F O R I N T E R N A L U S E O N L Y COMPETITIVE ACTION - WEEKLY UPDATE MARCH 4, 1993 Welcome to the new Competitive Action Weekly. If you need more information about these articles, please send an HP Desk message to Competitive /HP6650 Include your name, non-telnet FAX number and the NUMBER THAT PRECEDES THE ARTICLE YOU NEED. If you would like to be added, deleted or you have changed locations, please send a message to Competitive /HP6650. Include your HPDesk address. Competitive Action is posted to HP-UX notes in the group hp.marketing. The string is entitled "hp.competition for ". BC = Beyond Computing BW = Business Week CC = Corporate Computing CW = Computer World DNR = Digital news & review EN = Electronic News IW = Information Week MS = Midrange Systems NC = NCR Connection OST = Open Systems Today RSM = RS/Magazine SO = Sun Observer SJMN = San Jose Mercury News SW = Sun World UGX = Unigram-X UR = Unix Review UW = Unix World WN = Workstation News WSJ = Wall Street Journal Editor, Nadine Halsted ************************************************************* DIGITAL ARTICLES ************************************************************** 216. ** PORTING TO ALPHA (WN, 3/93, pg. 16) DEC has tallied about 2,000 technical and commercial applications from more than 1,000 software development partners worldwide who are interested in its 64-bit Alpha AXP architecture. The following is a partial listing of products that companies are porting to Alpha AXP: MANMAN/X, MANMAN AND MANMAN Process, PowerHouse 4GL, FOCUS, and Software AG. 217. ** KEY LETTERS IN ALPHA BET: OSF (IW, 2/22/93, pg. 66) According to a DEC survey of 2,100 U.S. users and VARs, more than 60% will adopt Unix over the next five years. Eventually, DEC predicts Unix will represent about 50% of its non-US sales. 218. ** 200MHZ ALPHA RISC SAMPLING NOW (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 5) Last week, DEC made samples of its 200MHz Alpha chips available priced at $3,500. Volume shipments will start in July at $1,231 apiece for quantities over 10,000. DEC said the 200MHz benchmarked at 200 SPECfp92 and 106 SPECint92 and an aggregate 184 SPECmark89. DEC claimed that at $7 an aggregate SPECmark, the chips beat out all comers on the price/performance curve. ************************************************************** HP ARTICLES ************************************************************** 219. ** IBM AND HP "WORK ON COMMON INTERFACE" - HP "OFFERED 20% OF TALIGENT" (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 1) Gossip has IBM and HP working on a separate agenda for desktop Unix using IBM's Common User Access Specification and dubbed COSI, or common operating system interface. Other Unix suppliers are said to be treating the IBM/HP effort very cautiously - some are worried that it may turn out to be a trojan horse for proprietary technologies. Sources say that HP is currently weighing a 20% stake in Taligent. 220. ** WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER AS THE PRETENDERS LINE UP TO FIGHT FOR IBM'S CROWN (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 2) The contenders to take over leadership of the mainstream computer industry from IBM are lining up. HP currently looks by far the best placed of the biggest manufacturers to come out as the winner in the 1990s. In Unix, it has succeeded in creating the impression that it has far more of the management, security and support capabilities in place than any of its competitors. And HP, with its laser printers, has demonstrated that it still has the ability to build a major business from scratch. [ Editors note: Very favorable to HP. Suggests that HP leads DEC, NCR, and Unisys as the company that may fill the void that IBM is creating.] 221. ** HP HUMMING SOME RISC DETAILS (OST, 3/1/93, pg. 4) HP has shed some light on its "hummingbird" RISC Processor, now officially called the PA7100LC. The low-cost, super scalar, single chip CPU is expected in system in 1994. Those systems are likely to include workstations priced in the $5,000 range. A key feature of the PA7100LC is additional multimedia support processor instructions for manipulating multimedia data such as graphics and animation pixels, audio samples and textual data. 222. ** MANAGEMENT TOOLS SPUR UNIVERSITY'S UNIX MOVE HP FOCUS (OST, 3/1/93, pg. HP1) When Computer Associates International asked Brigham Young University if it would be interested in serving as a beta site for CA-Unicenter on an HP Series 800 computer running HP-UX , it jumped at the chance. BYU's goal is to move applications to the platforms where price and performance makes the most sense, and that includes HP and Unix becoming a more important piece in their computing environment. [ Editors note: Article discusses mainframe downsizing using CA software and is complimentary to HP.] 223. ** TOP 25 SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS (CC, 3/93, pg. SR16) HP was ranked 6th. If you are migrating applications to client-server and you want your servers to carry the HP label, HP's Professional Services Division might be the integrator for you. But companies looking for a cutting-edge SI firm probably should look elsewhere; HP's strength is the peace of mind that comes with a reliable vendor offering proven technology - usually its own. 224. ** IBM, HP, SUN TEAM ON GIGABIT DATACOM SPECS (EN, 3/1/93, pg. 14) Last week, IBM, HP, and Sun teamed to speed the development of gigabit per second communications specs for bi-directional workstation-to-workstation, workstation-to-drive and wide area network applications. The trio - via a group called the Fibre Channel Systems Initiative - "profiles" based on what is considered a "stabilized" version of ANSI X3T9.3 channel specification. ************************************************************** IBM ARTICLES ************************************************************** 225. ** AS IBM GOES PUBLIC ON PLANS TO BUILD FUTURE AS/400S AROUND POWERPC (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 3) The AS/400 will move to RISC, but not until several criteria are met. Shipping a RISC-based AS/400 will require a 64-bit architecture - the AS/400 CPU is a 48-bit device, appropriate commercial extensions to that architecture, reliable, high performance multiprocessors and changes to the AS/400 operating system to migrate to RISC transparently to the user. [ Editors note: HP is based on RISC today. No future migration necessary.] 226. ** DOWNSIZING: NOT JUST FOR CUSTOMERS (OST, 3/1/93, pg. 3) Even IBM units are downsizing from mainframes to client-server computing. The Advanced Workstation Systems unit is moving from COPICS manufacturing software on mainframes to CIIM, an Avalon Software package running on the RS/6000. The cost of four RS/6000 980s that will support manufacturing is $1,976,000 over three years. That is $1.2 million less than using one third of an ES/9000 570 mainframe. The unit may save roughly another $1 million by switching from mainframe OfficeVision to Lotus Notes on PS/2. 227. ** NEW POWER RISC TECHNOLOGY COMING (OST, 3/1/93, pg. 3) IBM's plans for upcoming AIX machines call for additional boxes based on a second generation of IBM's Power RISC technology. Power+ would double the number of instructions per cycle of current Power RISC systems. IBM hopes to begin shipping Power+ systems by the end of 1993. 228. ** BAD DAY AT BIG BLUE (BW, 3/8/93, pg. 44) The once-unthinkable has come to pass: On Feb. 24, IBM disclosed layoff plans. The struggling computer giant intends to cut 150 corporate staff positions and 350 other headquarters jobs. Employees have until May 28 to volunteer to leave in return for a minimum of 8 weeks salary and other benefits. 229. ** IBM'S MAINFRAME STRATEGY - MVS IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE (IW, 3/1/93, pg. 42) No longer able to dictate its customers' buying decisions, IBM is trying to provide them with more choices. But in the process, everyone is becoming more confused. Many observers predict that IBM will slowly transform MVS into a more Unix-like operating system. Others suggest that IBM is merely trying to keep its mainframe market for as long as possible, while working furiously to deliver a single Unix-based massively parallel system that offers a software bridge to MVS. [ Editors note: The longer a company delays the decision to move from MVS to an alternative architecture, the harder the migration will be.] 230. ** FAA, IBM CORP. AGREE ON PLAN TO FIX SOFTWARE FOR AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM (WSJ, 3/3/93, pg. A3) In December, the FAA threatened to withhold payments or even cancel its $4 billion contract with IBM unless the company came up with an acceptable plan for writing software code for computer workstations in the agency's advanced automation system. The software glitches have thrown the project almost three years behind schedule. [ Editors note: Contracting with IBM's Federal Systems Group appears to be a liability.] ************************************************************** MIPS ARTICLES ************************************************************** 231. ** CAE SOFTWARE (EN, 3/1/93, pg. 10) Mentor Graphics will support the MIPS application binary interface (ABI) reference platform, which provides Unix System 4 compatibility across a range of computer platforms. ************************************************************** NCR ARTICLES ************************************************************** 232. ** NCR AT YOUR SERVICE (IW, 3/1/93, pg. 50) Add NCR to the list of computer companies moving into professional services. The Professional Services Division will take NCR deeper into consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing. The new structure will focus on helping customers devise enterprisewide architecture's and migrate to open systems. 233. ** NCR'S MARKETING OPERATIONS ARE PUT INTO SINGLE DIVISION (WSJ, 3/1/93, pg. B3) NCR pulled its various marketing operations into a single world-wide division, separating them from the US sales force. The company said its new structure will help it understand better the needs of its customers. ************************************************************* SEQUENT ARTICLES ************************************************************** 234. ** COMMENTS (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 8) Wall Street estimates for the company's 1993 earnings per share to run from $0.95 to $1.10. Sequent expects to continue to win orders from the traditional mainframe market and says it expanded its sales force to 160 from 125 at the end of 1991 although total employment fill to 1,550 from a peak of 1,800. ************************************************************** SGI ARTICLES ************************************************************** 235. ** SGI LOWERS PRICES (OST, 3/1/93, pg. 37) SGI last month dropped the price of its entry level Iris Indigo R3000 RISC PC from $6,995 from $7,995. SGI hopes to make Indigo systems more accessible in price-sensitive markets. 236. ** RISC ROAD SERVICE (MR, 2/23/93, pg. 16) Wang is providing disaster recovery for the RS/6000. To differentiate itself from other firms offering this service, Wang announced a new mobile service. Wang brings the recovery equipment to the user as opposed to bringing the user to the equipment. ************************************************************** SUN ARTICLES ************************************************************** 237. ** SUN FRANCE FORMS CLUB OF USERS INTERESTED IN DOWNSIZING (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 4) To study the benefits of downsizing a corporate information system, Sun France has set up a club of approximately 40 French directors of information technology. The club is an outgrowth of a downsizing market study of 90 enterprises, of which 70% of the respondents see a major evolution in their computing architecture. 238. ** MCNEALY SUNBEAMS (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 4) McNealy-on-NT: the Sun chief told Wall Street last week that he reckoned "It'll be a long time before information mangers start drinking that Kool-Aid." 239. ** AN X TERMINAL FROM SUN? (OST, 3/1/93, pg. 4) Sun said an X terminal may be released by midyear. Sun plans soon to release a design kit enabling third parties to design X terminals, portable computers or embedded systems based on Sun's SPARCclassic and SPARCstation LX workstations. 240. ** SUN OFFERS TRADE-IN DEAL TO NEXT USERS (OST, 3/1/93, pg. 4) Just a week after Next announced it would sell its hardware business, Sun launched a workstation trade-in program offering Next users as much as an $8,000 price break on Sun machines. Customers can hold their Next box for six months after the trade-in to give them time to port software to SPARC Solaris. 241. ** UNIX POWER JUICES UP DB2 DEVELOPMENT (CC, 3/93, pg. 26) XDB Systems' XDB-Server for Unix is the first fully DB2 compatible database running on a Unix System 5, release 4, operating system. It runs on Sun's Solaris workstation, bringing 32-bit performance and multithreading- multitasking capabilities to writing mainframe database applications. 242. ** SUN MICROSYSTEMS COMPUTER CORP. UNVEILS NETWORK TERMINAL SERVER (WN, 3/93, pg. 1) Sun has introduced the Network Terminal Server, which allows 64 terminals or other serial peripheral devices to be connected on a Unix system host-based LAN that includes SPARCstation and SPARCserver computers running the Solaris operating system. 243. ** SUN SHOOTS PAR WITH SUPERSPARC (WN, 3/93, pg. 15) While the SuperSPARC microprocessor improves the performance of Sun's workstation line considerable, it still does not surpass the performance levels of the best - HP, IBM, and MIPS based workstations. SuperSparc merely places Sun workstations on a performance par. [ Editors note: If your competing against the SuperSPARC, this article depicts HP very favorably. In $/Graphstone, HP's 9000/730 leads Sun's SPARCstations, SGI's Crimson, and IBM's RS/6000 model 350.] 244. ** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (IW, 2/33/93, pg. 10) Sun's plans for the transportation industry got a boost last week when American Airlines Decision Technologies chose Sun's Sparcstation and Sparcserver systems for its decision support system. Sun has some 40 airline customers to date. ************************************************************** OTHER ************************************************************** 245. ** COMMENTS (UGX, 3/1/93, pg. 8) The Open Software Foundation has been quoted as saying it shipped 85,000 binary versions of OSF/1 to developers and users last year. 246. ** ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY? (IW, 2/22/93, pg. 14) Unix International and the Open Software Foundation are talking " at the highest levels" to reach an agreement to unify the fragmented Unix market. A spokesman stated he is hopeful that we will end up with a much more efficient process for developing Unix applications. 247. ** HEMORRHAGING BULL? (IW, 2/22/93, pg. 16) France's troubled Groupe Bull may be seeding an additional cash infusion from the French government, its majority stockholder. Reports say up to $400 million could be involved. In search of new areas of income, Bull has formed a facilities management group within its Systems Integration and Services business.