Gentle HP 3000 listserver subscribers and users,

At the end of November, I promised you Interex would have a more complete
response for you regarding the recent announcement about the demise of the
HP e3000.  I told you then I would have more to say about it, after the
board meeting which took place November 29-December 1.

Well, now is the time.

I am going to share thoughts and things with you and I would appreciate if
you read the whole thing and pondered it some before flooding the list with
comments.  I will try to be as complete as possible.

I learned of the decision to terminate the HP e3000 some weeks before the
announcement.  I had to sign some papers and fax them back before receiving
the phone call.  I spoke with Dave Wilde and as Dave and I are old friends,
the discussion was a bit awkward at first.  Imagine, Dave was calling me to
tell me my favorite platform, something that had been part of my life sine
1977, was coming to an end.

All the comments I have since seen in the press and on this list, went
through my mind.  But they did not come out of my mouth.  Why?  Simple, when
you know, when you realize a decision is final and there is nothing you can
do about it, why shoot the messenger?  Dave wasn't calling me to ask me what
I thought about making such a decision, he was calling me to inform me the
decision was made and that was that.

I was shocked, but not surprised.  I had somehow expected it for a long
time, but when it happens, it is still a shock.  I had a long conversation
with Dave that day.  It was not one of my more joyous moments, but one has
to be realistic about it.  During the conversation, I mentioned to Dave the
possibility of Interex being the host site for Open Source MPE.  I told him
Interex had to look out for their members.  I basically offered him the
services of Interex to help the users in this time of turmoil.  After all, a
sizable portion of our members is composed of HP e3000 users, a very sizable
portion.

While waiting for the official announcement, I talked to no one about this
decision though I read with interest the various rumors and responses to
said rumors on this and other lists.  I waited and hoped beyond hope HP
would change their mind and simply say to me:  "Surprise, just kidding."  No
matter how much I looked at the calendar, it was still late October or early
November not April 1.  It was like being in a daze.

The announcement came as expected on November 14 and surprised virtually no
one as they rumors were rampant by then.  I was at Comdex and not really in
a position to get involved in the discussions.  At any rate, I had had a few
weeks to absorb the shock by that time; I wanted to hear what other people
had to say.

As we got closer to the end of November, whilst talking with Winston about
another issue, it dawned on me to invite Winston to the upcoming board of
directors meeting.  I had already gotten the item on the agenda, we simply
shuffled it a bit and expanded it.  Winston was gracious enough to accept
the invitation and I flew to San Jose for the meeting on 29 November.

Before I get into the meeting and the aftermath, let me just say a few more
things.  We knew the decision was irrevocable.  There was no way CSY would
change their mind.  So trying to convince Winston to do so would be a waste
of time and energy and "political capital."  Instead, we the board, decided
to focus on what would be best for our users, short of getting a reprieve
for MPE.  During the prior 2 weeks, Interex had done a survey to find out
the extent of the problems in the membership.  What became apparent with the
survey are two things:  1- the majority of sites is going to migrate; 2-
their main concern is the lack of information or direction for this
migration.

When Winston showed up, he recapped the whole process for the benefit of
everyone in the room.  He answered virtually all questions refusing only to
talk about certain exact numbers and other company-confidential stuff..  As
far as I am concerned if I have ever seen a man explain truthfully the
driving forces and the logic behind a most painful decision, this was the
occasion.  Winston cares deeply for his customers.  He cares for them so
much that he had no choice but to end the HP e3000 at this time.  If you
listen to Winston explain it, I mean really listen and take his comments
prima facie, at face value, without trying to ascribe ulterior motives to
them, you will understand why he did what he did when he did it.  And whilst
you may not like the decision, you will agree with it.

My memory and my prose cannot hope to do justice to Winston's explanation.
Suffice it to say it is my hope a real interview with Winston will be
published and read and understood.  In the meantime, I state here and now
that I believe Winston and I believe he has made the right decision.  I
don't like it one bit, but for the customers, I now know it is the correct
one.

 So, the decision is the correct one and it is irrevocable.  What is left
for us to do?

Well, the current users need to find out what the future holds.  Many need a
direction for the future.  What do they do with their MPE systems?  What
will they replace them with?  What is out there to do the work?  How can
they migrate from where they are now to where they should be in the future?
What are the options?  What works?  What doesn't work?  What are other
people, other shops doing?

These are all questions in need of answers. In a first step, Interex is
working with HP-CSY and anybody else who wants to participate, to provide
answers to these and other questions.

As such, the board of directors of Interex has created a task force, led by
yours truly, to see to it answers and information is made available to all
MPE users.  This task force is currently composed of Ed Witkow (past chair
of Interex), Debbie Lawson-Kirkwood (Interex), Jim Keller (Interex), Dave
Wilde HP-CSY), Jeff Vance (HP-CSY) and me (in my capacity as an Interex
Board member).  We have created a new e-mail address: [log in to unmask] to
be used to receive mail from anyone.  This email address is a conduit where
you can send you concerns, questions and findings.

Here are the rules for the use of this email address.  All the members of
the task force will receive each and every message sent to this address.
There is no guarantee or even expectation of a private reply but this gives
you an opportunity to voice technical concerns to HP if you elect to follow
the recommendation and migrate from your HP e3000 environment.  We invite
anyone who has experiences to report about moving from one application to
another or one platform to another, to make these experiences known.  We
will post all these questions and findings for all to see at the Interex
website.

This conduit is NOT, repeat NOT for griping and voicing opinions about the
decision.  There are other channels for that, if that is what you want to
do.  This is also NOT a place to discuss OpenMPE.  Again, there are other
channels for that avenue, but please note that Interex supports those
initiatives.  Interex has already started talking with HP about this issue
and wants to include and cover the various approaches already under
discussion and any future ones.  There will be a follow up on that specific
issue.
We invite all the vendors to send us migration information as well.  We aim
to create a one-stop shop for all migration information.  BTW, whilst it is
desirable that your migration plans include HP platforms as the platform of
choice, this is NOT a requirement.  If you have decided to migrate to an
application running on AS/400 for example, please send that along.  Interex
is not dedicated primarily to HP, but rather to its members and users,
though we would rather you stayed in the HP world.

Currently this conduit is open to all MPE users around the world, not just
Interex members.  The findings will be for everyone, but there may be more
in-depth information for the members.  I am not saying that is the case, I
am merely stating this may eventuate.

At the beginning we will update the web page and report on the findings once
a month.  After a while, this may change.  This whole process is a work in
progress and we will make any adjustment necessary.  Everyone is welcome to
send suggestions about the task force itself, how it should operate, what
other goals it may have, what areas it needs to look at, etc.

This message constitutes the kick-off for this task force.  The project is
most certainly a multi-year affair with no defined end date, but as with all
other users group activities it does depend on you.  If no one uses this
channel, this will be a short-lived task force.  So to make this task force
work, you have to get involved, you have to start feeding us information.
There is no way the task force will be successful or even useful if no one
participates.  It's all up to you the users and members.  Interex will
facilitate the dissemination of the information, as is the wont of a users
group. We will adjust and make changes as required as we boldly go forward
into the wilderness.
Interex is also investigating what other roles it needs to play in this area
and further suggestions are welcome.

I will close with these thoughts.

There are 5 million companies in the US alone that use computers in one way
or another to run the business.  Sadly, the vast majority does this without
an HP e3000, but it does it anyway.

This (forced) migration should be regarded as an opportunity to learn new
things and face new challenges and believe me, there will be challenges.
CSY and Interex are working to help you face these challenges with as much
information as possible.  In order to support this task force, Interex needs
to depend on its members.  If you are a member, we trust this is what you
would want Interex to do and will continue your support.  If you are not a
member;  www.interex.org  or 1-800-INTEREX.  Now, more than ever.

Finally, in a recent message to some of my geeky friends, I wrote the
following, which I repeat (corrected) here:  "... I intend to keep an HP3000
with me forever.  I intend to get to 2028 and watch it go back to Jan 1,
2027 at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2027, forever caught in a
time warp.  At that time, my grandchildren, if I have any, will wonder about
that antiquated piece of equipment and will ask questions.  I, being a spry
young man by then in his mid-seventies, will talk to them about the dawn of
computing and the legend that was the HP 3000, now long gone but not quite
forgotten..."


Kind regards,

Denys Beauchemin
Member of the Interex Board or Directors

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