Angus: Reason #221 to say IBM i

Within our community, we argue about the name. Seems like there a thousand reasons why we should keep calling the platform by a previous name. Very few people have specific reasons why we should use IBM i as the platform name when we talk about how good it is. This advertisement is just one more of those reasons.

Put simply, this vendor is using the name ‘AS/400’ as something undesirable. They suggest that you are running ‘legacy applications’, and they ask you if you are ‘still running’ those applications on AS/400. They offer to recompile these ‘AS/400 legacy applications’ onto Windows, Unix or Linux. They also contend that these new locations are ‘open platforms’!

While we continue to use the old terminology, we will continue to have vendors telling the world that we are using old technology, and telling us we need to migrate to another platform. Breaking the habit of using terminology that fits our comfort zone is a wonderful defense against attacks such as these.

I imagine them calling an IBM i shop, and saying “Would you like to migrate your AS/400 applications to open platforms?”. What would they do when you respond with “We already migrated them to an open platform – IBM i!”?

Thanks for your call…