Compaq Says IBM is Jumping the Gun: AlphaServers to be Manufactured until 2008

There's been a bit of confusion about what's going on between Compaq and Intel in respect to the Alpha platform moving around the bend. Neither Compaq nor Intel has really given anyone a time frame that says when Compaq will stop producing AlphaServers and or when Alpha technology will be absorbed into Intel's processors. In fact, yesterday , IBM, seeking to aid those lost souls stranded in the Alpha wasteland, put forth an offer to foot the bill for consulting with Compaq Alpha customers to figure out how much it would cost to move them to IBM's pSeries RS/6000 computer systems. Apparently, that struck a nerve with Compaq. Yesterday, in an internal newsletter for Compaq employees, Jim Burton of Compaq's Tru64 UNIX Marketing had this to say:

"There is no compelling reason for any Alpha customer to move to another platform. AlphaServers are going to be manufactured until 2008 and supported until 2012. Compaq has a long history of supporting our server customers. Compaq customers are taking an unnecessary and expensive step if they move from a perfectly good AlphaServer to an IBM platform today. Compaq has contributed millions of dollars into a joint fund with Intel to retain Compaq ISVs as they move to IPF. This transition from Alpha to IPF should be no more difficult than the previously proposed transition from Alpha EV7 to EV8. Compaq's OpenVMS and Tru64 UNIX customers are generally a very happy group. Both scored at the top of the 1998 Dataquest customer satisfaction survey. AIX customers rated their satisfaction with the platform at the bottom of all competitors. Maybe Compaq should be `rescuing' IBM's customers."

And, just maybe, Compaq should be a bit more public about what's going on so that its customers (and the press who inform them) know what's going on. If the information supplied to us is true, Compaq Alpha customers have quite a bit of time to make platform choices.