Jonathan replied in a private email to an earlier post. I felt that my
answers deserved to be heard by the community (again). I apologize in
advance for the length of my reply. With that aside, here goes...
Jonathan wrote:
> hi! thanks for the reply. i see that u are working for HP. what do u
> think is the key for a more prominent presence of mpe? i still dun
> quite get it, there u have a system which works great but people would
> rather choose another system which gives them a higher operating cost.
> how's the market presence of mpe like in the states? is it growing?
>
> btw, what is mpe good for?
> i knew that it is being used for the financial accounting for some
> companies.
My reply:
You are wrong on one very basic point - I don't work for HP... never
have... never will. I tried, and desparately wanted to for many years,
but they wouldn't take me because I don't have a 4 year degree. So now
they pay for my services as an HP 3000 consultant. Go figure...
Now, as for your question about improving the prominence of the HP 3000
and a obtaining greater marketing presence. Those who have been on the
list for a while know that I have some pretty strong opinions on this
one...
Let me summarize:
1. HP needs to active address the importance of the HP 3000 to their
continued success. It is one VERY bright spot in the annals of HP
during the last 18 years. The 3000 is experiencing a resurgence that HP
neither anticipated or encouraged - and is a VERY profitable unit for
them at this time.
2. The mainstream press needs to be made aware of the HP 3000. This
has to come from the user community. If HP tries to address this issue
it will simply be seen as another vendor simply trumpeting their
successes.
3. More people need to be made aware of the openness of the 3000 - both
inside the user community and outside. Many HP 3000 shops are in their
death throes as 3000 community members because management is not aware
of the power of the 3000 - and the cost / performance advantage that it
shares over its' competition.
4. Vertical marketeers need to be encouraged to port their applications
to the 3000. Unfortunately, many of these companies are listening to
the mainstream press that open systems is the way to go. Who defines
open systems? UNIX, in my humble opinion, is really no more open than
MPE - it just runs on a greater variety of hardware and each
implementation is very different from machine to machine (sometimes even
within the same vendor!). The reality is that while we need new
software vendors, many of the older ones are jumping ship. That's
unfortunate. I think if a vendor really had a good product they could
make a great deal of profit on the HP 3000 platform. If that software
was also available on other platforms, all the better.
5. General purpose (Cognos, Speedware) and database vendors (Oracle,
Informix, Sybase) need to understand the importance of the 3000 - and
exploit it but not kill it. The 3000 community is one of the most loyal
that I have ever come across. If a product builds a following on the
3000, they will remain users as long as the product continues to be
enhanced for the platform. When a vendor begins to charge fees that are
beyond the scope of the general budgets or places the platform at a
disadvantage with regard to enhancements, then the users will speak up -
and many will bolt.
6. The educational arena needs to realize the importance of the HP 3000
and the innovations that have come as a result of the platform. After
all, PA-RISC was a major innovation that first started on the 3000. The
presence of the 3000 in the educational arena has been well known for
years, but unfortunately few colleges or universities use it any more
for actual educational course work. That's a shame. My experience has
been that a person can be productive quicker on the 3000 under MPE than
any other platform. This should help the learning curve and allow
students to actually begin learning concepts (instead of commands) much
earlier in the process. One of the advantages of UNIX over MPE is the
fact that UNIX has had the backing of the educational experts for years
as a platform where operating systems innovations can be quickly
accomplished. Perhaps HP could address this by allowing pieces of the
OS to be used in advanced technology courses. Who knows, the HP
community might actually benefit from the innovative ideas of young
computer minds!
7. (Finally!) The market is ripe for a company (or companies) to
deliver an adequate training experience for MPE that doesn't require all
students to recieve the same level of exposure. After all, how many
end-users actually have to know how to mount a tape and reply to it?
How many programmers actually need to know how to configure a system?
The answer to both is: not many!
The market in the states is growing (just check HP's own internal
numbers). The presence is good, but could be better. The HP 3000 line
has not had an adequate share of HP's marketing dollars for some time.
If this fact were changed, I think the market would continue to grow
beyond HP's wildest musings.
As for what MPE is good for?
I think the best way to reply is with another question... "What is MPE
not good for?". Virtually everything that needs to be done in the IT
world can either be done on the HP 3000 (including acting as a web
server) or in conjunction with a windows-based client/server solution.
The reason for even introducing Windows into the mix is because the HP
3000 does not have a "GUI" front-end directly available... and we all
know the importance of "look" to the typical front-end user. It is much
easier to point and click than to select from a menu off a terminal. It
looks easier even if it sometimes isn't.
HP has specifically targeted 5 vertical market areas for growth.
(Someone help me here...) I believe those markets to be airline
reservations, credit unions, healthcare, mail-order and manufacturing.
I believe that there are other areas for growth (including education and
web services), but HP will need the urging of current vendors and
customers to determine these target / growth areas.
I hope this helps address your concerns and questions regarding the MPE
platform. Out of curiousity, can you answer one question for me? What
prompted you to write your initial question in the first place? Where
do you fit into the HP 3000 arena? I notice you are with and
educational institution, but in what capacity? Inquiring minds want to
know...
Glenn
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