Maybe the flow of older hardware back into HP’s hands explains why so many 3000s remain on HP’s radar screen. But HP also set a new end of support date for MPE/iX 6.5, rolling it out to the end of 2003, rather than December, 2002. Extending the lifespan of the MPE/iX 6.5 release is not a matter of locating parts sources. Rather, HP said it’s making the extension to help customers do less interim transitions before they move onto other platforms. At least that’s the reasoning HP 3000 Business Manager Dave Wilde offered.

“My belief is that customers who are closer to completing a successful transition will be more likely to take advantage of these extensions,” he said, “while customers who have a longer transition timeline are more likely to replace and/or consolidate their current hardware and/or upgrade to the 7.0 or 7.5 releases. There is no single best, one-size-fits-all approach for customers. Our extension of support for the hardware platforms and the 6.5 release will give some customers added flexibility to choose the path that makes the most sense for their particular situation.” The other benefit to HP and its 3000 business operations is that revenue streams for the system won’t suffer the attrition they were due to weather at the end of this year. The support dollars may not go directly to the 3000, but every support contract is important to a company whose Business Critical Systems unit hasn’t turned a profit in almost a year.

As for 6.0 support, it truly runs out at the end of this October. HP has a limit on how many releases of MPE/iX it wants to service at once, and by this fall the 7.5 release of MPE/iX — perhaps the last mainline release from HP — should be shipping.