What is your 3000's retirement plan?
February 5, 2008
Much has been said about the demise of the HP 3000. We take issue with the word demise, unless a 3000 community member is truly unplugging their system, scrapping backup data they now host on another server, then getting somebody to haul off the trusty 3000 iron. (We've heard stories about HP's reluctance to do such hauling, even when the vendor sells a replacement Unix or Windows server.)
But if that data remains needed, even required by government rules, there's no demise or death or even hospice going on. Instead, some companies in your community are retiring their systems. If you're of a certain age, or have worked in a company of a certain heritage, you understand retirement: Still alive, still near enough if needed to answer questions about the past, or explain what's still working in the present.
A number of 3000 community providers are thinking about retirement support. That system of yours may not have as much MPE/iX administrative expertise on hand, but the 3000's applications are still vital, even critical. What do you do when the last 3000 expert leaves your organization? Does that signal the migration deadline, or is there another idea?
Off-site hosting of your 3000, as well as outsourced administration, gives a homesteading company a way to stay the system's demise. Even keep the server working, sort of semi-retired. A migrating site could find retirement a good strategy as well. If that backup data needs a working server for government regulations, then there's help for that scenario, too.
We think of the HP 3000 independent support suppliers for this plan which assures readiness. Support is already proven outside of HP's realm for the 3000. Outside support locations are a natural place to retire a 3000. In the months to come, we will see more companies willing to relocate a 3000 system, whether the computer is still a day-to-day resource or simply a willing and accurate repository of sensitive, essential information — data which needs to be archived.
More to the point, we expect more community members who own HP 3000s to find these retirement homes when they need to step away from day-to-day administration. Sometimes the MPE/iX crew members have ended their duties. At other locations, these seasoned IT pros need to focus on a migration, because they know the in-house application better than anybody on the IT team.
Delaying an action plan on migration until the time and price and resource fits your company is acceptible. Not having a retirement plan for an HP 3000 is risky. The lottery winners in IT or the highway accident could force a transition without planning. Expensive, unproven transition.
Several kinds of retirement are laid out in front of community members, and their systems. There's the government or company pension, which is more rare today than ever, and less capable in its strength. There's the self-funded retirement, if you've been lucky investing and diligent in saving. Then there's the refusal to retire, because doing what you love isn't really work.
HP 3000 community members might consider how these options line up against their use of the system. Pensions are an option if you'll pay in now to a third party, which can care for the system for years to come. Self-funding may line up with self-support, which requires as much system savvy as the kind of luck you need from your investments.
Refusing to retire might work for some community sites. If the 3000 work is a task which IT enjoys, and the results are loved by the owners, no retirement is needed. But plans for retirement ought to be in place anyway. Joy and love can be fleeting. Having a plan lets you sleep better.