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by David R. Brousell, MA Editorial Staff   | Abstract: | As tech vendors target the mid-market, IBM's nearly 20-year-old System i may be a textbook example of what manufacturers really want. |
Between April 29 and May 3, 2007, members of the IBM user group COMMON will gather in Anaheim, CA, for their annual meeting. COMMON, of course, focuses on the IBM System i platform, originally known as the AS/400 and later the iSeries, and its meetings are devoted to helping companies find ways to improve the use of the system famed for its reliability, ease of use, and completeness. Interestingly, the meeting this year comes as many technology providers are intensifying their efforts in the so-called mid-market, that vast swath of manufacturing companies with revenue below $1 billion and somewhere north of $100 million, depending on whose definition of the market you choose. The System i has long had a home in this market segment. Software providers, such as Glovia, HarrisData, Oracle Corp., and SAP, believe that mid-market companies simply don't have the resources for complicated systems that require a lot of human intervention, and, hence, systems that are highly packaged, easy to use, offer low cost of ownership, and don't fail are the most desirable. They are correct in this belief, and this set of requirements is now rising to the top of must-have lists, even among large manufacturers. Tech providers are trying to figure out how best to address the mid-market. Some, like Glovia, are attempting new business models, such as software-as-a-service. [Click to continue] |