A UK-based industry stalwart has issued a call to arms to the midrange business community to follow the lead of their Japanese counterparts and form an pressure group to promote the Power i.

LANSA's Martin Fincham is recruiting fellow business partners and ISVs to create iManifest EMEA and mirror recent developments in Japan. In January, a group of industry insiders there placed a full-page $100,000 dollar advert in the Nikkei business newspaper espousing the benefits of the Power i. 71 founder firms have joined the new i Manifest organisation to bypass IBM's perceived inertia and independently fly the flag for the i.

The i Manifest group says it has three main aims. It wants to revitalise the IBM i market in Japan and increase the platform's installed base. It seeks to reassure customers, resellers and ISVs selling i solutions that the platform will not only survive but "more importantly, continue to prosper". And it pledges to "inform the wider IT community of the unique value proposition of IBM i".

Fincham, general manager of LANSA EMEA, posted his rallying cry on his My Midrange Meddle blog yesterday. He explained that he had "overwhelmingly positive" response to an earlier offer to kick-start a similar EMEA initiative by helping to form a board and commit his firm to some seed funding. Now he is planning the next step in the iManifest campaign.

"It was bold of our Japanese brothers-in-arms to announce their pledge in a national business newspaper," he writes. "The cost of such a public declaration sends a clear message of intent to the market and makes this initiative stand out from other ‘flash-in-the-pan’ endeavours. While Europe has several pre-eminent business newspapers from which to choose, I am inclined to believe that the Financial Times has the best pedigree and broadest reach in Europe."

The cost of a full-page advert in the FT with European distribution is £69,800. On his blog, Fincham proposes both a board and funding structure and writes: "We need vendors from the IBM i community in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to come forward and agree to participate in funding and forming iManifest EMEA. Aside from agreeing the objectives of the group and the mechanics of its formation and management, obtaining seed funding and nominating board members are the most important first steps. The coalition will be a toothless tiger unless we can quickly raise, in principal, the circa £70,000 required to fund the placement of a full-page advert in the FT."

iNEWSWire UK will have further updates on iManifest EMEA as they happen. In the meantime, this newsletter can only echo the sentiments of the original Japanese group's i Manifesto (which is translated into English here).

Pointing out that the i has held the number one position in Nikkei Computer magazine's annual customer satisfaction survey for over a decade, it says: "We can justifiably describe IBM i as 'the miracle in computer history', especially when we speak to enterprise management thought-leaders in the business world and all those engaged in information system departments...Further, we think that the merits of this excellent system should be shared by many others. More widespread usage of IBM i is the best way for corporations to strengthen their management capability and business power. "