Capellas pitches Compaq
hard
By Scott Berinato, PC Week Online
February 16, 2000 9:53 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- Compaq Computer Corp. CEO
Michael Capellas closed a quiet first day at the
Windows 2000 Conference & Expo here by pitching his
company's "absolutely fabulous technology."
In a keynote address to a half-full auditorium at the Bill
Graham Auditorium, Capellas breezed through
Compaq's market position and products but offered little
insight into (or detail about) the integration of Microsoft
Corp.'s mammoth new operating system with Compaq's
products.
His two market-trend observations: The Internet is
exploding, and that explosion will ultimately lead to
massive electronic commerce; and the server strategy
of the future relies on "manageability, clustering to
scale, availability and 24-by-7 support."
But while Capellas refrained from delving into detail
about the market for the new OS platform that is under
the microscope here, he took every chance possible to
tout Compaq's leadership position in the nascent
Windows 2000 market.
For example, early on Capellas talked about Windows
2000 creating the "Non-stop" e-business environment
(Non-stop being a trademarked Compaq term). But
instead of saying how integration of the most complex
software product ever will be accomplished with his
company's hardware and services, Capellas highlighted
Compaq's "broadest portfolio of Windows 2000 servers"
and Compaq's "Windows 2000 storage solutions" and
"data center performance."
Addressing Compaq's challenge in electronic
commerce, Capellas asked, "How do we get all this
stuff to play together when talking to partners' partners
and customers' customers?" But he didn't answer the
question. Instead, he spoke generally of Compaq's and
Microsoft's Frontline partnership.
Plugging iPaq
Capellas also demonstrated the iPaq "legacy free"
Windows 2000 PC. (It's legacy free because it employs
only USB ports and is completely hot-swappable.) At
one point, Capellas called a friend from the PC using
Microsoft's Net-Meeting software. The friend was a
Compaq iPaq product manager, who used the
opportunity to tell the crowd how brisk iPaq sales were.
Then the product manager added that "this is just the
beginning," suggesting that more simple PCs and
appliances will debut from Compaq.
Later, Capellas declined to specify how brisk iPaq
sales were except to note that the company will easily
meet its sales goals.
Capellas also reviewed the company's announcement
earlier in the day of ProLiant eGeneration Windows
2000 servers.
The product line will roll out in three phases. In phase
one, the first eGeneration servers ship immediately. In
phase two, later this year, Compaq will debut scalable
32-way clusters running Windows 2000. Phase three, in
2001, will primarily focus on driving the price of the
server family down while also increasing features,
Capellas said.
Capellas kept his speech brief, acknowledging several
times he was competing with "cocktail hour." He took a
smattering of questions from the audience, one of which
touched on the challenge of adhering to standards while
differentiating a product.
Capellas cited two key factors: time to market ("Be the
first") and the ability, through services, to "tie the entire
solution together. Anyone can do a point solution."
Then he added, "But if you're telling me it's a tough
business, I already know that."
Which may be why he's taking every opportunity he
has, including his keynote address here, to sell his
company.
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