This is a general session for all attendees where a little business is conducted and a keynote speaker is heard. Mike Armstrong, Share's president this year, opened the session: "Welcome to the Baked Apple", getting enthusiastic applause from those of us who walked over from the Sheraton where the air conditioning was not quite up to the task. He announced that 4,996 persons were in attendance, not a record, but respectable numbers for New York City.
The keynoter was Dr. Edward Altman, a muckymuck from IBM who paints with a broad brush. I fondly remember a Guide general session when an IBM vice-president announced the 303x series mainframes - a genuine surprise that made people run for the telephones at the end of the session. Sadly, no general session I've ever gone to rivals that one. IBM always talks, but too often it is motherhood and goodness that is delivered and no real meat.
He casually mentioned IBM's promotion last year of "The Year of the Customer", and tried to explain where it all came from. IBM had lost market share to a number of competitors, and John Akers - Chairman of the Board - determined correctly that a loss of customer satisfaction was to blame. He reorganized IBM - again - and made the field engineering force answerable to the marketeers.
Altman phrased the situation another way:
"I saw an old man in the park, sitting on a bench crying his eyes out, so I went over to him to determine if I could help him. I asked if he had a place to stay. He replied 'Oh yes, I live in a gorgeous home decorated in hand-rubbed Italian hardwoods, with a spectacular view of the city'. I thought about this for a moment, and then said 'Ah, then you must have some problem with the family or a loved one.' He shook his head sadly and said 'No, as a matter of fact, I was just married last week to a rich and lovely young lady who dotes on me and is the best cook I have ever known.' I reflected on this for just a second, and finally asked 'Well then, you old coot, WHY are you crying?' He blinked his tears away and looking straight at me he said 'Because I have forgotten where I live.'"The moral of the story: "We had forgotten where we lived". IBM has over 20,000 VSE licenses worldwide, but has spent the last few years telling these customers that they would be dropped in the near future. No more. While VSE will always be a 370-mode, uniprocessor operating system, it will continue to enjoy support because IBM's customers demand it.
IBM will continue to try to consolidate operating systems. The ultimate strategy is to have one single MVS product that encompasses the function provided today by MVS, DPPX and VSE. VM is here to stay, but the conglomeration of VM products - VM HPO, VM SP, VM XA and several CMS releases - will be merged into a single ESA product.
This I have to see.