is and has been, in a word, superior to other platforms. Fresh out of college five year ago, I was taught on the iSeries. As I began receiving sales calls from agricultural software vendors, they often didn’t recognize what platform I was running until I broke down and explained, “years ago, it was called an AS/400.” Even over the phone, I could hear a light bulb click on. Without fail, the next question was some variation of “so you’re running on a legacy machine?” This constant response, still in my infancy with the system, made me ask myself the same question. Then, I was introduced to COMMON.

At COMMON, I found many like minded IT business professionals—people that truly grasped the link between modern technological progress and a sound business foundation. These were people that enjoyed using the platform as much as I did for the same reasons that I did. In today’s modern age of 24x7 businesses, stability has to be the number one focal point of any technology professional. At COMMON, I was surrounded by people brimming over the edge with modern techniques to make the already ridiculously stable operating system even more grounded. I couldn’t get enough of it. I signed up for classes at each and every available slot and engulfed myself in conversations and information exchanges (ok, so I was normally the recipient of information in these “exchanges” ) My days of wondering where the system was headed, or if it was already at the end of its rope were over. With this many professionals and leaders in the industry behind the ever-modern system, there was no reason for fear. The days of “legacy” and my own misperception was over.

And then I got the shock of all shocks.

To my hearts discontent, I heard several professionals talking about the “AS/400” and how it triumphs over other modern platforms. At first I disregarded it, assuming my ears must have malfunctioned, that there was no way I could have heard anyone referring to this modern system by a name twenty years its senior. And then, I heard it again. And again. And, yes, yet again.

Since those days, the name of both the system and the operating system have changed a few times— sequenced next to jumps into new technology. Big Blue, as with virtually every other major technology

vendor in the world, occasionally advances technologies and models of its venerable product lines with name changes. This seemed like a natural progression to me but I’ve found that there is a stigma and a following to the platform that is averse to changes in the name—changes that publicly signify advances in technology. While this may not be an uncommon following for any technology, the sheer magnitude of those hanging on to “the good ole’ days of the AS/400” promotes the very same problem of new blood to the platform that is constantly complained about.

Along with the Power Systems Academic Initiative and COMMON, the YiPs have worked diligently to change this perspective by promoting the modern capabilities of IBM i. It is my humble belief that, while IBM i’s native command line interface isn’t exactly the definition of sexy, the appearance is simply not the problem. The simple example of Linux and its proliferation across college campuses and on the dorm room computer of college freshmen nullifies this conclusion. The problem isn’t the appearance—capability will trump appearance. The problem is perception. The reality is, this perception is perpetuated by those who love the system the most.

While it was a legacy in its own right, the time of the AS/400 has long since passed for the platform. The longer IBM i and Power Systems are referred to by the legacy of their predecessors, the longer they will be perceived as legacy themselves. It is long past time to say a fond farewell and thanks to the AS/400 for the path it cleared for IBM i and future generations of technology and progress. If we don’t allow the rest of the world to see that we’ve progressed by ceasing our reference to a system that was in its height decades ago, we may find ourselves in the dangerous position of being considered “legacy” as well.