I have my doubts about the merger. I can't see how it will help me as an HP/HP-UX customer.
Bigger is not always better. My prediction is that HP will spend the next 12 to 18 months assimilating Compaq and making things work, and they will neglect the customer. It will be interesting to watch, especially when they have to make the tough decisions about dropping similar products.
I hope I'm wrong and I hope it works out great, but I'm skeptical.
My wife works^Wworked with Compaq (she used to work with DEC :) so it's her second `merger' in short time. DEC was already slimming down, and Compaq was not hiring new people either. She was nominee for dismissal only once, but future for the Compaq people isn't very secure. Compaq OR (is the english word for the Ondernemingsraad 'works council'?) *did* have a fine social plan for the fired employees, but it was rejected by HP. There is a gathering in Amsterdam tomorrow for the Dutch Compaq^WHP employees where they will hear about the near future. If something mentionable comes out, I'll tell wednesday
I do not see that it will affect the UNIX side, either. (Unless you are a Tru64 user.)
They have already decided to pare off the 3000 servers. I think it will helpl them focus on HPUX and 9000 servers even more. (They are bound to keep some people from Compaq that will help to make HPUX better in the long run.)
