During Collaborate we spoke with many World customers. What struck me was the strength of their continuing emotional attachment to a combination of World and the IBM platform on which it runs. As they still do, I will refer to that platform as AS/400, even though it is now just one of three environments on Power servers.
More than one lapsed into evangelical mode as they ticked off the virtues of software and an OS that almost never fails, is easy to understand and use, and that is so familiar and comfortable. It was strange hearing this since they each assumed I needed to be sold.
None of them knew that I had been the first AS/400 evangelist in the world starting back in 1986 – almost two years before it was even announced. The original news that IBM had a computer code named ‘silverlake’ under development came out in a white paper I published early in 1987. On one level it was nice to hear them echo back points I had been the first one to make over 20 years ago. Overall, however, it was a sad reminder that a golden age has come and gone.
The reality is that there is little left to remain loyal to. OS/400 lives on as a guest operating system on a generic combination of firmware and hardware that IBM calls the Power system. Nearly all enhancements now come as improvements to the Power platform and not to OS/400 itself. The once mighty installed base continues to atrophy.
There is nothing wrong with continuing to run code written for OS/400 on what has evolved into an outstanding server platform. It is reliable, cost effective, energy efficient and offers the flexibility of also running AIX or Linux software. There is also no urgent reason to replace OS/400 specific applications such as JDE World. Such applications will run just fine on Power servers for many years to come.
My concern is that loyalty to a technology that time has now bypassed is keeping World customers from accepting the inevitable – the time has come for many of them to embrace the changes that have occurred and make plans to move on. Once that acceptance has occurred a number of exciting possibilities emerge. Future postings will explore a number of them.
As the original AS/400 evangelist, it took me a long time to accept the reality of its demise. Like all software environments, AS/400 will live on for a very long time in the form of code that has not yet been replaced or converted to something else. As a viable foundation for the development of new code it is now completely obsolete. There is no great rush, but organizations dependent on a large base of code that runs only under OS/400 need to develop plans to move on over time. Obviously, the JDE World community includes many organizations that fit this description.
As always, comments and opposing opinions are welcome.
The JD Edwards Advisor 
May 21, 2009 at 4:57 pm
The whole reason for a computer system is to run applications.
If those applications work fine and do exactly what customers want, what exactly is the purpose of the “upgrade” you propose?
Genuine question. I am not a as400 or World user and I have never used OS400, although in a long lost life I programmed in RPG.
May 22, 2009 at 3:55 am
Not viable for new code? What precisely is it that the as400 cant do that other systems can?
Its not the system that needs upgrading, its the developers! Many of them are still locked in the as400 rpg green screen mindset.
The facility to create bleeding edge new apps have been given to those developers by IBM onver many years. They just need to upgrade their skillset and mindset and use them!
May 22, 2009 at 7:40 am
I think what might have been considered conservative in the past (os/400) is now just probably considered a good business practice. Having an ultra reliable and well understood accounting platform is a good policy for any company.
As long as the application can comply with new standards (accounting, etc) – why change it?
Malcolm
May 22, 2009 at 7:58 am
The absurdity of doing away with OS/400 applications is reflected in Oracle’s decision to implement Applications Unlimited, and in their latest release of the World software.
Since we are committed to JDE World for financials and one division of our manufacturing, I was happy to see that.
However, I see nothing wrong with taking advantage of other technologies to supplement the enterprise base and provide familiar user interfaces for those folks who are pc fanciers and have had no training otherwise. Ironically but realistically, it also gives techs an opportunity to increase their skills and become more valuable candidates in the event they have to move on…
May 26, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Many of us “old timers” are spoiled when it comes to reliability and the AS/400. The newest version of any product available is worthless if the operating platform is unstable.
In times past we all knew our “IBM Repair Man” who came in and did “PM” (preventive maintenance) to our computers. Trouble calls were handled in a few hours and always fixed that day. I can not remember the last call we had on our AS/400. Our IBM repairman is a stranger.
Please don’t hook me up with a pacemaker that runs on “Windows”. The required re-boot could kill me.
May 28, 2009 at 8:29 am
David,
FYI, I do not work with World at all but do work with EnterpriseOne. Since business always look at cost/benefit or ROI, what is the ROI for an upgrade to E1 or other ERP system on another platform? Greater than 36 months I can almost assure you, unless the business itself has fundamentally changed and World can no longer meet the needs. If that is the case, no business would make the change since it doesn’t make economic sense. One of the great problems in IT that I encounter regularly is that IT folks love to make change for change’s sake, just so they can make their mark or use the “coolest” new tech… Not a good business proposition. This isn’t to say IBM hasn’t fumbled endlessly with the AS/400 and continuously drive customers away with arcane pricing structures, new technology that is dropped after a couple of years (IXA?), etc.
May 28, 2009 at 8:36 am
Maybe he’s right! We could all get rid of our Iseries(AS400) and then we could even double or triple our staffs and budgets !!! I bet that would make our owners and shareholders happy! Let me see, I have 1 Iseries running the Core business apps, and 20 windows servers trying to run email, fax, word and excel.
May 28, 2009 at 9:28 am
David advocates change for change itself. I was anticipating a long list of reasons to change. Apparently it’s the OS he’s referring to…but, where’s the beef David?
May 28, 2009 at 10:07 am
I think David’s comments are valid; the AS/400 is not growing as a platform because vendors aren’t writing new major applications for it, except in cases where those apps are Java (or even Lansa) based, and therefore portable.
I love the stability of the AS/400. My Windows and Linux servers both have to be rebooted on a regular basis (some versions of Linux more than others).
That said, with very little effort my Linux machines are clustered virtual machines, so if one dies I don’t really care. I can set up another copy in minutes if I need the extra load, or even add more capacity in minutes by adding machines to the cluster.
So the AS/400 is more stable, but from a network design perspective, Linux and Windows are easier to cluster so that there’s no “single point of failure”. Could that not also be having an impact on the 400’s market?
May 28, 2009 at 10:10 am
In reference to the comments of ‘cba400’ I have to say that if your general feeling is that windows servers are far less superior to the iSeries than I would have to disagree with you. First off, generally speaking, windows servers can be run on IBM hardware so there is your reliablity factor. Secondly whatever your running on the iSeries, unless your a small ‘ma & pa’ shop there are many other apps that can run your business needs just as efficiently or even more so. One example of such an app is Navision. In the end, the question that grossly affects your ROI always involves updating your work force or leaving them behind in the 1980’s. You do the math…
May 28, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Caoimhin,
Why does a company need Navision if they are already running World on the Series i? That was the point of this article, to get rid of World and the AS/400. If the company is running World on the 400 and it meets the business needs, why dump it?
May 29, 2009 at 8:16 am
“Evangelists” are the problem in the IT marketplace, substituting emotive calls to the “cutting edge” for rigorous analysis.
Any business considering a sizable investment should study the options and perhaps test an i5. It’s capabilities in terms of running new applications are remarkably underestimated (our Ruby developer likes it), and the ease of maintenance – especially the stability of the system (machine code to business apps) as PTF’s (patches) are applied is significant. Once operational costs are factored in, and actual capabilities rather than perceived capabilities are considered, the definition of “obsolete” sometimes changes.
June 2, 2009 at 9:16 am
I can certainly understand David’s sentiment. It’s the same sentiment that’s been spewed from Redmond WA for years. Some of my thoughts (ie Total Cost of Ownership, reliability, vintage skill sets in mature programmers, etc) have already been mentioned. What isn’t mentioned is that the truly advanced nature of OS/400. Can other OS’s run 20 year old applications without modification and still run state of the art applications running JAVA, EGL, PHP, MySQL, etc. Can other OS’s truly isolate applications so that multiple applications can run on the same machine (vs one machine – one application mentality of WIN)? Lack of reliability is one of the driving forces to virtualization in the Windows, Linux, -ix worlds. I’d expect them to be more advanced in technology they require for reliability.
I have yet to find an application design that couldn’t be accomodated well in the i5/OS environment. I do have problems finding developers that can exploit those features. That’s an entirely different problem.
Oh, by the way, how long does it take to convert a Windows / Linus application to run native 64 bit mode? Done on i5/OS. Not to mention built in object-based OS, high level security and AV, built in Database, single level store, AIX runtime, etc…
Doesn’t look that primitive to me.
June 2, 2009 at 9:50 am
Thanks to all for providing their views. It’s great to be able to have a place we can toss these ideas and opinions around.
John Campbell
July 23, 2010 at 3:48 am
I almost object to the word rabid – it is negative. AS/400 JDE Worldsoft old timers LOVE their platform and their system. From the times of Y2K, American big wigs have spent trillions of dollars on upgrading their technology. In fact they have downgraded it. You do not get viruses and spyware on AS/400. In the name of modernization, companies have sunk good money into a lower grade hardware and that money is today not recoverable. Olden times, a company leveraged a server and the investment in ERP for 10 years. Today they change it every 3 years. Has any company’s turnover doubled because they brought in Microsoft technology or changed JDE to SAP? So what are we talking about really? Someone just mentioned about the old timers learning new skill set. The new skill set is hardly worth learning a week’s effort. You drag and drop things – no one writes code today – so what is so big about it? Try to write Java programs only to discover that what an operating system was doing for an application programmer one time on AS/400 – the programmer has to do it now in higher level language! Oh my! They call it advancement and efficiency. Forget it.
June 20, 2013 at 3:38 pm
Ridiculous story there. What happened after?
Good luck!
June 23, 2013 at 2:39 am
Actually when someone doesn’t be aware of afterward its up to other users that they will help, so here it happens.
July 8, 2013 at 10:15 pm
How to develop possess radio streaming and/or incorporate that radio in
to my personal Dubai videospot? could you promote me step
by step?
August 16, 2013 at 8:07 am
Chances are you curently have close tο your house, and yοu will utilize it to dislodge a bath drain obstruction essentially after you wiƖl together wіth your
lavatory
August 16, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Hi, Neat post. There is an issue together with your site in web explorer, would test
this? IE still is the market chief and a big element of other people will
pass over your magnificent writing because of this problem.
August 23, 2013 at 1:30 am
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get set up? I’m assuming having
a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100% positive.
Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Kudos
September 6, 2013 at 6:16 am
They are the workout that a lot of exercisers do when they are on the way to working their ab muscles
in the way they want them. Sitting on an workout ball to do your crunches is
a beautiful example of how crunches need changed over the time.
For $20 or less you could buy a DVD that focuses on the lower abs or a book that teaches more fine tuned abdominal exercises.
December 27, 2013 at 7:53 am
Thiѕ is very attention-grabbing, You are an excessively professionaal blogger.
I have joined your rssѕ feed and look forward to looking for extra of your fantastic post.
Also, I have shared your website in my social networks
January 23, 2014 at 6:28 pm
A Global Positioning System (GPS) along with a Chartplotter are essential for direction and a good sailing experience.
According to Hz – O’s website, it has this to say about it’s
Water – Block technology. It’s just need the power from your car’s 12 volt lighter
socket or your car’s battery and it will converts the Direct Current energy to Alternating Current energy.
April 20, 2014 at 8:11 am
By having one, if not several, actual conversations with your new potential client, you can clearly outline yor values, level of professionalism and your commitment to giving your best to your client.
Asking for an occasional favor is fine ‘ it’swhen those favors turn into lost billable hours that it becomes a problem.
You must always remember that you ruun your business, not your clients.
May 17, 2014 at 3:02 am
When beginning to plan seating restaurant furniture for less for your restaurant,
there is a demand for thee hot water. Most restaurants set
candles at each table, just don’t use scented. If for any reason, your furniture is not available with metal furniture.
This would appear really awesome. The swme principal use of colours can bee use in specialty
restaurant as per your full requirement annd aat very effective
price rztes also. It catches the attention in
one glimpse and if it is not surprising to see someone eating.
June 28, 2014 at 10:33 pm
This type of deal you will not grow on it right in your patio, deck
or patio; this might be mounted permanently on the perfect furniture set, a.
Should immediately be noted and communicated with the designer
but it weights less and requires no grosfillex lounge
maintenance and cleaning of outdoor garden furniture can be made
more robust plus more resistant to rain. But don’t just get away
from these online sources. Keeping furniture protecting near pool areasOne of the workmanship as well.
Also, buy the furniture outside for a long time.
August 17, 2014 at 1:51 pm
If they have what we put on our site. Place metal items that are unique
in style and model of the furniture. Superior-Grade
Cast grosfillex winston Aluminum Furniture 3 Peice Bistro Set G BLK CBM1290and you want outdoor furniture will be happy with for
many more.
July 8, 2015 at 11:48 am
Es muy esfuerzo para averiguar cualquier tema del net en comparación con libros, como descubrí este
pedazo de redacción sitio web.
December 13, 2015 at 1:27 pm
He also functions as an Interaction Designer and IT Consultant at Centro METID in Milan.
April 6, 2016 at 2:23 pm
I needed too thank you for this fantastic read!! I certainly loved every bit of it.
I have you bok marked to check outt neww things you post…
November 13, 2016 at 9:26 pm
This paragraph will help the internet viewers for creating nnew web site or
even a blog from start to end.