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

[abrsvc]

> Best estimates are that there are 3 times as many Alpha/VAX users as Itanium.
> 
> It is not the release of VMS that is the big deal, it is the moving of applications
> to a new different architecture. You either recompile/relink or let a translator run 
> our Alpha image. That's a lot of disruption if you have been humming along for
> many years.

I would believe too that testing and validation time is a big factor.  I have been involved with a number of client situations where the port would be trivial (mostly compile and go).  However, due to government regulations, extensive testing must be done for compliance and validation.  This time by far exceeds the "port" and involves many more people too.  That translates to high costs.  With the x86 target hardware being relatively close, I know of some that will wait for that before spending money on a port.

Dan