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Brandon Harris, Sr. Director/HPE Solutions

In 2013, HPE announced that it was ending support for the 35-year-old OpenVMS operating system in 2020. For OpenVMS devotees, who prize its consistent, highly available, and reliable performance, it was devastating news.

OpenVMS is well known for its security by design and for its clustering and disaster-tolerant capabilities. IT managers also appreciate its engineering and other unique functionality.

It runs mission-critical systems you don’t often hear about in key industries—automotive, telecommunications, healthcare, education, and manufacturing (process control) systems. It’s also used in highly secure markets such as energy (nuclear power plants and more), mass transportation, aerospace, financial institutions, and others.

Unlike most commercial scale-out clustering on the market today, OpenVMS can cluster up to 96 machines together to share work which can be tightly or loosely coupled across nodes, depending on the underlying network. And it’s not only easy to install and use, it’s highly scalable.

Bringing OpenVMS into the future

Fortunately for distressed fans, longtime OpenVMS supporters started VMS Software, Inc. (VSI) in 2014 through its purchase of OpenVMS from HPE, and agreed to shepherd OpenVMS into a new era. VSI is working hard on next-generation OpenVMS platforms. It expects to modernize its application development tools and improve operating system capabilities (including the number of cores it can support), according to its product roadmap.

Thus far, VSI has provided 4 new upgraded versions of its Integrity licenses and support and two new versions for Alpha users.  Version 9.0, expected in late 2018 for early adopters, will be available for the industry standard x86-64 platform with full release in 2020. By sharing a common hardware standard, OpenVMS users will realize critical new benefits:

  • Consolidate and standardize servers to reduce complexity.
  • Run other apps on x86 servers alongside Unix.
  • Increase scalability.
  • Enjoy best-in-class total cost of ownership.

Why future-proof OpenVMS?

According to a recent report, 78 percent of those surveyed rated staying current with technology trends as vital or important. Eighty-eight percent believe that new technologies can help them make financial gains, while 86 percent agree that they can gain a business advantage.

So if most businesses believe that using new technologies can positively impact their bottom lines, why do they often struggle to implement them?

Organizations often lack recognition of future-proofing opportunities when they arise. This is not a bang on IT departments who are expert in managing the technologies they already have. They just have limited time to keep up with new and emerging technologies not under their management. Fortunately, this is where Logicalis shines.

Logicalis already works with a significant number of OpenVMS customers, so we’re pleased to tell  you that we are now a VSI Authorized Reseller Partner ready to address your OpenVMS requirements.

Future-proof your OpenVMS implementation with Logicalis

So even though HPE is pulling the plug, VSI is breathing new life into OpenVMS and Logicalis sees a future-proofed path for users of the beloved OS. And, as a VSI Authorized Reseller Partner, Logicalis can provide the complete VSI product and services offerings for your OpenVMS environment.  OpenVMS customers will now have three options:

  • Stay on your current HPE OpenVMS version and Logicalis, as an HPE Platinum Partner, will provide support through HPE.
  • Upgrade to the improved VSI OpenVMS products (Integrity or Alpha) V8.4-2L1 and receive the rights to new versions for all future licenses, including the X86 product (available for early adopters in late 2018) when on VSI support.
  • Upgrade to version 9.2 in 2020, move your OpenVMS environment to the x86 platform, and receive support—all through Logicalis.

As an HPE Platinum Partner and now a VSI Partner, Logicalis can support any size organization and solution. Our engineers collectively hold hundreds of HPE certifications—with many qualified for the OpenVMS OS—so we can deliver verified expertise in HPE products, solutions and services.

To learn more, contact your Logicalis Account Executive or send an email to the Logicalis + HPE Team.