Conference 7.286::digital

    IN an era of "If we build it -- they will buy it" mentality, it is
    not important to go after industry pundits --
    
    My .02 is that in the era that spawned the above Digital mentality, we
    alienated many people -- Including customers -- by our "uppity"
    demeanor.
    
    I think we are getting a payback for our sins of the past.
    
    It will take more than the SLT doing a Kabookie dance to the pundits
    et-al.  
    
    I heard some interesting stuff from a Digital sales person who
    interviewed for a position with another company:
    
    The other company wasn't interested in IBM or Digital S/Rs because:
    
    	o They weren't aggressive
    	o They didn't understand month to month performance goals
    	o They weren't commission oriented
    
    It seems to me that with the SLT doing the Kabookie and the sales force
    changing the above perception, we can get attention.
    
    From my perspective, I believe we have great products -- we have some
    holes -- we need to be agressive on every deal.
    
    It's going to have to be a team approach because pundits do the
    "Yack-Yack, Oink-Oink" -- Customers do the buying.  We need AGGRESSIVE
    coverage on both ends.
    
    My .02
    
    Dennis

    I can't answer your question, but can offer one possibility.
    Digital has TFSO'd a lot of people for a lot of reasons. With
    these kind of situations, mistakes are being made with many
    individuals. Many of these people are, understandably, bitter
    towards Digital. Many of these people now work for other
    companies in many influential positions. These peole can and
    probably are affecting the negativism you're experiencing.
    The morale inside the company is also affecting how we are
    perceived by our customers. Many people who fear they are next
    are not interested in doing a good job for a company who may be
    about to cut them loose. So phone calls go unanswered, service
    committments are delayed, technical resources cannot answer
    questions, etc, etc. I know of some peole who have just tossed
    their badge and walked out the door due to the current climate.
    I don't know how to solve this, but going into a downsizing this
    kind of negativism is a well known risk within management circles.
    How do you fix it and when it will end, I can't say. I think
    what is really aggravating in Digital's case is that after four
    years or more we're still at it (re-engineering Digital).

I think our sales are dropping because:

- We murdered the VAX/VMS cash cow

- We set up an "incentive" package for the sales force which sent a
percentage of the top performers to the competition (the 80/20 rule applies)

- Our hopes for the future rest on software plaforms which aren't yet
mainstream: NT and OSF/1 (could DOS or OS/2 be ported to run on AXP?)

- We still haven't eliminated waste caused by internal bickering (just
take a look at the DECnet debate)

If the analysts present a challenge, we'll be that much stronger when
we've surmounted it. It's a factor, but not a big one. Our biggest enemy is us.

    we need to improve our advertisements slogans and techniques.

    the other companies Intel, Apple, IBM etc.. have much better ads.
    that is why we look like outsiders to every one, while we have some
    of the best products in the market.

    but as they say, what you don't see, you would not know.

    we need to make better commercials !

    \nasser

Note 2886.3 by ENABLE::glantz 
    
    >> Our biggest enemy is us.
    
    amen. and anyone who doesn't believe this needs to pull their head out
    of the sand.

    re: "improve our advertisements"
    
    With this in mind... WHY isn't Digital involved in some way in the
    Olympic games?
    
    Why do we see IBM and other competitors, but we don't see Digital.!
    
    Let me guess... our customers don't watch the Olympic games... Ya,
    right!
    
    Another opportunity squandered....!
    
    

    And, in my humble opinion, the current organization in the field does
    not help the matter.  You've got Digital Consulting, MCS, and CBU sales
    often not even cooperating with each other, or not cooperating well. 
    What kind of impression is this supposed to make with potential
    customers?  As for selling Digital product, and I know this is an
    extremely sensitive subject, but you've got groups within MCS and
    Digital Consulting that receive credit for selling our competitors'
    products!  It's a lot easier to take an order for Synoptics or Cisco or
    Novell than it is to try and actually sell the Digital product.
    
    Let's get real!  I saw the enemy and it is definitely us.  I'm not
    saying we shouldn't sell third party products.  What I am saying is
    that we should only sell a third party product when it COMPLIMENTS our
    own products OR if we don't have a comparable product to propose.
    
    How much of our total selling effort is directed at selling Digital
    product?  How much is directed at selling third parties?
    
    I certainly don't propose to offer a solution in this reply.  I am
    suggesting this situation needs to be examined and changed so that:
    
    a) ALL organizations are motivated to work together as a team, with the
       account being the core of everyone's concerted effort.
    
    b) Our management creates an environment where people are actually
       motivated and rewarded for selling Digital product, with clearly
       defined, but flexible, guidelines for when it is okay to sell
       third party product.

    It has to be expected that when you make REALLY STUPID decisions time
    after time, and you continue to drop-kick LOUSY software products out
    the door to the point where the customer calls in for their weekly
    patch, your reputation for quality and dependability goes out the 
    window....
    
    I would never go back to a vendor if I got such a raw deal the first
    time around.  You can't keep that kind of stuff secret. 
    
    The way to build a good reputation is to build good products and ONLY
    SHIP GOOD DEPENDABLE WELL TESTED PRODUCTS.
    We apparently don't have the time or the money to do that. 
    
    That of course leaves under-trained support people to pick up the mess
    and do the damage control. Customers stop believing the excuses after
    their 8th patch on the same product.......
    
    The old thing about one 'aw shit' wipes out a whole stack of 'attaboys'
    is true.  It only takes one REALLY HORRIBLE product to cause enough
    damage and make our reputation questionable, and to wipe out a whole
    warehouse full of good, decent, competitive products. 
    
    

Re .6

Just saw IBM Norway country manager to tell in an interview in a French TV's
sports program, how they have delivered 3000 PCs with client/server
applications for the games in Lillehammer. What followed was some screens of
different new types of applications, like touch screen info about competitors
(similar to one application we sell in health care space) and different
track maps etc. Minutes of free advertisement. I don't believe, that IBM
makes any profit from systems, though.

--Ritva

    I saw the IBM ad during the Nancy Kerrigan show the other nite which
    mentioned that the US Olympic committee "chose" IBM for the 94 games -
    why doesn't Digital lobby the appropriate committee to be "chosen" if
    possible for the 96 Atlanta games - they are a ways off but I guess 
    you have to start somewhere.
    
    Barry 
    

    it's not a "lobbying" effort.  You pay to be chosen.
    
    Mark

    IBM already has the Atlanta games in '96.  I have in my files a clip
    from the Atlanta Journal dated September 18, 1992 which has a headline
    - "IBM deal valued at over $40 million, Company to provide computers,
    software and more for Games."
    
    The story  goes on to say that IBM announced an "unprecedented deal
    valued at far in excess of the $40 million other Olympic sponsorships
    have averaged."  IBM would also be assigning several hundred employees 
    in Atlanta to the Olympic games.  According to this report, IBM has
    been involved with almost all of the Winter and Summer Games since
    1960.  IBM is also a sponsor of the International Olympic Committee, having
    completely computerized the IOC's headquarters in Switzerland. 	
    
    For what it's worth, we also missed what may have been an even bigger 
    opportunity, again in our own back yard - the 1994 World Cup.  SUN is
    the exclusive computer supplier to the 1994 World Cup.  (I have this
    really great poster trumpeting the fact in my office)
    
    Steve

    We must have pissed off a lot of people.  I still say we need
    positive coverage in the trade press.  We work for this
    company full time, and many of us don't understand everything
    we can do for a customer.
    
    How can we expect the average customer to sift through all the
    information we spew out, and easily determine what is important?
    
    All of my customers, however, take time to absorb the trade
    press and advertising messages.
    
    I'd like to level the playing field a bit.  None of our mistakes
    was any worse than any other major competitor.  They were all
    forgiven, we should be also.
    
    Dan

In my community the first queestion out of a persons mouth after they learn 
I work for Digital is concern about the state of my employement, then usually
a question about the Alpha chip. Until we get some consistent positive press
we will not break out of the current state of day to day business. 
A good example was our local paper had a very good article about Multi-vendor 
Customer Service and how this is unique within the computer industry. Digital
looses $78 million followed that bright article. 
We need to start learning that every job in this company has to change every 
6-12 months in order to keep up with the industries changing pace if we don't 
change or are still trying to hide from the TFSO "turk" then what is left 
is what Digital deserves.

So if we are in such a leadership position with all of these products where are
the accolades from our users and new customers ?

Jeff

    
    Re: .13
    
    > None of our mistakes was any worse than any other major competitor.
    > They were all forgiven, we should be also.
    
    Dan, Not to be contentious but says who?  Maybe the customers have
    a different perspective.  We spent lots of time not listening.  Who
    knows what we might have heard?
    
    Steve
    

DEC in, human terms, would be the quintessential techno-nerd. You know...white
shirt, skinny tie, black high water pants, pocket protector, black horn rim
glasses, white socks, slicked back hair. So, while we maybe very technically
correct we have all of the appeal of luke warm day old oatmeal. Like Dan
Quayle we make an easy target for abuse...which is our fault. On the other
hand our competitors dont have this 'image' problem to contend with.

    I'm young, and new to Digital.  That gives me a perspective
    outside the ingrained company culture.
    
    All I did my first five years in the industry were multi-vendor
    projects with AT&T and other phone companies.
    
    In those five years, SUN, HP, IBM, all have had their share 
    of bad decisions and other problems.  They simply didn't
    let their dirty laundry to be aired in public.  If it
    was, they somehow kept it to the minimum.
    
    The analogy I use with customers is this:  compare the computer
    business to the used car business.  Digital re-builds the car 
    from the ground up, giving the customer a sound piece of
    machinery for their money.  They then put it out on the lot
    without cleaning it inside and out.  The cleaning is easy, so
    let the customer do it themselves.  We did the hard stuff already.
    If their friends look at the car, they say "why in the world 
    would you buy that?"  Next door is the SUN, HP, IBM shop.  They
    have no talented mechanics, so they just polish up what they've
    got and sell it with enthusiasm- "You'll be driving the coolest
    looking car on the block!"  This is known as selling the sizzle,
    not the steak.
    
    We're sitting on some filet mignon, let's add some sizzle to it!
    
    Dan

    
    Dan Smith,
    
    
    What you say has merit.  The thing that we must show is that we have
    learned from our mistakes and are (not just say we are) improving and
    not making the same mistakes.
    
    
    Mike

    on advertisement.

    Intel was smart enough to sponsor the world chess championship
    cycle, for a mere 2-3 million bucks, they'll have their name
    fixed over the chess board and every where the games are
    played, for every one to see all over the world, people will
    see the name INTEL every time they look at these games, there
    will be TV coverage of these games all over the world (except
    in the US where chess is not popular), and people will see their
    name.

    this is a cut from the inter-net about this, showing the different
    places these games will be played in.

    why can't we DEC do something smart like this? now every one
    in chess in the world will hear and SEE the Intel name, and this can't
    be bad. 
    
>PCA Further Information.      [UK Teletext.]
>-----------------------
> 
>Bob Rice announced at a London news conference some more details
>about the PCA series of events.
> 
>He said that Intel's sponsorship makes possible "a vision of what chess
>can be and will be over the next two decades."
> 
[...] 
>The PCA are hoping to be able to announce International TV coverage
>for all events. [ This is going to be a major achievement if they 
>manange it.]
     
>Rapidplay 1		April 18th-24th		Moscow
>Express			May   23rd-22nd	[sic]	Munich
>Candidates 1/4		June  6th-18th		New York
>Rapidplay 2		June  20th-26th		New York
>Rapidplay 3		Aug   30th - Sept 5th	London
>Candidates 1/2		Sept  28th - Oct 10th	Barcelona
>Rapidplay 4		Nov   7th-13th		Paris
>Candidates Final	Feb   1995		London
> 

    
    
    We should hire Michael Jordan for our spokesperson.  OUr add campaign
    could acknowledge what has happened in the past few years and then use 
    a new slogan of: "It's a whole new ballgame" complete with Michael in
    baseball uniform.
    
    Mike

    A couple of thoughts from Dale Carnegie, the master of
    public relations.
    
    1)  The bashing is good news in a way:  as Dale says, nobody
    wastes the time to kick a dead dog.  The way we're getting
    kicked, we must be as threatening as a Pit Bull!!!
    
    2)  Let's act as if things have changed.  Even if they will
    need more time, let's start acting as if we're there now.
    This is IBM's secret, IMO.
    
    Dan

    
    re: .16
    
    Your anthropomorphic description puts me in mind of D-FENS (the 
    techno-dweeb played by Michael Douglas in the Movie "Falling 
    Down").  If I remember correctly, he kicked some butt on the 
    way out.
    
    Glenn

    
      Good comparsion....
    
     If I were in the market to buy a car for example, and I decided
    that I liked a Nissan, but noticed that many dealerships were closing,
    and kept hearing news about Nissan layoffs. I would be worried about
    spare parts + service, and would decide on another automaker.
    
       THe SAME applies to DIGITAL !!!   Plant closings, layoffs !!!
    
    EVERY person in the past 3 years that asked me the question; "So,
    where do you work?"  ALWAYS had the follow-up question....
    
     "Oh my, is your job safe?"
    
     Jack
    

    I'm 100% in agreement that the WORST enemy of Digital (new or old) is
    DIGITAL.   For whatever reason we decided to be like China (on our
    own, distant from everything and everyone).   We had the luxury
    of doing that in a world were ONLY one computer company had mini-
    computers linked to each other......no more.
    
    However, we (the new DIGITAL) keep doing business in the old fashion
    way - THE DIGITAL WAY.
    
    A couple of questions (You be the judge)
    
    1) Why don't we sell PC's in Sears, Computer Corner,Price Club, Sam's
       Club, PC Magazine, etc. etc. ???????
    
    2) Why until recently we did not advertise ????????
    
    3) Why don't we participate/sponsor more 'humane like' things such as
       basketball, baseball, the olimpics and just only the Boston Pops 
        and Infinite Voyage which not everyone (mass market) watches ????
    
    4) Why do still people when you told them you work for DIGITAL keep
       on asking - 'Do you make wristwatches ?' or even worst 'Who ?'
    
    

    So many problems so little time...
    
    1. Its soooo easy to kick a man when he is down and that's what
    is happening to us. 
    
    2. Alpha technology i.e. 64 bit computing has not caught on it
    because we are the only ones that have it and do not know
    how to market it.
    
    3. Digital's employees have to have one foot out the door ready
    to scoot to another company because of the constant TFSO's.
    
    4. Managers at the local levels are paralyzed with fear therefore
    the make no decisions not approved by their management. I see good
    people stymied by a system that rewards complacency.
    
    5. What is our business direction? It was CBU's now its product
    again. Positive change is a blessing while negative change takes
    us two steps back.
    
    6. The systems we have inhouse to do business are awful. There is
    a huge lack of new systems in the field for people to learn on.
    Training is nice but without a box to play with your skill level
    diminishes daily.
    
    7. Organizations are redundant. Anyone think of combining the
    best of NIS and MCS into one group? Duh!
    
    8. We sell and develop products that no one wants? Anyone using
    Decwrite when they could use Word? Jeez, all of our PC's come
    with the Microsoft suite. 
    
    9. We want to be consultants and integrators but how can you
    consult on products that you have never touched? Try setting up
    a Cisco router or Cabletron hub the first time at a customer
    site for $160 an hour and see how fast you get shown the door.
    
    10. We are tired of this whole mess and it takes a toll
    on all of us daily. Every time a customer hears something
    bad about Digital they hit you up on it. If we took off our
    bullet proof vests for just a minute we'd all be doa. Instead
    we keep facing bullets hoping for artillery backup to arrive.
    
    11. I have yet to figure out why we hire people from IBM for
    a company our size. Instead whe should be going after the HP,
    SUN, Cisco and Microsoft people that have transformed their products
    into state of the art software and hardware. Learn from
    their insight. They developed markets that did not exist. Where
    are the next line of visionaries going to come from? If not
    from within then we must go outside.
    
    Thanks for letting me ramble. Its been a looong day and
    tomorrow will be another one. Know what I mean?
    
    			-Jim- 
     

    RE: .17
    
    	Clever analogy and will make for some light, interesting
    discussion. However, it doesn't fit well! Using a "used car dealer"
    analogy with customers is not a good idea.
    
    	Our customer's expect first class products; and when we don't
    deliver the quality, both inside and out, they begin to look 
    elsewhere - as they should! 
    

    I'm ALREADY sick of the IBM Olympic ads.  I"ve been inundated by the
    damn things since Saturday night - you can't turn on a TV in MPO
    without getting their *@#%&^%$ "Gold, Silver, Bronze, Blue" commercial! 
    I've seen it AT LEAST 6 times in the last 2 days!
    
    The first time we saw it I didn't to say a word - my wife looked over
    at me and asked "Gee, why isn't Digital a big player at the Olympics? 
    Don't you guys have stuff as good as what they're showing?" 
    Unfortunately, I had no answer for her - except to growl and mutter
    obscenities under my breath about whoever makes the decisions to
    squander a small fortune on a boat race nobody saw and gives away the
    biggest, world-wide, 2-week extravaganza in the world!
    
    Now, before somebody gets their bowels in an uproar over our support of
    the America's Cup - I love watching it, but Digital didn't exactly
    figure PROMINENTLY in all the publicity.  Maybe somebody figures yacht
    owners make the decisions to buy most computers? 
    
    I would SURE have rather been seeing the same commercials for the
    Olympics with OUR logo instead of that other company.  Next we'll be
    seeing commercials that Andersone Consulting did all the sofware!

        re: .24

    >3) Why don't we participate/sponsor more 'humane like' things such as
    >   basketball, baseball, the olimpics and just only the Boston Pops 
    >    and Infinite Voyage which not everyone (mass market) watches ????

    Funny you should ask this.  One of the biggest missed opportunities
    was this year's superbowl.  We (Digital) donated $100,000 dollars to the
    NFL's YET program (Youth Education).  No where in the pre-game or
    half-time commentaries was this mentioned.

    It was amazing to hear the narrator say "The NFL and the UNITED WAY each
    donates $5,000 to this worthy program" and not hear anything about
    Digital.  I love this company but find moments like this disheartening.

                    <<< Note 2886.24 by ELMAGO::JMORALES >>>
                             -< Be My Guest ????? >-

    A couple of questions (You be the judge)
    
>    1) Why don't we sell PC's in Sears, Computer Corner,Price Club, Sam's
>       Club, PC Magazine, etc. etc. ???????
    
    We don't have the products yet that would be competitive in these
    channels. 
     
   Mark. 

    re .24 and .29
    
    Am I missing something?  PC BY DEC adds appear consistently in PC
    Magazine, and other PC trade rags.
    
    I agree, I would like to see Digital PCs sold from CompUSA, Sears, The
    Wiz, etc.    However, keep in mind, as I understand it mfr'ing can't
    keep up with demand as it is!  

    re .25
    
    > 2. Alpha technology i.e. 64 bit computing has not caught on it
    > because we are the only ones that have it and do not know
    > how to market it.
    
    This one is the worst.  Having made the investment to get there,
    we haven't explained to any potential customer why it's best.
    All I've heard mentioned is some mumble around very large databases.
    
    Seems like we could tilt the playing field away from HP here.
    Let them defend a 32 bit architecture.  Let them trip over 64 bit 
    requirements in RFPs.  HP is saying that they'll move to 64 bits
    in three years.  Why aren't we making that delay hurt them today?
    
    Computing has become like fashion, where perception and popularity
    outweigh all else.  Until we address those things we'll continue 
    to be kicked.
                      

    Received a weekly bulletin update yesterday that stated "Digital is
    getting back in to the retail market".  I believe Wiz is on the list.
    
    Toodles.....JP
    

From: [email protected] (John Litvin)
Subject: Intel's press release about PCA sponsorship
Organization: Intel Corporation, Supercomputer Systems Division, Beaverton, OR
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 1994 17:31:18 GMT
     
9407.3
INTEL ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL CHESS ASSOCIATION
  Intel Press Release  Feb. 1, 1994
 
  NEW YORK -- Intel Corporation and the Professional Chess
Association (PCA) announced today that Intel will become the
sole title sponsor for the PCA events.
  At the same time, the PCA announced it's 1994 schedule of
events which will include a series of four Intel World Chess
Grand Prix Tournaments to be held throughout the year, and two
qualifying tournaments designed to identify a challenger for the
1995 World Chess Championship match against Garry Kasparov, the
reigning world champion.
  "We are drawn to this sponsorship for two reasons," said
Dennis Carter, vice president and general manager of Intel's
Corporate Marketing Group.  "This sponsorship allows us to build
brand equity with a highly targeted audience worldwide since
most chess players are computer users.  Secondly, we are
delighted to sponsor a schools program that fosters and rewards
the skills of accurate, logical and creative thinking.  The
foundation of our business is built on this kind of talent and
we are pleased to underwrite such a program." Carter noted that
sponsorship of the schools program fits well with Intel's
ongoing education programs.
  The schools chess program will be implemented with the
American Chess Foundation (ACF), an organization that
administers a highly successful national effort to improve
academic performance of underprivileged students through chess
instruction.  "We are extremely pleased by the prospect of
expanding and improving our program through this sponsorship and
association with Intel, a leader in computing technology," said
Alan Kaufman, Executive Director of the ACF.
  The core of the PCA's 1994 schedule will be a "Grand Prix" of
four tournaments featuring the exciting new "speedchess" format.
The Intel World Chess Grand Prix features a new and very popular
format in which a player must make all moves in 25 minutes or
lose. These tournaments will be held in New York, London, Moscow
and Paris. Additionally this year, there will be two further
rounds of qualifiers towards the selection of a challenger for
Garry Kasparov in the 1995 World Chess Championship.
  "Through its sponsorship, Intel, one of the world's most
successful and forward looking companies, will help us bring the
ancient game of chess into the twenty-first century," said Bob
Rice, Commissioner of the PCA.  "In addition, their support
provides the resources sorely needed to expand the schools
program worldwide, helping thousands of children to gain the
skills and self-confidence necessary to enrich their lives."
  Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading
manufacturer of personal computer networking and communications
products.
                     THIS IS THE FULL TEXT
--
John Litvin
[email protected]

    BTW, Pentium is 64-bit technology.
    
    Mark.

Re: .34

By the same definition Intel is using for the Pentium, is the Alpha AXP
"128-bit technology" then? :-)

But, I guess, for marketing purposes the Pentium can be said to be 
"64-bit technology" (while not really meaning that it'd really be 
a 64-bit microprocessor).

...petri

    
    Pentium register size is 32 bits.
    
    I'm not sure about the data paths.
    

    
    Seems to me I've heard a certain amount of Digital bashing 
    ever since the company became successful. Now that the company
    has problems, a lot of bash-prone people just have all the more
    opportunity to be part of a jeering mob. 
    
    Remember, people with low self esteem try to make themselve look
    wise by criticizing others. Work hard, be nice to customers, 
    invest in the future, and success will come regardless of the 
    ever-present critics.
    
    BL

    
    Just some info read yesterday.
    
    Fortune Mag rated the computer industry.
    HP was no. 1
    Sun Was no. 2 or 3.
    Digital was no. 7 (lucky 7)
    IBM     was no. 8 
    Unisys  was no. 9
    
    I think there were 12-15 listed.
    
    Dave
    
     

    >    Fortune Mag rated the computer industry.
    
    Rated based on what?
    
    			Alfred

    
    I don't know. Didn't have time to read through then entire thing since
    I was on my lunch break. Sorry.
    
    It's the Feb issue dated 2/7.
                               
    Dave
    
    
    

	This discussion about Digital bashing actually suggested an ad campaign
to me...and, for a change, I'm serious (although I realize there are other notes
in this conference discussing Digital ad ideas). The idea is based on our
recognition of this bashing...and it's a TV ad that I'm thinking about.
	Hire Sylvestor Stallone or a look-alike. Place him at center ring,
puffy and bleeding, his head lowered, and facing the camera. While punches are
thrown from the camera direction, landing on our Rocky, the voice-over
says, "Lately (POW!), Digital has been the punching bag (POW!) of the computer
industry (POW!). Not only didn't we go down, but we have a little surprise in
store for our competitors." Rocky looks up angrily at the camera...Rocky theme
song kicks in quietly (and building) in the background. "We have a set of
products that are going to KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!" The camera pans back so you
can see the other fighter. As Rocky throws a wicked punch, the camera focuses
on the other fighter's legs and feet. The force of the punch knocks him out of
his socks. Only the smoking (for effect) socks remain. Then the voice-over
could say something like, "Digital - No more Mr. Nice Guy" or
"Digital - This time we mean business."

	Hey, it's just an idea...

    good idea, I'd just shorten the lines at the end, "Digital, ..., we
    mean business."

  <<< Note 2886.43 by XLIB::SCHAFER "Mark Schafer, Development Assistance" >>>

>>    good idea, I'd just shorten the lines at the end, "Digital, ..., we
>>   mean business."
    
    Or:
	"Digital, ..., an offer you can't refuse"

    
    I can just imagine Rodney Dangerfield doing a Digital commercial.
    

          2886.42 by STAR::DIPIRRO

    Brilliant !!!

    i also suggest instead of Sylvestor Stallone (DEC in the ad) fighting
    just one other fighter, you put like 3 or 4 bad guys in the ring
    all hitting Rocky in the head instead of just the one to one you your
    first sketch suggests.

    this will make it more dramatic and will show our perseverance and
    fighting ability to come back under adverse conditions.

    this will make a GREAT TV commercial, if only marketing listen to us.

    \nasser

Before we go on TV saying "we mean business", don't we
have to first figure out whether we really do mean business,
and if we do, just what that business is?

re: .47

not really. advertising sets perceptions, and they do not really need
to match reality.

    Excellent -- I vote for Rocky -  Great spin and would do wonders for
    morale  - Perchance an INTERNAL marketing program to everyone's
    attitudes re-adjusted!
    
    Dennis

    Just thought of something - We had an underground video called ALPAHMan
    --
    
    I wonder if we could do a bit with ALPHAMan and the no mor mister nice
    guy theme
    
    ALPHAMan WHere R U?
    
    Dennis

    I'm happy with the activity I've seen so far.
    
    We need to have our products covered in articles in the
    various trade rags.  Most articles don't mention our
    products, even if ours is the oldest, most standard, most
    advanced, etc.
    
    If you'd like an example, see last weeks Computerworld.
    IBM has SOM written up and glorified as the best standard
    object technology ever created, blah, blah.
    
    COM was mentioned as a non-CORBA compliant, not really object
    oriented, etc.  
    
    Kind of kills our fanfare of 2/8, talking all about COM.
    
    Also talks about NT servers, says COMPAQ is great, Digital
    not even mentioned, even though things like Sable
    will kick butt!!!
    
    Our customers and the sales reps of our competitor's
    rely on these articles to try and keep up with the times.
    They appear more readable than an SPD, and are supposedly
    objective.
    
    I met the Chief Technology Officer of Con Ed last Friday,
    and many of his comments were word for word from the issue
    of Computerworld I mentioned above.
    
    Maybe a highly visible "Rocky" ad campaign would get more of the
    average trade press staff writer to at least call us and ask,
    Digital, are you doing anything interesting in area X???
    
    We can be doing the greatest things in the world, but we can't
    be successful as the invisible man of the industry.
    
    Maybe an analogy to the terrific recovery of Chrysler in the late
    80's.  Alpha   - the cab forward of the computer world.
    
    Just a thought.
    
    Dan

    I remember the ALPHAMan video very well, a couple years back I think it
    was.  
    
    Not for network TV, certainly -- but DYNAMITE stuff for trade shows,
    college recruiting, sales force prep, anyplace where pizzazz and
    kick-a$$ rhetoric, laced with technology and fact, will make an
    impression.
    
    We need MORE of this sort of stuff, just as much IMHO as we need glossy
    ads in Newsweek or the WSJ.
    
    ALPHAMan, come back!!!
    

    >    COM was mentioned as a non-CORBA compliant, not really object
    >    oriented, etc.
    
    Until Microsoft decides that there's any benefit to their embracing
    CORBA, the only way you can bring the 2 object worlds together is
    through a bridge (which is how I view COM). I understand our portion of
    the COM agreement to be providing the ability for developers to treat
    MS Objects as if they were CORBA compliant and, from the MS side to
    view the CORBA world as if it were OLE compliant.
    
    The greatest part of standards is that there are so many to choose
    from.
    
    By the way, have any of the rags been beating up on SGI for not being a
    member of COSE?

    
    I've visioned an ad campaign which is a several part series.  First one
    is with DEC employess introcing us.  Hi, we are Digital and lately we
    have had some egg on our face.  That's changing (as we wipe our faces),
    we don't make watches, but we are the leader in computer technology. 
    We have: (list our offerings).  
    
    We have to acknowledge that we know things have gone wrong and we are
    changing.  Future ads could focus on certain markets, PC's, Networks,
    Software offerings, Workstations, etc, etc.  Gear each commercial
    towards a specific audience.  The last of the series could tie them all
    together in an office environment showing everything working together.  
    Acknowledge the difficulties, get our name out there, show the reality
    of what we can and have done.
    
    
    Mike

    Great idea, a theme should be "we are so nice, so lose a buck or two
    with us".

    I'd rather see adds about Unix, Hubs, Servers, Objects and the rest .

    >I'd rather see adds about Unix, Hubs, Servers, Objects and the rest 

	That's important, but what could also help is better awareness
	of all employees, who are facing customers and media of our
        offerings so that the wrong information can be corrected on the
	spot.

	It's not so long time ago, when sales and support offices seemed
	to compete on who can survive with the smallest amount of
	information and training for their people. It looks like the tide
	is turning (very slowly) in that sense. Let's hope it continues.

	--Ritva 

	I agree with the premise that we need to have our house in order 
  before we embark on this new adventure.  240 million dollars in unshipped 
  product revenue is nothing to rave about or considered acceptable.

	The question I would like to see answered by the SLT is:

	What does Digital want to be when it grows up ?

    
    
    I think a more appropriate question would be:
    
    "What does Digital want to be when it shrinks down"
                                          ^^^^^^^ ^^^^
    
    -Ed
    

    
    "...and you ?"

    I didn't mean to let our sales reps off the hook by 
    acknowledging that our image is a big part of the problem.
    
    I've seen some of the best account managers in the industry
    working for Digital, and some of the worst, and everything
    in between.  The really surprising thing is the inconsistency.
    
    Customer's consider their interaction with account managers
    to be interactions with "Digital".  No wonder our bad rap
    is attributed to never staying the same from one minute
    to the next.  If you change account managers, you can go
    from working with an excellent company to working with
    an incompetent one.  Only strong sales management can fix
    that.  Any manager who wanted to be someone within Digital
    stayed far away from Sales, and got as close to Engineering
    as possible.  The SLT has to acknowledge this history and
    focus their attention on bolstering the first line
    sales managers, and get some consistency in the eyes of
    the customers.
    
    Sales Training:  this was the worst of both worlds.  Too
    complex to be motivating regarding the strength of our
    products, not long enough to actually work through the
    complexities and TRAIN anyone.
    
    There are two choices here:  Take the risk of pulling sales
    people into class long enough to train them competently.
    Take people who have already trained themselves, have the
    technical sales excellence, and PAY them to do the technical
    sale.  Then, sales training is reduced to a one day 
    motivational session, saying your products are strong, here
    are your resources who can win over your customers, go out
    there and kill 'em!
    
    Why is this not a function of sales support?  Our sales support
    people are more technically competent than any company I've
    seen.  Personality wise, the majority seem like an engineer
    moved to the field.  This makes sense according to the rationale
    above:  anyone who wanted to be someone in Digital stayed
    as lose to engineering as possible.  If we want to penetrate
    beyond our installed base, we're going to need people more
    aggressive than this, people who take it personally when we
    lose.
    
    Doesn't what I'm saying make sense?
    
    Dan

    Re: .60  "Doesn't what I'm saying make sense?"
    
    NO!!! You are way off.

    re: .60
    
>    Doesn't what I'm saying make sense?
    
    I think it makes a lot of sense. In thirteen years in the Field with
    DEC, I've seen tremendous problems created by the "musical chairs"
    method of assigning reps to accounts. Every year at the end of the
    fiscal year, Sales Managers redistributed the plum accounts to their
    pet sales reps, and damn what the customer wants. 
    
    IBM always had two excellent things going for them: They would use
    their very best sales reps as trainers, and they kept account managers
    stable on the big accounts for years (in many cases *decades*). 
    The continuity provided them with time to make the *big* sales, and
    to truly understand the customers business needs and processes. But
    in Digital's case, our sales reps would barely learn the customer's
    purchasing procedures before they were reshuffled to another account.
    
    I think that things are really going to change in Sales under Lucente,
    but the real questions remain: Will it be enough change in time? And
    will Digital survive the trauma associated with those changes?
    
    Geoff

    Re .61,
    
    Could you elaborate on where I've missed the boat?  I explored
    my ideas with others at great lengths before airing them
    in public.  Many people will benefit from productive
    feedback.
    
    Re .62,
    
    IBM does exactly that.  Take AT&T for example.  They are IBM's
    #1 customer year in and year out (as well as SUN's, Stratus,
    NCR, possibly HP by now.... everyone but Digital).  They
    have folks who have been account managers there between 15 and 
    25 years!  They ask for a minimum commitment of 5 to 10 years
    from new employees to minimize disruption on the account.
    This has resulted in sustained revenue from the account in
    the hundreds of millions, year in and year out.
    
    What discourages me is that if a customer has to escalate
    an issue to a Sales manager, there is still no likelihood
    they will experience clear and consistent treatment from
    "Digital".  Even if a good rep later comes along, they are
    still held responsible for any previous mistakes, because
    they're from "Digital".
    
    I don't think it's irrational to attribute some of our
    flaws to being an engineering driven company.  It is
    the best way I have of explaining to myself why I'm having
    a much harder time selling far superior products than
    I had with my previous company.  I've been here for two
    years, and I have numerous examples already of problems
    encou�ntered with customers that directly relate to the
    things I am mentioning in this note string.
    
    Dan

    RE: .60
    
    (Sorry to be so short in my reply (.61), I was pressed for time after
    lunch and a phone call jerked me away.)
    
    
    	Its not that your comments are all wrong, it is just that
    Digital's major problems are not problems with how we "sell" or how we
    "manage accounts." 
    
    	The major problem in these areas shows up in the
    time we require our sales account managers to focus their attentions
    internally on Digital rather than on the customer! Our account managers
    are forced to spend at least half, if not three quarters, of their time
    and efforts working internal issues, "schmoozing" internal contacts,
    and performing miscellaneous fire drills.  AND, it has not gotten any
    better! As one of the noters earlier in this string commented,"The
    'new' digital is still doing business like the 'old' Digital!"
    
    	Therefore, a long discussion on how many good account managers
    versus how many bad account managers we have in sales, and what
    distinguishes each is not going to be productive. That's just not where
    the problems are.	
    

    Thanks for clarifying what you meant.
    
    I agree, our internal structure is still way too complicated,
    and 70% plus of the time required to solve account problems
    is spent getting them through Digital internal.
    
    My focus is on the customer's view of Digital when a less than
    admirable account manager has full control of their account
    situation.  I started out in sales support, and was frequently
    the only other Digital person present when the account manager
    dealt with the customer.  Most of them were fine, but some of
    them were a downright embarassment to Digital.  When I
    discreetly inquired as to how such a person could survive and
    thrive at Digital in traumatic times of cutbacks, I received
    a clear response.  Any rep who makes the number or exceeds the
    number is a great rep, period, end of subject.  In the case of
    one very unpleasant rep, he stole credit from other reps on
    the account, because making the number was so important!
    
    This is a huge difference between IBM and Digital.  IBM sales
    managers take a broader view.  If someone is an unethical, or
    incompetent representative, they may use a failure to make the
    numbers as a leverage to push them out the door.  On the flip
    side, one bad year for an excellent person does not ruin
    their career, or even their incentive based salary if they
    are an otherwise high quality person.
    
    From the customer's perspective:  Meeting with Digital is only
    worth their while if one of the people at the meeting is 
    knowledgable, and capable of the consultative selling process.
    The current training program for sales cannot accomplish this.
    With the current morale problems, I don't see many reps taking
    the time out of their personal lives to train themselves on
    our products.  Mandatory testing is not a motivator, success
    with customers is.
    
    So, now we have three identified problem areas:  lack of
    broad, fair coverage in the trade press, plus sniping of our
    image; internal processes that are so complex that no-one has
    enough energy left over after learning them to learn the
    equally complex product areas; and a lack of consistent 
    quality in the people that are "Digital" in the eyes of the
    customer.
    
    Anything else we're missing?
    
    Dan

    FYI:
    
    In speaking to my customer recently (a US Army medical research
    project), he said that whenever he mentions to people that he's working
    with DEC [sic] hardware and software, he routinely gets the response:
    
    	"DEC??? Why would you do that?  They're about to go under!"
    
    We are trying to get him onto an Alpha AXP platform, but it's hard
    because (says he) that 3rd party hardware firms that do the robotic
    and video acquisition products he needs don't see Digital as a vendor
    with a future.  Hence, he is under pressure to go Pentium.
    
    He says he likes the Alpha AXP systems, but he claims that few people
    outside of Digital seem to know they exist.
    
    I'm afraid I have to agree on his last point -- people don't know Alpha
    AXP from a hole in the wall.  I also have to agree that I keep hearing
    how Digital "will fold soon" from different people.  If this perception
    is as wide-spread as it seems, we will need to launch a very agressive
    campaign to let people know that we're still here and plan to stay
    here!
    
    Unfortunately, I see little sign of this campaign happening.  I see
    occasional use of popular media (which is good), but we need a more
    concerted effort to let people know that we are here and have leading
    edge technology and solutions to offer.
    
    -- Russ
    
    	  "Alpha AXP... What Pentium wants to be when it grows up."

    Re .-1
    
    The problem with launching a campaign that says that DEC isn't about to
    go under would most likely be interprted by people as confirmation
    that it will.
    
    Dave

        FYI, 

    i was playing chess tonite with a friend and he told after the
    game that today he read a big article in Boston globe (or is that
    Boston Telegraph?) about DEC alpha chip.

    since i dont read papers (too much bad news) i dont have the article,
    but i thought some of you might be interested in looking it up , my
    friend said that the article said that DEC has squandered its advantage
    lead it had in chip speed, but this is what he said the article said.

    \nasser

    
    Serious self-inflicted pain ---
    
    
    We are uncompetitive in helping a sales person turn customer interest
    into cash. This is a serious blow to revenue generation.
    
    
    Just look at how HP act in a red account if you want an example of real
    competitiveness -- any sniff of action, & they are there in force to
    close the opportunity & to win goodwill.
    
    Must confess all too often I see examples of that ultimate turn-off for
    any sales staff member -- Digital shooting itself in the foot once the
    sales rep has pushed a door open. I'm not in sales, but am totally
    dependent on their good work (aren't we all?)
    
    It hurts me to see good sales teams get a customer interested in
    something in concept, & then watch them struggle to get proof of
    concept into the customer. It hurts me to see delivery delays, &
    serious software & hardware reliability & performance problems.
    
    For all the noise about the quality of the sales force, & the need for
    more applications on Alpha, the fact remains that far too often good 
    sales folk are let down when they try to sell what we are alleged to 
    have available today. Typical recent problems :-
    
    	- poor availability of customer seed units to respond to an interest 
          very fast
    
    	- limited sales support staff to visit the customer with the seed
          unit to make sure they have installed OK, & that performance is
          optimised
    
    	- limited support staff to make sure the customer understands how
          to operate the widget, & to take feedback on initial perceptions
         
    	- poor (ie low availability) benchmarking capabilities, with
          limited range of configurations
    
    	- defective or unproven software (enabling applications & operating
          systems)
    
    	
    
    The list could go on, but I suspect you understand my point. One of key
    problems is demand fulfillment -- not just demand generation. Some of
    this conversion process is beyond the ability of generating $nk per day
    for involved staff. It is about competitive selling practices.
    
    I hope that the retrenchment programmes recognise these needs, & ensure
    customer support is at industry-best levels. I am not yet convinced.
    
    If you have responsibilities in any of these areas & want hard data to
    support the comments, please mail me at Colin Osborne @WLC.
    	
    Colin

    re: 68

    Since I dont have time to read papers should I say to my friends that
    \nasser said that his friend said that in Boston Globe (or Telegraph)
    a big article said that DEC has... :-)

	Joel

    RE: .65
    
    	I don't like to "rain on your parade", but here comes some
    precipitation:
    
    	You are marching in the wrong direction! Digital's problems need to
    be addressed starting at the account team and working back through
    the organization. Your discussion so far begins at the account team and
    moves toward the customer, and that is just not where the problems
    are!!!!
    

    re: .68 I read the article nasser refers to. It was in the Sunday
    Globe. Essentially it was inconclusive, but focussed on the fact that
    when we announced Alpha over a year ago, there was essentially no
    competition and we had an open market. But due to the lack of
    applications ported to Alpha, that now Intel and IBM have had the
    chance to catch up. A few different consultants were quoted, one saying
    we lost our lead and another saying we still had an opportunity to
    capitalize on Alpha now that more software is ported to it and that
    other vendors are putting the chips into their products (like virtual
    reality games, and other non-computer-oriented boxes that I can't
    remember).
    
    Debbie
    

Here's the text of the article.  In reading it, it became obvious that someone
gave the Globe the LiveWire transcript of Bob Palmer's quarterly DVN.

<><><><><><><><>  T h e   V O G O N   N e w s   S e r v i c e  <><><><><><><><>
 Edition : 3021              Tuesday 15-Feb-1994            Circulation :  6320 
VNS COMPUTER NEWS:                            [Tracy Talcott, VNS Computer Desk]
==================                            [Littleton, MA, USA              ]
 Digital - Is it too late for Alpha
	{The Boston Globe, 13-Feb-94, p. 77}
	[This is the entire article - TT]
   Digital Equipment's future depends on the superfast chip - but its one-year
 lead over rivals is gone

   Searching desperately for  a new product to speed it back to financial
 stability, Digital Equipment Corp. built itself the equivalent of a
 cutting-edge, high-performance Ferrari race car.
   Then it couldn't manage to find any gasoline.
   That is the way some analysts have come to see Digital's predicament 15
 months after the company released its most important new product, the Alpha
 AXP computer chip.
   The chip is good or even great, they say, the fastest on the market.  It
 makes a strong engine for a line of computers that Digital hopes will return
 it to prosperity.  And yet the software, the market excitement, the
 partnerships with other companies - all the things that would give the great
 new product some fuel - are sorely lacking.
   Even worse for the company and its 93,000 employees, more than a year has
 passed in which Digital had the field to itself.
   Now, the market for high-performance microprocessors is about to become
 crowded with rival products from Motorola Inc., IBM and Intel, all giant
 companies that by some accounts will muscle Digital from the road.
   "A year and a half lead has evaporated," said David M. Smith, an analyst
 with International Data Corp. in Framingham.  "They have a plant in Hudson
 that can build millions of Alpha chips, but what's going to happen?  You must
 ask yourself about the investment that Digital made in Alpha."
   "Digital blew it," said Richard D. Buchanan, an analyst with Forrester
 Research Inc., a market research firm in Cambridge.  "They did not execute ...
 they frittered away that year."
   Others both in and outside Digital say it is too early to know whether the
 chip will become popular.  Selling a new generation of technology, they argue,
 Digital needs time to convince buyers of Alpha's strengths.  In addition,
 buyers will only look at a new type of computer when they know what functions
 it can perform., and software that runs on Alpha-powered machines is just now
 being released.
   But while the market evaluates Alpha, Digital is losing money and slashing
 jobs.  Digital cannot wait forever for Alpha to gather speed.
   As its famous minicomputers have fallen out of favor, Digital has lost $3.8
 billion in the past three and one half years.  Ten of the last 11 quarters
 have been unprofitable.  Once the nation's second-largest computer company,
 Digital recently slipped to No. 3 behind IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
   In a bull market, investors have become impatient with the company, sending
 its stock to the lowest point in 13 years.  Digital shares closed Friday at
 29 3/4, far below the near-200 level of 1987.
   Chief executive Robert B. Palmer acknowledges that morale is low.  "Many of
 you are not happy, and in many cases you're not engaged," he told employees
 this month in a company-wide address.  "That doesn't surprise me.  Frankly,
 some days it's hard for me, too."
   Palmer added, however, that Digital is operating near its break-even point
 and will see profits soon.  And his view has support on Wall Street, from
 analysts at Prudential Securities, S.G. Warburg & Co. and several other firms.
 Some expect the company to turn a profit in 1995.
   But if Alpha fails, those expectations will likely fall flat, too.
   Alpha is Digital's entry in a class of microprocessor known as RISC, for
 reduced instruction set computing.  Microprocessors act as the "brains" of a
 computer, and the new RISC chips make computers work faster than ever, with
 software that is more complicated than before.
   For the companies building them RISC chips also offer hope they can finally
 steal a significant piece of the chip market away from Intel, the behemoth of
 the industry, with a more than 80% market share.
   Digital is not aiming to be the No. 1 chip maker, but it needs to sell Alpha
 in volume, some analysts say.  Just as cutthroat competition has steadily
 driven down the price of personal computers, the price of components is
 falling as well.  Producers have to sell many more components to make a
 profit, which they then spend to develop the next generation of products.
   At the same time, Digital needs to sell a high volume of Alpha chips and
 Alpha-powered computers to offset revenue it no longer earns from its VAX
 minicomputers.  In fact, it needs to offset every lost VAX dollar with more
 than a dollar in Alpha sales.
   That is because minicomputers carried a profit margin of 60%, while Alpha
 machines - workstations, personal computers and a type of computer called a
 server, which stores and sends files on a computer network - carry margins of
 30% to as low as 10%.
   So, where will Digital get the volume?
   IBM, Motorola and Apple - which have collaborated on the development of a
 RISC chip called PowerPC - scored a win last year when Ford Motor Co. said it
 would use the chip to control mechanical functions in new Ford cars.  The deal
 came even though a retired Ford chairman and chief executive sits on Digital's
 board.
   A RISC chip from MIPS Technologies Inc. received a boost this month when
 Nintendo of America Inc. agree to use it in its next generation of video
 games.  In the United States alone, home video games are a $6 billion
 business.  Some analysts say they have seen few similar volume-building deals
 from Digital.
   Sun Microsystems is already the leader in selling RISC-powered workstations
 - a powerful type of desktop computer - and has a cadre of loyal users.  So
 does Hewlett-Packard.
   Sun and Hewlett-Packard have had RISC chips on the market for several years.
 But when Digital released its Alpha in November 1992, it was generally
 recognized as a full step ahead in speed and processing ability.
   Within months, however, that lead will be gone, many say.  While Alpha may
 still be the fastest chip, PowerPC and a new Intel chip called Pentium will
 start to ship in volume.  And the volumes will be large.
   Apple and IBM make more computers than anyone in the nation, and Intel
 already sells more chips than anyone.  Intel's Pentium - which, although not a
 RISC chip, is similarly speedy - can run the tens of thousands of software
 applications that work on the older Intel products, giving it a significant
 advantage.,
   Digital has inked a number of deals with companies that will use the Alpha
 in their products,  They include Kubota Corp., which makes high-end
 workstations, the super-computer company Cray Research, and Olivetti, the
 world's 13th largest computer maker.
   But some analysts are unimpressed.
   "You don't have a Compaq.  You don't have a brand-name PC maker picking up
 Alpha yet," says Jack Fegreus, editor of Digital News & Review, a
 Newton-based trade magazine.
   Digital's "problem is that nobody else who really matters in the grand
 scheme of things has adopted the Alpha architecture," said Marc Schulman,
 president of Technology Strategies Group, a Stamford, Conn., consulting firm.
 "Until then, people will view Alpha as a chip only for use in DEC systems."
   To Digital, which is working on a new $425 million plant in Hudson to make
 Alpha and other chips, this kind of talk is not fair.
   Company officials say they are confident they can meet the threshold of 2
 million Alpha chips sales each year they need to remain a viable chip maker.
 Besides Alphas, said Ed Caldwell, vice president of semiconductor operations,
 the company will have to sell 3 million of other types of chips.
   "We're not trying to be everything to everyone.  We're trying to achieve
 market domination in the segments that offer us the best opportunities," said
 Willy C. Shih, a Digital vice president for several lines of Alpha products.
   "Let IBM take on Intel," he said.  "We're targeting only certain focused
 markets."
   At the annual Toy Fair expo in New York tomorrow, for instance, Kubota
 Pacific Computer Inc. is slated to announce an $11 million deal to supply
 Alpha-powered workstations of Visions of Reality Corp. for "virtual reality"
 games to be placed in malls and amusement parks.  Digital officials say the
 deal opens a growing opportunity.
   In developments not previously reported, Digital has won seven major
 technical tests of video-on-demand systems.  Digital supplied "video servers,"
 which store and send movies and other programming to viewers on demand.  The
 company says these servers represent a new and potentially lucrative market.
   Alpha is also appearing as an "embedded microprocessor" in a number of
 products.  Embedded chips control the functions of a variety of machines, fro
 microwave ovens to stair-climber exerciser machines.
   Most important, say Digital officials and some analysts, is that the
 software to support Alpha is just beginning to become available.
   By midyear, 1,200 to 1,500 software applications will have been announced,
 Digital officials say.  These are programs that help bankers, financial
 analysts, product designers and other people who use computers to do work.
   At the same time, Alpha's success is closely tied to how consumers view a
 core layer of software called the operating system which controls a computer's
 basic functions.
   Alpha runs on several kinds of operating systems but the one that could
 drive most of its sales is called Windows NT.  Microsoft created Windows NT
 and hopes it will become the standard for computers linked in networks in
 businesses.  Digital worked closely with Microsoft to make sure Alpha worked
 well with the operating system.
   But Windows NT itself was somewhat late, and market acceptance is moving
 slowly.  Analysts are divided on whether the system will eventually catch on
 and help push Alpha.
   "This is not a blitzkrieg," said Caldwell, Digital's vice president, of the
 coming chip wars.  It's a war of attrition.  It's about who can keep
 investing, who can keep making innovations.
   Digital will need cash to sustain the war.  Until Alpha catches on with new
 customers, the company and some analysts have taken solace in the thought that
 Digital can sell its new products to its huge base of existing minicomputer
 customers.
   Even there, Digital has a challenge.
   Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc., an Edmonton, Alberta, operator of oil
 pipelines, has been a Digital client for years.  Now, the company wants a new
 system to help it schedule how oil runs through its pipelines.
   The new system will run on desktop computers and servers, rather than on
 Interprovincial's Digital-made VAX minicomputers.  Besides Digital, project
 manager Bob Crosty has invited Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard to set up
 computers in his shop and show what they can do.
   Now and in the future, Crosty said, Digital will have to compete for
 Interprovincial's business against other companies, project by new project.

   [The following time line accompanies the article - TT]
   Alpha represented Digital Equipment's hope for the future when it was
 unveiled by former chairman Ken Olsen in 1992.
   Chairman Robert Palmer is under pressure as Alpha battles for a place in an
 increasingly competitive market.

   October 1990 - Digital gives official status to an internal group developing
		  Alpha.
   July 1991 -    IBM and Apple announce alliance to work on their new chip,
		  PowerPC.  The deal is compared to Ford and GM building a new
		  car engine together.
   February 1992 - After three years of work and an estimated $500 million
		  investment, Digital unveils Alpha.  Two computer makers
		  already say they will use the chip: Cray Research Inc. and
		  Kubota Corp. of Japan.
   March 1992 -   Digital pays a hefty premium for a stake in Olivetti of
		  Italy, which will now put Alpha in its computers.
   November 1992 - Digital unveils its first Alpha machines, nearly a year
		   ahead of the first PowerPC appearance.
   March 1993 -   Intel introduces its high-powered Pentium chip.
   September 1993 - IBM introduces first workstations using PowerPC.
   October 1993 - Intel says that more than 60 different computer makers are
		  using Pentium chips.
   November 1993 - Apple says it wants to put PowerPC chips in its popular
		   Macintosh computers as soon as possible, indicating big
		   sales for the chip.
   Late 1993 -    PowerPC chosen as mechanical control chip for Ford cars.
   January 1994 - Digital reports unexpected loss for final quarter of 1993,
		  its 10th loss in 11 quarters.
   February 1994 - Nintendo says its next generation of video games will use
		   MIPS chips, generating volumes for another Alpha competitor.
   March 1994 -   Macintosh with PowerPC is scheduled for launch.
   Mid-1994 -     First IBM personal computers with PowerPC are due.

    Too bad they didn't speculate as to why it's failed.  EV4's initial
    $1300+ price tag gets my vote.

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Note 4607.0            Reasonable press coverage, FINALLY!            No replies
PIKOFF::SMITH "All that is gold does not glitter"    12 lines   3-MAR-1994 20:23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Congratulations to whomever is dealing with Communications Week.
    The interview with Steve McIntosh on pg 20 of the 2/28/94
    is the most reasonable press coverage of Digital I have seen
    in the two years I've been with the company.
    
    Whatever you did to make this kind of progress, KEEP
    DOING IT, and try to get to the other major industry
    rags.
    
    Thanks again!
    
    Dan (tired of being kicked or ignored by the press) Smith