Hello Friends:

Mark Wilkinson said of the OpenSkies buyout,"I saw this post twice today
and was suprised at the lack of comment on the list. I don't know whether
its a good or a bad thing at the moment."

We've had 24 hours to think about this, but haven't yet had an interview
with anyone other than CSY General Manager Harry Sterling (in between
signing the papers on the acquisition.) But it appears to be a very good
thing for both the HP 3000 community and airline industry.

This is both an old and a new thing at once. (Like so much of life.) It's
old in that it announces HP's return to selling HP 3000 applications. At
one time HP could have filled a modest catalog with the specific
applications it sold. In those days HP was offering applications because
there were fewer third-party applications. Most software was written in
house. As the market changed, HP moved away from pushing its own
applications. Now the 3000 division is returning to its roots by taking in
a company that has a great deal of opportunity in the airline industry. HP
says OpenSkies has the only non-airline-affiliated reservation solution in
the business. Now it's under CSY's wing, so to speak.

It's a new thing because OpenSkies is a business unit contained within
CSY/HP. We're checking on what this means from a tactical perspective. But
the most important thing to know is that all of the OpenSkies employees
have accepted offers to work for HP in this venture, so this is a buyout
that will retain the core value of the acquisition.

We believe it's a good thing because it's a bold stroke. These are business
times when trying something different can be a path toward new success.
Buying a company with an exclusive market position in a growing industry
segment sure seems like good business to us.




Ron Seybold, Editor In Chief
The 3000 NewsWire
Independent Information to Maximize Your HP 3000
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