DECUS US CHAPTER SYMPOSIUM: OVMS IN CINCINNATI
Source: Shannon Knows DEC, Volume 4, Number 11, June 1, 1997
Terry C. Shannon
From May 18 through 22, a small but enthusiastic band of
Digital loyalists gathered by the river at the Cincinnati Convention Center
to participate in the Spring 1997 DECUS US Chapter Symposium and Trade Show.
Among those present was SKD's editor, who found that his 27th consecutive
DECUS US symposium was a target-rich environment replete with information
on DEC and its partners. Presented herewith are some insights and highlights
from the Cincinnati DECUS get-together.
OpenVMS Rules in Cincinnati
With Digital UNIX forces adopting a low profile on the symposium agenda
and trade show floor, and with the epicenter of WNT activity relocated to
New York City for Scalability Day, OpenVMS took center stage in Cincinnati.
Thanks to a three-pronged product and publicity attack, OpenVMS was king
of the Queen City DECUS event. The Wave 4 Affinity rollout was widely anticipated,
but the announcement of OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses and public references to
the Galaxy software architecture came as pleasant surprises.
During the Sunday night symposium reception, DEC VP Wes Melling
announced the OpenVMS Hobbyist License Program. Thanks in part to Pat Jankowiak,
the Dallas-Fort Worth LUG member who proposed the concept at the Fall 1996
DECUS symposium (see SKD V3N23, December 4, 1996), a two-user OpenVMS VAX
software license is now available free of charge to DECUS US members who
want to use VAX systems in the privacy of their own homes for non-commercial
purposes. Details on this program 'which elevates OpenVMS to the exalted
freeware status enjoyed by Linux and NetBSD' can be found at
http://openvmshobbyist.org/
More Monotonous Predictability
Continuing his "monotonously predictable" rollout of OpenVMS-WNT interoperability
adjuncts, Mr. Melling presided over the Wave 4 Affinity announcement on Monday
May 19. Complete Wave 4 details are available at the OpenVMS website or at
the new Customer Update website. Wave 4 products range from a $1.2K DEC COBOL
for WNT license to a $104.5K OpenVMS Data Mart software/consulting package.
Beyond Clusters
Melling spiced up his Wave 4 presentation with several tantalizing references
to the OpenVMS Galaxy Software Architecture. Additional details were provided
in a Galaxy PID session. (See "The Future of OpenVMS:
It's Gonna Be Galactic,"
this issue, for a description and assessment of the Galaxy architecture
based on public-domain information.)
While WNT 5.0 asserted a symposium presence only via the
May 20 simulcast of Bill Gates' and Bob Palmer's Scalability Day pitches,
the Microsoft OS got a shot in the arm from OpenVMS Disk Services for WNT,
a new product that enables an OpenVMS file to serve as a WNT disk. Centralized
storage and management, as well as access to the goodness and reliability
of VMSclusters, are among the benefits that accrue to this VMScluster-resident
service. Old DEC hands doubtlessly will note some resemblance between NTDS
and the decade-old VMS Services for MS-DOS software introduced with the VAXmate
PC.
Digital Still Listens
Although the DEC VP's reception was conspicuous in its absence from the
symposium agenda, VP Jesse Lipcon once again hosted the ever-popular "Digital
Listens" panel. Several hundred attendees spent two hours apprising Jesse
and his panelists of their DEC-specific suggestions, aspirations, and frustrations.
Per usual, ease of doing business was a key complaint. Marketing admonitions
were prevalent as well.
Digital apparently does listen, based on a review of the
top issues raised at the November 1996 Digital Listens panel in Anaheim.
The OpenVMS Hobbyist License is reality, DEC is providing Year 2000 readiness
status on its products Customer Update is again available as a hardcopy
document , Oracle/Digital support is better coordinated, and education customers
again enjoy a common discount structure as well as special promotional prices,
including an 80 percent discount on new AltaVista applications not covered
by Digital's CSLG program.
For the tenth consecutive year, SKD's editor presented a
session on Digital's Strategic Directions. PowerPoint versions of the strategy
presentation, and a complementary software talk, are available upon request
to SKD subscribers.
Walking the Trade Show Floor
The DECUS Trade Show lacked some of its usual participants. Digital's UNIX
group was hard to find, and the PCBU was AWOL. Oracle asserted a low-key
presence, but Process Software boosted its profile via the acquisition of
Cisco's MultiNet and MultiNet Secure/IP products. Things are happening at
Touch Technologies and Raxco Software; stay tuned for near-term announcements
from both of these long-time DEC ISVs. Fault-tolerant WNT vendor Marathon
should be in the news, too.
DECUS DECline Continues
There seems to be a correlation between DECUS symposium attendance and Digital's
employee population, both of which peaked in the late 1980's, and both of
which continue to diminish. No headcount figures were released for the Cincinnati
symposium, but SKD estimates that ~800 paid attendees walked the halls of
the Convention Center.
Despite the downward trend in attendance, DECUS US will stay
the course with twice-yearly events through 1998. According to a member of
the DECUS Program Team, it would cost the Society more to cancel the Spring
1998 Symposium in Philadelphia than it would to hold the event "even if nobody
showed up." Going forward, SKD believes that DECUS US will modify its symposium
frequency to once per year in 1999.
SKD's Product Picks
In addition to serving on the BackOffice Magazine Best Of Show Select awards
committee, SKD conducted its traditional search for memorable symposium offerings.
The Spring 1997 winners include the OpenVMS Hobbyist License from the DECUS
DFWLUG, IntraServer Technology\'12s 64-bit PCI UltraWide SCSI adaptor (
www.intraserver.com
), and Great Lakes Computer's rock-bottom Alpha pricing. Contact Great Lakes
at 1-616-698-1100 for details on OpenVMS or UNIX-based AlphaStation 200 4/166s
at $1,495, or WNT-based Alpha XL300 workstations for $1,895. All configurations
are sans monitor, but all are brand new and fully warranted.
A November DECUS to Remember
It's not too early to start planning for the next DECUS US event. The Fall
1997 symposium will be held November 1 through 6 in Anaheim, CA. The symposium
will feature Digital CEO Bob Palmer and a possible appearance by DEC rumourmonger
Charlie Matco as well as a special observance of the 20th anniversary of
OpenVMS. Info on affordable housing is available from SKD. Be there or be
square!
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