IBM Withdraws AS/400 ERP/SCM Rebate Promotion
In an unexpected move, IBM has withdrawn a rebate promotion for AS/400s with ERP/SCM software pre-installed that was instituted May 16, 2000. The promotion was originally intended to spur AS/400 sales that were hurting from a downturn in IS expenditures related to the Y2K crisis. The Y2K crisis had negatively impacted AS/400 sales more than other IBM systems due to the AS/400s heavy use as a platform for ERP implementations.
It was expected that AS/400 sales in general, and ERP implementations in particular would rebound by the first quarter. When these increased sales didn’t materialize, IBM offered the rebate program to spur sales of the AS/400 as an ERP platform, since this has always been the core of AS/400 revenues. In an interview published in the February 7, 2000 issue of MIDRANGE Systems, Tom Jarosh, General Manager, AS/400 said, “The fundamental situation is that our historical success over the years and the history of the AS/400 has been in the core application marketplace.” According to Jarosh, there was no option but to have those core systems available on January 1, so those were the applications that customers remediated first, and then locked down. He goes on to say, “Over a third, almost 40 percent of the AS/400 business comes from these new core applications, and that market was down somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent in aggregate.
The promotion was announced in United States Marketing Announcement 300-061, dated May 16, 2000, and Canadian Announcement A00-0783, dated May 16, 2000. As of Monday, July 10, 2000, orders under this promotion will no longer be accepted. All products that are currently on order under this promotion must have a Date of Installation, as defined in the IBM Customer Agreement or any equivalent IBM Agreement, of on or after April 4, 2000, but no later than July 31, 2000, in order to qualify. The IBM AS/400 ERP/SCM Promotion Rebate Request Form, along with requested documentation, must be received by the IBM Redemption Center no later than September 22, 2000.
Also announced the same day was a withdrawal of a similar program for AS/400 Integrated Netfinity Servers. This program described in United States Marketing Announcement 399-021, dated February 9, 1999, and Canadian Announcement A99-0240, dated February 9, 1999, and is being withdrawn, effective Monday, July 10, 2000. All products that are currently on order under this program must have a Date of Installation, as defined in the IBM Customer Agreement or any equivalent IBM Agreement, of no later than August 4, 2000, in order to qualify. The IBM AS/400 Integrated Netfinity Rebate Request Form, along with requested documentation, must be received by the IBM Redemption Center no later than October 4, 2000.
Related Editorial:
View from the Top -- An Interview with Tom Jarosh, IBM generalmanager, AS/400IBM 1Q00 Revenues Surpass Expectations: But still decline -- Y2K lockdown, ERP slowdown blamed