An FAQ told more about HP's intentions to convert HP 9000s

July 2004

An FAQ told more about HP’s intentions to convert HP 9000s

The word “limited” appeared five times in HP’s announcement that it will convert some HP 9000s to HP 3000s over the next two-plus years, and the Frequently Asked Questions document about the HP 9000-to-3000 process reinforced the feeling that the plan to make fresh MPE-booting hardware will have plenty of caveats. HP first stressed that its permission to convert HP’s Unix servers to MPE systems “does not indicate a change to the messages that we have consistently delivered since announcing our HP e3000 end-of-support roadmap in 2001. Customers with a clear business need for another HP e3000 and who find themselves in a situation where they have exhausted all possible channels to buy a used HP e3000 should contact HP to discuss their specific situation.”

Forget about switching over the HP 9000s you may already own to HP 3000s, HP said. “Conversions are not intended for customers who simply want to change their HP 9000 into an HP e3000,” the FAQ stated. What’s more, the vendor doesn’t expect the market will provide much demand for the conversions. “HP believes the supply of used HP e3000 hardware will meet the expected demand. Conversions are intended as a way to avert or respond to potential emergency situations.”

The number of HP 9000s which would be eligible for the conversion has limits, too. “HP’s ability to perform these conversions depends on many factors, including parts availability and continued HP e3000 expertise within the channels necessary to deliver this solution,” the FAQ stated. “These factors will naturally impose a limited timeframe over which conversions can be approved and performed.” HP wouldn’t guarantee that any customer could get a converted HP 9000, either.

But any such systems that are converted are going to be genuine HP 3000s which will require an MPE license fee, as well as payments to third parties for any software installed on the servers. HP said it will look at several factors before making a 9000 into a 3000, including “A clearly demonstrated business critical customer need, a demonstrated effort by the customer to utilize alternative means to address the business requirement, and HP's ability to deliver a viable solution.” HP wants customers who don’t expect to complete their HP 3000 migrations by the end of 2006 to “contact their HP support representative to discuss their specific needs.”

HP said the conversion program is a way in which the vendor “intends to work with customers who plan to use the HP e3000 to meet some of their business needs beyond HP’s end-of-support.” Full text of the HP FAQ is on the Web at www.hp.com/products1/evolution/e3000/info_library/faq1.html.