Okay, I have managed to get through the myriad of messages this morning for
several related threads.  I am going to take the plunge here on several
fronts, but rest assured - this is me talking and not an official policy
statement from QSS.  I apologize for the length of the post...

With regards to the HP e3000 platform, I believe that there are several
things that need to happen in order for the platform to survive.

1.  There must be adequate application options and I am not talking about a
single vendor in a vertical market.  Competition breeds quality.  There must
be multiple vendors in the travel market, the education market, the mail
order market...  You get my drift.

2.  There must be viable options in at least one major market - for instance
in manufacturing.  I am not talking about "updated" versions of old
tried-and-true software, but honest up-to-date software that can truly
handle the environment of today's marketplace.

3.  There must be a reasonable relational database.  I am a BIG fan of
IMAGE - and believe that you can do just about anything with it.  However,
with the database technologies that are being taught in school, the average
new graduate can't even understand the concepts of IMAGE because it is not
relational.  Furthermore, there must be a way to blend the two technologies
within any given shop.

4.  There must be a unified approach by HP to include MPE as part of its
mainstream solutions.  Right now we are seeing a disjointed approach that
causes MPE to bubble up in certain circles and to be included in long range
development strategies (such as IA-64).  However, it doesn't get the
attention it deserves because it isn't showcased.

5.  There must be a unified effort on the part of the user community to get
the message out to the press, to HP, to CIO's, to educational institutions
and to the IT world that the HP e3000 is a vital part of their ongoing
strategy because...  << fill-in-the-blank >>.

6.  There must be adequate, cost-effective training solutions.

Now, how is the best way to address these issues?

Vertical Market Applications:  Somehow, somewhere, we need to get the
attention of a start-up wannabe to begin to tackle those application markets
that are currently being written for Unix (or Linux) and convince them that
the HP e3000 is a valid, cost-effective platform for development.  The
majority of new applications are coming from startups and are being written
to address real life business issues.  If we can convince just a handful of
them to cross-develop for the 3000, the market will bloom.

Mainstream Applications:  We need to get the likes of a company like SAP (or
similar vendor) to not only port the software, but actually support it,
market it, and update it.  We have to convince HP that internally the 3000
is still the best solution for their needs.  I know there have been many
failed efforts in this arena primarily because of the enormous undertaking
to keep the software going once the product is functional.  We also have to
make sure that current MPE vendors treat the 3000 as their prime development
platform.  Open systems and Unix and AS/400 are good development
environments for certain products and they may mesh very well with market
plans, but the 3000 MUST become the primary development platform.  [In order
for that to happen, current sites must also be willing to support these
vendors in their endeavors...]  The cold hard truth is that you can
generally write a UNIX application and have it run on multiple vendors
hardware with minor tweaking.  To port an application to the 3000 is to
limit that port to a very specific hardware platform that has not garnered
much support or attention from its maker for a number of years...

Databases:  I know that Oracle has come and (lmost) gone on the MPE
platform - for many of the same reasons that we don't see mainstream
applications being ported.  It is sometimes cost prohibitive to maintain a
product for a specific hardware box when your very existence depends on
developing market share.  What we are going to need is either sufficient
users to convince Oracle that it is a worthy platform to "remigrate to" or
have someone migrate an open source database to the 3000 - and then some
very visible shops would have to make the commitment to support that
endeavor...  It will take some brave souls both in the migration effort and
in the implementation efforts to follow because it will not garner a lot of
favorable press (internally to your company or externally) until it can be
proven to work.

HP Inclusion:  I believe that we are on the right track with this.  There is
a mindswell of opinion that is filtering to Carly, Winston and Ann.  We need
to keep it up, but we can't badger them.  We need to make this work with
concise, well-founded arguments.  We need to approach them with reason - and
numbers!  We need to approach them as individuals, as companies, and as a
user community - but with the same cohesive message:  Our survival depends
on their mainstream acceptance of the MPE platform.

User Message:  I think that the idea of a user funded Wall Street Journal
add is great!  Unfortunately, as an individual I can't afford the $100 (or
even the $37 for now), but you can count me in for $25... just let me know
where to send the check.  However, what we really need is press coverage.  I
have written a number of letters to the editor (many of which have been
published) denouncing the exclusion of the HP e3000 from various articles.
However, what I have not done is to write a cohesive article for publication
that extols the virtues of the HP e3000 / MPE platform.  I think that if we
are going to be successful, some of us freelance writers are going to need
to become true patriots of the box and write "The Common Sense of MPE"
pamphlet.

Training:  There are many companies who are considering movement away from
the 3000 because they can't get qualified people for the platform and they
can't afford to train new people coming on board.  Why?  It's cost
prohibitive to hire a new person who is probably "on probation", spend $2500
(or more if they attend multiple classes) for the cost of training - plus
travel and expenses, and then also spend salary dollars on unproductive
"ramp-up" time while they learn.  Instead of spending $45K for an "entry
level" programmer, the first year costs can easily approach $90K - for
someone fresh out of college.  What we need is to get the 3000 back in the
classroom where the concepts are taught within our universities (how about a
Posix course anyone?).  We need to get the mundane training (basic file
system info, etc.) to the internet.  We need to get the cost of other
training down by working with user groups around the country in sponsoring
"boot camps" for the advanced.

There was a comment made that HP is the only one that can market the HP
3000.  I disagree.  I believe that it can be marketed in a variety of ways
by a diverse group of people:  end-users (with well-written success stories
in "mainstream" IT publications), remarketers (including Client Systems),
freelance authors, vendors (by showing your multi-platform solutions at more
than just HP oriented shows - and not being afraid to mention MPE when you
do), by Interex (yes, even they can market... they market themselves, don't
they?).  The list could go on, but you get the drift.  It has to be
pervasive and it has to be from the ground up because we have sat for a long
time waiting for it to come from the top down... and, so far, it ain't
happenin'...

I think I'm done... where do I send my check?

Glenn