Conference clusta::acms

4111.0. "FAQs for Digital/BEA Strategic Partnership" by MAYTAG::FERGUSON () Wed Feb 26 1997 15:29

We have received a number of calls recently regarding the DIGITAL/BEA 
strategic partnership.  Below are the most frequently asked questions and 
responses. If you have additional questions or comments please contact:
[email protected]

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1. This announcement seems to imply the DIGITAL strategic investment in 
middleware is only with BEA. Is this the case?

No, DIGITAL will continue to make strategic investments in engineering
middleware products as noted in the announcement. This would include our DCE, 
ACMSxp, ACMS, RTR and other middleware components and the tools that support 
them. Strategic Alliance partners with middleware investments include Computer
Associates, Microsoft, and Oracle.


2. As a current DIGITAL customer, I have applications which use both DMQ and 
ACMS. Will these products continuing to work with each other? 

Yes, ACMS will continue to work with DECmessageQ. Current customers should not 
see any changes in the ability of ACMS and DECmessageQ to work together. 

As part of the agreement DIGITAL continues to make a direct engineering 
development investment in ObjectBroker and DECmessageQ. DIGITAL will also 
continue to make investments to develop underlying distributed systems software
with BEA and other partners.


3. Is this the only DIGITAL solution for middleware integration and delivery 
of OTM functionality?

No. DIGITAL and BEA have entered into a strategic partnership. DIGITAL also
has Strategic Alliances with Computer Associates, Microsoft, and Oracle that 
serve a very diverse market and set of customers. 

Additional middleware/OTM solutions are available. In particular Digital 
is working to integrate its high level transaction processing language 
(STDL) with the Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), providing a powerful, yet 
simplified method for developing object based transactional applications for 
Windows NT. 

The availability of DCOM for DIGITAL UNIX and OpenVMS will extend the OTM
solution based on Microsoft technology to the DIGITAL solutions. ACMSxp will
demonstrate ActiveX support during the Windows NT Wizards Symposium
in Seattle, WA during early March, 1997.

DIGITAL also offers RTR, a unique, highly differentiated product that provides 
site shadowing and software fault tolerance for widely distributed transaction
systems.


4. So what does this announcement imply about the ACMS products? Is DIGITAL
de-emphasizing these products.

On the contrary, aggressive investments plans are in place in the ACMS product
family. We have already demonstrated the use of the ACMSxp's high level 
language (STDL) with Microsoft's Transaction Sever. Work is underway to deliver 
a powerful, simplified object oriented transaction capability on Windows NT, 
DIGITAL UNIX, and OpenVMS by combining our technology with Microsoft's. 


5. If my customer has an investment in ACMS or RTR, does this announcement 
imply that they should plan on changing to the BEA product set?

There is no need for your customer to plan changes in their infrastructure. 
DIGITAL continues to investment in these products.  DIGITAL is 
investing in these products to deliver enhancements in the areas of the 
Internet, objects and workflow. These are cross platforms products available 
on all Digital platforms. RTR is available today on a number of non-DIGITAL 
Unix platforms, and ACMSxp will be available on non-DIGITAL Unix in the near 
term.

  
6. What is DIGITAL's component object strategy?

There are two competing component object technologies, DCOM from Microsoft 
and CORBA from Object Management Group (OMG). It is not clear at this 
point whether either or both will become standards. The DIGITAL strategy is to 
offer both technologies on our industry leading Alpha platform.

DIGITAL continues to work with Microsoft to provide DCOM support for all 
DIGITAL platforms.

The engineering expense required to offer a CORBA product that conforms to the
latest specifications (including Object Transaction Service support) is 
substantial.  It makes sense to partner with BEA to provide this capability,
accelerating the development and sharing the cost. 

DIGITAL customers will benefit with the capability to select the object
solution, CORBA or DCOM, that best meets their needs.


7. What is the DIGITAL strategy for TP Applications?

DIGITAL will continue to offer a variety of TP solutions to best meet the 
needs of our customers.  These include monitors such as ACMS, ACMSxp from 
DIGITAL, Tuxedo from BEA, CICS/6000 from IBM, and Microsoft Transaction Server 
(MTS) from Microsoft. This will allow DIGITAL to compete for customers who have 
chosen to use these products. Each of these products offers capabilities to 
meet specific customer requirements.

DIGITAL will continue to support and enhance its own ACMS family of TP 
products.  ACMS has been very successful because it simplifies the development 
and management of TP applications.  ACMS pioneered 3-tier client/server 
transaction processing, and has over 12,000  licenses.  It is in use by most 
large DIGITAL customers.  These customers have developed and installed mission
critical "bet their businesses" applications on the ACMS family of products.
DIGITAL will support their confidence with continued development and support 
for ACMS and the portable cross-platform version, ACMSxp.


8. Does DIGITAL plan to sell the ACMS family of products?

Definitely not.  From its first release ACMS continues to be a very successful 
product for DIGITAL and the customers who use ACMS.  DIGITAL has been 
increasing its investment in the ACMS family and intends to continue to 
enhance the ACMS product family to retain and gain customers.

An example of this investment is the TP Internet Server announced and
delivered in July 1996.  Based on ACMSxp and the DIGITAL AltaVista Tunnel, TP
Internet Server was the first product to provide ACID transactions from the
desktop to the back-end server using the Internet.

The DIGITAL commitment to customers of the ACMS product family remains strong.


9. What enhancements are planned for these products?

At this time planned enhancements for ACMS include:
	  - Web client support
	  - Interoperation with Microsoft Transaction Server via Cedar
	  - TCP/IP support
	  - CDD dependency elimination
	  - Application management enhancements

The enhancements being planned for ACMSxp include:
	  - STDL on Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS)
	  - Integration with component object technologies: DCOM and
	    Automation from Microsoft, CORBA/IIOP, Oracle NCA.
	  - Object oriented extensions to STDL
	  - Java support, for client and administration	
	  - availability on additional UNIX platforms
         

10. How strategic is the relationship with BEA Systems Inc.?

DIGITAL has different levels of relationships. The relationships with 
Oracle, CA, and Microsoft are Strategic Alliances.  We announced a 
strategic partnership with BEA.  Regardless of terminology, DIGITAL considers 
all partnerships to be important to DIGITAL and its customers.


11. Why is the ACMS family of products important to Digital?

ACMS is important to DIGITAL for a number of reasons. Most 
importantly, it is critical to the customers who use ACMS to support their
business requirements.  These customers have made "bet your business" 
decisions, using the ACMS family for truly mission critical applications.


12. The press release said "DIGITAL has chosen BEA TUXEDO as its strategic 
transaction middleware product for their open systems platforms,..."  Is the 
ACMS Family strategic to DIGITAL?

Yes, ACMS and the ACMS family remain strategic to DIGITAL and its customers.  
DIGITAL continues to invest and enhance the products and is working with 
partners to bring additional capabilities to customers. The ACMS Family
continues to play an important role in the Affinity for OpenVMS and
AllConnect for DIGITAL UNIX solutions.

As noted in the release, DIGITAL is pursuing multiple strategies and 
partnerships to gain the broadest possible market leverage.


13. Can ACMS and ACMSxp still be sold to new accounts?

Definitely yes. ACMS and ACMSxp must be recommended in those situations where 
it makes sense to the customer.

If the customer has a requirement for the industry leading very high 
availability found on OpenVMS, both ACMS and ACMSxp would be choices for the
customer.  If the customer needs an open solution and OpenVMS interoperability,
the best choice would be ACMSxp.

If the customer would like the openness and ease of use capabilities of the 
X/Open STDL high level TP language, ACMSxp is an excellent choice. If the 
customer needs a native DCE mapping, ACMSxp provides the solution.


14. Why will TUXEDO be available on OpenVMS? Does this mean ACMS is no longer
a strategic product?

High performance solutions such as transaction processing may need the 
advanced features of OpenVMS to provide a complete offering.  The industry 
leading very high availability and clustering capability of OpenVMS provide a 
vehicle for truly mission critical applications such as those offered by ACMS, 
ACMSxp and TUXEDO. 

TUXEDO will be available on OpenVMS for those customers who need the specific 
capabilities offered by TUXEDO.  The availability of TUXEDO on OpenVMS will
also provide TUXEDO customers a bridge to OpenVMS. ACMSxp currently provides
OpenVMS, DIGITAL UNIX and Windows NT interoperability.

ACMS and ACMSxp remain strategic offerings from DIGITAL.


15. Many ACMS customers also use DECmessageQ? How will this impact them?

For the near term, the product strategies will not change.  BEA will continue
the development of these products based on the existing engineering plans of
DECmessageQ.  As part of the agreement DIGITAL continues to make a direct 
engineering development investment in DECmessageQ, specifically to meet the
needs of existing DIGITAL customers.   


16. BEA refers to the the BEA "universal middleware infrastructure" featuring
Tuxedo, DECmessageQ, and ObjectBroker.  Does this mean DIGITAL will not offer
integrated middleware? 

Independently and with partners, DIGITAL will continue to develop and implement
integrated middleware solutions.  For example, in November 1996 DIGITAL 
announced and demonstrated integration of STDL with the Microsoft Transaction 
Server. 


17. The DIGITAL/BEA customer presentation show the BEA solution as the
total solution for multiplatform connectivity?  What does this mean?

The DIGITAL/BEA partnership is one example of how products work together
to meet specific customer needs. In many cases the requirements of the 
customers will vary.  This is one reason DIGITAL offers a variety of
solutions such as the ACMS family, CICS from IBM, and other TP products.
 

18. UNIX customers are asking: "Should I go to BEA for my TP monitor?"  Is this
correct?

It is the goal of DIGITAL to be the vendor of choice as customers select the
middleware solution to best meet their needs.  The comprehensive offerings from
DIGITAL and its partners provide the infrastructure most customers will need. 

ACMS, ACMSxp, TUXEDO, and CICS, along with other middleware solutions, may be 
sold by DIGITAL and partner sales representatives to provide the best solution 
for the customer.

Please refer to the DIGITAL web sites for additional information.

http://www.software.digital.com

Hi,

"The DIGITAL commitment to customers of the ACMS product family remains strong."

Sorry, but I find it very difficult to accept this assumption.

Look what we already sold (and did to our customer base) -

Rdb - The best DB on VMS.
DMQ - The best middleware !!! On VMS, Unix (From many vendors), NT.
Other SW products, like Object broker, Polycenter etc.

So, maybe we (especially non native English speakers) understand the meaning of
"commitment" differently then Digital corporate management.

- Amir.