Doug Monroe says:

I was Sequent's first new college hire (BS, Computer Science, Oregon State University), on December 27, 1983 (employee #57).  I was brought on to administrate the two Digital VAX 11/750 systems that were being used for development and administration.  Within the next year, the two VAXen had grown to four, head count had tripled, and we completed development of the Balance 8000, the first commercially available Symmetric Multi-Processing system.  It was my privilege to bring two of these systems on line, migrate the user communities off of the VAXen to them, and retire three of the VAXes (one was kept around to run the MRP system on VMS).  FYI, Casey Powell's was the first home account to be moved on to a Sequent system.  Mine was second.

Shortly after this transition, I was asked to deliver a System Administration course for Sequent customers.  Within two weeks following delivery of this class I got drafted by the service department (3 engineers, one secretary, and a manager).  I spent the next 4 years answering hotline calls, installing, upgrading, and fixing systems in the field, and developing and delivering customer education classes.  As the company and the service organization grew, my role got redefined to include new product introductions (in addition to other tasks).  DYNIX/ptx was one of my products, as was the migration package from DYNIX 3 (the BSD version) to ptx, most of the layered products, and the odd tape drive and monitor (near and dear to the Sys Admin's heart).

On January 11, 1994, myself and 79 others left Sequent (okay, we got RIFed (reduction in force)).  My 10 year pin (with the diamond chip) was given to me after my exit interview.  Within two weeks, Sequent had engaged me as a consultant to do a series of trade shows.  Following that, I did some professional services gigs for them, involving on-site consulting, and a few more trade shows. 

In 1996 I incorporated as DMA Inc, and began delivering DYNIX/ptx system administration classes for Sequent, and providing system administration consulting and custom training services.  I survived the acquisition of Sequent by IBM, and as IBM has been curtailing training and support for Symmetry, NUMA-Q, and DYNIX/ptx, I've been broadening my offerings. In 2002 I was licensed by IBM to deliver all the NUMA-Q training material, as they no longer offered these classes.  I've taught a number of these classes, using IBM and custom materials.  I've also assisted customers with remote system administration, in expanding and upgrading their Sequent systems, diagnosing hardware problems, and migrating on to other platforms.

IBM formally ceased supporting DYNIX/ptx effective 1/1/2007.  This has been good for business.