Honeywell Level 6 Series

This document is a competitive analysis published by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) on November 3, 1980, intended for internal use by sales and marketing personnel. It provides a comprehensive overview of the Honeywell Level 6 minicomputer series to help DEC staff compete against it.

The document covers several key areas:

• Honeywell Corporate Background: An overview of Honeywell Information Systems (HIS), its history, financial performance, and staffing.
• Product Overview: Detailed descriptions of the Honeywell Level 6 product line (Models 23, 33, 43, 47, 53, and 57), including hardware specifications, mass storage options, and system pricing.
• Software and Communications: Information on Honeywell's operating systems (MOD 200, 400, and 600), supported programming languages, data management tools, and communication controllers.
• Competitive Strategy: A guide for DEC sales teams on how to position DEC products against Honeywell. It highlights Honeywell's deficiencies in areas such as virtual memory, real-time support, networking capabilities, and multiuser performance.
• Benchmarking and Objection Handling: Specific advice on addressing customer objections and how to structure benchmarks to demonstrate the advantages of DEC systems (such as PDP-11 and VAX/VMS) over Honeywell's Level 6.
• Special Considerations: A deep dive into Honeywell's "Data Entry Facility" (DEF), noting its role in Honeywell’s sales success.