DEC Upgrading All-In-1 to Core of Mixed-Computer Networks
 
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
NEW YORK (Microbytes Daily News Service) --- In a pointed attack
on IBM's Systems Application Architecture and OfficeVision,
Digital Equipment Corp. yesterday announced an upgraded version
of its All-In-1 integrated office environment. As part of DEC's
new "office strategy for the '90s," All-In-1, formerly a
time-sharing application unique to DEC machines, will become a
client/server application at the core of multivendor networks
that DEC says will include DOS, OS/2, Macintosh, VMS, and Unix
computers.
 
DEC's approach is founded around NAS, or Network Application
Support, a group of software "services" (toolkits, APIs,
libraries, and protocols) announced in January 1988 that are
supposed to allow different applications to share data and
resources across a network. Companies including Lotus,
Ashton-Tate, Informix, Information Builders, and Comshare have
said they'll write applications that use NAS standards for
interoperability.
 
All-In-1 will now become a family of products encompassing a
variety of applications. VAX minicomputers running VMS and DEC
RISC machines running Ultrix (Unix) will be the servers for
traditional All-In-1 functions such as the "file cabinet,"
electronic messaging, group conferencing, time management, and
office automation. E-mail will be available as a separate module.
 
On the client side, DEC and third-party applications will be
available under the All-In-1 umbrella, including e-mail, desktop
publishing, and "business intelligence" (decision support,
executive support, management data analysis, spreadsheets, and
databases). Using standards such as DEC's Compound Document
Architecture (CDA), all applications will be able to communicate
transparently regardless of their hardware or operating system
platforms, DEC said.
 
DEC officials were vague about plans for the Ultrix version of
All-In-1. Though such an implementation was on a list of plans,
DEC didn't provide any dates or other information. In fact,
chairman Ken Olsen seemed hostile to questions about Unix, saying
that  "Unix wasn't designed to support a robust, integrated
system," and that DEC "will face the issue when it's a
possibility."
 
 
Claims Its Approach Tops IBM's in Three Ways
The new All-In-1 is superior to IBM's SAA and OfficeVision for
three main reasons, said Gene Hodges, DEC's group manager for
office information systems: It supports a broader range of
desktop devices and operating systems, it permits the continued
use of existing desktop and workstation applications within a
networked environment, and it adheres to industry standards such
as X.400 and OSI. "OfficeVision is a facade in front of four
incompatible office systems," Hodges said.
 
"The problem with IBM is that it generally supports only its own
hardware," Hodges said. "But Unix workstations and Macs aren't
going to go away."
 
DEC claims that All-In-1 is the most widely-used integrated
office system in the world, with 3.3 million users and 6 million
e-mail nodes. By expanding the available front ends to include
popular desktop PCs and emerging workstations, DEC aims to boost
the use of its minicomputers as central servers at expense to
IBM.
 
 
Won't Ship All-In-1 All at Once
DEC plans to release the new All-In-1 software in stages starting
in January 1990. First, DEC will ship All-In-1 2.4 for VAX/VMS,
the central server application that will incorporate the
product's traditional capabilities. At the same time, DEC will
ship All-In- 1 Desktop for MS-DOS, a $195 client package that
uses DEC's PC LAN software and Personal Computing System
Architecture (PCSA).
 
In July, DEC will bring out three additional clients: Desktops
for VMS DECwindows, OS/2, and the Mac. The VMS version will cost
$395 per single-user license; DEC did not release pricing for the
Mac or OS/2. DEC will continue to support VT displays and IBM
3270 terminals for host-based All-In-1 installations.
 
DEC said it will release All-In-1 mail software that supports
compound documents (containing text, graphics, and images) for
the server and MS-DOS in January and for VMS DECwindows in June.
Release dates for the Mac, Microsoft Windows, and OS/2 are
"within 12 months," DEC said. The DOS and DECwindows versions
will have an introductory price of $50 per node. Because it uses
X.400, DEC said, All-In-1 mail can communicate with many other
e-mail systems, including IBM Profs and SNADS, Wang Office, and
public data networks such as MCI Mail and Telex.
 
Third-party applications under the "Business Intelligence"
umbrella all will support NAS data access services, allowing them
to share documents, messages, and files. For example, a VAX/VMS
version of Lotus 1-2-3 discussed today would allow a spreadsheet
user to obtain numbers from IBM DB2 or IMS databases or DEC Rdb
and RMS databases. Among the other applications slated to be
delivered are dBASE IV, WingZ, Commander EIS from Comshare, Pilot
EIS from Pilot, Focus 4GL from Information Builders, and decision
support systems from Execucom and Information Resources.
 
Contact: Digital Equipment Corp., 146 Main St, Maynard,
MA 01754-2571.
                              --- Andy Reinhardt
 
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