The three HP resellers named in April as North American channel partners for migration services were apparently just the first wave of Platinum partners. HP announced that Managed Business Systems (MBS) has boarded the Platinum partner ship, adding 10 years of expertise in migrations. The company isn’t wrapping itself around HP’s strategic terms, either, while describing options for HP 3000 sites in the Transition era. MBS issued a press release that said the company has “the unique ability to help organizations determine whether you should stay, port, build, or buy. MBS’ HP e3000 assessment enables HP customers to determine whether they should stay and keep their applications on the HP e3000; port the applications to another HP platform; build a better application; or buy new applications.” Officials said the recommendations are based on how changes will impact the rest of an organization’s technical and business environment. MBS adds that implementation is always done with an eye on long-term supportability of an organization’s applications, “resulting in up to a 20 percent reduction in application management costs.”

Platinum Partners are resellers with a mandate from HP to serve smaller and mid-sized businesses, while HP Consulting aims to provide migration services to larger HP e3000 customers. HP believes the MBS assessments will result in more HP installations if a study by MBS experts shows that a 3000 is slated for replacement. “We look forward to working with them to provide migration tools and services aimed at helping our e3000 customers easily transition to a new HP platform,” said Loretta Li-Sevilla, e3000 Marketing Manager, HP Business Critical Systems.

The three charter members of the HP Platinum Partners — Speedware, Lund Performance Solutions, and MB Foster — have a head start on MBS, with one of them having offered advice and counsel since December of last year. MB Foster’s Webinar programs started less than a month after the HP announcement, and the company has done more than 20 of its free “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” sessions over the Internet. The next session is June 12. Companies like MB Foster are starting to tout years of experience in their migration promotions, like 118 man-years of migration at the company headed by Birket Foster. But the migrations only will execute as companies get enough budget. “Now that HP has made its announcement, people can migrate at their own pace and priority,” Foster said. Both Foster and MBS see the majority of the migration action taking place more than a year from now.