SENT: 88-02-07  13:09
   FROM: LEHEY_GREG
     TO: LEHEY_GREG.LOCEURO @ESSG
SUBJECT: Install: The greatest cause of down time? What do you think?
Dear Europe,

One of the largest causes of customer problems could be eliminated if
they were to install all the copious EBFs or IPMs that are available
for installed software. Unfortunately, a large number of these
EBFs/IPMs require a SYSGEN, and the only consistent way to do a SYSGEN
is with INSTALL.

Currently, installing a new base release or an EBF or IPM requires the
system to be down for in the order of one to two hours. Much of this
time could be eliminated if we took a serious effort to change the way
software is installed. This effort costs money; my question to you is:
is this money worth it? Specifically:

     Does your customer refuse to install new software because of the
     down time involved, and would he change his attitude if the total
     down time were to be limited to the time it takes to perform a
     cold load?

(Typically this time would consist of time to shut down the
application and the system, perform the cold load and restart the
application.  Under normal circumstances, I would expect this to be in
the order of 10 to 15 minutes, though this obviously depends on the
customer application and the system configuration).

I will be keeping a reply file; due to the potentially sensitive
nature of the contents, however, I shall not make this available to
everybody.  If you have a genuine interest, please contact me in about
2 weeks time and I will send it to you.

Regards
Greg Lehey
Manager, ESSG OS/Hardware group