Conference iosg::all-in-1_v30

    
    
    re. -1
    
 >   Andy
 >   
 >   Are you going to update your 'ALL-IN-1 Programming Hints and Hacks'
 >   I found this document quite useful after your course last autumn.
 >   I'm sure there is much in this Q&A doc that new engineering IT's
 >   could gain from once they get the hang of ALL-IN-1, or vice versa. ;-)
 >   
 >   Richard
    
    Well I would have liked to have done but as I leave DEC in 6 days to
    emigrate to Australia I don't think I'm going to have time! Maybe if
    (one day) I get a job in DEC Oz I'll get round to it. ;-)
    
    Andy
                                                              

    After ten remarkable years at Digital, I've been given the opportunity 
    (voluntarily) to expand my horizons.  I will be leaving on August 14th
    for a popular and much smaller PC/LAN software company called Lotus.
  
    I just wanted to say "THANK YOU" and "good-bye" to probably some of the
    most professional and dedicated people I've had the pleasure of
    working with.  The "office" folks: ALL the partners, the marketeers,
    the engineers, the CSC folks, and all those "casts-of-thousands" in
    NOTES-land -- I will miss your style, your anecdotes, your help, your
    late night "status-review" sessions in the bar, your RTFM's, your
    correct spellings of ALL-IN-1 (Don V.), our DECworlds.  And most of
    all -- I'll miss those Office Partner's Meetings.
  
    If you're ever in Chicago and the erg moves you, give one of the
    remaining Office Partners in the area a call -- they'll know how to
    find me.
  
    Wishing all of you the very best, Good Luck, Good Cheer, Good-bye, 
    Jon ...
  
    Ps:	I'm taking my Charlotte Package documentation with me -- who knows, it 
        may come in handy some day.

    After 10 years of following this conference, I must say goodbye.  In a
    little ceremony this morning, I, like many others, was read my rights
    and told that I was being "involuntarily terminated" from Digital
    effective Friday.  It all reminds me of an episode of Star Trek.
    
    I want to thank all the people who have helped me and others out of
    serious jams, and made me look smarter than I actually am.  It
    absolutely amazes me how many people spend their off-hours helping
    people they've never met.  I've met many of you who don't even realize
    it because of my shyness at identifying myself.  One of my big reasons
    for attending training was to put faces with all the fascinating
    people.  I hope that I shall meet some of you in other places.  Perhaps
    I will get a chance to attend DECUS some day.  I hope to move back to
    Massachusetts, but will probably have to wait until the economy
    improves.  
    
    Good luck to all of you.  I sincerely hope that this is works out for
    all of us.  I am still sold on this product and will try to keep making
    it work better for people everywhere.
    
    Regards,
    Ben Howard

 Not you too, Lou.   Ah, whatta bummer.  
 
 I still remember meeting and working with you at DECworld '86.  Remember
 the system account and password we used on all the machines on the parking
 lot garage floor of the Boston Sheraton ???
 
 Username: MASS
 Password: CONFUSION
 
 Sounds even more appropriate today, doesn't it ???
 
 Something else that seems important tonote in today's Digital as well ...
 That is, the office systems strategy (or lack thereof).   
 
 The madcap confusion and utter chaos among all the different disconnected
 pieces ... ALL-IN-1, DESKtop, TeamLinks, ObjectWorks, UNIX, ULTRIX,
 Client-Server, Phase II, DIAMOND, EMERALD, Starter, and so on and so on is
 *KILLING* the golden goose.
 
 I first noticed this phenomenon back in March at the Office Partners
 meeting in Danvers.   That was the first time I had heard someone in the
 field make a direct connection between the types of people being laid off
 and the lack of an office market vision.   Opened my eyes *WIDE*.   I
 listened as the Partners recounted story after story how District Managers
 back home were targeting their OA resources for cuts since the DM's
 couldn't make heads or tails out of all the office confusion.
 
 Now it's hit me (and all the rest of the Charlotte Office and Desktop
 Integration Group, the birthplace of ALL-IN-1) and good solid OA gurus
 like Lou Northern as well.
 
 When will it end ???   How will it end ???   I used to think it could be
 fixed at the grass-roots level, that is, just keep doing your job against
 all odds and the "right" things will happen.   Well, I was wrong.  Dead
 wrong.   Digital is going to have to articulate a clear, concise, modern
 and intelligent plan for attacking the office and desktop market or it's
 going to have to abandon it.
 
 I don't see any signs of any such plan any time soon.   We still have too
 many overlapping products trying to square-peg themselves into too many
 round niches.   Customers are confused.  Sales reps are exasperated.  
 We're way too late and many dollars too short.   And, if you're an OA
 specialist, you're at *severe* risk.   At some point in time, they'll call
 you "redundant" even though you're not.   They'll call you "obsolete" even
 though you're not.    They'll call you "excess capacity" even though
 you're not.
 
 But they'll call you "involuntarily separated" and you will be.  These are
 *dangerous* times to be an OA specialist inside Digital Equipment
 Corporation and they will be until someone "up there" steps forward with a
 vision that's got some intelligence in it.
 
 Bob Hunt

    I will be as non-traditional as Lou and also say my goodbyes here in
    this note.  Got notified Monday, and will be toast as of 5pm this
    Friday.  ALL-IN-1 has been a lot of fun and I've met countless good
    people as a result of my mindless dedication to this funky product, but
    I'd do it again in a minute if I had to.
    
    Keeping the faith in the product, if not the company...
    Jon

        Oh no!  Not another.  Well, bye from me too.  If you have
        access to the Internet, drop a line to that famous one 
        and me (lampson@Eisner.DECUS.org).
        
        Interesting what Bob said.  I just got a firsthand story
        from the European DECUS about a customer that spoke up at
        the DEC asks the Sig session.  A customer said they were
        confused.  DEC is so many products and the names keep 
        changing and the focus keeps changing.  Last year, this
        customer came out of DECUS with the message Desktop was
        the most important product.  He also wandered around
        and couldn't find anything on ALL-IN-1 Mail ... it had
        been renamed DEC MAILworks.
        
        Well, a certain marketeers who shall remain nameless to
        protect his guilt said, "We realize that DEC has too many
        products and that the sales team has a difficult time
        finding the right product in the price book.  We are 
        in the process of fixing the price book."
        
        Well, somehow, I don't think fixing the price book will
        make it any easier for this customer to get Digital's 
        office strategy and apply it towards making his company
        more sucessful.
        
        Digital has lost sight of the forest.  It can barely see
        the trees (that it is currently chopping down).
        
        _Mike

    Bye Y'all, 

    Well I'm off as well to capitalism's scrap heap September 30th... but I
    wouldn't dare to put myself in the same league as the people in
    Charlotte, and unlike most redundancees(?) I'm  pretty happy because
    I wanted out anyway to pursue my academic career.                   
                                                                        
    There's seems to have been some silence in here regarding IOSGs 'reorg'
    but it has been very, very minor, and only a few fringe projects have
    been dropped.  But I think people should know. If the mods/Gods don't
    then they can take this off.                                        
                                                                        
    My feelings are similar to Bob's Hunt, except its the lack of       
    new directions/vision of the future for us that was the weight that
    tipped the balance in favour of doing an MSc in AI. I'd have wanted to
    stay if I thought we were the leading edge - as far as I can tell we're
    not anymore. I'm off to learn and innovate before I'm not just 'surplus
    to requirements' but 'obsolete' as well.                               
                                     
     Commiserations to Charlotte and the rest of you being forced out by
     (a) Short Sighted Profit Motive (b) Poor Vision, and commiserations
    to those who want out, but couldn't.
    
    For y'all in the UK, the Farewell Party is September 30th... contact
    me by mail (hey this is a public forum!!) IOSG will get the details
    soon.
                                                                 
    Winton                                                       

	Winton,

	I'm sorry to hear your news.  It only serves to accentuate the problem.
If it's any consolation, at least you are the proud recipient of my very last
reply...  Everyone's gone; I've just finished packing; time to close the door.

	Best of luck to you, in whatever you do.

	Cheers,

	Frank

    Au revoir , Auf Wiedersehen, Sayonora, Hwyl Fawr, Ciao, Goodbye !
                                                                
   My internet address is  DECWRL::"wdavies@csd.abdn.ac.uk" from next Tuesday.
                         
    Signing off the EASYNET.                                   
    Winton

    (Moderators: Please do not move this to become a reply to 2934.0)

    This is just to say goodbye and thanks to all of my colleagues and friends
    who've been involved with ALL-IN-1 during my time with Digital.  I've
    enjoyed working with you all and I feel it's a particularly sad comment on
    the company that many who have done most for Office Automation and who
    helped make DEC and ALL-IN-1 the best in the field no longer work for the
    company.

    Apart from the general round of thanks I'd particularly like to mention the
    following past and present ALL-IN-1ers (in no particular order):

    Don Vickers, for being a better anti-depressant than Amitriptylene.
    Tony Redmond, ditto, and for waitress-baiting in restaurants, as well as
                  letting me help in his quest to become Digital Press' answer
                  to Barbara Cartland.
    Kevin Laahs, for being an incredibly bright engineer, despite the handicap
                 of supporting Celtic.
    Simon Eijs, for understanding what Kevin did in V3.0 SCM and staying sane.
    Eileen Christie, for being the best manager I've ever had the privilege of
                     working for, and for taking over Christine Landles' slot
                     of IOSG's token woman, and redefining the role.
    Alf Pilgrim, for being the the Captain, and teaching people to sign their
                 mail off with "Cheers" (hic)
    Graham Pye  for always smiling, even when he had the doubtful privilege of
                managing me
    Andy Wicks, for taking on DDS in V2.3 when MB was muttering about it
                heading in my direction and for dragging me round most of
                California in an afternoon
    Rowena Edmondson, for helping translate my documentation into English
    Richard Newland and Dick Carlin, 
                for helping me get into porting code for the Alpha
    Pete Cole, Nick Gregory and Neil Hayes, 
                just 'cause they're good guys
    Mike Bilsborough, for taking over the ICO system, and being scouse
    Debbie Hellman, for not quite bouncing _all_ my ICOs

    and

    the other members of the IOSG 'Dead Poets Society'

    Gill Lippett,
    Sue Mullen
    Dave Shove,
    Jim Parker,
    Karl Thompson,
    Ian Catlin,
    John Lawrence,
    Alan Vanden Bon,
    Richard Merewood

    Good luck, Godspeed, and best wishes to you all,

    Cheers,

    Ian

    Some of you may know that I'm leaving (I was "selected" for redundancy,
    or TFSO as those on the other side of the Atlantic would have it).
    
    I finish next Tuesday so I thought I'd better say goodbye.

    No speeches, but it does feel a bit odd as I've been here since 1974
    (1971 if  you count my first couple of years with DEC, before I left
    for a year).

    For anyone who'd like to keep in touch, my home address and phone are:

201 Greys Road,
Henley-on-Thames,
Oxon RG9 1SP
(UK)

0491-576541

    Also I have a CompuServe account, userid 100277,1264

    To mail this, the following ought to work (note the . instead of the
    comma):

From ALL-IN-1: 	100277.1264@CompuServe.com@Internet
(& TeamLinks!)

   if that doesn't work: 1. complain at your local MTS expert
			 2. try one of the VMSmail addresses (either
			    directly or via MrGate)

From VMSmail:	VBORMC::"100277.1264@CompuServe.com"
          or:   DECWRL::"100277.1264@CompuServe.com"

    (VBORMC is in Europe; DECWRL is in Seattle!)

    Hope to hear from you sometime; keep smiling! 
    Dave.

I have spent a good deal of my career in Digital working within this
notesfile, and so I thought it would be an appropriate place to say goodbye.
I have been TFSO'd and will be leaving on Friday.

I began working with ALL-IN-1 shortly after starting at Digital 13 years ago.
Over the years, I have met many wonderful people; I will always remember you.
I wish you all of the best in the future; take care of my favorite product
for me.  

Sincerely,

Nancy Latimer

 
 It is with mixed feelings that I must now say goodbye to all of you, 
 good colleagues, friends and people who have showed special interest 
 in my work.
 
 I say goodbye because I have accepted a seat as System Manager for 
 the Office Automation systems at Tele Danmark EDB A/S starting 1st of 
 August. 
 
 The world doesn't end here and for those of you who want to keep in 
 touch, I can be reached at the following X.400 address in August (it 
 might actually work already, but I don't read it yet):
 
              Allan Glargaard@1=DK@2=DK400@3=TELE DANMARK
 
 I want to thank all of you for all the good times and wish you all 
 the best of luck with the never-ending challenges at Digital.
 
 Best regards,
 Allan

 Allan Glargaard
 @COUNTRY=DK
 @ADMD=DK400
 @PRMD=TELE DANMARK