| Bob, am I missing something? When and in what form did "our net
mgmt project hit the skids lately?" What project? And what kind
of network is Met talking about?
Did Met invite us in to discuss how we would look at and solve their
business problem, or did they invite us in to explain some perceived
difficulties we might be having? What was the nature of their
perception? What might IBM be capitalizing upon?
This is all news. It needs some explanation.
Ed McDevitt
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| Ed
EMA (Enterprise Management Architecture) is no longer available
for PID. Reason? What we spent the last 2 years doing must be
redone. That's all I've been told.
What Met wants is one or two vendors on which to base their network
management design of the future. They will consider DEC, and No,
they do not know our current situation.
However, I find it curious that 3 major companies are doing the
same thing at the same time. I've been fighting IBM so long I smell
a big blue rat.
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| We have been receiving some disturbing RFP's lately from AEtna that
intimate a very focused and calculating strategy by IBM (and AT&T)
to exploit our current network management plight.
One RFP was to propose a solution to "DECnet over SNA" to allow remote
access to VAX-based applications by IBM terminals and DEC terminals,
and to "simplify multivendor network management." (Our main
competition was IBM/Interlink and a company called Forrest something
or other. I've never even heard of them.)
We've also had a lot of pressure in the network management space.
AEtna has Netview installed, and might pilot AT&T's UNMA. They're
looking for a multivendor solution, and they are not willing to
wait until EMA is deliverable. I have already documented our situation
and the various delay tactics I have employed to maintain our chances.
I sent this information to Marlboro with an urgent request that
more software engineering resources be applied to the task, and
that time to market be a priority.
The coincidence of AEtna, New York Life, and Met. all receiving
similar requests was discoved at a recent class where representatives
from each sales team were present. It is a fact, and is very disturbing.
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