Christine writes:
> While it is frustrating as an MPE customer or partner to hear any HP
> communication that does not include mention of MPE/iX, it is important to
> consider the context of these comments. HP’s corporate strategy continues
> to focus on winning UNIX, NT and Linux market share.

I just did some back of the envelope calculations and based on my best
guesses for both optimistic and pessimistic values for the following
variables:

   Number of 3000 systems currently on support,
   Average annual support payment to HP,
   Number of upgrade sales per year,
   Average revenue per upgrade,
   Number of new 3000 customers per year,
   Average revenue from a new 3000 site,

I estimate that sales and support revenue from the HPe3000 business accounts
for something pretty darn close to...

   1%

...of HP's current annual revenue.  That's *one* percent.

Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on how you look at it.  For the
people wondering why the highest level HP people (especially Carly) don't
spend more time talking about the 3000, it might explain a few things.  On
the other hand, I think we might be pretty happy if Carly actually devoted
three full days a year to the 3000.

There's also a good chance that the 3000 accounts for a bit more than 1% of
HP's *profits*.  Not to mention that as a group we may be more loyal (and
noisier) than any other 1% of their customer base :-)

Of course 1% of $50,000,000,000.00 is nothing to sneeze at either, and a
profit and cost conscious company like HP isn't likely (we hope) to dump a
successful component of their business, even if it is practically in the
noise level on the annual report.

But people who like to complain that MPE/iX isn't in the same line-up as
Unix and Windows need to realize that it's not even in the same ballpark.  I
think we need to face the fact that if you're comparing *operating systems*
then there's no hope for MPE.

What I mean by this is that there is just no way you're going to sell a
*bare* HP3000 to an end-user looking for a computer system.  Even if it is
fundamentally superior in some, or even many, respects, all the knowledge in
the world today revolves around Unix and Windows.

So to promote the growth of MPE, we need to stop talking about what a great
*operating system* it is and start talking about what a great *solution* it
can be.

No one will buy MPE/iX the operating system, but they might very well buy
(and in fact have been buying) Smith-Gardner catalog e-commerce systems,
Amisys health systems, Summit credit union systems, etc.

The future for the 3000 is not as a computing platform to rival Unix and
Windows but as a component of business "appliance"/"ASP"/"Turn-key"
solutions.  One of the best examples is HP's Open Skies operation where
their customers barely even know what computer system the application is
running on.

Do we want Carly to say "we sell computers that run Unix, Windows, and
MPE/iX" or do we want to hear "we sell computers that run Unix, Windows,
Airlines, Credit Unions, HMOs, and Your Business(tm)"?  Hmmm, I like that:

   Sun: "We sell computers that run Unix!"
   Microsoft: "We sell computers that run Windows!"
   HP: "We sell computers that run your business."

Where are new 3000-based solutions going to come from?  Well, if they are
going to come from anywhere then it's likely that they will be built by
people from the existing 3000 community.  People who recognize the
advantages of running a business application on an MPE box rather than a
cluster of NT boxen.  People like YOU.

So if you want to be invited to eat at Carly's table then start selling
toner cartridges.  If you want to be on the cover of Computerworld, buy more
Unix/Windows boxes than anyone else.  But if you're happy just getting
things done and helping the world of business go around smoothly and
efficiently, then welcome to the one percent.

G.