Are all the Pick jobs only in UK, Candada, and Australia/NZ? From a
quick perusal of this group, it seems so. I may be losing my job in the
next several months due to a purchase of our Pick-based company by a
non-pick-based company (they are on Mumps). I probably should already
have updated my resume, but I kept hoping for status quo on my job. I am
in the Atlanta area and have 25 years experience in Pick on medical and
collections applications.

Ahhhh, MUMPS is mv - I think....

"Ken" <kewaynco (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote

Isn't Cache effectively the current version of Mumps?

I know nothing about Cache, apart from the fact that it is "similar" to MV,
Jim Idle works for them and that they attack the mv market - so it can't be
hard to port back and forth...

Regards
Simon
"David Knight" <davidk (AT) matash (DOT) com.au> wrote

MUMPS is only MV in that it has a nested architecture like MV (much
more so actually), but it is not Pick-MV in the least. InterSystems
is also now a regular exhibitor at MV Spectrum conferences, presenting
their Cache' product which was originally based on MUMPS, and in this
context MUMPS can be sort of related to MV. It also means they intend
to eat your lunch if you sell Pick. You can either beat them or join
them: They are working on Pick/Cache' migration tools to make it
easier to do to other companies exactly what they are doing to Ken's.

Ken - Don't give up.
1) Your company's applications may be able to migrate to Cache' rather
than going through a complete replacement.
2) Cache'/MUMPS and your MV system are both (I dare say) equally
capable of exchanging data with each other and with other platforms,
using J2EE, .NET, SQL, etc.. Don't let them replace the existing
system based on someone's misinformed notion that your MV system
doesn't do something that they need. Rather than migrate, integrate!
By preserving the existing code and integrating with the other
company's app they'll save training costs and other costs associated
with new deployment. In an acquisition scenario that will reduce the
immediate financial burdon of transition and allow them to defer the
expense and inconvenience until later.
3) Contact InterSystems. Tell them your situation. They may be able
to use your skills, particularly in this vertical market. In a
sadistic twist of fate you may be able to help them to convert more
companies as you are being converted now.
4) Please tell us more about what kind of Pick system you're working
with: D3? U2? jBASE? Reality? What platform: NT? AIX? Linux? What's
your focus: Coding? Management? Vertical App Design and Logic? With
so many medical packages in our market you might find it relatively
easy to move to a new position even right in Atlanta.

I hope that helps.
Tony
TG@ removethisNebula-RnD
..com

"David Knight" <davidk (AT) matash (DOT) com.au> wrote:

Nope, MUMPS is BBX
"David Knight" <davidk (AT) matash (DOT) com.au> wrote

Ken,

I wish you a lot of luck in finding a new job... I hate the process of
looking!

I think there are jobs out there if you're willing to relocate - some
companies will pay... some will not. Atlanta should have a few Pick jobs...
I see most in Florida and New York/New Jersey area (for the east coast).

I too have 25 years experience in Pick, however, I live in New Mexico -- not
the Pick capital of the world. I'm a consultant and am always looking for
"remote" work... that's really hard to come by.

Good Luck

David

"Ken" <kewaynco (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote

"Ken" <kewaynco (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote

As a Unidata programmer that has been looking for several months now, my
response is a resounding YES. Most PICK jobs are out of this country. The
few that remain here are small companies that are offering 15K to 20K less
than my last job. I have been working PICK since 1980 with Revelation on a
Microdata. The PICK technology is dying and I see no hope for it's revival.

Microdata ran Revelation? I seem to remember some marketing guys from McDonell Douglas talking about adopting Rvelation but that was like in 84-86 or so,and they were more than likely out of work by the time it ever hit the fan.

Concerned Netizen wrote:
even had a spooler. We had to write our own print spooler.

I think the general rule of thumb these days is that you either need
specific experience on technology that is "in vogue" right now, or risk
lower paid or harder to find jobs..

Of course, the problem is that what is "fashionable" in the IT world changes
all the time, so it's necessary to be continuously keeping up to date with
new technologies to stay "with the curve"....

Also, you can generalise (jack of all trades, master of none)... This can at
least give you lots of options.. won't pay as well as being an "expert" in
one of the fashionable technologies but will at least mean you've always got
a reasonable job!.

I'm not going to go as far as to say that "pick" is dead.. just that there
is more supply of multi-value experts than there are positions to be
filled... My knowledge of economics theory goes back to school days (a dim
and distant memory now), but I think that the MV job market (as with most
job markets) is reasonably "elastic" in that the "price" of a MV expert is a
direct correlation to demand / supply...

So, to get the salaries up for MV experts one of two things must happen :

- demand must be raised
- supply must be reduced.

Demand can be raised by better "selling" of multivalue technology generally
or alternatively by mass-culling of MV experts who have jobs...

Supply can be reduced by either the above happening meaning that all the out
of work experts get jobs, or alternatively some culling of supply - either
by migration of mv experts to other technology, old age or whatever..

Slightly tongue in cheek, but a serious message amongst it all.

I know that it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks (I hope that the 25 yr+
MV experts don't take offense) but the easiest option is to learn new
technologies and use your 25 years of real world applications experience to
get ahead of the field...

Just some of my thoughts.. ought to gain some interesting comments....

Regards
Simon
"Brian Blackwell" <brianblackwell (AT) worldnet (DOT) att.net> wrote