NewsWire Q&A: Prather on 1999 Vision

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HP 3000 Visions
for 1999

January, 1999

1999 will bring continued evolution to the HP 3000 community. We’ll see new types of customers discovering complete solutions from ISV partners. These customers will need overall solutions for specific applications and business requirements, and won’t necessarily be looking for one platform to meet all needs. They will embrace interoperability and look for ways to take advantage of the strengths of different platforms combined to provide a complete solution. The HP 3000 will continue to provide a strong backbone for mission-critical online transaction processing, while platforms like Unix and NT will provide application front end technologies. In general, I believe the mix of our installed base will continue to shift from platform buyers to point solution buyers.

Also, customers will use the HP 3000 in new ways, ways they never thought possible. As more business and communication is conducted via the Internet, users will tap into and experiment with HP 3000 capabilities they may not even be aware of yet. E-commerce and Web implementations will proliferate, mirroring the 1998 activities of ISVs like SGA, who successfully “Web-ified” existing HP 3000 solutions.

What kinds of HP 3000 functionality do you see third parties delivering instead of HP placing the code in FOS?

The roles of third parties will expand in 1999 in two significant ways. First, the need for consulting services will continue to increase, especially given the continued Internet and e-commerce growth mentioned previously. Customers will need more guidance than ever before, as many venture into this new way of conducting business for the first time. They’ll be looking for ways to be more efficient and profitable via the Web, and third parties can add significant value by helping to drive this process.

Second, we expect third parties to capitalize on the growing HP 3000 customer base by bringing more applications and services to the platform. This could result in increased porting of Unix-like functionality, middleware, etc. and a more symbiotic relationship between the platforms. One of CSY’s key core competencies is delivering a highly reliable, worry-free computing environment. In 1999 we’ll continue this trend by focusing on things we do best: interoperability, performance, scalability, etc. This will enable third parties to continue to provide significant pieces of the overall solution to customers.

Winston Prather
R&D manager, CSY

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