Page 109 - A Life - my Live - my path

IBM AS400 – Synon-2

meeting by explaining that they'd never had such a success
before. To receive over 450 requests for a product
presentation was simply incredible. Then they explained to
me that, commercially, they wanted to meet demand as
quickly as possible, but to do so they needed my help, as
nobody at IBM knew anything about the Synon-2 product.
So they asked if me and my team could train their technical
and sales teams for a few months, as this would really help
them. I should point out that a few months earlier, one of
IBM's agents in Belgium had been appointed Synon-2
92
distributor for Belgium, but he didn't yet have any real
expertise.

9.3 A big moment.

After a short reflection, I said to them: "When you look at
me, do you see me as "pear-shaped", meaning in the form
of a pear?

There was silence, and then one of them said, "We don't
understand your question. Well," I said, let me explain:
Two years ago, I decided to acquire Synon-2, because I was
already convinced that it was a revolutionary product with
a promising future. I had the No. 22 license in the world.
At IBM Belgium, you were surprised when IBM Paris
93
announced that Synon-2 has been chosen as the global
development platform. For your presentation on June 21,
you didn't have any in-house expertise, so you had to call

92 The company Erpégé part of Swedish group IBS
93 IBM European Centre
97