On Sunday, 03/07/2010 at 12:00 EST, Phil Smith III <li...@akphs.com>
wrote:
> But since both Timothy (on IBM-MAIN) and Alan (on IBMVM) have stated
that there
> is no official statement of direction, then the good news is that it's
not even
> a rumor at this point -- it's fiction. What we need to worry about is it
> becoming reality down the road.
Never say "never," eh? :-)
I have confirmed with TPTB that there is no truth to the rumor. It was,
without a doubt, triggered by some IBMer panicking over an internal
discussion about ITSO funding. (These "exercises" go on all over the
company, all the time - mostly exercising our patience!) That discussion
caused us to gather data on how Redbooks affect sales, something we should
have been doing all along. But every now and then we get lazy and try to
rest on our laurels, and were reminded that in a down economy, there are
no entitlements. The ITSO was rightfully challenged and, no surprise, it
had the data to support its claims.
Of course, from a financial point of view, every year is a new year. VMers
only need to reflect on our own history ("VM is Dead - Long Live VM!") to
be reminded of how strong the winds may blow and easily and quickly it
changes direction. And how sometimes it is just a tempest in teacup.
Alan Altmark
z/VM Development
IBM Endicott
