Hi Chuck,

> Chuck Ryan wrote:
> > I assure you that despite speculations to the contrary, there
> > is plenty of 100%
> > native MPE development going on at CSY.  :-)
>
> My concern is that the new development I have seen appears to be reactionary.
> Primarily aimed at keeping up with the resource requirements of the larger
> customers. What new, native MPE, features are under developement that will
> encourage customers not to move or new customers to come onboard?

I'll leave any announcements for the appropriate people to make at HPWorld.

> > True, MPE now has many of the same Internet services that
> > Linux does, and Linux
> > boxes can be had very cheaply, so why not just migrate to Linux?
> >
> > But does Linux have MPE's proven OLTP scalability, and the
> > reliability of the
> > TurboIMAGE DBMS?
> >
>
> Yes, Image is reliable. I have not lost a single byte of data in 13 years.
>
> But, and to me this is an important but, feature-wise Image has fallen
> farther and farther behind every other database product on the market.
> Sometimes stability is not enough if the product cannot store the data your
> users need.

What specific features does Image lack that your users need?  Do you
participate in SIGIMAGE?  SIGIMAGE is where user-requested enhancements get
prioritized.

> Also, the network printer spooling on the 3000 is, IMHO, very weak.

I truly feel your pain on that one, having had to deal with many network
printing issues when I was the MPE sysadmin at cccd.edu.

CSY has acknowledged the various shortcomings in network printing, and work is
currently underway to address some of these issues.

> Ever tried to get you contract specialist to explain an item on your support
> contract? Good luck!

Another one I feel your pain on.  As a customer, I always dreaded support
contract renewal and maintenance.  It's been 18 months since I last had to do
that, and I don't miss it one bit!

But I believe HP recognizes the need to improve in this area.

> I could go on but I do not want to come off as anti-HP and being a totally
> disgruntled customer. For example, I have had an extremely positive
> experience recently with Peggy Lacy, an HP escallation engineer, who worked
> very hard for 6 month's to resolve what turned out to be a third party
> product incompatibility with a new feature of 6.0. I enjoy working with my
> 3000 but, I have very few illusions left about where I stand as a customer
> with HP.

Please be sure to stop by
http://www.hpworld.com/advocacy/issues/hpworld2000/index.html to submit any
customer issues you may have to the appropriate HPWorld roundtables.  I'm sure
Ken Sletten would appreciate it.  ;-)

- Mark B.