Re: Marketing Ada

[mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman)]

In article <1993Mar9.042400.2812@seas.gwu.edu> mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) writes:
>In article <C3LrA2.7zB@world.std.com> tne@world.std.com (Thomas N Erickson) writes:
>
>[stuff deleted]
>>
>>Don't count Alsys in the above.  We are positive about the future of Ada
>>outside of defense and are doing things about it.  The efforts are
>>extremely targetted at this time, but next year (94) should see a much
>>broader emphasis.  
>>
>Ummm - excuse me for being skeptical, Tom. I've been around Ada for 10
>years (actually more, but let's start from 1815A's adoption). What I've
>heard EVERY year from all the vendors I've spoken to (and that's most
>of the ones whose names we'd all recognize) is "well, that's great but
>we really don't have the budget to do that big marketing push just now,
>so you'll have to wait till next year." After 10 "next year's", I'm still
>waiting for the magical next year. Somehow I don't think it would be
>prudent for me to hold my breath...
>
[stuff deleted]

Colleagues:

I owe you all an apology.

It has come to my attention through private correspondence that these
comments were open to serious misinterpretation as a direct slur 
on Alsys or, worse, on Tom. Au contraire, Tom is one of the few Ada-
industry officials who reads and responds to the net on a regular basis.
It's apparent that he is doing his best to keep his ear to the ground
and respond informatively where doing so is pertinent. In this he
deserves encouragement.

And Alsys has gone, in about 18 months' time, from perhaps the least 
education-friendly vendor to one of the most friendly. Their academic
pricing (what they call the LEAP program) is aggressive and affordable,
and their people are generally friendly and helpful, in my recent
experience. The number of Alsys entries in the "Who's Using Ada
Report" demonstrates both their growing non-defense customer base
and their willingness to have this publicized.

My skepticism is generic and was aimed at the industry as a whole, not
at Alsys in particular. We have heard ten years' worth of grand plans
for building a bigger Ada market. Indeed, the fast-growing list of non-
defense projects suggests that some of these plans may be bearing fruit.
I certainly hope so! Maybe it'll be different this time.

I remain skeptical about whether the industry in general really knows
how to build markets. I fear that the Ada vendors may be all too typical
of defense companies, which even as we speak are tearing their hair out
trying to figure out how to cope in the post-Cold War world (see today's
news for some Clinton-administration discussion of this matter). The
Ada companies perceived their market to be mainly DoD-oriented and 
captive and, in their myopia, missed the C++ wave coming and never
built up marketing and sales expertise to break Ada loose from its
defense origins and give it a real life of its own. 

There are signs of change, but - without slamming any one company 
or individual - I think our skepticism is well-founded and even
constructive. 

Today's buzzword is "dual-use technology" - technology useful for both
defense and non-defense applications. Ada is a _programming language_ and
a damn good one, and as such is - without changing a byte of a compiler
or a letter of the LRM - dual-use technology. My hope is that all the
Ada companies will realize what a gem they've got, and find the imagination
and the funds to really let the world know. I think they can do it.

Alsys, Tom, I apologize for writing what seemed to be an ad hominem slam.
I've tried very hard not to write such stuff to the net, and to be a voice
of reason here. I blew this one, I guess. 

My generic skepticism still stands. I would be delighted to be proved wrong!

Cheers all -

Mike Feldman
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Michael B. Feldman
co-chair, SIGAda Education Committee

Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
School of Engineering and Applied Science
The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052 USA
(202) 994-5253 (voice)
(202) 994-5296 (fax)
mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet)

"The most important thing is to be sincere, 
and once you've learned how to fake that, you've got it made." 
-- old show-business adage
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