An informed view

So, where does Alpha go now? Digital is attempting to close the deal to allow Intel to join Samsung and Mitsubishi in manufacturing Alpha chips, and Compaq is buying Digital. A few analysts and journalists are reading a lot into this and even going so far as to interpret it as the death of the Alpha chip -- again. Rather than listen to individuals on the outside who frequently have hidden agendas, here are some quotes from people on the inside -- people not only in the know, but people making the policy or intimately involved in it. The quotes included here were not chosen just because they paint a rosey picture for Alpha, but because they are the only quotes from company officials related to the topic. All these quotes can be found in the News articles for January, 1998.

But first, a note from Eckhard Pfeiffer's office. I'd been forwarded an email penned by Mr. Pfeiffer that professed continued support for OpenVMS and Digital UNIX customers, with no reference to Windows NT on the Alpha platform. I wrote a note to Mr. Pfeiffer asking his position on Windows NT on Alpha, and this is what was sent back to me:

Date: Wed, 11 Feb 98 08:33:18 From: kevin.longino@compaq.com Subject: Response to your letter To: "'sakovich@hsv.sungardtrust.com'" sakovich@hsv.sungardtrust.com Cc: Dear Mr. Sakovich, Mr. Pfeiffer is out of the country this week and asked me to follow-up with you regarding the email below. The "Letter to Digital Customers" you referenced below is in fact from Mr. Pfeiffer. It was penned and made available the morning of January 26, 1998. Please accept our apologies for the confusion. First, let me say we are committed to supporting our Digital customers. To us that means continued support of Digital's Alpha microprocessor based platforms using the Windows NT, OpenVMS, and Digital UNIX Operating Systems. Second, it is important to us that you know that. Based on your input we will be reviewing all current and future communications to assure clarity on this point. So thank you for pointing out the confusion in the letter and if there are any other questions I can answer for you please let me know. Kevin Longino Kevin.Longino@compaq.com

Eckhard Pfeiffer, CEO, Compaq

"We are confident and comfortable in supporting Alpha now and in the future."

"Digital has always been known for its rich technology, which was never fully utilized. We can take that much, much further."

Bob Fernander, vice president of enterprise, Compaq

"Compaq wants Alpha to be successful. It's fundamental to this transaction."

"If Alpha can compete with Merced, Alpha can live a long life. The question then is, can we keep Alpha ahead of Merced and have another layer of technology that is viable from a performance point of view."

"Digital's expertise with 64-bit technology development is the deepest in the industry. And they have the services to go with it. Though it may not be on NT yet, they understand how to take applications to 64 bit, how to exploit the very large memory capacity of some of these machines. These things are very important assets in this migration that comes from the transition with Digital."

Karl Walker, vice president of technology development, Compaq

From a technical standpoint, Alpha is a very capable processor. Digital has done a very good job of developing it in terms of both architecture and silicon processor technology.

Robert Palmer, CEO, Digital

"Alpha's future is brighter than ever."

"I think it's very clear that some of the technologies that are resident today in Compaq, resident today in Tandem, resident today in Digital could be better combined to create new systems. The systems we're talking about today have been under development for some time. And these systems, as far as the hardware is concerned are not radically different. I mean, we're continuing on our Alpha road map, of innovation."

Bill Strecker, vice president of research and development, Digital

I think it's a big, big boost for Alpha. We have a volume company in the form of Compaq bringing Alpha into the fold. Everyone for years has acknowledged the performance of Alpha. What we see here is a volume computer company with Alpha technologies. That's a dynamite combination.

Bruce Claflin, senior vice president, Digital

The key here is there is very little product overlap and enormous complementary strengths. Compaq has a great product business, but they have almost no service. We have an enormous service business. Compaq has a great Intel business, but they have no extension beyond it. We have Alpha.

 

John Rose, senior vice president and general manager of Enterprise Computing

The strengths of Digital, including leadership platforms, innovative technology, and, of course, global services, are key elements of our success going forward. Compaq continues committed to these investments and its strategic assets. (From the Digital and Microsoft Alliance for Enterprise Computing event, 28 January; Mr. Rose made his presence at the event, and Compaq's support of the Alliance, evident. He was the only representative of a computer company other than Digital or Microsoft on-stage.)

 

Bill Gates, CEO, Microsoft

"I do think the combination of Digital and Compaq is a very positive thing for Windows NT."

"...getting up to these 64-processor clusters that we're talking about here, getting the very large memory support, these are very specific things that customers are telling us we need to do, and that's why we've increased the R&D we put behind Windows NT, and the joint R&D we have with Digital quite substantially, because the demand is out there for those capabilities."

Make up your own mind.