OpenMPE moves into its ninth inning next month

That’s the word from chairman Birket Foster on the future for OpenMPE, the volunteer group that seeks to maintain MPE/iX source code after HP leaves the 3000 market. Just back from a tour of the Western US that included playoff baseball parks in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, Foster said the OpenMPE enhancement organization is taking the plate at the most crucial part of its contest to win support dollars from customers for MPE’s future. “All good baseball is mostly decided in the ninth inning,” Foster said. “There are some parallels with the OpenMPE world, where the game is down to the ninth inning and the only thing that will move things forward is ‘fan support.’”

Foster said the drive to gather up those fans’ purchase orders and letters of intent for OpenMPE services will tote up its support at the end of November. Board members want to demonstrate that OpenMPE has the support of customers, which translates into purchase commitments for MPE enhancement and maintenance services during 2005. Most new business ventures endure a waiting period from potential customers, so OpenMPE only has a goal of 100 HP 3000s to sign on for services that will range from $5,000 a year (for machines sized like a Series 918 or A-Class servers) up to $37,500 yearly for Series 969 and bigger systems, including N-Class boxes.

Waiting for those prices to improve isn’t part of OpenMPE’s marketing plan. Foster said OpenMPE customers who sign on for the first year will get a significant discount versus customers who wait. “I hope the users are paying attention,” he said. “We really need to get the word out that the OpenMPE services costs for non-founding subscribers will be 2-3 times as high in subsequent years.”

The volunteer organization will “treat the money deposited as a note payable until HP starts transfer, with revenue to be recognized 5 percent immediately and 95 percent as a monthly earned fee for services rendered for the membership,” according to notes from OpenMPE’s presentation at HP World. That 95 percent portion will be refunded if HP declines to share source.

Almost all of the group’s $1.55 million target revenue for 2005 would go to contract engineering: $936,000 is listed in its first draft at a budget for MPE enhancements to peripheral support, high ability failover, networking, languages and compilers, IMAGE and the MPE/iX core. The group has an initial $360,000 budget for handover of the MPE/iX code; HP was expected to give OpenMPE a list this month of the tasks to accomplish the code handover. Purchase orders can be sent to the OpenMPE LLC accounting firm, Albright Crumbacker Moul & Itell, LLP, 1110 Professional Court, Suite 300, Hagerstown, MD 21740.

A more practical view of OpenMPE’s fall classic sees the volunteer group going into extra innings to meet its first year’s revenue goals. But Foster said that setting the Nov. 30 milestone for those POs was essential to him. “If you don’t have short deadlines, nothing gets done,” he said. Some customers believe they can wait until mid-2005 to commit to OpenMPE, based on the track record of HP’s information releases to the organization. HP promised to notify customers during the latter half of 2005 about its intentions to release MPE source code — which many community members interpret as a December announcement.

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