Re: DSPP and OpenVMS media

HP has not traditionally provided a consolidated media subscription
service. OpenVMS I64 follows this model, and does not have a media
subscription offering.

Hoff,
it is yet another service downgrade/price increase on the VMS
customers, and in this case specifically on the VMS developer
community. Just like the license transfer fee increase, it hits us
small timers hardest. Maybe its just a case of HP continuing to prune
away at higher level services that it inherited from DEC.

The loss of the subscription service for Alpha (where all but one
of our customers currently live; that one is still VAX) is going to
have a real impact on us, both for our ability to keep our development
Alpha up to date, and to help our customers, who nearly all do have
software support/right to new version support, do the same.

It was noted at the recent HP/Intel porting conference that I64
also does not provide an upgrade license; I assume thats what you
meant above; either you maintain support on a product or else you get
to repurchase from scratch in order to upgrade, as if you hadn't
owned/licensed the product already; this is similarly painful for our
small-medium business customers; it potentially takes away a lot of the
advantage that the lower up front hardware/software costs of the
itanium systems would otherwise provide (though I haven't run the
numbers yet to find out how much). Sometimes you just have to cut
costs for a while, and contract services is a possible means... but
under the new system that short term necessary savings can turn into a
longer term 'VMS is too expensive to update now' reason to look
elsewhere.

Please understand that I'm writing this from the perspective of a
long time DEC and Compaq reseller, partner, and VAR, though now
relegated to remote and indirect status by HPs demands for 7-figure
sales to qualify to sell Alpha hardware and VMS, even for those of us
once tiered under a distributor. Every time HP makes a change to VMS
or Alpha services and situations, it seems to be designed to negatively
impact us one way or another, and make it harder to sell VMS to our
existing and prospective customers. Either prices go up, services go
down, or both. Even the potential silver linings, like the aggregation
of licenses with VMS in tiers on the Itanium and the lower up front
costs, and inclusion (finally!) of the unlimited user licenses, comes
with that black cloud of upgrade qualification via continuous support
contract only.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. It matters :)

Mark Schafer,
thank you also for responding. Any word or chance on getting the
other layered products posted for download via DSPP? Or even the VMS
installation disks (as image files perhaps)? It would be nice if since
DSPP provides licenses for it there could be some method of getting the
kits, even piecemeal, short of blowing the budget on a very expensive
media kit.

Thanks

Rich

.

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