Visions, missions, tactics, strategies – how does it
all come together for NonStop and just how many paths is NonStop going down
that will prove advantageous for the NonStop community?
Reading one of my favorite
car magazines (and the source of many anecdotes for posts and articles already
published), Road and Track, I came across a feature story on the Nürburgring –
a magical place for all car enthusiasts and where Margo and I had the good
fortune of laying down laps during a track-only day (no busses or motorcycles,
just Porsches, Ferraris, Lotuses and Nissan GT-Rs).
Our time on the ‘Ring was
back in late 2010 and you can read more of that in the post Respect
the ‘Ring! of September 23, 2010, to our social blog Buckle-Up-Travel The Road and
Track article, Master’s Program, informs its readers of how, “At most tracks,
it’s not uncommon for a first-rate professional racing driver or even a
talented club ‘shoe to be up to speed after as few as a dozen laps.” Then
adding, “Not at the’Ring. You won’t come close.” More revealing yet, “Like any
track, there are references that a driver can use to let them know exactly
where they are, where the car should be positioned, and what the driver should
be doing. (The) difference here is, there are easily 10 times as many of those
reference points spread out over 14-plus miles.”
The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, for instance (depicted above and with Margo
behind the wheel), is always exciting as it has few signs forewarning you about
what comes next. All of which is to say that signage and reference points are
important on race circuits and I am sure there are other activities where much
the same can be said. Here in Colorado we understand and appreciate how
downhill racers know every inch of their run down a snow-covered mountain. When
it comes to computers, sometimes it’s more difficult to spot signs and catch
important references. It also requires a completely different set of skills
most of which take a very long time to develop.
For starters, what does
strategic really mean and who really does set strategy? Where do we turn to for
confirmation that something is relevant, important, and even strategic? Is it
our favorite vendor or our primary vendor? Is it an industry analyst or simply
a journalist we know well? Turns out that it is a combination of all of the
above that somehow we need to weight and prioritize based on our experience
with all parties. Not all information is the same nor does it necessarily
reflect the real story – you just have to check the tangible reference points
that are all around us.
For the NonStop community it is proving to be a very difficult time. The
initial euphoria that came over the community when news first broke that
NonStop wasn’t being spun out to Micro Focus as part of the offloading of
non-core software assets gave the NonStop community a real boost. NonStop isn’t
non-core after all. Furthermore it had escaped being relegated to a couple of
part timers determined to keep the torch burning brightly, albeit with somewhat
limited funds as had happened to OpenVMS. No, NonStop was proving to be special
and something HPE valued more highly than other assets it had accumulated over
time. However, being core or at least, not part of the non-core software
portfolio, isn’t translating into strategic and that is where the concerns lie
– if it is core but non-strategic, what does that mean?
Again, it’s time to check our reference points as we look for familiar signs
that will help guide us with the decisions we have to routinely make. Do we
continue to invest in NonStop systems? Do we bring additional applications to
our NonStop platform? Do we invest in middleware and infrastructure products
that will help lift our productivity? Will we even spend money sending staff to
events and summits held in support of NonStop? Just as importantly - whereto Mission Critical?
The answers today are not that
clear and with the passage of time following the completion of the various
spin-merges and offloads, the silence coming from HPE is, as they say,
deafening. Could it be that it is a simple case that HPE doesn’t know? Could it
be that HPE has as yet not focused its own resources on looking at where
NonStop could take them? Might it even be a case that NonStop has been
forgotten? We often talk about “best-kept secrets” but when it comes to NonStop
it isn’t productive to think this way, as it’s a bit of a cop-out reflecting
the lack of any real marketing effort being expended by HPE.
At this point I am observing a paradox. NonStop isn’t strategic for HPE – just
look at the HPE vision and you will see references to simplifying hybrid IT,
empowering the edge / IoT and then offering services in support of both of
these pursuits. As HPE adds additional products and indeed vendors to better
support this vision and, essentially, map it into a workable strategy, there’s
no specific reference to NonStop. Quite the contrary, look at project New Stack
unifying management across on-premise systems and clouds private, hybrid and
public as well as Simplivity and Synergy and there is no references to NonStop
whatsoever.
Indeed, it would take considerable new development to bring NonStop
into play and have it participate in any fashion – and yet, look at the
strategy behind these products and you could see real advantages of having
NonStop participate. No, NonStop isn’t strategic and isn’t making a
contribution to HPE’s strategy at this point. And yet, it is still holding down
a place in the HPE slideware pulled out on every occasion – so what gives?
There is no shortage of evangelists supporting NonStop nor is there any
shortage of references highlighting exceptional use-case scenarios. We often
look to finance and telco industries to find references to NonStop but in
reality, NonStop clings to handholds in almost every vertical from
manufacturing, distribution, entertainment and yes, even healthcare. With all
the security issues we read about almost daily and the outages of critical
infrastructure components we hear about almost as often, you would think a lot
more attention was being paid to reliability but it just isn’t the case. The
assumption is that all systems, no matter who the vendor is, provides 24 x 7
capabilities and outages by any of the systems was just an unfortunate incident
most likely attributable to human error. A situation that will always be
present as long as there is human engagement involved! So why even consider a
NonStop system and all the added expense that would involve?
However, evangelism alone isn’t going to cut it – we need a lot more and we
need it from all stakeholders. The simple truth is that NonStop will do very
well without being strategic. When you consider other manufacturers you will
see there are numerous categories for their products – strategic, tactical,
utilitarian, general purpose and yes, even halo! Point is, champing at the bit
to push NonStop to the top of the list of strategic products isn’t really going
to get us anywhere – what is more important is returning to the topic of HPE
having a strategy for NonStop. And this is where the signage is better
illuminated.
Being strategic and having a strategy are very different pursuits
and are oftentimes, unrelated. We expect HPE to be able to articulate a
strategy for the company as a whole – we all want to be better informed about
where it is headed. But when it comes to individual products in the portfolio,
strategies will vary by marketplace, region and even personalities. Just take a
look at the reference points surrounding NonStop today and you will get a good
sense of not only where HPE sits with NonStop but where you are relative to a
strategy for NonStop, best described as a holding pattern.
There are two very distinct and yes, quite separate NonStop paths today and
they contain numerous pitfalls for both users and vendors alike. What may work
when following one path will not necessarily work when following the other
path. HPE will continue to make NonStop systems – it’s strategy for NonStop
systems is to continue to follow the Intel roadmap that will give us the latest
x86 chips as Intel regularly ups the performance. The key piece of the strategy
here is that the marketplace for these NonStop systems will be existing users
with only marginal increase in the NonStop user population at best.
In
developing virtualized NonStop (vNS) however with vNS, HPE is taking NonStop
down a completely untested path and here’s where the problems arise – we have
no reference points. We are approaching blind corners and cresting hills with
no visible signage as to where the road is headed. Having said that, there isn’t
a firm strategy for vNS as yet and for the NonStop community it appears that
the strategy for vNS remains a work in progress. And yet, vNS is anything but
in a holding pattern – it may turn out to be the only outcome for NonStop that
becomes strategic but for that to happen, vNS may not be solely resident within
HPE.
When looking at these paths down which NonStops are headed, there may not be
ten times the reference points we need to check but there is still much to
observe. Hopefully with the NonStop Technical Boot Camp fast approaching, we
may learn more even as these reference points consolidate and we come to see just
a simple sign. For now, what matters most isn’t whether NonStop is strategic
for HPE but rather, does HPE have a strategy for NonStop and will that
strategy embrace the NonStop we know today even as it lifts the veil on the
NonStop we all see coming. NonStop systems will likely be with us for a couple
more years but as for vNS, well-executed and well-supported by HPE, it’s
influence may be felt for decades to come!
2 comments:
I cannot say much about your main points, but I believe you are incorrect about one of the less important statements you made. You said that people today assume all computers have 24x7 capability. I think that is wrong. Microsoft did a fantastic job of training one or two generations of computer users that all computers regularly crash. THAT is the assumption that I believe nearly everyone has today. They don't even believe that there could be a system that does not exhibit that behaviour.
I agree with you Keith and I should have qualified my source - it came direct from (biggest global IT analyst group) who said to me that we cannot claim 24 x 7 as a differentiator nor can we talk about any real time being a benefit as all vendors are providing this level of availability today.
Hence my inclusion to see who might pick up on this ... I for one, was flabbergasted to here such push-back on NonStop!
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