Hi folks,

Just thought I would add my 2 pence worth....

There has been a great deal of talk about HP (and the list)
about raising the awareness of the e3000 and I agree with
pretty much most of it.

However, there is another area that has not really been mentioned
yet - that is applications!

A key factor to the success of any OS is the software that is available
for it. WE know what is available, WE know how good it is, WE
know it's reliability......

Perhaps what is required is a combined effort on the part of this list,
end users, HP AND the application vendors! Do we therefore need
to get them in on the act?

I also see another problem from the HP side of the fence and that is
it's sales force, especially some of the 'newer/younger members' who
do not know enough about software availability for the 3000 and
cannot therefore put together a TRUE solution! I am certainly not trying
to put them down but I am sure that some of them don't even know what
a 3000 is! I certainly have been asked "What is MPE?" from HP staff!

Hardware is a (relatively) simple product to sell but without a good
suite of applications the hardware is just an expensive paperweight. Lets
face it, one of the reasons that Unix and NT have both done well it due to
the fact that there are a LOT of  very well publicised people producing
software for these platforms. You certainly don't see the same amount for
3000 software - well, not over here in England anyway!

I see one solution to this problem as being a 'simple' internal education
program for HP's sales force. If they knew what was available and how
good it was then they would be probably be in a much better position to
sell a whole lot more hardware/software solutions!

As I said, just my 2 pence worth.

Regards
Ian
______________________________________
Ian Sargent
Education & Training Consulting Services Ltd
email:  [log in to unmask]
www:  http://www.etcs.co.uk
Tel/Fax: 44 (0)1344 644579
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