Eloquence speaks up as IMAGE replacement

Product has close ties with HP, but works on independent hardware

The most IMAGE-compatible database for non-3000 platforms is getting a lot more attention from 3000 customers in the wake of HP’s decision to leave the community. Some developers considering a shift to HP Eloquence are trying to judge whether Eloquence could continue to speak if HP decided to shut it off, as it has curtailed IMAGE and Allbase development.

HP Eloquence is owned by Hewlett-Packard GmbH, Germany. Marxmeier Software, another German firm, is responsible for development and lab support. “We usually define the direction of HP Eloquence,” said president Michael Marxmeier, “but HP has the final say. I would describe the relationship as a close cooperation.”

After experiencing HP’s decision to close out its IMAGE development, customers and developers are looking for independent replacements while searching at the same time for an IMAGE look-alike.

Only Open Source software like PostgreSQL appears to have undisputed independence. “My mantra in all this is zero-dependency computing,” said Duane Percox, founder of 3000 application provider Quintessential School Systems. “That means you do your darnedest not to be beholden to anybody. That means we’re looking at PostgreSQL.”

PostgreSQL won’t remind anyone of IMAGE, however, so those who seek a look-alike are attracted to Eloquence. Developer Curtis Stordahl said he’s already ported his new iJobSched scheduling package from MPE and IMAGE to HP-UX and Eloquence. “There are some minor differences,” he said, “but none that I couldn’t work around.”

From a technical point of view, Marxmeier said Eloquence is independent. Ever since the product’s A.06.00 release it has run on Linux and Windows NT in addition to HP-UX. Marxmeier added that “IA-64 native support likely becomes available in 2002, depending on when the hardware becomes more commonplace.”

Marxmeier said porting the database to additional, non-HP platforms should be easy if the platform is similar to Unix or Linux. The company understands it has an informal agreement with HP “which allows us to port HP Eloquence to different architectures if we see sufficient interest.”

HP and Marxmeier have told customers that if HP steps away from Eloquence, “we are able to take over the product if that ever happens,” Marxmeier said. “It is also a matter of responsibility: Some of our partners are betting their business on HP Eloquence.”

IMAGE users remember similar promises and made identical bets. Marxmeier understands that if Eloquence has a lifespan ultimately determined by his company, it might be a safer haven for the customers who decide to migrate off their 3000 IMAGE databases.

“The HP Eloquence product lifespan should ultimately be decided upon by our partners and customers,” he said. “There is no formal agreement in place, but this has been discussed before, and I see no reason why their policy should have changed.”

The HP Eloquence product manager changed last year, “and it certainly is up to [HP’s] Günther Krähling to make his own statement,” Marxmeier said. “We don’t speak for HP, but we have worked with HP Germany for about 12 years and found them reasonable and nice to work with. If this is a real concern of customers and prospects, we’ll get in touch with HP and ask them for an official statement.”