[Info-vax] VSI Subscription Licensing Exchanges

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 5/25/21 9:34 PM, Dave Froble wrote:
> On 5/25/2021 8:07 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>> On 5/25/2021 5:06 PM, Dave Froble wrote:
>>> On 5/25/2021 4:12 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>>> On 5/25/2021 4:07 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>>>> On 5/25/2021 3:59 PM, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
>>>>>> Presumably if a license for 5 years costs X, then when buying another
>>>>>> one which has a four-year overlap one would pay only X/5.
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes.
>>>>>
>>>>> Or to do it the other way around.
>>>>>
>>>>> If a one year license cost X then a 5 year license cost 5*X and
>>>>> a 1 year license extension of a 5 year license cost X.
>>>>
>>>> And maybe they could make the actual license follow extension model, so
>>>> it would be:
>>>> * you pay 5X for a license 21-25
>>>> * next year you pay X for a license 25-26 (extension license)
>>>>
>>>> Or whatever. The point is simply that customers know they have
>>>> AVG=4.5 MIN=4.0 MAX=5.0 left which is better than
>>>> AVG=0.5 MIN=0.0 MAX=1.0 and AVG=2.5 MIN=0.0 MAX=5.0 for
>>>> normal 1 and 5 year contracts.
>>>
>>> How easy would it be to replace 50 years of app development in less
>>> than 5 years?  Perhaps significantly less.
>>
>> Ongoing development and port/reimplementation are two very different
>> activities.
>>
>> Moving some non-portable and complex code can certainly take
>> time.
>>
>> But IT projects taking more than 2-3 years are usually problematic.
>> If feasible then chose common technologies and get enough people
>> working on the project to get it completed is the way to go.
>>
>> Arne
> 
> BA HA HA HA ........
> 
> Let me relate a story.
> 
> First, to set the stage, many times small to medium companies are built 
> by a knowledgeable person, and they know how to run the company.  What 
> they can do, and what they can't do.
> 
> Now, Dad is running a successful business, and providing the money for 
> sonny to be out partying and whatever.  Sonny has no clue, and doesn't 
> care, cause Dad is taking care of supporting him in the manner he's 
> become accustomed to.
> 
> As time goes on, it's time for sonny to learn how to run the company. 
> Either Dad wants to retire, or is otherwise no longer available, it's up 
> to sonny to be successful.
> 
> Of course, sonny quite often doesn't have a clue, and so, (usually on 
> the advice of some bean counter), the big consulting firms are called in 
> to help sonny out.
> 
> What's the chance the consulting firm will find that the business is 
> being run successfully?  Slim and none.  They will attempt to justify 
> their fees by making recommendations.  Quite often they have no better 
> ideas than sonny, but, they'll never admit that.  Also, when it comes to 
> the IT system(s), you can bet that they'll say the company needs to get 
> with the future, cloud solutions, WEENDOZE, and such.  Got to throw out 
> that old app and system that has been running the company for years. 
> Can't have that.  An integral part of all this is significant billings 
> by the consulting firm.
> 
> And so, this has happened with one of our customers.  I don't remember 
> the name of the app(s), but it's a cloud based solution.  The new system 
> was to go live last November (2020).  Still hasn't happened.
> 
> A test sometime prior converting over to the "new cloud based system" 
> had the new vendor quite proud that they were able to handle 10 tasks in 
> 5 minutes.  This for a company that was handling over 20,000 internet 
> service connections a day, along with all the in-house running of the 
> company's business.  (I'll leave the math as an exercise for the reader.)
> 
> Last I heard, the vendor had decided they had to re-write the core system.
> 
> So, anyone want to replace a rather complex application?
> 

Let me relate a story.

University is an IBM shop.  All of the applications are locally
written.  All the usual stuff, AR, AP, GL,, Payroll, HR.  And
add to that the entire academic gradekeeping system.
One day C-level exec goes away to a conference and learns all
his peers are using VMS on a VAX.  Comes home and orders conversion.
All work is done in house and is totally successful.  University
runs on VMS  for more than a decade.  Successfully moving forward
to VMA on the Alpha.  Everyone is happy.
Then, one day again, C-level goes to a conference and learns all
his peers have moved to Banner.  Do I need to go further?  Conversion
took less than a year and everyone is happy.  Another decade forward
and no one even remembers what VMS was.

With the exception of people running systems with custom hardware
(which would pretty much imply still being on a VAX!) it takes
much less than most people here think to move to a different system
and there are more companies providing that kind of service than
there are providing support for VMS.

bill