| From: NAME: CHARLIE HOLLERAN @MSO
FUNC: V.P. Communications <HOLLERAN.CHARLIE@A1@SALES@AKO>
To: See Below
To all Digital employees:
Recently you received a memo from Bob Palmer outlining the corporate
strategy. His message was that Digital will succeed only through the work
and understanding of employees who are fully engaged in executing that
strategy.
To provide additional detail about our strategy and how we are positioning
Digital to be an industry leader, we are sending every employee a copy of
the new edition of "Digital: A Progress Report." This report discusses our
strategy and how it meets the needs of our customers, the major growth
opportunities we are targeting, and how our businesses are competing and
winning in the marketplace. You will find plenty of proof points and
supporting quotes from analysts and the press.
The Progress Report will also be available on Digital's external homepage
on the Worldwide Web and through the Information Repository (Document ID
#LI017F).
In addition, we are printing the report in brochure form for use with
customers, partners and prospects. The sales force will be notified via
Readers Choice when the brochure is available for order.
Charlie Holleran
From: CHARLIE HOLLERAN @MSO
Subject: testing - attachment
1
Date: 21-Feb-1996
Precedence: 1
Digital: A Progress Report
Connecting with Tomorrow
Con-nec-tiv'i-ty n. The ability to connect people and enterprises across
multivendor, multiplatform computing environments so they can find and share
data, information, images and applications reliably, flexibly and securely.
If it was as simple as buying a new car every two or three years, managing
information technology would be relatively easy. A business would just trade
up to the newest, highest performance model every few years.
But no company can afford to trade in all -- or even most -- of its IT assets.
Instead, it adds new parts, adopting new technologies while protecting
current investments. The hard part is making those parts -- many of them made
by different manufacturers -- work together.
Consider a typical scenario in today's business world. A company has 30 years
of data on a mainframe or minicomputer running MVS or VMS operating systems.
It is trying to implement SAP R/3 throughout the organization, which runs on
UNIX or Windows NT systems. Nearly every department has Windows-based desktops.
There are three different Wide-Area Networks linking dozens of LANs. And the
company wants to take advantage of emerging technologies like the Internet,
electronic commerce and collaborative computing.
The challenge: to seamlessly integrate this complex, multivendor world of
hardware and software -- to implement connectivity solutions that will result
in networks that are reliable, transparent, secure, affordable and flexible --
both locally and globally.
Connectivity is no longer the exclusive domain of a few, technologically savvy
companies. It is now a competitive necessity for businesses large and small.
Companies all over the world are reaping the benefits of integrated networked
systems. They can do business anywhere, anytime, using a global,
interconnected workforce. As a result, they enjoy a significant market
advantage over their non-networked competitors.
The centerpiece of Digital's corporate strategy -- the fundamental value we
bring to the marketplace -- is our ability to deliver comprehensive
connectivity solutions to customers.
We are focusing a significant portion of our investments, our resources and
our partnerships on providing the critical integrated components that will
help companies connect people to people. . . people to information. . . and
businesses to their customers, partners and suppliers.
Digital's worldwide presence as a vendor of leading-edge information and
networking technology. . . our leadership in multivendor services and systems
integration. . . and the renewed strength of our partnerships and alliances. .
. all add up to a unique capability for providing true enterprise
connectivity.
Our objective is to provide the connectivity solutions -- directly and through
partners -- that will enable our customers to become more competitive and to
deliver greater value to their customers and shareholders.
We will do this by providing customers with the products and services they
need to implement:
-- High-performance 64-bit UNIX platforms,
-- Windows NT across the enterprise, and,
-- Connectivity within and between enterprises.
We will focus on four segments of the market where we have the greatest
competitive strengths: client/server services, connectivity software, system
platforms and components.
And we will provide systems integration services -- directly and through
partners -- across all segments to meet our customers' needs for integrated,
enterprise solutions.
"Apart from having the fastest processors on the planet," says industry
analyst Andrew Allison, "Digital's platform, market, distribution and support
strategies are better aligned to the realities of the new computer industry
than any single competitor. Furthermore, the company has the financial
resources to bring them to fruition. All that's required now is successful
execution."
Building On a Foundation of Strength
Our strategy is one of the most tangible results of a dramatic transformation
at Digital -- a transformation that continues today. It is reflected both in
the revitalization of our business and in our vision of how best to serve the
needs of our customers.
Digital's financial turnaround has been one of the most significant in the
computer industry. Over the last few years, we made significant cuts in
expenses, divested non-strategic businesses and, most difficult of all,
dramatically reduced our population. At the same time, we maintained our
revenues and invested in new technologies and new products. As a result,
Digital was profitable in FY95, our first profitable year since 1990.
According to an article in Fortune magazine, Digital's turnaround is yielding
results "encouraging enough that some industry observers say that Digital may
just become the turnaround story of the 1990s."
One of our biggest changes was to shift our focus from proprietary systems to
open, multivendor solutions. With that shift came a greater emphasis on
business partnerships and alliances, including stronger partnerships with our
customers. We also strengthened our leadership team. Building on the
outstanding talent that exists within Digital, we added top-notch managers
from around the world with significant industry experience outside Digital.
But we owe most of our success to the dedication and determination of Digital
employees, many of whom have served this company and its customers for a long
time. They have overcome significant challenges to deliver outstanding
products and services to our customers.
What has all this change meant for our company? ComputerWorld called Digital
"the comeback kid of the computer industry." P. Martin Ressinger, an analyst
with Duff & Phelps Equity Research, said, "We're thinking of Digital as a
normal, rather than a recovering, company."
Added The Boston Globe: Wall Street "has been impressed by Digital's ability
to articulate a clear, straightforward vision for the company -- a clarity not
seen out of Maynard since Ken Olsen's "One Company, One Architecture' heyday."
What do the changes mean for customers? They mean Digital is more focused
than ever on meeting their needs -- for dependable, cost effective products
and services; for comprehensive solutions to their information technology
problems; and, for a reliable, long-term IT partner.
Meeting Customers Needs
High performance 64-bit UNIX platforms
From data warehousing and on-line transaction processing to complex
simulations and gene mapping, UNIX is the operating system of choice for
applications that demand a robust, scaleable and high-performance operating
environment. Advances such as symmetric multiprocessing, 64-bit computing,
UNIX clusters, high-performance interconnects and 64-bit database software
enable UNIX systems to deliver mainframe performance and reliability at a much
lower cost.
Because UNIX was the first operating system to capitalize on 64-bit
technology, very large memory and very large database capabilities, it is
emerging as the dominant platform for high-performance, enterprise servers.
It is also the dominant workstation platform for high-performance technical
and scientific computing.
With the only commercially available 64-bit UNIX operating system on the
market, Digital is leading the inevitable -- and accelerating -- shift to
64-bit computing. We also have a robust and growing list of partners with
so-called "killer applications." As a result, we provide our customers not
only with industry-leading performance but with superior price/performance as
well. According to an analysis by D.H. Brown Associates Inc., Digital UNIX
leads the competition in almost all of the categories used to measure
performance, from application portability to networking and security.
Digital is also an acknowledged leader in key growth areas such as UNIX
clusters, which offer the scalability, flexibility and reliability demanded by
commercial and technical users.
Strategic partnerships. In today's rapidly changing marketplace no company
can do it all, so it is more important than ever to have strategic
partnerships. By combining our own superior technology with the best of our
partners, Digital is able to deliver significant new business solutions to our
customers. Our partnership with Oracle Corp., the industry's leading
database software company, is a good example.
Oracle's 64-bit database software was the first to take advantage of the
capabilities of very large memory technology. The combination of Oracle's
software, 64-bit Digital UNIX operating system and our 64-bit AlphaServer 8400
system generates performance that is up to two orders of magnitude faster
than anything else on the market, including mainframes. Running Oracle7
database software on an eight-processor AlphaServer 8400 system with 64-bit
Digital UNIX, Oracle recently achieved a record-breaking TPC-C open systems
benchmark of 11,456 tpmC -- almost twice as fast as the old record -- at a
cost of $286 per tpmC.
Oracle was so impressed with our platform that it is standardizing its
worldwide financial and office mail applications on AlphaServer 8400 systems.
Oracle was the first to market a product that takes advantage of the
technological superiority of Digital's platform. But the other major database
software vendors are not far behind. Informix, Sybase and Software AG have
announced or are actively working with us to develop 64-bit database software.
Business and financial application providers like SAP, SAS Institute and
PeopleSoft and data warehouse application providers like Information Builders
and Cognos also are making significant commitments to Digital platforms.
It's easy to see why. Digital recently achieved the highest-ever benchmark
results for SAP's leading R/3 application suite. The benchmark achieved
throughput of 210,384 SAP transactions per hour with an average dialog
response time of 1.64 seconds. The results were audited and certified by SAP.
Windows NT across the enterprise
Windows NT is clearly the next strategic operating system for enterprise
computing, and many large companies are already embracing it -- much as they
did a few years ago with UNIX. At this early stage in its lifecycle, Windows
NT is most often used at the workgroup and departmental level. Our strategy
is to help customers integrate Windows and Windows NT-based business
applications with the enterprise.
The growing popularity of Windows NT reflects the natural evolution of the
Windows desktop to the enterprise. We regard Windows NT as the key ingredient
of the emerging client/server computing model. It will drive the servers that
link the desktop with enterprise databases, legacy systems and global
networks.
Building on our strategic partnership with Microsoft, Digital will deliver
complete Windows NT enterprise solutions -- including hardware, software,
services and systems integration.
Digital/Microsoft Alliance. Digital and Microsoft have had a cooperative
relationship for more than a decade. But we significantly broadened our
partnership in August 1995 by combining our complementary technologies and
forming the Alliance for Enterprise Computing. It is the most comprehensive
partnership Microsoft has with any company and includes joint activities
ranging from engineering and cross-licensing agreements to marketing and
sales. Our goal is to drive sales of the systems, connectivity software and
services necessary to deploy enterprise-wide solutions on Windows-based
systems in today's multivendor environment.
The alliance has several components, including the OpenVMS Windows NT Affinity
Program; mail solutions based on Microsoft Exchange and Digital products;
products and services to help customer with Windows NT and Netware coexistence
or
migration; solutions and bundled systems based on Microsoft BackOffice;
and, software and hardware to support customer migration to Windows 95.
The agreement represents a significant endorsement of Digital's Alpha
architecture. Microsoft will release server software simultaneously on both
Alpha and Intel systems. In addition, Microsoft engineers will work closely
with Digital to maximize Alpha performance on key Microsoft products. More
than 1,200 Windows NT applications are shipping on Alpha today, and well over
1,000 more are committed -- second only to Intel. As Terry Shannon, an
analyst and editor of "Shannon Knows DEC," recently wrote, "According to a
correspondent who conducted an informal ISV survey at Networld-Interop, a
substantial number of developers plan to port their WNT apps to Alpha during
the next 12 months."
"We won't predict that NT-based Alpha servers will take over every corner of
the computing universe," PC Week wrote in a recent editorial, "but it seems
clear that interest in NT as an application server will continue to gain
momentum. As it does, interest in Alpha will increase hand in hand with it..."
The alliance also reinforces Digital's position as the largest training and
support vendor in the world for Windows-based products, as well as a leader in
systems integration for the Windows environment. With 800 Windows NT-certified
engineers today, Digital is already the industry leader. Under the agreement
with Microsoft, we will increase that number to 2,300 by mid-1997, giving
Digital customers access to the largest group of Microsoft-certified engineers
in the world.
"Digital has the leadership position today in providing NT- based
high-performance, price/performance platforms for production, enterprise
applications," says the Aberdeen Group Inc., a computer and communications
research and consulting organization. "Aberdeen does not believe that any
other major systems supplier will be able to surpass Digital's position within
the next several years."
Natural affinity: OpenVMS and Windows NT. When it comes to mission-critical
operating systems, the OpenVMS operating system is unmatched for its rich
functionality, scaleability, high availability and very high reliability.
Today there are more than 450,000 VMS systems and 10 million VMS users around
the world. This represents a large investment by our customers in Digital and
its technology.
We are committed not only to maintain but to build upon OpenVMS' leadership
functionality. In December 1995, Digital introduced a new 64-bit version that
runs 64-bit Oracle RdB software, allowing our OpenVMS customers to take
advantage of the same very large memory technology available on our UNIX
platforms. All applications written for 32-bit versions of OpenVMS will work
on Alpha servers and workstations running the 64-bit version. "This should put
to rest the rumors that Digital is no longer investing in OpenVMS," said Terry
Shannon.
As part of our alliance with Microsoft, Digital is protecting customer
investment by integrating OpenVMS with Windows NT through the OpenVMS Windows
NT Affinity Program. With the delivery of our Affinity Wave One products,
current OpenVMS customers can easily add Windows NT servers -- along with
Windows NT's huge application library -- to their computing environments.
Windows NT users can easily add OpenVMS back-end servers to create
Windows-based solutions with true 24X365 availability, disaster-tolerance and
scaleability.
By meshing OpenVMS and Windows NT, Digital is providing customers with the
scaleability, reliability and cost-effectiveness they need while making a
software investment in the operating environment of the future. Together,
OpenVMS and Windows NT add up to a powerful enterprise solution.
Connectivity within and across enterprises
Delivering connectivity solutions is the very foundation of Digital's history.
From interactive computing with the PDP and VAX families to networked
computing with DECnet, Digital has been a pioneer in the development of
systems that connect people to people. . . people to information. . . and
business to business.
With the complexity of enterprise client/server computing and the emergence of
internetworking, the need for comprehensive connectivity solutions is growing
dramatically. By the year 2000, 95 percent of information technology
customers will be dealing with a combination of three operating environments
- -- UNIX, Windows NT and proprietary systems. Their biggest challenges will be
to make these systems work together and to build inter-enterprise links to
their customers, partners and suppliers throughout the world. So Digital is
investing in the network hardware, connectivity software and client/server
services -- and the partnerships -- that will provide the connectivity
customers need.
Digital=Internet. For many of our customers, the Internet is connectivity,
and Digital brings to this market two decades of experience with the Internet.
Digital was the first computer company on the Internet's predecessor, ARPAnet;
the first Fortune 500 company with a commercial World Wide Web server; and
the first computer vendor to use the Internet for interactive ordering, which
produced more than $100 million in revenue in the United States in 1995. "As
more cautious companies are only now fumbling to stake their claim in
electronic commerce, Digital is already putting the money in the bank," said
Dataquest, a market research company.
Digital's use of the Internet spans every facet of the corporation, from sales
and marketing to ordering, service and support. And we are putting that
expertise to work for customers by developing the industry's most
comprehensive portfolio of Internet connectivity solutions, including Internet
security "firewalls", Internet messaging, Internet team collaboration,
Internet-ready networking, Internet servers, Internet services and strategic
relationships with Internet applications partners like Netscape and Open
Market.
"Here's what really impresses me about the Digital strategy," said analyst
Nina Lytton, president of Open Systems Advisors. "They've been working on
this for a long time and have evolved a complete approach both in terms of
software, hardware and services."
Digital's new Internet Tunnel software, for example, allows enterprises to use
the
Internet as a cost-effective alternative or extension to private networks.
With this product, remote PCs and servers can connect to private networks via
the Internet. By using the tunnels, companies can replace leased
communication lines with bandwidth supplied by Internet Service Providers,
reducing network management and operations costs. The Digital Internet
Tunnels incorporate sophisticated authentication and encryption technologies
to keep sensitive data from hackers or unintended readers.
Digital also has developed the most advanced information search and indexing
technology available for the World Wide Web. This "super spider" software --
code-named Alta Vista -- allows users to search the entire Web text at speeds
up to 100 times faster than spiders used in conventional information
services. This technology, powered by Digital's 64-bit Alpha architecture and
high-speed network switching, promises to surpass the limitations of current
information services by delivering the most complete, precise and up-to-date
information of the Web's entire text. Gregg Cline, a market analyst at
Business Research Group in Newton, MA., called the software "very impressive,
very fast and very comprehensive. It's a great example of what an application
can do when software catches up to hardware." And Jack Schofield, computer
editor of The Guardian in England, wrote, ". . . Alta Vista is my favorite
word-search engine. . . It is the power and speed of the searching that makes
it great. It can do searches nothing else can manage."
A lot of people agree. After only three weeks on the Web, Alta Vista became
one of the most popular sites on the Internet, reaching more than 2 million
hits per day.
From custom-designed security firewalls to collaboration products like
Workgroup Web Forum -- which was named hot product of the year by Data
Communications magazine -- Digital and its partners provide companies with
cost-effective products and services that open up vast new business
opportunities through global connectivity.
FOCUSED BUSINESSES
In addition to our focus on comprehensive enterprise solutions, Digital is
committed to delivering leadership products and services in key segments of
the market: client/server services, connectivity software, system platforms
and components. These businesses represent our core competencies, the
fundamental strengths that differentiate Digital from our competitors.
Together with the products and services offered by our partners, they are the
building blocks of the solutions we offer our customers.
Client/Server Services
One of the keys to making connectivity a reality is service and support, and
no one in the industry is in a stronger position than Digital. With 22,000
employees in 100 countries supporting 14,000 products from 1,300 vendors, our
Multivendor Customer Services Division is the largest supplier of multivendor
services in the world. Companies ranging from Microsoft, Novell and Intel to
NEC, Dell and Compaq have turned to us to provide the service and support
their customers need.
"Digital has proven experience in managing many of the world's largest, most
heterogeneous networked sites, as well as a far-reaching service delivery
capacity," says Gary Stimac, senior vice president and general manager, Compaq
Systems Division. "For Compaq, this means that, regardless of where our
customers do business, they have local access to globally-consistent,
high-level, business-critical support."
Customers find today's client/server environment to be complex, relatively
expensive and somewhat unreliable and insecure. As a result, services that
provide client/server connectivity are in great demand. We have organized our
business to meet that demand.
For customers who need to create a client/server infrastructure, we provide
Network Services, including network planning, design, implementation and
management. For those who need to keep information technology working, our
Availability Services offers hardware maintenance and software support. And,
for customers who need to get the most out of their IT infrastructure, we
offer Productivity Services for lifecycle management, outsourcing, technology
migration and Internet connectivity.
Our portfolio of services includes award-winning offerings such as PC Utility
- -- which provides companies with customized desktop solutions --and Software
Utility -- which offers a flexible approach to managing software from desktop
to data center. PC Utility was honored by Service News with the Harold H.
Short, Jr. Innovations in Service Award for the most innovative service
offering in the industry. It also won the customer-nominated Innovation of
the Year Award at the International Service Expo 1995 in Europe.
Digital's MCS organization, says industry analyst Andrew Allison, "is second
to none in its ability to deliver a broad range of vendor-neutral support
services."
Connectivity Software
Businesses today face fundamental connectivity challenges. They need to
provide easy access to all information within their company, meet the needs of
an increasingly mobile workforce, dynamically create virtual organizations
with partners and suppliers and create new distribution channels providing
direct links to their customers.
Digital is building a portfolio of software that provides connectivity
solutions customers need in a multiplatform, multivendor environment. Through
the Connectivity Software Business Unit, we develop, market and sell software
that enables customers to connect with and exploit the information assets
critical to running their business and satisfying their customers.
Digital offers connectivity software based on Windows NT and Internet
technologies. These solutions will provide connectivity both inside and
outside traditional corporate networks. This internetworking software
addresses the emerging need for the cost-effective and secure connectivity
needed to enhance business productivity within and between dynamic team
structures. The connectivity software portfolio will include solutions for
Internet security, Internet messaging, dynamic group collaboration and
exciting new applications based on the Alta Vista technology.
System Platforms
Intel + Alpha. One of Digital's most important strengths is the unparalleled
scaleability we offer across two platforms -- Intel and Alpha. Our dual
platform strategy offers customers the broadest choice of scaleable systems:
Intel-based notebooks, PCs, Personal Workstations and servers; and Alpha
systems ranging from Personal Workstations to clustered mainframe- and
supercomputer-class servers.
Intel will clearly remain the volume leader in microprocessors, so other
architectures must provide a compelling performance advantage over Intel to be
credible and to survive. Digital's 64-bit Alpha architecture must and will
continue to outperform the latest Intel chip by a significant margin. Few if
any of the other RISC architectures will be able to maintain the same kind of
sustainable, long-term performance edge. "...the X86 architecture has caught
up with most of the RISC designs, and with the advent of the P6, poses a
serious threat to all RISC manufacturers, with the exception of Digital and
its Alpha processors," writes Dataquest.
Alpha: leadership in 64-bits. Customers are buying Alpha systems for a lot of
reasons. Power-hungry applications; multimedia, visualization and modeling;
64-bit database software, decision support, data warehouse and OLTP
applications; Internet and interactive video servers: all are driving demand
for the performance and fully-realized 64-bit computing environment that only
Alpha delivers. So far, customers have bought 170,000 Alpha systems, and
total Alpha revenues now exceed $7 billion from systems, after-market
products and services.
High-performance computing is a requirement in a growing array of business
applications. But Alpha is not just helping companies perform traditional
business operations faster and more efficiently. It is also enabling entirely
new capabilities, like cost-effective video-on-demand and cellular fraud
detection.
"Alpha's superior performance is not only relevant, but crucial in the server
arena," PC Week wrote in an editorial. "While a desktop purchasing decision
can be driven by price, the server-hardware purchasing decision is very much
performance-driven -- a server that's a lot faster than others (all other
things being equal) is almost certain to do well."
More and more companies are choosing the AlphaServer 8400 system, for example,
because of its unequaled performance and price/performance. With up to 12
processors and 14 GBytes of memory (32-bit systems are limited to 2 GB), the
AlphaServer 8400 system offers three times the performance of HP's 9000-800
T 500 and twice the performance of Sun's SPARCcenter 2000E and IBM's SP-2
systems. And with VLM technology, it delivers even more dramatic
improvements in application performance. That's why readers of Datamation
magazine picked the AlphaServer 8400 system as "Server of the Year" for 1995.
Best Western International, for example, bought 10 AlphaServer 8400 systems to
power the company's new worldwide central reservations system. "We selected
the Digital/Oracle/UNIX solution because of its superior performance,
flexibility and growth potential -- at one-tenth the cost of competing
systems," said William S. Watson, Best Western's executive vice president.
"We expect the Digital/Oracle solution to dramatically improve our ability to
respond more rapidly to customer needs. . . to increase our sales and
revenues, and to enhance our company's image."
According to a customer satisfaction survey conducted for Computerworld,
Digital's large-scale Alpha servers ranked first in four of five categories,
ranging from performance and CPU reliability to scaleability, service and
support -- outpacing servers from HP, IBM and Sun.
Digital also delivers outstanding performance and price/performance in the
mid-range, and we continue to improve on our leadership. The exceptional
performance of the AlphaServer 2100 system, for example, has been enhanced by
Digital's 300 MHz Alpha chip. According to audited benchmarks, the
AlphaServer 2100 system is the industry's fastest Windows NT server, with a
TPC-C
open systems benchmark of 3,194 tpmC.
"For industry observers that did not believe that NT would be scaleable to
meet the OLTP. . . requirements of large departments and small-to-medium-sized
enterprises, this is a strong 'Think Again' wake up call," wrote Aberdeen
Group in a December 1995 product report.
In the workstation business, we are concentrating on markets where customers
place a high value on performance: electrical design, mechanical design,
energy and science, geographic information systems and technical software
engineering. In each of these areas, we are building strategic partnerships
with key application providers, from Autodesk and Parametric Technologies to
Mentor Graphics and ERDAS.
Digital now owns the absolute performance and price/performance leadership at
all price points, from $5,000 to $50,000. And we deliver the kind of
performance customers want -- application performance. Our high-end
AlphaStation 600, for example, delivers application performance as much as
twice that of HP, Sun and Silicon Graphics. It received AIM Technology's 1995
Hot Iron Award for Best Workstation Peak Performance for systems priced from
$25,000. "Normally you see a 10 to 20 percent performance gain from a new
product," said Tom Copeland, an analyst with International Data Corp. "Here
you see a machine that is double its nearest competitor using standard
benchmarks."
Digital is also meeting the needs of its customers with new technology that
gives our Alpha systems high-performance x86 compatibility. Developed by
Digital Semiconductor, FX!32 software allows Alpha system users to access all
of their 32-bit Windows applications as if they were using an x86 system. For
Win32 applications, performance will be comparable to or better than on x86
systems. Both the Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems use the Win32
API. All 16-bit applications will be accessible through Insignia Solution's
SoftWindows product. Calling the new product "revolutionary," BYTE magazine
awarded FX! 32 its prestigious "Most Significant Technology" award at Fall
1995 COMDEX -- the second year in a row Digital has claimed this honor.
"Since FX!32 is bundled with every Alpha system, you now have a compelling
reason to switch [to Alpha]: a huge performance difference (even compared to
the Pentium Pro) and the ability to host that huge investment in x86 software
your business has made," BYTE magazine declared in a recent edition.
A growing force in the PC market. From nowhere in 1992, Digital has become
the 11th largest PC company in the world (Dataquest, 1995). That growth is
the result of our strategy to deliver best-in-class PCs to all our customers,
from the home to the enterprise.
Our commitment to customers is to build high-quality Intel-based servers and
personal computers that offer the latest technology at the right price points;
make them available through the distribution channels from which customers
want to buy; and, provide outstanding service and support. Digital offers a
full range of desktops, notebook computers, personal workstations and PC-class
servers.
The Prioris HX line of highly scaleable, Pentium-based, symmetric
multiprocessing systems, for example, recently won PC Magazine's Editor's
Choice Award for Departmental File Servers. "This server has one of the most
advanced designs in this roundup and, with its bridged PCI buses, clearly
shows that Digital is looking and leaping toward the future," the magazine
wrote. Digital also offers a complete line of entry-level and mid- range
Prioris servers. We are now the 4th largest vendor of PC servers in the
world.
Digital's breakthrough ultraportable notebook, the Digital HiNote Ultra,
continues to win rave reviews. In a recent test conducted by Business Week
magazine, the Digital HiNote Ultra outperformed Hewlett-Packard's Omnibook and
the IBM ThinkPad "butterfly." It also received the Editor's Choice Award from
PC LapTop Computers magazine as "Laptop Innovation of the Year." The Digital
HiNote Ultra, wrote editor-in-chief Michael Goldstein, "is clearly the last
word in laptop innovation."
On the desktop, we have a complete line of outstanding products, from the
high-performance Celebris GL to the value-priced Venturis. The Celebris PCs
combine performance, flexibility and ease-of-use with powerful Pentium
processors, the latest multimedia and communications technologies and
leadership network connectivity and management features. The Venturis is
ideal for the home office and small business professional.
Digital is also a pioneer in the new market for Windows NT-based personal
workstations -- powerful, workstation-class desktops with the look, feel and
pricing of a PC. The Celebris XL is powered by high-performance Pentiums and
can be upgraded to Pentium Pro or Alpha chips simply by swapping the
daughtercard. "Combined with the growing number of NT workstation apps on the
market, we think Digital's new line has the potential to turn the
still-UNIX-centric workstation market on its head," said Windows Watcher, an
industry newsletter.
Components
Building the best network connectivity solutions. One of the keys to
enterprise connectivity is a network infrastructure that gives companies the
flexibility they need to run their business. Digital is committed to
delivering the best network infrastructure solutions worldwide.
Digital is one of the leaders in the deployment of hubs, routers and switches
in a single, integrated platform to provide users with a common hardware and
software environment. In a recent report, Gartner Group identified Digital as
one of five top networking companies who "have the best potential for helping
users build enterprise-level networks. . ."
Our networking products enable customers to make the transition from today's
shared bandwidth environment to a more cost-effective, high-performance
solution -- switched, open client/server network infrastructures. We offer a
comprehensive suite of products, including state-of-the-art hubs, routers,
switches, network adapter cards and leading edge technologies for Ethernet
over cable TV.
What differentiates Digital from our competitors is our ability to deliver a
robust set of technologies that work together in an overall, single-source
solution. With our enVISN (Enterprise Virtual Intelligent Switched Networks)
strategy, Digital provides customers a clear path to the future. The enVISN
architecture combines virtual LAN technology, distributed routing and
high-speed switching with centralized, policy-based administration to create
flexible virtual networks. These virtual networks can be customized to
application and business needs. Digital offers a modular, "building block"
architecture and enables the customer to take full advantage of new
technologies as they are needed, while making the most of existing
technologies.
Digital is an acknowledged leader in key segments of the market. We are No. 2
in switching and No. 3 in both hubs and routers. Dell'Oro Group also ranks
Digital No. 1 worldwide in FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) switching,
a standards-based technology that significantly increases network bandwidth
and performance.
Leading storage solutions. With the incredible amount of data that companies
handle today, the ability to store and manage information is becoming more
important than ever before. Digital's Storage Business Unit concentrates on
storage subsystems, networked storage and storage management systems.
We created our StorageWorks architecture -- a line of high-performance,
flexible, scaleable, modular products -- to meet our customers' needs for
enterprise-wide storage solutions in multivendor environments. The core
components can be easily installed, deployed and maintained across multiple
operating systems and hardware platforms. Digital's StorageWorks products are
available today for Digital, Hewlett- Packard, IBM and Sun workstations and
servers, and Novell and Windows NT environments.
Since we introduced our first StorageWorks products in 1993, Digital has
established itself as the leading supplier of open multivendor storage array
solutions. To sharpen our focus on this business, Digital sold operations
that were not strategically critical to the corporation -- the magnetic disk
drive, tape drive, solid-state disk and thin-film head business -- to Quantum
Corporation in late 1994.
Companies implementing Digital's StorageWorks approach have the unique ability
to incorporate leading-edge storage components and re-deploy existing disk,
tape and optical modules across a growing number of platforms. The ability
to incorporate new storage technologies while protecting current investments,
together with the high performance and availability for which our products are
known, has made the StorageWorks brand one of the most popular among
information systems managers around the world.
Components & Peripherals for the connected enterprise. Digital is also
connecting enterprises with products that help companies manage their
information technology assets and increase productivity in a multivendor
environment.
One of Digital's most innovative connectivity platforms is our Multia family
of enterprise clients, which includes both Pentium- and Alpha-based systems.
Our newest product -- the Pentium-based Multia MI system -- fully integrates
access to Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 3.1, UNIX, OpenVMS and mainframe
applications on a single desktop. It is the first enterprise client to
provide high-speed connectivity, ease-of-use and manageability in a platform
that bridges the gap between legacy applications and Windows NT. Embedded
software provides immediate access to corporate networks, servers and
applications, as well as remote configuration management capabilities.
"With Multia, end-users can now have access to the information they need
wherever it is located, while IS management can now effectively gain
centralized control of that desktop and provide users with a high degree of
services," an Aberdeen Group report on the Multia system noted. "Digital is
the only major computer maker that has been able to comprehend and translate
these specific IS requirements into a product deliverable."
Digital also delivers advanced print solutions for the open, networked
computing environment through our Printing Systems Business. The
shared/network printers of our PrintServer family are fast, powerful laser
printers that connect directly to an Ethernet network. Digital is also
partnering with other leading companies to deliver open system printing
solutions to our customers. For example, we are collaborating with Xerox
Corporation and SunSoft Inc., to develop the computer industry's first
platform-independent network printing service for UNIX systems.
In addition, Digital's Embedded and Real-time Business develops and markets
products based on next-generation hardware and software for the specific
requirements of original equipment manufacturers. The business targets market
segments where Alpha, PCI and Embedded and Real-time software technologies
offer clear competitive advantages.
Leadership in high-performance semiconductors. Digital Semiconductor
continues to establish a strong reputation as a merchant vendor in the
semiconductor industry, broadening its product portfolio and attracting new
customers.
The Alpha architecture is already the RISC volume and performance leader for
Windows NT applications. With Digital's FX! 32 translation-emulation
technology for x86 compatibility, we are strengthening Alpha's position as the
number one RISC architecture for the overall Windows market.
Alpha microprocessors have kept the performance lead in the very competitive
chip industry for more than three and a half years -- an unprecedented feat.
With new, higher-performance products scheduled for introduction in 1996 and
1997, Alpha will continue to maintain a lead over all other microprocessor
architectures.
That leadership is helping us win new customers and new applications at an
accelerating pace. It is also attracting more and more companies who want to
manufacture Alpha products. Nearly two dozen hardware manufacturers now build
Alpha- based workstations and servers.
Digital Semiconductor was an early supporter of PCI bus and interface
technology and the first vendor to offer PCI-based Ethernet and Fast Ethernet
chips. Network controllers using Digital chips command a major share of the
PCI Ethernet market, and Digital's 21140 and 21140A PCI Fast Ethernet
controller chips are also among the industry's leaders. Companies such as
Apple Computer, Asante Technologies, Motorola, Cogent Data Technologies,
D-Link Systems and Matrox Electronic Systems are among our network chip
customers.
Digital Semiconductor also has a family of PCI video and graphics products
intended for the PC market, including the 21130 chip for high-performance
graphics and full-resolution video playback, and the new 21230 video codec
(coder/decoder) chip for high-performance MPEG-1 video compression and
decompression.
"MPEG-1 is becoming the motion video standard for PCs, and hence, the
Internet," said Dataquest's Martin Reynolds. "The 21230 delivers quality
real-time MPEG-1 compression to the mass market and could become a key enabler
for this technology. Digital Semiconductor continues to flesh out the
advanced subsystems that will become standard in future PCs."
In 1996, Digital Semiconductor will deliver the first of its StrongARM
high-performance, low-power microprocessors, developed under a license
agreement with Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. (ARM). The new family of StrongARM
microprocessors will serve a rapidly growing market for personal digital
assistants, TV set-tops, games and network computing devices.
The SA-110 StrongARM microprocessor is the first processor that can deliver
the performance of a supercomputer while running on AA batteries. "The design
of the SA-110 StrongARM chip has clearly involved PDA developers, smart phone
manufacturers, set-top box suppliers and even companies exploring the Internet
computer," said Tim Bajarin, president, Creative Strategies International.
"This type of foresight heralds a new wave of mobile products which meet
consumers' real needs."
The Digital Advantage -- Putting it all together
Because the various pieces of today's information infrastructure are designed
by many different companies, customers face a major challenge in getting all
of these components to work together seamlessly across the enterprise.
Digital is helping customers meet this challenge with a worldwide systems
integration capability focused on large customers in three targeted industries
- -- manufacturing, communications and financial services.
To serve Digital's other customers, we work in cooperation with value-added
and SI partners to deliver integration capability. This way, we can provide
customers with industry-leading expertise -- regardless of the source -- in
areas such as application software or business process consulting.
Digital's primary focus in systems integration is on connectivity technology
and enterprise solutions. We have selected those areas in which our
technology, expertise and alliances provide key advantages for our customers:
Windows NT, the Internet, information management, enterprise messaging and
application development and integration.
Supporting our systems integration services is a worldwide network of 15
expertise centers focused on the design and delivery of specific programs and
solutions that help customers become more competitive. The Manufacturing,
Communications and Financial Expertise Centers, for example, provide customers
with direct access to market, systems integration and industry-focused
expertise. The Integrated Solution Center crosses industry lines and provides
high-level expertise for connecting enterprises using client/server
technology solutions.
Overall, Digital has more than 6,000 employees in 263 locations in 45
countries delivering systems integration services.
From high-performance UNIX to enterprise-strength Windows NT. . . from
connectivity software to the reliability and scaleability of Alpha and Intel
platforms . . . from global, multivendor service and support to systems
integration, Digital helps our customers prepare for the future -- no matter
which way the future goes.
Although the future is hard to predict, there is one thing we do know -- the
importance of connectivity is only going to grow. Together with our partners,
Digital is committed to delivering leadership connectivity solutions -- from
the desktop to the Internet -- that will help customers build a competitive
advantage in a networked world.
Learn more about Digital by visiting us on the World Wide Web at
www.digital.com.
Digital believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its
publication date; such information is subject to change without notice.
Digital is not responsible for any inadvertent errors.
Digital conducts its business in a manner that conserves the environment and
protects the safety and health of its employees, customers, and the community.
The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: AlphaStation
AlphaServer, Celebris, Digital, DEC, the DIGITAL logo, Digital Semiconductor,
DECnet, enVISN, HiNote, Multia, OpenVMS, PDP, PrintServer, Prioris,
StorageWorks, VAX, Venturis and Workgroup Web Forum.
Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Backoffice, Windows, Windows NT, Windows 95 and
Win32 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. MVS and ThinkPad are
trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Oracle7 is a
trademark of Oracle Corporation. Netware is a registered trademark of Novell,
Inc. SPARCcenter is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems. Pentium is a
trademark of Intel Corporation. Omnibook is a registered trademark of
Hewlett-Packard Corporation. StrongARM is a trademark of Advanced RISC Machines
Ltd. SAP R/3 is a trademark of SAP AG. UNIX is a registered trademark in the
U.S. and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd.
SoftWindows is a registered trademark of Insignia Solutions, Inc.
Printed in U.S.A. Copyright 1996 Digital Equipment Corporation. All rights
reserved.
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