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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elwood P. Dowd who wrote (91984)	6/29/2001 5:44:17 PM
From: PCSS	Respond to of 97611

On CNBC .... this wierdo (dodn't catch his name or co) recommends putting $$$ into CPQ because: exposed to business cycle and will benefit from its increasing strength

To: Elwood P. Dowd who wrote (91984)	6/29/2001 7:49:20 PM
From: hlpinout	Respond to of 97611

Egad, would you trust this man???? -- crn.com Alpha Decision Riles Partners Compaq service providers worried over customer reaction By Craig Zarley & Edward F. Moltzen, CRN Houston 2:09 PM EST Fri., June 29, 2001 E-mail this article Print this article Breaking News New Fibre Channel Switch Standard Adopted Security Flaw Affects Cisco Routers, Switches Connecticut Attorney General Open to Settlement, Wants Tough Remedy CA Files Lawsuit Alleging Noncompete Violation In Proxy Battle XIOtech Unveils New Service And Management Offerings For Storage Microsoft Ruling Could Bode Well For Settlement Sun To Debut Solaris 9 Beta Within 90 Days SSP Storage Access Goes IP With FalconStor Compaq Computer's decision last week to abandon its Alpha architecture left many of the vendor's enterprise solution providers scrambling to come up with a way to convince longtime Alpha customers to stick with Compaq. The move complicates Compaq's relationship with former Digital Equipment solution providers, which the vendor has been wooing as strategic service partners to support its push to make services 30 percent of its revenue. Compaq CEO Michael Capellas hopes to provide a baseline for the vendor's server lines. These solution providers say they now will need to save face with their customers, many of which they convinced to invest in Alpha despite persistent rumors that Compaq would ultimately drop the chip. "Short term, this is a disaster for our business," says Don Richie, president of Sequel Data Systems, Austin, Texas. "We are now in a defensive position instead of trying to grow business." Over the long term, however, Compaq's decision to move its enterprise hardware to Intel's 64-bit Itanium processor could be a sound one "as long as Compaq keeps the VMS and Tru64 [Alpha-based] operating systems in place," he says. During a joint press conference with Intel last week in New York, Compaq CEO Michael Capellas said the vendor hopes to unify its server line behind Intel's Itanium and Merced processors. "When we're done, we'll have a single baseline across all our platforms." Compaq acquired the Alpha processor and related technology as part of its $9 billion-plus acquisition of Digital three years ago. Since then, the company has maintained a steadfast commitment to the hardware architecture, as well as to the Tru64 Unix-based operating system. Tru64 will be ported to Intel's 64-bit architecture, Compaq says. "Any customer who has Alpha has a clear road map through 2003 for new product and Compaq-committed suppport through 2012," says Dan Vertrees, vice president of North America partner sales and marketing at Compaq. "You will see us drive partner marketing programs and funding to help our enterprise partners through these times," he says. "The intention is there to oversupport us [with additional funding]," says Dave Richardson, director of strategic alliances at CNT, an enterprise integrator in Hopkinton, Mass. "[Alpha is] going to be a tougher sell for a while. You're going to need Compaq's commitment behind you in order to sell it." Larry Holzenthaler, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Total Tec Systems, Edison, N.J., says, "The key thing to explain to customers is VMS and Tru64 are preserved. That's where customers' investments are,which chip it runs on doesn't make a lot of difference." The change in strategy comes at a sensitive time for Compaq. Enterprise partners already were grumbling over the vendor's decision to postpone its annual PartnerVision conference to next February. Compaq cited economic conditions as the reason behind the postponement. Meanwhile, Compaq solution providers are also concerned about the vendor's increasingly aggressive strategy to engage small- and midsize-business (SMB) customers through direct-sales efforts. In an internal memo to Compaq employees dated June 12, Capellas wrote: "[SMB] is the largest and fastest-growing segment of the global IT market, and we need to regain our leadership. We are creating dedicated SMB teams [within 30 days] in each region, supported by a simplified product set and a supply chain with the capabilities to serve SMB customers directly."