Competitive Update - Volume 6 Number 6

This document is a December 1986 issue of "Competitive Update," a publication intended for Digital Equipment Corporation's (DEC) internal use. It provides strategic analysis and competitive sales positioning for DEC employees against several competitors.

The document contains the following primary sections:

• IBM 9370 Series Strategy: An analysis of IBM's 9370 series introduction, positioning it as an attempt to compete with DEC's VAX/VMS systems in the mid-range departmental market. The report emphasizes Digital's advantages in VAXcluster technology, consistent architecture, and networking capabilities (DECnet), while identifying IBM's weaknesses in system management overhead, architectural incompatibilities, and lack of immediate product availability. It includes detailed cost-comparison charts for various IBM 9370 models versus MicroVAX II systems.
• Replacing Burroughs B1xxx Systems: A guide for sales personnel on how to migrate customers currently using Burroughs B1700, B1800, and B1900 series systems to DEC VAX platforms. It highlights customer dissatisfaction with Burroughs due to discontinued operating system support, limited application availability, and the costly conversion effort required to move to Burroughs' A Series.
• Competitive Updates on "Minisupercomputer" Vendors:
  • Convex: An update on Convex Computer Corp's latest product announcements (C-1 XP and C-1 XL). It maintains that despite some performance improvements, Convex remains focused on a niche scientific market and suffers from poor shared-system performance compared to DEC's offerings.
  • Elxsi: A competitive analysis of Elxsi's System 6400. The report argues that Elxsi's systems are often overpriced for the performance delivered and that the company's financial instability and niche focus make them a poor choice compared to Digital’s established product set.