HP 3000 General Manager Harry Sterling gave the strongest address to date on the state of the MPE/iX marketplace at HP World. Taking what has been a quiet, high-concept talk in years past, Sterling used the event to make new product announcements, comments on both 64 bits and Intel chip support and answering IBM's ploy to lure 3000 customers to the AS/400.
Perhaps most importantly, he defined his own mission in leading the Commercial Systems Division to include protecting the 3000 customers' investment from pressures inside HP itself.
Sterling announced that now that the PA-8000 work is complete, extending MPE/iX to a 64-bit version will be "under investigation for fiscal 1997 activity." The primary challenge HP is facing is how to make sure all customers could use such a new MPE/iX, regardless of which HP 3000 RISC-based system they own.
"My biggest concern is not wanting MPE users locked out of future operating system enhancements," Sterling said. "As soon as we roll the OS to take advantage of 64 bits, it would require you to either stay on the last 32-bit release forever, or purchase a new hardware upgrade."
Framing the 64-bit choice like this makes the transition to 64 bits as pivotal as HP's move to RISC architecture in the late 1980s. At that time customers were faced with the same set of choices: stick with a 16-bit MPE V or buy the RISC-based systems. To date, every release of MPE/iX, and MPE/XL before it, has operated on every RISC-based model of 3000. HP believes the move would create the first division within the ranks of RISC-based HP 3000 sites.
An early use of 64-bit MPE/iX would be to increase the file size beyond its current limits to the same capacity as HP-UX. Sterling said that HP believes it can increase the current MPE/iX file size beyond 4 Gb without going to a 64-bit implementation of the OS.
However, HP isn't convinced yet that a significant part of its customer base needs 64 bits right away. "It is our belief that a small subset of our customers really need the advantages of 64 bits right now," Sterling said. "Before we make this decision, we need to fully understand where it can solve real business problems. As we learn more about the options in the next several months, we'll keep you informed."
Touching on a topic even further into the future, Sterling said that HP will be discuss its plans for moving MPE onto the HP/Intel chip "in detail during our annual strategic video conference, currently scheduled for January." HP will have "a team of expert factory consultants review long term IT strategies across our customers and business partners. At that time we'll release a five to 10-year growth map for the HP 3000 product line," Sterling said.
HP already has development plans to address needs for the 21st Century. By the end of 1997, HP will release a version of MPE/iX "that will support the HP 3000 to the year 2000 and beyond."
Sterling also announced that HP will be shipping a 32-bit ODBC driver for IMAGE/SQL, a project that's been requested since Microsoft pushed the client world into 32 bits with its Windows 95 release last year. (See related story in this issue).
The general manager making relaxed and playful points regarding the sales letter IBM sent to HP 3000 customers. IBM was hosting a reception for HP 3000 customers a few hours after Sterling's talk, and the general manager said "I'm going to encourage you to go. Really, I mean it. But while you're there, be sure to ask the following questions before considering whether you'll add an AS/400 to your environment." Sterling invited the 3000 faithful to ask how many of the thousands of AS/400 applications were written "in the open system language of RPG."
When the laughter subsided, Sterling said HP had calculated the figure at about 70 percent. He also invited customers to ask about Oracle support on AS/400 (it's not available), and "why one-half of all the AS/400 application providers are porting to Unix, and all of them are porting to Windows NT." Finally, in the biggest jab at IBM's sales swagger, Sterling asked the customers to "ask IBM if they're going to do as good a job of managing your mission-critical business as they did managing the information needs of the Olympics." During the Olympics, IBM systems scrambled press data for several days.
The general manager made a pitch of his own during his speech, working to convince customers than an OS-centric strategy wasn't necessary in today's computing environments. "In the 70s, you had to be very careful about the OS you chose," Sterling said, "because the operating system essentially limited your choice of applications. If you chose the wrong OS, you might not be able to find the solutions you needed in the future."
Sterling said that today's client-server strategies mean "that the operating system should no longer be an inhibitor. I think that the multiple server message for application performance is more consistent with the direction we see the industry going: flexible and extendable end-user centered computing environments now become your real objective." Spreading functionality across multiple servers can contain hardware failures, he noted.
Including other OS choices in the 3000 environment demands integration, he added. "HP is fully committed to provide the tools and technologies to seamlessly integrate heterogeneous computing environments," Sterling said. "With the proliferation of Java, new application solutions spanning the Internet are already emerging."
Sterling then announced HP is porting the Java Virtual Machine to the HP 3000. The prototype was running in the HP booth at the show (see related story in this issue).
Sterling closed with an emotional statement of intentions -- both his own, and HP's -- toward its most loyal customers:
"If there's one thing that HP has focused on consistently, if there's one thing that's driven our efforts, if there's one thing that we've been obsessive about all this time, it's this: protecting your investment. In today's computer marketplace, computers are becoming commodities -- you buy one, use it for a few years, and throw it out. But buying an HP 3000 has never been like that. And as long as I'm managing the 3000 business, it won't be."
"When you spend money on a 3000, you consider it an investment, and we believe it is our job to protect that investment -- against changes in the marketplace, and even against changes in HP. We have tried over the last 20 years to earn your loyalty. Believe me when I say we do not take your loyalty for granted. We continue to value the relationship we have with our customers. Our primary objective is helping you be successful. We are committed to your success, and I sincerely appreciate your business."