Current Challenges etc. in the PowerHouse World (SHRINKING !)

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 15:31:41 -0500

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Bob, it's not customer 'happiness' that's the problem.  

It's the fact that the platform is disappearing out from under us.   

Furthermore, decisions about IT directions are being made by people who know
nothing about it.  
Miss Daisy is not only telling Hoke where to go, but how to get there, how
fast to drive, what car to drive, and how much it will cost--without
bothering to check whether their are bridges over the road she wants to
take.  

We have a 'fast track' plan (that will likely lead to my unemployment in the
next 6 months) of migration OFF the HP3000.  The package chosen by
management does not have 1/10th the functionality of the system we have, not
to mention the KLoCs of custom PH code upon which we are dependant.   At the
same time, the same management is promising (and expecting) a seamless and
unnoticeable transition--In other words, they're not paying for user
training. We are moving from a PH-Quick Screen environment to a GUI
interface that cannot be customized. Nobody is permitted to speak of the
elephant in the conference room--on the day we 'go live' we will essentially
be dead in the water--with functionality BARELY over what we have during one
of our infrequent down times.  

I imagine myself in the driver's seat of Miss Daisy's Caddy "Miss Daisy, the
bridge ahead is out and we're heading for the river at 90 miles an hour".
"Nonsense, Hoke, the brochure is quite clear how to get there. Just keep
driving in the same direction---and speed up, so we're not late."  
The only answer I can give is "Yes'm!"  Because nobody argues with Miss
Daisy.   

-----Original Message-----
From: Deskin, Bob [mailto:Bob.Deskin@Cognos.COM] 
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 1:57 PM
To: 'Kent Heatherington'; 'powerh-l@lists.sowder.com'
Subject: RE: Current Challenges etc. in the PowerHouse World (SHRINKING !)

This is totally my own opinion and experience. 

Why would people continue to use the HPe3000, MPE/iX and IMAGE? Because it's
like PowerHouse - it works (the vast majority of the time). MPE/iX is a
solid, if not flashy, OS and quite reliable. Many companies who bought into
HP3000 many years ago never found a reason to move elsewhere. This is not to
invite comparison or to disparage anything else. If a customer is happy, it
doesn't matter whether something else is better unless it's overwhelmingly
better.

Bob 

-----Original Message----- 
From: powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com
[mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com
<mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com> ] On Behalf Of Kent Heatherington 
Sent: March 27, 2004 10:57 AM 
To: 'powerh-l@lists.sowder.com' 
Subject: Current Challenges etc. in the PowerHouse World (SHRINKING !) 

Bob 

  Here is my list to share with everyone. 

1.  The clients I have worked for in the last couple of years all have the
same thoughts on Cognos 

   1.  The Maintenance is too expensive 
   2.  They know Cognos is no longer interested in the product in any way. 
   3.  They all know their companies or Guv depts are moving to ERP,
Oracle,SAP,Peoplesoft etc... 
   4.  They want to do as little as possible to their legacy PH systems. 
   5.  The techie clients want nothing to do with any Cognos Product. They
seem to want to buy anything but. 
        I've encountered several with this bias.  These folks are just plain
angry over the PH episode. 

  And yet despite all of this, they continue to use the product.  What an
amazing testament. 

2.   My personal challenges. Finding Work !  Apparently our skills developed
building PH apps on a variety of 
platforms is completely useless. With Cognos training, Crystal Etc.. we are
considered to be newbies and useless. 5 years experience required on that
list of 10 skillsets required..

  So to say Cognos dropping the ball with PowerHouse has certainly presented
a job challenge is an understatement. 

3. Work Challenges. 
   Ok now I'm going to really start something.  What is with this HP. I'd
forgotten just how stupid this box really is !. After years of Open/VMS and
Unix, despite having spent the first 5 years of my career on HP 

I'm ruined.  8 character file names !  Image still in use !  No PHD  
There is my challenge.  Why would anyone still use this thing !  (now I'm in
for it !) 

Regards to my fellow PH dinosaurs.... 

Kent Heatherington 

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<DIV>Bob, it's not customer 'happiness' that's the problem.&nbsp; 
</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>It's the fact that the platform is disappearing out from under 
us.&nbsp;&nbsp; </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Furthermore, decisions about IT directions are being made by people who 
know nothing about it.&nbsp; </DIV>
<DIV>Miss Daisy is not only telling Hoke where to go, but how to get there, 
how fast to drive, what car to drive, and how much it will cost--without 
bothering to check whether their are bridges over the road she wants to 
take.&nbsp; </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>We have a 'fast track' plan (that will likely lead to my unemployment in 
the next 6 months) of migration OFF the HP3000.&nbsp; The package chosen by 
management does not have 1/10th the functionality of the system we have, not to 
mention the KLoCs of custom PH code&nbsp;upon which we are 
dependant.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;At the same time, the same management is promising 
(and expecting)&nbsp;a seamless and unnoticeable transition--In other words, 
they're not paying for user training.&nbsp;We are moving from a PH-Quick Screen 
environment to a&nbsp;GUI interface&nbsp;that cannot be customized. Nobody is 
permitted to speak of the elephant in the conference room--on the day we 'go 
live' we will essentially be dead in the water--with functionality BARELY over 
what we have during one of our infrequent down times.&nbsp; 
</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>I 
imagine myself in the driver's seat of Miss Daisy's Caddy "Miss Daisy, the 
bridge ahead is out and we're heading for the river at 90 miles an 
hour".</DIV>
<DIV>"Nonsense, Hoke, the brochure is quite clear how to get there. Just keep 
driving in the same direction---and speed up, so we're not late."&nbsp; 
</DIV>
<DIV>The 
only answer I can give&nbsp;is "Yes'm!"&nbsp; Because nobody argues with Miss 
Daisy.&nbsp;&nbsp; </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
 <DIV></DIV>
 <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>-----Original Message----- From: Deskin, Bob 
 [mailto:Bob.Deskin@Cognos.COM] Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 1:57 
 PM To: 'Kent Heatherington'; 
 'powerh-l@lists.sowder.com' Subject: RE: Current Challenges etc. in 
 the PowerHouse World (SHRINKING !) </DIV>
 This is totally my own opinion and experience. 
 Why would people continue to use the HPe3000, MPE/iX and 
 IMAGE? Because it's like PowerHouse - it works (the vast majority of the 
 time). MPE/iX is a solid, if not flashy, OS and quite reliable. Many companies 
 who bought into HP3000 many years ago never found a reason to move elsewhere. 
 This is not to invite comparison or to disparage anything else. If a customer 
 is happy, it doesn't matter whether something else is better unless it's 
 overwhelmingly better.
 Bob 
 -----Original Message----- From: 
 powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com [<A 
 href="mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com">mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com</A>] 
 On Behalf Of Kent Heatherington Sent: March 27, 2004 
 10:57 AM To: 'powerh-l@lists.sowder.com' 
 Subject: Current Challenges etc. in the PowerHouse World 
 (SHRINKING !) 
 Bob 
 &nbsp; Here is my list to share with everyone. 
 1.&nbsp; The clients I have worked for in the last couple of 
 years all have the same thoughts on Cognos 
 &nbsp;&nbsp; 1.&nbsp; The Maintenance is too expensive 
 &nbsp;&nbsp; 2.&nbsp; They know Cognos is no longer 
 interested in the product in any way. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
 3.&nbsp; They all know their companies or Guv depts are moving to ERP, 
 Oracle,SAP,Peoplesoft etc... &nbsp;&nbsp; 4.&nbsp; 
 They want to do as little as possible to their legacy PH systems. 
 &nbsp;&nbsp; 5.&nbsp; The techie clients want nothing to do 
 with any Cognos Product. They seem to want to buy anything but. 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I've encountered 
 several with this bias.&nbsp; These folks are just plain angry over the PH 
 episode. 
 &nbsp; And yet despite all of this, they continue to use the 
 product.&nbsp; What an amazing testament. 
 2.&nbsp;&nbsp; My personal challenges. Finding Work !&nbsp; 
 Apparently our skills developed building PH apps on a variety of 
 platforms is completely useless. With Cognos training, 
 Crystal Etc.. we are considered to be newbies and useless. 5 years experience 
 required on that list of 10 skillsets required..
 &nbsp; So to say Cognos dropping the ball with PowerHouse has 
 certainly presented a job challenge is an understatement. 
 3. Work Challenges. &nbsp;&nbsp; Ok 
 now I'm going to really start something.&nbsp; What is with this HP. I'd 
 forgotten just how stupid this box really is !. After years of Open/VMS and 
 Unix, despite having spent the first 5 years of my career on HP 
 I'm ruined.&nbsp; 8 character file names !&nbsp; Image still 
 in use !&nbsp; No PHD&nbsp; There is my 
 challenge.&nbsp; Why would anyone still use this thing !&nbsp; (now I'm in for 
 it !) 
 Regards to my fellow PH dinosaurs.... 
 Kent Heatherington 
 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 
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