F O R I N T E R N A L U S E O N L Y COMPETITIVE ACTION - WEEKLY UPDATE MAY 13, 1993 Welcome to the new Competitive Action Weekly. 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 CIO = CIO CW = Computer World DM = Datamation DNR = Digital news & review EN = Electronic News IW = Information Week MS = Midrange Systems NC = NCR Connection OST = Open Systems Today RSM = RS/Magazine SE = Sun Expert 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 *********************************************************** FLASH! *********************************************************** A special version of this report is now available to HP channel partners via HPNN. HPNN is a free electronic information service and is available to all HP channel partners. 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Missing or incorrect information may delay delivery of your request. *********************************************************** DIGITAL ARTICLES *********************************************************** 490. ** DEC TO RETIRE SEVERAL VAX- AND MIPS-BASED CONFIGURATIONS, SERVERS ((DNR, 5/3/93, pg. 3) After mid-May, VAXstation and DECstation customers will have far fewer full-blown configurations from which to choose, and DEC system 5500 customers will have none. 491. ** ALPHA WATCH WHO'S PORTING... (DNR, 5/3/93, pg. 21) Sybase has delivered its relational database management system for AXP systems running OpenVMS and has committed to porting the software to OSF/1. Cincom says it will release its Supra Server database management system on AXP systems running OpenVMS, OSF/1, and Windows NT next quarter. Cognos is shipping its Powerhouse 4GL for AXP systems running OpenVMS, with OSF/1 and Windows NT versions in development. 492. ** A UNIVERSAL PLATFORM? (IW, 5/3/93, pg. 58) When it comes to hardware, DEC has bet the bank on the Alpha line of 64- bit RISC microprocessors. But when it comes to the operating software that will run on Alpha, DEC is hedging its bet, putting its money on three options: its homegrown OpenVMS, the OSF/1 variant of Unix, and Microsoft's Windows NT. 493. ** DEC EYES SIMPLICITY WITH REVAMPED SERVICE PLANS (CW, 5/4/93, pg. 2) Some DEC customers have been disgruntled by a range of service issues - everything from poor management of maintenance contracts to the blaming of local service representatives for problems occurring at higher levels. From roughly 200 different service offerings, DEC is reportedly trying to reduce the number to 10. 494. ** FEAR AND LOATHING (CW, 5/3/93, pg. 146) DEC is raising the bar for its commission-based sales force. The company will weed out those sales reps making less than $75,000 to $100,000. Meanwhile DEC is designing a special June incentive plan to help reps earn extra revenue. A commission of 1% will be given to those closing deals of $1 million or more. 495. ** COMMENTS (UGX, 5/10/93, pg. 6) DEC has previewed the Rdb 6.0 version of its relational database, saying that at $6,643 per tpsA on an Alpha AXP DEC 7000 Model 610, it is the first production database below $7,000 per tpsA. *********************************************************** HP ARTICLES *********************************************************** 496. ** EATERY SWAPS DOLLAR-HUNGRY MAINFRAME FOR LEAN HP MINI (CW, 5/3/93, pg. 95) After spending years on a meaty IBM 3090 run by outsourcer Litton Computer Services, the operator of 76 Hungry Hunter and Mountain Jack's steak restaurants now conducts daily computing business on an HP 9000 Model 845. Paragon is saving about $700,00 a year on processing fees. 497. ** HP/UX GAINS SUPER POWERS (IW, 5/3/93, pg. 14) Convex will license the HP/UX Unix operating system to run on a line of sub-$500,000 scalable parallel processing systems it plans to introduce in early 1994. As a result, users of forthcoming Convex supercomputers will gain access to some 4,000 applications that now run under HP/UX. The deal gives HP a foothold in the $2 billion massively parallel supercomputer market. 498. ** COMMENTS (UGX, 5/10/93, pg. 6) HP has beaten incumbent mainframe suppliers, IBM and Unisys, to a contract with Televerket of Stockholm worth an initial $4.6 million. This could grow to $100 million by 1996. The initial pact includes client server software running on HP 9000 Series 800 Unix machines. Televerket wanted support for 1 Tb databases and 10,000 concurrent users with subsecond responses. [Editor's note: Congratulations HP Kista, Sweden.] *********************************************************** IBM ARTICLES *********************************************************** 499. ** ARE YOU BEING SERVED? (MR, 4/27/93, pg. 1) IBM's Application Business Systems division began offering its products for sale to OEM third-party vendors. The products include a range of offerings from vendor logo versions of the AS/400 to the sale of its hardware and software components. 500. ** EQUIFAX TAPS ISSC (IW, 5/3/93, pg. 16) Equifax, the $1.3 billion credit reporting company, has signed a 10 year, $650 million outsourcing contract with IBM's Integrated Systems Solutions Corp. 501. ** GERSTNER: NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME? (IW, 5/3/93, pg. 72) Gerstner's performance at the annual meeting, his first public appearance since taking the helm, was impressive. Facing a hostile crowd of investors, IBM's new chairman and CEO won their grudging respect with his forthright assessment of the company's situation. He also proclaimed that while each business unit would have greater independence, they would still be responsible for maintaining compatibility with the rest of the company. 502. ** COMMENTS (UGX, 5/10/93, pg. 6) IBM claims that revenues in its Advanced Workstations and AIX systems unit grew in the first quarter by more than 50% over a year ago. 503. ** IBM GERMANY TO CUT 3,500 FOLLOWING FIRST ANNUAL LOSS (EN, 5/3/93, pg. 12) For the year, the German unit had a net loss of $276 million. The one bight spot in the units results was software and services which accounted for $2.4 billion in revenues. *********************************************************** MICROSOFT ARTICLES *********************************************************** 504. ** LANDSLIDE! EVERY MAJOR SOFTWARE VENDOR IS NOW BEHIND WINDOWS NT (IW, 5/3/93, pg. 12) IBM announced its intention to port DB2 and, although not announced, CICS. Other companies include D&B, SAP AG, Ross Systems, Computer Associates, Legent, Tivoli, Anderson, Texas Instruments, Oracle and Cincom. 505. ** MICROSOFT ENGINEERS BURNING MIDNIGHT OIL TO GET NT INTO SHAPE (UGX, 5/10/93, pg. 3) Microsoft is reportedly going to by-pass the formality of a press conference to announce Windows NT in two weeks. Bill Gates will supposedly do the honors himself at his Windows World keynote. Engineers at Microsoft are working 70 and 80 hour weeks trying to get NT out as soon as possible. 506. ** CHIEFS OF IBM, MICROSOFT CORP. PLAN TO MEET (WSJ, 5/10/93, pg. A3) Microsoft's Gates plans to meet Gerstner of IBM to discuss broadening the ties between the two executives, who have never met, come amid signs that a reconciliation between the companies is increasingly possible. *********************************************************** SUN ARTICLES *********************************************************** 507. ** SUN OPENS UNIX TO WINDOWS (CW, 5/3/93, pg. 1) Sun announced a software interface said to enable Windows applications to run up to 70% faster on Sun and other Unix workstations under the X Window System X11 standard. Sun plans to provide the interface free to users who buy Solaris before Jan. 1, 1994. 508. ** COMMENTS (UGX, 5/10/93, pg. 6) All Sun units have reportedly been told to trim expenses 9% to 11% with the sales force getting hit the hardest. It is believed 600 Sun folks will be redeployed to SunSoft and Sun Tech and maybe a thousand cut. 509. ** SUN MICROSYSTEMS JUGGLES NEW STRATEGIES AND OLD RIVALS (WSJ, 5/11/93, pg. B4) Mr. McNealy is trying to keep more and more strategies in the air. He's attempting to overcome costly delays in new workstations and software, fighting off the future entry of PC makers into workstations, and contending with intense competition from his traditional rivals. Some analysts fear that the future will be even rockier because Sun is losing its technological edge. *********************************************************** OTHER *********************************************************** 510. ** ON WITH THE SHOW (MR, 4/26/93, pg. 43) Dataquest/Ledgeway, an industry marketing consulting group reports that 55 percent of PC and workstation budget expenditures are for external and internal support services. 511. ** PENDING PENTIUM CHIP DEBUT SPURS PLANS FOR SYSTEM BUYS (CW, 5/3/93, pg. 69) More than 500 information systems executives polled during February and March said they plan to spend more than $31 million, collectively, on pentium-based workstations and servers this year. In addition, 39 of the 508 companies surveyed plan single buys of more than $100,000 each. 512. ** APPLE IS DEVELOPING SOFTWARE THAT LETS WORKSTATIONS RUN MACINTOSH PROGRAMS (WSJ, 5/11/93, pg. B6) The software will allow server and workstations computers that use the Unix operating system to run Macintosh applications with no modifications. The first version will run on IBM, Sun and HP systems.