Conference 7.286::digital

> I saw the following on VNS. How this affects Digital, I don't know, but I
> feel very lucky that I'm not working for IBM at the moment.

	The REAL question is will we (Digital) capitalize on this. If the 
roles were reversed, IBM would be all over us. 

  I'm sorry to go off on a tangent, but as a software engineer,
  I can't but help draw analogies to SDI, the Strategic Defense
  Initiative a.k.a. "Star Wars", the US ballistic missile defense
  initiative that was so popular during the 80's.

  It, too, was supposed to work during its first and only full-
  scale test. But in that case, it wouldn't have just been the
  loss of data for the sports page; it would have been the loss
  of millions and millions of lives.

  Do you suppose, the next time "Star Wars" comes around again
  (and it is already on the back burner this political season),
  that the political leaders will be able to generalize IBM's
  Olympic failure to what the computer scientist have said
  about the feasibility of the software system that would be
  required for "Star Wars"? Or will they just say "wrong vendor?" :-)

                                   Atlant

    re: .1
    
    I agree.  This can be done with class.  I would like to see a repeat of
    the print ad touting our flawless performance of the California
    Election web site.  Alta Vista could also be mentioned as the search
    tool of choice with xx millions of hits daily (with absolutely no
    breakdowns).  The print ad should be run in the Wall Street Journal the
    Monday after the conclusion of the Olympics.  IBM doesn't need to be
    mentioned; everyone will know exactly what we're saying.
    
    "When your business depends on your network, call Digital."
    "Whatever it takes."
    
    We absolutely have to take advantage of this chance to tell the world
    what we do best.
    
    Chris Lane
    

    Wait 'til we see how the stuff we've been building for putting the
    national elections on the Web works out.  (At least one "major site"
    that I'm aware of.
    
    That will also be a "one-off".  Should dwarf most other projects.
    
    Could this cause Metcalf's predicted Internet "meltdown"?
    
    Frank
    

re .1

	If anyone thinks IBM is our competition, we are in bigger trouble than
I thought.   We should be competing against Netscape, Microsoft and HP, they are
now the cream...

re: .5

        Netscape and Microsoft are software companies. We are a hardware (and 
services) company, with Microsoft being our most strategic business partner. 
Netscape and Microsoft are generally NOT our competators.

        HP, on the other hand, is. If HP was the one responsible for the 
Olympic snafus, I'd be saying the same thing.

        I'm in Digital Services now and used to work for IBM. IBM IS a 
competator. IBM's ISSC, for example, competes regularly with our Operations 
Management Services (outsourcing) BU, as does HP.

        With that said, it would be nice to see Digital compete for the same 
cream that MS and NS are fighting over but, again, it seems clear that Digital 
is becoming a hardware (and services) company and is focusing its resources 
accordingly. 

        C'Ya,
        Wayne

From a front-page article in Le Monde of 25 July 1996, titled "America,
breakdowns, and dollars"; my translation:

	What has become of America?  Some people think it's fed up with
	"good taste" -- they point to some images from the opening ceremony
	of the centennial Olympic Games.  In the general disorganization
	ruling in Atlanta the world is discovering that the most powerful
	nation on the planet can also be bogged down in ineffectiveness.
	These Olympic Games ... are, for the moment, monster traffic jams,
	slapdash security, and a deficient information system."

___Pete

    re -7
    ... then there was Ariane's failure recently, costing more I guess than
    the Games. Cause: IT (S/W).

    Last week when IBM announced their earnings, Lou G. sent out a
    communique to all IBM employees.  It was addressed to Colleagues.  I
    chose not to post it hear as I was only privy to it since my wife works
    at IBM.  
    
    The letter was very professional and sincere.  It addressed the
    concerns of the industry and the high hopes of their company.  It
    directly stated that they would not allow quarter to quarter variances
    keep them from their long term goal.
    
    In very short order he also addressed and put into perspective the
    Olympic situation.  He commented on how the one system that failed were
    used by media people who jumped at the chance to bash IBM.
    
    Mostly he acknowledged that they had let down a very important customer
    and that they should acknowledge the efforts of their colleagues to
    correcct this and pitch in.
    
    All in all, it was a very nice memo, with heartfelt compassion and a
    directness that we could all learn from.
    
    Joe

    Ariane's software and computer hardware.....any idea as to
    manufacturers/suppliers??  Was it us??!
    
    

    I've started to deal with a few of IBMs internal error reporting 
    systems and I must say that they are 'less than user friendly'.  They
    have a way, at least in these implementations, of taking a relatively
    simple interactive task and making it complex.   Good news is our 
    problem tracking systems have it hands down compared to IBMs systems
    in my opinion.   
    
    I beleive at one point Digital was managing the timing at the Pikes
    Peak Hill climb.   (Colorado Springs area motor racing up a 14,000
    mountain).   I think I remember that we pulled it off ok ->reporting the 
    race results that is  ;=}
    
    Does anyone know - where are IBMs main failure points in the Olympic
    systems ?  What software product set and hardware are they using?     

    
    re .11  Elsewhere in this notes file a couple of key things noted were
    PCs with 9.6k modems, and the backbone running only a T1 line - which
    would explain the slow network response and timing, but would not
    explain other stories around like incorrect data posting, lack of
    background on athletes, etc.
    
    BT

    They are using TOKEN RING for petes sake.
    
    Dave

    RE .7 Le Monde's complaints about transportation, security, &
    information systems.
    
    
    Not fair.  Everything I've read-- mostly quotes by the world's
    atheletes-- has described security as being the best yet.  It's
    unfortunate the best is not good enough.  On the other points I suspect
    they're correct, though their argument is damaged by gratuitously
    tossing in "slapdash security".
    
    Dennis

    
    	Token rings are bad because sometimes they fall out onto the
    	floor and be hard to find.  Or even worse, sometimes they'll
    	get lost somewhere in the ethernet.
    
    	[Credit to Scott Adams for this.]
    

re .5

>	If anyone thinks IBM is our competition, we are in bigger trouble than
>I thought.   We should be competing against Netscape, Microsoft and HP,
>they are now the cream... 

Since Digital Sales reps look like they're going to be goaled primarily for 
selling AlphaServers, IBM is still the "defacto" standard in many areas - 
large IS shops, reservation systems, data warehousing (SAP on the IBM SP2
is something we see alot).... 

Microsoft is our Partner... we do not and shold not compete against them. 

Our competition for the "server" environment is still:

  IBM
  HP
  SUN
  others.... (SGI, Pyramid, etc.)

Arlan

Well, our weekend paper had an article chronicling IBM's troubles at
the games... in particular it noted the troubles posting results to
Associated Press...  to remedy things AP had folks at the events
post results to laptops, and then download the results to AP's systems..
effectively bypassing the IBM systems... ouch!

I wonder if IBM will go for it again next time around.. especially after
they bragged that their product line could do it all (mainframe / AS400 / 
OS/2)...  

I would wager that the Olympic folks will ask an integrator (ie EDS, SHL...)
to do the job next time, and integrate appropriate systems to get the job
done.

-- cheers,
   Guy

    If you were the Olympic committee and were considering who to use the
    next time around, who would you choose?  Would you choose a company
    that had experience with your unique problems and who claimed to have
    ironed things out?  Or, would you choose a company that had never done
    such an event before?  My guess is that this experience will, in the
    long run, benefit IBM.  Our window of opportunity is shut here unless
    we can do a similar event successfully that we can demonstrate to the
    Olympic committee.  Sure, it's bad press now.  But, I'd be willing to
    bet it will turn into good press as IBM works things out and lays claim
    to experience and a "track record."
    
    Steve

    I believe that IBM systems, applications, and user's have more
    experience when it comes to sport activities.  IBM also does most of
    the TENNIS tournaments for statistics.  SGI does the America's CUP. 
    Once again DEC never does anything to provide GLOBAL coverage. 
    
    Wasn't an Alpha used for the simulation for the New Zealand when they
    won the last America's CUP?  Never heard DEC mentioned.  Sun had a BIG
    logo on one of the boats.  It's DEPRESSING never to hear this Company
    being mentioned.

    IBM will be the main technology sponsor for the 1998 Winter Games in
    Nagano, Japan and the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.  

    I don't believe that the IOC "bids" out the information technology
    portion of the Olympics, rather they seek "sponsors" (read $).

    On a related note, while I was walking around the Olympics last week I
    ventured into the House of Blues to look around.  At the back of the
    main room was a raised area with about 30 workstations (PC's?) all
    hooked up to the Internet, with the public invited to go "surfing". 
    The sponsor - SUN.  With probably a minimal investment ($500K?) they
    were reaping the benefits of the crowds in Atlanta.  And yes, the seats
    were all taken, and the SUN logo and name were prominently displayed.

    Dan
    

    If this is a CICS application maybe they need to consider migrating
    it to Digital UNIX on an Alpha running Open CICS to get better 
    performance  ;->
    
    Maybe we can sell them some up-to-date network gear too...
    

    While not on the same scale as the Olympics, Digital Canada did the
    result system (with RSTS/E on dual 11/70's with 4? RP04s!) for the
    1978? CommonWealth Games in Edmontan and I think we also did the
    University Games a couple of years later. 

    IBM sponsored their participation in the 1996 Summer Olympics, 1998
    Winter Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics to the tune of $60,000,000. 
    
    They have a business unit focusing on just doing the Olympics and
    cross-train the follow-on city IBM personel (those from Nagoya, Japan
    for example for the '98 Olympics are in Atlanta working side by side with 
    the Americans here) to learn all the things that go right and wrong.
    
    Given the massive undertaking of this event, do you think we are in a
    position to question their capability as the technology partner on
    this event?  I mean folks, c'mon, they do a a billion two a week! 
    That's $1,200,000,000 every Friday !!!  Don't you think they have the
    horsepower to pull this off?  I'd say they do, even with all the
    snafu's.  I read an article interviewing the woman executive who is in
    charge of IBM's presence at the Olympics in Atlanta.  She's a former
    Olympic athlete herself (so she knows from that perspective what it
    takes to compete and be in the Games) and has a dedicated staff of highly 
    motivated and trained professionals humping in a huge way to pull this off.
    They are confident they can do it and have a long term partnership with 
    ICOG.  
    
    Are there problems, sure.  Are they responding?  You bet, in a HUGE way.  
    These people, many of which are our neighbors and fellow citizens are 
    busting their collective asses to pull off the largest real time 
    Information based syatem in the Games history.  
    
    Have you been to their web site lately?  It looks great. 
    Every events results are there, news, information all of it in one easy
    to access place.  It's working and as an American I'm glad it is.  I
    can find the info. I need about what interests me with the Games.  For
    my money they are kicking butt in spite of the problems.  Everyone
    knows there's going to be problems.  It's how you respond to them that
    exemplifies what kind of individual you are and the Company you work
    for.  And IBM is out there in the big leagues, playing for the big
    chips and getting it done.  They aren't whining, they aren't
    complaining about working O.T.  They are just digging in and getting
    the job done as usual.  
    
    More power to them.  And if we are planing some kind of ad campaign to
    take advantage of their problems, God help us we are really grabbing at
    anything that comes by.
    
    Mav
    
      

    
    
    Jingoism strikes again!!
    
    IBM wherever they are in the world have made monumental stuff ups !!
    
    They are never wrong, they are always professional, theyalways play the
    game fair.......NOT !!
    
    I've worked for 3 computer companies and IBM have always been
    underhanded and vicious the way they play the game.
    
    That's the trouble with DEC, we turn up to a fight with the gloves on
    and the others have got knives and guns !!
    
    CRIM

Someone mentioned that IBM is using mostly all-IBM gear to provide the
Olympic solution.

The TV advertising that I see during the Olympics do mention that IBM
is using technology from 10 different vendors to provide the
solution.  Makes you wonder to what extent...

I read a lot of reports to the effect that there is much better
proven technology out there that IBM could have used had they not
been biased towards their own equipment.  Maybe the IOC needs to
consider a *neutral* vendor to provide future solutions.

But then again, money talks...

/Mario

My take at the 10 vendors products that IBM is integrating at the
Atlanta Olympics :-) :

	Computers (MVS, AIX, Intel PCs etc.) from IBM
	Printers from Lexmark (a former IBM subsidiary)
	Networking gear from Cisco
	Windows XX from MicroSoft
	Printers from HP
	Display Scoreboard hardware from Vendor ???
	Mitsumi CD drives
	Sony monitors
	Logitech Mice
	Floppies from Memorex

One of the best acronyms that someone mentioned about IBM was

                        It's Being Mended

I think the above IBM fits the Atlanta Olympics nicely :-)

    Re: .27
    
    Another one..  
    
    I've Been Mugged
    
    John

    A former IBM'r I know spoke with someone inside IBM, who indicated that
    Digital was a runner-up during the selection process and that it
    depended for the most part on how much a company was willing to give
    away.
    
    FWIW,
    
    PC
    

    
    I'm not so sure DIGITAL was a bidder for the Olympics in recent years -
    IBM has been doing this for a while, and as previous noters suggest has
    the next several locked up.
    
    There is a good article in the Wall Street Journal Advertising section
    "IBM keeps crowing about flawed system" - related to the TV and Print
    advertising they had done - all packaged beforehand, saying how great
    it is, flying in the face of poorly their start was - I think the
    problems are resolved now - but 10 days into the show.
    
    The article suggests the best approach would have been to 1. Pull the
    ads or 2. Develop a new ad apologizing and discussing the remedies they
    are making.  From my view - I would have done both - pull the OLympic
    system ads and run some of their older "Solutions" tv ads, and also
    developed a special print execution for the Wall Street Journal.
    
    I think they are hoping that the 'masses' are unaware of their systems
    problems and they are trying to leverage the Olympic conncection to the
    hilt.  After all - most people will only see the Web site aspects, and
    they seem to be working fine.  
    
    As for equipment used, since typically the retail/list price value of
    the products are included as "payment in kind" for the sponsorship
    (against the $40M fee) - IBM has an incentive to use as much of its o
    wn gear and software as possible.  Of course this represents only a
    fraction of their total advertising investment. 
    
    BT

Study has shown that customers are more loyal to a vendor that has problems
and fixes them well than to a vendor that has no problems.

___Pete

    
    	And if you don't believe it, just check the automobile reviews
    	in Consumer Reports.
    

    I call this, "Machiavellian commitment."  Basically, the idea is that
    if you can make your customers sacrifice for your cause, you can gain
    their loyalty.  I attribute this at least in part to the success of
    DOS, Unix, vi, QWERTY keyboards, politicians, cults and so forth.  
    With all of these, it's so painful to master and requires so much 
    investment to get marginal returns that folks will aggressively 
    resist anything better, choosing the devil they know.
    
    Steve

>    I call this, "Machiavellian commitment."  Basically, the idea is that
>    if you can make your customers sacrifice for your cause, you can gain
>    their loyalty.  I attribute this at least in part to the success of
>    DOS, Unix, vi, QWERTY keyboards, politicians, cults and so forth.  
>    With all of these, it's so painful to master and requires so much 
>    investment to get marginal returns that folks will aggressively 
>    resist anything better, choosing the devil they know.

You omit a rather notorious one: OpenVMS!

Ram

Well, when I used the olympic web site on Monday and today, there seemed to be a
problem at their end getting pages sent out.  (Other sites loaded just fine, so
it's not my browser or ISP).  Often, pages would load up with some of the
graphics missing, or I'd get a "no data on page" message.  I can agree that
their web page design is quite attractive, since it looked fine last week, but
they must be getting more hits this week.  Maybe they should get some Alpha
servers :-).

	:Karl.

    Ram,
    
    You forgot the "smiley face", right?
    
    Or do you operate under the delusion that UNIX is turning a profit for
    Digital?
    
    OpenVMS still pays ALL the freight, and will for about two more years
    or so,
    
    Customer's continue with it, not because they are un-aware of or afraid
    of the alternatives, but because it is not cost effective to change the
    systems that exploit it.
    
    The same applies to MVS, even with the hideous platform costs
    traditionally associated with that platform.
    
    Or was this just an understandable gut reaction to the "source" insult 
    about UNIX and vi, which was equally un-called for and clearly much more 
    ill-informed ;-)
    
    FJP

    re-last
    
    Alpha demand for UNIX, in units and dollars, was larger than OVMS
    last fiscal year, and that gap will only increase as we move
    forward.  I just got the numbers for July, the first month of
    the quarter and FY97, and UNIX was approx. 35% higher than OVMS.
    
    While the OVMS businss and our loyal installed base customers are
    extremely important, and we need to nurture and grow that revenue
    stream, UNIX is the number 1 revenue growth opportunity for 
    Digital, and we should learn how to grow ALL 3 O/S platforms in
    their respective markets and learn to compete against the
    competition instead of against ourselves.
    
    Mark
    

    re: .37
    
    I just got the numbers for July, the first month of
    the quarter and FY97, and UNIX was approx. 35% higher than OVMS.
    
    Does this mean that the total business grew or that the demand shifted
    from our left pocket to our right pocket?
    

    Let there be no confusion:  I am in favor of full speed ahead w/ the
    3OS strategy.  I am providing support to some opportunities that could,
    in six months, turn the entire financial picture upside down and have no
    problem with the fact that UNIX is the right choice here (although NT might
    make a teeny bit more sense). But, lacking Q4 and FY rollup:
    
    As of Q3, OVMS revenue was growing, and reasonably healthy.
    
    As of Q3, OVMS revenue was significantly ahead of UNIX or NT.  But both
    were growing at a phenomenal rate, by any standard.
    
    As of Q3, ONLY OVMS showed a PROFIT; UNIX and NT were still investing
    heavily, as they should be.
    
    Keeping in mind that the Federal Government region has just turned
    some programs that could turn this over in Q1FY97.
    
    Let's not spend a second bashing either of the three!
    
    Frank
    
    - Who is also working opportunities (long shots) that could keep OVMS 
    on top in spite of the above wins and potential.
    
    - Who is also working an opportunity that could give NT a shot at the
    colors!
    
    

    And let's not forget WNT...
    
    Just saw a presentation from NETframe at the local Unix User Group 
    meeting that projects WNT as 25% to 70% of the Midrange Server
    Market by as early as 1998...
    
    Also said the Unix market is at 22% and declining in favor of NT...
    
    (it's shaping up to be a holy war between the WNT camp and 
     the UNIX camp.. Let's be ready to supply weapons to both
     sides;-)
    
    We need to bet on all horses in this race to make sure that we 
    back all the winners that may evolve...
    
    I look forward to seeing Digital Unix revenues (and profits) 
    as high as OpenVMS.. I'd like to also see our WNT servers
    making as much revenue too... 
    
    If we were hitting on all three cylinders we would be larger 
    than HP... Even without a Laser printer business unit...;-)
    
    A few minor points:
    
    Don't count  OpenVMS out yet... at 7.1 we'll be able to host 
    WNT source code which will breath some new applications 
    onto the most Stable and reliable system in the Industry
    today... OpenVMS is the only viable alternative in the 
    market place for Non-stop 24x7x365 with no down time...
    Don't kill it... Sellit...It's still the right solution 
    for many new customers... 
    
    Digital Unix... Work on SUN, HP and IBM (in that order) 
    and take what's left of that market away from them...
    (Let's be very focused and concentrated on this task..
     Take out One company.. Move on to the next... Repeat
     until done;-)
    
    
    WNT... What Digital Unix can't take away from Sun, HP and IBM,
    You need to do the reset...Use the ol' one, two, three punch...
    and while you're at it.. do it on an Alpha...
    
    
    
    The Answer is Digital, now what was the question?
    
    JMHO
    
    John W.

        From Dave Barry's (humor columnist) daily Olympics column...
         
>COSTAS: What a human moment! Time for a commercial.
>
>ANNOUNCER: We're IBM. We're a giant corporation with vast computer expertise.
>That's why we're in charge of keeping track of all the statistics for these,
>the Olympic Games of 1953. Thank you.

        	Asko

One of Mark Russell's columns this week mentioned
that the IBM systems at the 100th Olympiad finally
reported Jesse Owens 100m time.

    It facinates me to see replies from about .30 - .40 spiral downward
    from a discussion of IBM problems in Atlanta to an inwardly focused 
    boxing match (keeping with the Olympics theme here) between operating 
    systems from Digital Equipment Corporation.
    
    And we wonder why WE have problems....

    This is from IBMs write-up on what/how the system was created....
    
    We need to talk to them about replacing the slow S/390/AS/400s with
    Alpha boxes that run Open/CICS on Digital UNIX...
    
    

Transaction Processing / CICS 


CICS plays pivotal role at Centennial Olympic
Games

          Application Systems for the most
technologically advanced sporting event in history. Software IBM
CICS for MVS/ESA
AIX
OS/400
OS/2
CICS Common Client
IBM DB2
IBM VisualAge and Visual Gen
IBM DDCS2 Hardware IBM S/390
IBM AS/400
IBM RISC System/6000
IBM PS/2 


Advanced client/server technologies 

"The evolution of CICS to encompass all the different platforms...has
been very important to us. It provides a secure and robust environment
with all the benefits of client/server." Kuba Sliwinski, Project Director
for Delivery Systems Technology Support, ACOG. 

The 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, is
the largest and most technologically advanced sporting event in
history. Information technology systems are being developed by the
Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) and IBM,
not only for the 1996 Games, but also for future Olympic events
through the year 2000. 

The ACOG/IBM technology team is developing three major systems
for the Games - Results, Accreditation and Info'96. IBM CICS
Application Server is critical to the development and integration of
these client/server systems which are vital to the success of the
Games. 

The 1996 Games feature the largest ever CICS client/server
implementation, including CICS for MVS/ESA, AIX, OS/400, OS/2
and CICS Common Client. CICS is also supporting IBM's
application development family, including VisualAge and VisualGen.


Results System 

               

The Results System gathers, calculates and tabulates information
from timing, scoring and judging stations, then delivers the running
time data in realtime to the venue scoreboard, Commentator
Information System (CIS) and the appropriate systems within each
venue. Following validation by the judges, the results data is sent
to the mainframe for non-realtime distribution to other venues, to
printers and as a worldwide feed to some 15,000 international
media representatives. 

To provide enterprise-wide integration and data synchronization,
IBM and ACOG are architecting a multi-tier, multi-platform
client/server implementation, with CICS playing a pivotal role as a
key component and application enabler. "The evolution of CICS to
encompass all the different platforms, operating with their different
tools and protocols, has been very important to us. It provides a
secure and robust environment with all the benefits of client/server
implementation," said Kuba Sliwinski, Project Director for Delivery
Systems Technology Support, ACOG. 

Bruce Taylor, IBM Manager, Results System, said: "Additional CICS
functionality and database-to-database communication enable us to
increase data integrity and reliability. This CICS-to-CICS
transaction methodology has evolved to new and updated transfer
of data between databases. Included is DDCS2, IBM's Distributed
Database Connection product, that allows users to access and
update a variety of host DB2 databases - for example, transferring
from the PS/2 OS/2 server to the S/390 host platform." 

The Results System stores information in a DB2 for OS/2
database, which is then passed to the central S/390 for repository
and distribution. The S/390 also notifies an AS/400 server, which
executes a client/server CICS transaction to update the Info'96
System server. This in turn distributes the data to 70 IBM
AS/400s in other venues. "Results are captured and distributed
faster than an apple falls from a tree," said Namik Djumisic,
Project Director, Application Integration, ACOG. 

In the Results System, CICS for MVS/ESA, OS/2 and AIX are
supporting the data distribution functions, ensuring that results are
confirmed and delivered in the required format to the different
venues. Results input into PCs at 41 venues are passed to a PC
server running CICS for OS/2. Data is then passed to the S/390
mainframe running CICS for MVS/ESA and is distributed to the
AS/400 servers feeding the Info'96 system. There is also additional
bi-directional connectivity between the S/390 and an RISC
System/6000 running CICS for AIX for network management and
security. 

               

Added Bruce Taylor: "Across the application portfolio, there is an
S/390 server running MVS/ESA, DB2 and CICS, communicating
with AS/400 Advanced Series servers, RISC System/6000s and PCs
in an enterprise client/server environment. The mainframe server,
with its smaller sub-servers and LAN-based clients, is not unlike
the system you might find being adopted by many large enterprises
today." 

"A core part of the Results System is the Commentator
Information System (CIS). Originally developed by IBM Spain for
the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, it communicates directly with the
mainframe and IBM PCs that run the Results System. A
touchscreen allows commentators to pull up information about
different sports and participants, allowing one commentator to
comment on one or more events while stationed in one venue. 


Accreditation System 

For the Accreditation System, the entire design implementation uses
the CICS platform. CICS for MVS/ESA and OS/2 are used to
underpin games' staffing, arrival/departure, medical support and
other games management operations. 

During the Games, more than 150,000 Olympic Family members
will require access to 80 venues and facilities in and around
Atlanta. The ACOG/IBM/Kodak team is developing a system that
will provide a timely, accurate process for registering, authenticating
and badging the Olympic Family and then using those badges as a
means to manage access to venues. 

    

ACOG will be utilizing CICS for MVS/ESA running on the S/390
and CICS for OS/2 running on a PC server (approximately 1000
sessions) fed by data from PCs at four centers. CICS is vital in
managing these accreditation transactions, thereby ensuring the
safety and security of the events. 

John Vivian, Programme Director responsible for the Accreditation
System at ACOG, explained: "The badging process alone will
involve around 3,000 complex transactions a day, plus complex
background transactions, involving around 100-150 concurrent users.
CICS is absolutely essential for supporting high transaction
throughput in this distributed environment." 

He added: "CICS will have a vital role to play in managing the
transactions involved when members of the Olympic Family arrive
and depart. CICS enables easy and fast people management. More
conventional business applications, such as budgeting and financial,
are also key areas where we have developed systems using CICS." 

"CICS is a key enabler in the development and operation of these
client/ server systems - in fact, it would be impossible to run the Games
without CICS." Kuba Sliwinski. 

One of the key issues facing the ACOG/IBM team was how to
take the information from the master accreditation database -
which holds data on all those with access rights to events and
locations, and distribute it across the network reliably and
consistently. IBM MQSeries commercial messaging software was
selected to provide this vital connectivity. "Because it is fully
integrated with an established and strong product like CICS, our
decision was made much easier." 


Info'96 System 

"Info'96 is the most sophisticated system in the history of the
Games," said Rod Knowles. The system will incorporate interactive,
touch-screen and kiosk components for the Olympic Family,
including athletes, press and dignitaries. 

Components will include:
the Historical Results Data Collection System, a database containing
information including medallists from all Olympic Games from
1896-1976 and the final eight from the Olympic Games from
1980-1992. 

Data for Info'96 flows from the S/390 running CICS for
MVS/ESA to AS/400 servers and networked to PS/2s and kiosks,
where a touchscreen display and/or keyboard will allow users to
gain information about event and transportation schedules, weather
reports, results, Olympic news and athlete biographies. Two new
AS/400 Advanced Series will be placed in each venue - in total,
IBM will supply 70 AS/400s, and more than 1,800 PS/2s with
touchscreen workstations. Over 6000 CICS Clients are included in
the configuration. 

Info'96's electronic mail capabilities will include mail boxes, bulletin
boards, notification to pagers and directories, maps and ticket
information. It is attached to Xerox and, in association with IBM,
Lexmark 4029 laser printers for user hard copy printouts. 

When completed, the Data Collection System will contain over one
million data fields of researched, validated historical results, 20,000
biographies and over 30,000 paragraphs of text - a total of more
than 60 Gigabytes of information. This will be held on the IBM
DB2 database, underpinned by CICS, which will manage the
thousands of requests for information from the different venues
throughout Atlanta. 

Concluded Kuba Sliwinski. "What we set out to achieve with IBM
is not just systems integration, but environment integration. To do
that, we needed solutions which were ready and proven in a
multi-platform, distributed computing environment. CICS is a key
enabler in the development and operation of these client/server
systems - in fact, I would say it would be impossible to run the
Games without CICS. 


For more information please contact an IBM Marketing
Representative or IBM Business Partner. 

Produced by TS Marketing 
IBM United Kingdom Limited 
Hursley Park 
Winchester 
Hampshire 
SO21 2JN 

Tel: + 44 (0) 1962 815000 

This brochure illustrates how one customer uses IBM products.
Many factors have contributed to the results and benefits described.
IBM does not guarantee comparable results. IBM does not attest
to, or warrant, the accuracy of information provided by customers
or IBM business partners. 

Reference to IBM products or services does not imply that IBM
intends to make them available. 

The following terms and trademarks are registered trademarks of
IBM Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. IBM,
CICS, MVS/ESA, AIX, OS/400, OS/2, CICS Common Client, S/390,
AS/400, RISC System/6000, PS/2, DB2, DDS2, MQSeries, MQ,
VisualAge, VisualGen 

Other company, product, and service names, may be trademarks or
service marks of others. 

All rights reserved. 

               
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>    We need to talk to them about replacing the slow S/390/AS/400s with
>    Alpha boxes that run Open/CICS on Digital UNIX...

See: http://www-engreo.reo.dec.com/cics/cicspage/cicshome.htm

or see: RDGENG::CICS

We sell systems that run CICS faster than their mainframes.

    This would make some killer benchmark FUD...