[Info-vax] Updated HPE/VSI OpenVMS V8.4-2L1 Marketing Brochures

[clairgrant71 at gmail.com]

RE: Alpha

Alpha is a very difficult issue for us. We have people coming to us looking for Alpha support
but the only way we can provide it at this time is for the customer to upgrade to a VSI release.
If you have been running on 7.3-2 for 10+ years do you really want to disturb that environment?

The Alpha Evaluation Kit (AEK) gave us a means to get some feedback on the OS itself, beyond
what we do ourselves. That was good. We provided no layered products with the AEK.

Our real motivation for considering Alpha releases is to provide a better path to get to x86; get
up to date first and it will be an easier move. However, we have always wondered if we can 
provide the layered products needed by these older environments. Do we really want to support
some really ancient HW?

We are working with partners who have lists of thousands of Alpha systems. We are contacting
these users to see first, if they are interested in upgrading, and if they are, what do they need 
for SW beyond the OS and what HW platforms are they on. We have a good idea of what we
can provide. The question is - can we provide the layered products to satisfy enough customers
to make this a worthwhile venture for us. We can’t just be spreading good will here since every
minute we spend on Alpha we are not  spending on x86.

People seem to think that just because there are thousands of Alpha systems out there that they
should become VSI customers and make us lots of money. It’s not that obvious.