Mai Logic recently touted a validation from IBM's "Ready for IBM" partnership program. When I first looked into this topic, it looked as if it were a complete farce meant to mislead customers. Upon further inspection, the whole thing appeared that I was wrong. Then, I contacted a third party about their validation with IBM... The results? It's just your standard run of the mill spin on daily business activities to make something look far more important than it
really is! Yet, it still makes one want to ask, "Is there Truth in Advertising?'
So you've decided to look into the "Truth in Advertising," have you? Good choice, since many companies, even outside the Amiga community, look for loopholes, freebies, and other methods to mislead their customers and clients.
In our case, we'll be examing Mai Logic's
Press-Release, in which they state that they
EARN a
validation from
IBM. Naturally, this "validation" is touted as if it's a "certification" of their product's quality, performance, etc. In fact, they even used the word
earn to provide the connotation that they had to work for some prestigious certification. All of this begs the questions: What is this
validation? What did Mai Logic have to do to
earn this
validation? Finally, does this
validation mean anything?
Preface: Before reading any further, you must understand that this is a stab at the wheels of the technology industry as a whole, and that Mai's Press-Release is just one example of many. This article does not attempt to state that Mai's chipsets are anything other than what they advertise. However, it is a direct example of how companies, including Mai, take things out of context to give their customers and/or clients an extra sense of security.
To start really digging into the topic, one must look at what the Validation is for. According to IBM's own website:
Ready for IBM Technology solutions are designed to help OEM customers speed time to market, reduce development risk, lower development costs, and improve return on investment. The Ready for IBM Technology mark identifies solutions that have been tested and validated for compatibility with IBM Microelectronics products by the solution developers and assures that these solutions are compatible with IBM Microelectronics products.
--
IBM rfit pageAccording to this, IBM has made this mark to verify that the product
works with the IBM product listed. In this case, it refers to the ArticiaS chip in that it works with IBM's PPC processors. Yet, does this mean that IBM is stepping up to promote Mai Logic?
No! On this
PAGE, one can find the text (the fine print) that reads:
This solution has been validated for compatibility by the business partner and proven to operate with: Processor: PowerPC 750FX, Operating System: Linux
If you are beginning to see a hole, you have been gifted with a bit of insight. Did you note that this quote said, "validated for compatibility by the business partner?" Does that sound like MAI validated the product themselves? Further proof can be found on this page stating that Mai's Partnership level is "Member," from the right hand side of the page: "Partner Level: Member," but more on the "member" level partnership later. Then, if that's the case, how did they get this
validation?
To determine what Mai Logic had to do to get this validation, I visited IBM's
Partnership Registration page. The very first sentence on the page reads as follows: "Joining PartnerWorld for Developers is easy, and there is no charge!" Free? Would IBM provide a free certification to another chip manufacturer? Ah! This isn't a certification, it's a
validation; we must be careful not to confuse the two! However, we now know that Mai Logic didn't pay one penny, shilling, yen, or peso for this supposed
validation!
Furthering our research, we will check the
Membership page. According to this page, there are several levels of membership, including a free level ("Member" as seen above) requiring only current contact information for IBM to display on it's pages. The lowest level,
membership, requires very little of the hopeful company. In fact, they only need current information and a valid email address! This is earning validation?
Finally, I present you, the reader, with this
Press Release from IBM about their "Ready for IBM technology" system. According to this document, prospective clients validate their own product!
As part of the new initiative, third-party companies that validate and test their software, design solutions or hardware to work with IBM semiconductor products can use in their marketing efforts a new logo from IBM that says "Ready for IBM Technology."
In the end, is that all that really happened? Did Mai Logic just fill out a web-form....?
This validation is by no means a certification; instead, it's simply a tool IBM lends out to help other developers sell IBM products. Mai didn't
EARN a thing through this validation! Instead, a Mai Logic representative filled out paperwork via an SSL interface from IBM's web-site! What does this validation mean? It means that
MAI[/i] claims that their Articia-S chip works with an IBM 750 series (PPC) microprocessor! That is all this SELF-verification means, and has been grossly mis-used by MAI in their marketing efforts. Or, could the answer be even more simple?
Since we have shown what a "membership" level partnership is for IBM's "Ready for IBM technology" system and we know that "membership" is the level of association that Mai Logic has with IBM, we once again turn our attention to
Mai's Press Release. In the second paragraph, they quote Lisa Su, of IBM, doting on and on about how MAI's product passed all kinds of compatability tests
at IBM microelectronics lab! Now, one must ask, "Is Mai Logic lying about this?" I doubt that, as Lisa Su is a fairly well known personality for making this sort of statement. If MAI's products had been rigorously tested by IBM, then they certainly would
NOT be at the
membership level! Would they?
If their level of association was about to increase, then the press-release would have been with-held for a more impressive press-release. Since their quote is not referenced to any
IBM page, I have to question the specifics of this quote, as it is what would be considered a "stock" statement. No, there has to be something more.. Something that has an underlying meaning in all of this, Mai would lie would they?
You would think that all of these little emblems that a company floats around on their packages, web-pages, and advertisements would mean something. However, in this instance, we see that this MAI LOGIC's validation means less than the "proof of purchase" text found on a cereal box so far. Since it has been shown how Mai Logic obtained the right to display an IBM logo, one can't help but to wonder if there is
any "Truth in Advertising" left anymore.... However, as I said, there has got to be more to this story!
Accusations of this magnitude are usually unsettling to the community that we serve; however, Mai is by no means out of the normal with this sort of activity. Thus, we addressed
Wasabi, another company that had went through IBM's validation process for their NetBSD implimentation. We were delighted that they were both open and frank about the matter, and will share with you their thoughts,
To qualify for Ready for IBM status, companies need to prove that their technology is validated. This validation generally occurs as part of a side transaction between IBM and third-party vender, e.g., a contract might exist whereby payment for a BSP is subject to validation and performance testing. Thus, (without speaking for IBM) while IBM may or may not have a lab set up specifically for validation purposes, they are generally cognizant of the technology's validation status.
Thus, in conclusion, Mai's claim that their products work with IBM products is true, the statements they make in their press release is more of spin, and they have made a big todo about something that may have just been a requirement for them to supply some of their chips to IBM. All in all, they took a normal days activity in the office and tried to turn it into a public "feel good" circus.
The bottom line: Their stuff is "acceptable" for some purpose at IBM, they completed paperwork, and they made a grand statement. In other words, the press-release isn't worth reading--it's only value would be to another large company, and they would do much more research than what has gone into this article!
This has shaped up to be nothing more than the work of some spin-doctors on nothing of real imporance!
( Many thanks to all who've helped me research and put this article together--Targhan)
