WILKES-BARRE - The city administration is looking into ways by
which it can run off backup data made inaccessible two weeks ago when the
city's IBM AS400 mainframe computer crashed, said Data Processing Supervisor
Ralph O'Donnell.

O'Donnell said the last time tax data was backed up was on April 11. The
crash occurred on April 15.

He said there were problems on April 12, which was a Friday, when he tried
to back up the data on reel-to-reel tape.

OMG. The presence of a reel-to-reel tape indicates that it was probably an
old CISC model - very old (A 'D' or 'F' model?). I've seen corporations
give these things away to employees because it's cheaper than having them
hauled off to be scrapped. Hell - I actually refused one in the late 90s
because I feared it was too heavy and would collapse through the floor of my
apartment...

Since then, because the city doesn't have a maintenance
agreement with IBM to repair the computer and retrieve the data, five city
hall employees have spent their days typing more than 25,000 names,
addresses and tax information onto two personal computers.

BAHAHA. That statement shows that this story is 'missing' huge chunks. IBM
maintenance contracts are NOT exclusive - W/O a contract, IBM's support
rates rise dramatically, it doesn't mean they will refuse to work on the
system. I myself 'gambled' in this manner for an antiquated model -
pointing out to the boss that the hours of maintenance that were required
would cost less in real dollars than getting IBM's support on an 'ad-hoc'
basis. (but then, that box was not 'mission-critical', either)

O'Donnell said the whole affair is "driving me crazy at this
point." He said the maintenance agreement was lost late last year when the city
"fell behind on payments." O'Donnell also said IBM is willing to provide a
maintenance contract for $850 a month.

I'm sure that's what he said. I also notice that he doesn't quote the
per-hour (non-contracted) support rates.

City Administrator James Hayward's reason for letting the
maintenance agreement lapse is that it would cost the city $11,000 per year,
which is "considerably" more than the price of the PCs, software and
networking.

Is it? Is it considerably more than what it's costing in employee payroll
costs to compensate for Hayward's stupidity? This implies that there was
some sort of choice between support for PC's and the '400... Knowing how
poor Wiles-Barre is, I can believe this, and if Hayward was given some kind
of utimatum, I can believe that he would eliminate support for the more
reliable of the choices - but a choice like that would be like choosing
whether to use your right hand or your left hand to work on a running
lawnmower...

However, computer experts said maintenance agreements,
especially for older computers, are vital. The city's computer system is
about 20 years old.

Nice trick. The AS/400 has only been around since '89 - before that, it was
'codename: Silverlake'. The closest thing to that previously would be the
System 38.

.... ....

"Think of it as going for a week-long drive across a desert with
no spare tire, simply because you couldn't be bothered to pack
one."

Or if you couldn't afford ne. It's not this bad, though, because IBM WILL
work on '400s on an (expensive) uncontracted basis.

The computer experts said the city would be better served either
getting the old mainframe repaired or spending money for a new IBM AS400.
They explained that the mainframe rarely crashes. They say PCs can crash
after a few days.

They also said the mainframe will not become obsolete as quickly as PCs.

Hayward on Friday said the city "had a study done" which determined the PCs
are more cost effective. He said it would cost about $12,000 to purchase a
new IBM AS400, then another $5,000 to $10,000 for new software.

He said any expert who suggests the city spend the extra money should
realize that "they don't have to pay for it."

I suspect that Hayward is a PC person. I suspect that Hayward wanted
to get rid of the '400 in favor of what he knows. This publicity, and his
short-sightedness, may destroy his career, however.