RE: Why you can't trust IBM when it comes to committing to Informix.
This is not a technical support thread but an opinion/rant thread about IBM's commitment to Informix (IDS) after acquiring it. Posters argue IBM's size and bureaucracy smother good people and good products, swap jabs about OS/2, IGS and past executives, and debate whether IBM could ever fail. One participant counters that IBM is deliberate and will thrive even with zero IDS revenue; another mocks his earlier prediction that IDS would no longer exist as a separate product. No technical problem is posed and no resolution is reached.
Auto-generated by DrWatson from the posts below — may be imperfect; read the full thread.
> From: indeep@indeep.com > > Sometimes you simply have to put aside all the bullshit and say what must be > said. Gumby got me fired up, and he really put it all together. Those IBM > cocksuckers need to be fired and let some people get in there that can get > the job done. IBM = I BUILD MEDIOCRITY. They have applied this brand blanding > to everything they touch. They fucked up OS/2 and now they're after IDS. It's > a tragedy plain and simple. If IDS were a crap product nobody would care, but > it's a first-class product that deserves just as much attention as <gasp> DB2 > if not more. But this product is doomed as long as IBM owns it. > Uhm... IBM means "I BE MEDIOCRE ". And I have to clarify something. IBM is huge. I mean really huge. 340K employees world wide is a friggin huge number. The number of really good people is dwarfed by the number of mediocre people. I really do mean that there's a lot of good people at IBM, but their good work is stunted by dumb moves by some of the mediocre. And thats sad. I know a lot of really top notch people at IBM. I know a fair amount of good people who put some time in and moved on because of the mediocrity that they had to deal with. And I personally have dealt with IBMers that make the mediocre look good. They survive because they know how to play the system and keep shifting their roles... To your point about IDS, you can't unravel it from IBM. Too much IP has been shared between DB2 and IDS. And IDS is nothing without the developers. So the best we can hope for is lighting a fire under the mediocre butts and try to embarrass IBM in to doing the smart thing. _________________________________________________________________ Watch “Cause Effect,” a show about real people making a real difference. Learn more. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/MTV/?source=text_watchcause
Ian Michael Gumby wrote: > > > > From: indeep@indeep.com > > > > > Sometimes you simply have to put aside all the bullshit and say what > must be > > said. Gumby got me fired up, and he really put it all together. Those IBM > > cocksuckers need to be fired and let some people get in there that > can get > > the job done. IBM = I BUILD MEDIOCRITY. They have applied this brand > blanding > > to everything they touch. They fucked up OS/2 and now they're after > IDS. It's > > a tragedy plain and simple. If IDS were a crap product nobody would > care, but > > it's a first-class product that deserves just as much attention as > <gasp> DB2 > > if not more. But this product is doomed as long as IBM owns it. > > > Uhm... > > IBM means "I BE MEDIOCRE ". > > And I have to clarify something. > IBM is huge. I mean really huge. 340K employees world wide is a friggin > huge number. > > The number of really good people is dwarfed by the number of mediocre > people. I really do mean that there's a lot of good people at IBM, but > their good work is stunted by dumb moves by some of the mediocre. > > And thats sad. I know a lot of really top notch people at IBM. I know a > fair amount of good people who put some time in and moved on because of > the mediocrity that they had to deal with. And I personally have dealt > with IBMers that make the mediocre look good. They survive because they > know how to play the system and keep shifting their roles... > > To your point about IDS, you can't unravel it from IBM. Too much IP has > been shared between DB2 and IDS. And IDS is nothing without the developers. > > So the best we can hope for is lighting a fire under the mediocre butts > and try to embarrass IBM in to doing the smart thing. I wrote this several months ago and apparently it bears repeating. IBM did not get to where it is by being mediocre. IBM did not get to where it is by having incompetent leadership. IBM is doing precisely what IBM wishes. That fact that your favorite playtoy isn't part of the discussion. In ten years IBM will still be a phenomenally successful corporation. Even if IDS revenue is zero. -- Daniel A. Morgan University of Washington damorgan@x.washington.edu (replace x with u to respond)
DA Morgan wrote: > I wrote this several months ago and apparently it bears repeating. IBM > did not get to where it is by being mediocre. IBM did not get to where > it is by having incompetent leadership. IBM is doing precisely what IBM > wishes. That fact that your favorite playtoy isn't part of the discussion. > > In ten years IBM will still be a phenomenally successful corporation. > Even if IDS revenue is zero. Even IBM can fail. Arrogance gets the best of them. Ask anyone associated with great companies and great technologies that failed. Suddenly, as if by magic the once proud and pompous corp goes belly up. I wish for IBM to go belly up, and take all its arrogance to the poorhouse. It will cease to be relevant burdened by its own bureaucracy and lack of vision. If you think it can't happen just wait, it's coming. There are other products and services out there that will outpace IBM's sluggish and inept pace. What was important even a year ago is up for grabs, don't think it will all stay the same.
> From: indeep@indeep.com > Subject: Re: Why you can't trust IBM when it comes to committing to Informix. > Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:29:14 -0700 > To: informix-list@iiug.org > > DA Morgan wrote: > > I wrote this several months ago and apparently it bears repeating. IBM > > did not get to where it is by being mediocre. IBM did not get to where > > it is by having incompetent leadership. IBM is doing precisely what IBM > > wishes. That fact that your favorite playtoy isn't part of the discussion. > > > > In ten years IBM will still be a phenomenally successful corporation. > > Even if IDS revenue is zero. > > Even IBM can fail. Arrogance gets the best of them. Ask anyone associated > with great companies and great technologies that failed. I will say this. IBM has been in a decline since their heyday of the 60's and 70's. If we want to look at colossal failures. Just say Bear Stearns. JPM Chase bought them for $2.00 a share. Less than 5% of the trading price a week earlier. Of course JPM Chase has also assumed Bear Stearn's risks. But since we want to talk about IBM, IBM under Lou transformed from a hardware company to a services company. However, the IGS of today is a shadow of IGS of the time when they competed against Anderson. The best of IGS is the PWC partners. Everything else is offshore/onshore from India. (Oh a bit of exaggeration, but you get the point. ;-) IBM is in a decline because today's management were the new hires of the 80's. Not a good sign. Of course there are bright spots at IBM. They still have the brains and innovation but that's done be a different division. Those running S&D, IGS, and SWG are not agressive enough to compete. If you look at the track records of ex-IBM execs who left to head other corporations, not very good. Charlie Ills? He got his pee-pee spanked at BEA. (Oh and his welcoming speech at our first eBU? Breathtaking. Put the fear of unemployment in to your heart...) But hey! lets get back on target here! We're not trying to condem all the idiots at IBM. Just those who don't think about what they're doing. They say one thing one day to one crowd. Then they say another to a different crowd the next. Always trying to be the politician and say what they think you will want to hear. And this gets back to the issue. Can you take what IBM says at face value? Nope. I guess we can take that old joke about how you know that your agent is lying to you... and replace agent with IBM rep/exec ... :-0 _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live Hotmail is giving away Zunes. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/ZuneADay/?locale=en-US&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Mobile_Zune_V3
DA Morgan wrote: > > In ten years IBM will still be a phenomenally successful corporation. > Even if IDS revenue is zero. Your future guessing thoughts are high again? Hopefully this will be a hit instead of the time you said that a few years ago we would not be discussing IDS as a separates product... -- Fernando Nunes Portugal http://informix-technology.blogspot.com My email works... but I don't check it frequently...