tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42857295130305437462024-03-15T14:02:33.223-07:00Real Time ViewIndependent opinions and commentary for the HPE NonStop community.Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.comBlogger633125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-12765182971345991482024-02-13T06:19:00.000-08:002024-02-13T06:19:28.220-08:00It’s that time again for My Three Wishes for NonStop.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLHf8yg1DouviE6kMzLeg5M07uF1Uxqa5eqoXb3MQ8tsidowE587Ze3-C2WDfana08CkfRMNHxiSwu5p3ojs5JOg9v-ztvTINrNW_51WmGBr8yjG9nB74z_alzGTd7beI-x6LaRkZJeekeOpCpwB_2PCU6sgYP97y9_TXtlUg8Wr2Cx-wD6eOBMPIjY4c" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="273" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLHf8yg1DouviE6kMzLeg5M07uF1Uxqa5eqoXb3MQ8tsidowE587Ze3-C2WDfana08CkfRMNHxiSwu5p3ojs5JOg9v-ztvTINrNW_51WmGBr8yjG9nB74z_alzGTd7beI-x6LaRkZJeekeOpCpwB_2PCU6sgYP97y9_TXtlUg8Wr2Cx-wD6eOBMPIjY4c=w303-h389" width="303" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So
much has been written about how difficult it is to predict the future. The
topic is simply self-explanatory – the future is unpredictable and for many,
attempting such a feat is tantamount to a total waste of time and effort. And
yet, for as many years as I have been posting to this blog, going all the way
back to 2008 and the post My Wish for NS Blades, simply contemplating what
might be has me turning to my magical lamp to check in with the genie. Perhaps
not, but every three years which in IT years I view as being close to an
eternity, I “have at it” and put pen to paper. Well, my fingers to a keyboard
at least.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If
you look back through the labels created for this blog and check the regularity
of the posts about my three wishes for NonStop, separation of three years seems
reasonable. Having said that, when contemplating the future for NonStop today you
will see that four years have elapsed between this post and the previous post.
I put this down to the COVID year as opportunities to network with the NonStop
community at regional events and conferences were limited. And no, I didn’t
foresee an event as tragic as COVID or that it would disrupt the global economy
the way it did. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Switching
off Zoom and heading to a conference Room, a blessed reality beginning in 2023,
saw a renewal of our confidence to network once again. However, if one
observation can be made early in this post, it is that the NonStop community
has returned to RUG meetings in numbers not seen for roughly half a decade. What
were my first three wishes for NonStop back when I posted in 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“My first wish is to see HP BCS deliver
on … “Shared Infrastructure Blade.” This is where any mix of NonStop, HP-UX,
Linux, and Windows Server OS’s will be supported.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“My second wish is to see a hypervisor
introduced where NonStop can be configured as a ‘guest OS’ in much the same way
z/VM is used on the IBM mainframe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“My last … wouldn’t it be advantageous
to users if interrogation of incoming transactions would direct mission
critical transactions to NonStop, important informational but not quite
mission-critical to a Unix or Linux, and voluminous inquiries to Windows?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In
2008 the big story was the introduction of blades as the basic building blocks
for all NonStop hardware. The prospect of a shared infrastructure blade was
introduced by then HPE CTO Martin Fink and at the time, it sounded like a good
idea. The very same blade package would be capable of running any HPE supported
OS including NonStop and well, before there was any real prospect of running
NonStop virtually or the presence of smart transaction-based routing, the wish
for an open NonStop supporting industry-standard hardware seemed a distant
prospect.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And
yet, here we are today with many of these pieces already in play. In IT years,
2008 was so long ago that it may as well have come from Frontier Land when we
are all looking to hear the latest from Tomorrow Land (to borrow from
Disneyland). However, much of what has transpired for NonStop in the
intervening years has been a steady sequential movement that has projected
NonStop into the real world, where its underlying value proposition is still
highly regarded. Need I add that we will shortly be celebrating the golden
anniversary of NonStop. Fifty years, and counting? Who knew!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Alternatively,
it may be said that little more needs to be wished for when it comes to
NonStop. Instead, there could easily be a consensus among the NonStop community
members to let things as they are today simply play out. One aspect of NonStop
and the marketing of NonStop is that it is a market that is cautious when it
comes to change. So many transactions passing through NonStop are of a
financial nature and messing with the money has been a longstanding no-no for
technology companies. So, yes, before we wish for anything further, lets get on
top of virtualization and see if the offerings of cloud services providers can
be leveraged in a manner that is positive for NonStop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There.
I have said it. Virtualization. Clouds. And there is still one more element we
know is having an outside influence on our decision making: Hybrid IT. The idea
that there would be enterprises running just a NonStop systems is likely to be
a rarity of such miniscule proportions as not to be relevant. For most NonStop
users, they can simply point to their latest NonStop system and note that it’s
already a mix of NonStop, Linux and Windows. But Hybrid IT is more than what we
point to with NonStop as the presence of NonStop within an enterprise IT
deployment. It is connected to multiple systems and external resources to where
it can only be described as being on of the cogs in a monster IT machine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With
that covered – Virtualization, Clouds and Hybrid IT – what are my three wishes
for the next three years? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let’s
start with something that touches all of us. The NonStop vendor community. My first wish is to clear the air and point
out that the plan to not put all NonStop vendors’ offerings on the plan was a
failure and that what is on the price book today is only a small representation
of the choices available to the NonStop customer. Can this be changed and the
situation rectified? It’s unlikely as the NonStop team would be hard pressed to
admit that they got something, as important as software, completely wrong. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As
much as I could wish that this all went away the reality is that it isn’t
likely to happen. Too many entrenched vested interests. However, what I really
wish for now is that a number of NonStop vendors merge or at least form a
globally functioning co-op such that they have the depth of experience and the
fortitude to make it happen. What the NonStop team had been trying to achieve
is to show to NonStop prospects a richness of software offerings reflecting a
commitment to the NonStop system that would be hard to ignore. Going forward
what I wish for is to have a number of large consortiums that could go
head-to-head on a level playing field where it is the customer that dictates
strategic directions and selects an appropriate roadmap that best serves their
interests. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A
big wish, I know and perhaps a little too far-fetched. But so too was
virtualization and the arrival of clouds back in 2008. If we are to see
sustained investment in NonStop by NonStop vendors then size will ultimately
matter and for now, it distresses me to say that the prospect of many NonStop
vendors leaving the field is getting too big to ignore. A poor next wish for
the coming three years? I don’t think so … then again, this is not necessarily
wishful thinking as the software industry is liberally littered with
partnerships, relationships, relationships of all type that eventually
boomerang back to where it all started. Could we see this taking place at some
point? That is, a return to a true level playing field that encourages continued investment in NonStop by all parties?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What
is next on my wish list has a lot to do with education and training. We are
witnessing a generational change within the NonStop community visible at both
the vendor and customer level. A younger generation has arrived with fresh eyes
and what they see might legitimately be viewed as legacy. Hard to ignore when
NonStop has been around for so long and where many of the production systems
have been written in programming languages no longer considered as being
modern. And yet, what the NonStop team has done over the past couple of years
to ensure all developers can leverage their programming skills in support of
new applications for NonStop is quite revolutionary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Making
the presence of NonStop as transparent as they have managed to do is quite
amazing and there are now a number of articles, posts and white papers covering
this topic. Who knew we could call up a NonStop development environment from a
number of cloud services providers, develop and test code, leverage
cross-compilers and then load to NonStop for execution. The idea of funding a
separate NonStop system for development does now seem a little antiquated but
the message needs to be amped up considerably to gain the attention it needs.
Nike may say, Just Do It, but it is time the NonStop community promotes the
message of yes, we Just Did It!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In
short, my second wish here is for the IT community at large to become motivated
to develop for NonStop such that numerous new solutions become available that
capitalize on the strengths of NonStop. There is still tremendous merit in
deploying a platform that simply doesn’t’ fail and that can scale to meet any
imagined Black Friday environment. The world of NonStop needs more solutions
and as of right now, the NonStop team has delivered the tools to bring such
solutions to market in a supportable and timely manner. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finally,
for my third wish I want to call out the upcoming golden anniversary of NonStop
and use it as a catalyst for a major marketing push by HPE in support of
NonStop. Apart from the IBM Mainframe, no other system and software stack has
provided sustained value for longer than NonStop. The implication clearly is
that the designers of NonStop those fifty years back simply got it right. If
you can’t fix stupid, as Forrest Gump reminded us, then it is true that you
cannot break brilliance. What lies beneath the APIs supported by NonStop is a
degree of cleverness bordering on brilliant and it would be my wish that this
was recognized by HPE. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not
just with a sidebar annotation to some routine press release but for HPE to
take a bow. In public, perhaps at HPE Discover 2024. Surely, celebrating fifty
years and being the longest serving platform in the HPE product portfolio is
worthy of celebrating at this upcoming major event for HPE. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There
are many more simple things that could be done as well – when HPE addresses the
financial community at the end of each quarter, they provide updates on the
different groups within the HPE organization. But with all the analyst briefings
I have followed for the past five years or so, there’s been no mention of
NonStop. Major enterprises can read these reports and in so doing are left with
little option than thinking of NonStop as Mr. Irrelevant. Not a solution to
invest in or rely upon for supporting a major application including
applications considered mission critical. That is just one opportunity that is
missed and could be easily rectified by HPE.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">HPE
does very little to support NonStop influencers and with the generational shift
under way across the NonStop community and indeed the enterprise IT community
as a whole, very little energy is spent on fostering a thriving influencer
community and this is something too that could be easily rectified. Education,
training, communicating, promotion and a vocal multi-layered approach to
influencing constitute my third wish and for NonStop to celebrate more than its
fiftieth year such a refresh would go a long way to ensure we are soon to be
celebrating sixty, seventy-five years, and perhaps longer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As
I conclude this post on my three wishes for NonStop and I look back at what I
posted first in 2008, it doesn’t escape me that the NonStop community is still
thriving some fifteen years later. When so many other solutions have faded from
memory, NonStop still lives and remains productive in all that it supports. And
for all those nay-sayers who want to believe that HPE ruined NonStop and that
NonStop isn’t the system it once was rest assured it’s not anything like what
existed in the previous decades. It’s something else entirely different and in
being different now, it is far superior to what existed in the past. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">And
for that I am wishing the very best for the future of NonStop! </span></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-74929659482643869872024-01-16T08:15:00.000-08:002024-01-16T08:15:05.990-08:00What’s new with NonStop may not appear to be shiny and yet NonStop will allow us to shine!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuNbOGEliYbHzV81c4Gw6nBr1EAJPuCQCIGFNm55QB2VHFk96uz_JpKZrv1bmFKdijc2PD3IgA0x22IfDYq9c5oTFyFZ6DmiefplCxzBlejjsvKrtr7YQojQymnehpg-csd3Szwf4He20XJEYi4iSck98Bi83maGg3Xa74akPENqHKibZeCBBHDzb3T8Y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="378" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuNbOGEliYbHzV81c4Gw6nBr1EAJPuCQCIGFNm55QB2VHFk96uz_JpKZrv1bmFKdijc2PD3IgA0x22IfDYq9c5oTFyFZ6DmiefplCxzBlejjsvKrtr7YQojQymnehpg-csd3Szwf4He20XJEYi4iSck98Bi83maGg3Xa74akPENqHKibZeCBBHDzb3T8Y=w269-h359" width="269" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Everything shines on a modern cruising yacht</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With 2023 firmly in the
books, it proved to be a statement year for Margo and me. That’s right, we
didn’t buy a new car all year. This may come as a surprise for many of our regular
readers but our ongoing support of our clients was such that we simply didn’t
have the time to take in any of the car shows or to walk showrooms floors.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Perhaps even more shocking,
we were given the opportunity to take delivery of an upgraded C8 Corvette – the
new Z06 model – but we turned it down delaying such purchase for at least one
more year. You might say, we resisted all temptations to jump on opportunities
to drive away in shiny new cars.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A blogger I follow on
LinkedIn provided insights into what distracts start-ups during their first
months of operation. To save you scrolling back through constantly changing
LinkedIn feeds, her observations were right on the money. What she wanted to
convey was that after working with a company to the point of a product launch happening
with considerable fanfare, subsequent fortnightly meetings didn’t go according
to plan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Following the excitement of
the launch, two weeks later the company caught on to an idea and wanted to
change the messaging front-end. Then a further two weeks, they thought they
should re-tool their backend. A further two weeks later and they wanted to redo
the product to highlight cloud support.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At least this is how I
followed the story line. The response from this blogger who was providing
advice and counselling was to stay focused, ignore the “shiny news headlines”
and stop thinking about changes for change’s sake. Rather, came the advice,
given how good the product is in its current form, don’t be seduced into
believing everything being promoted is necessarily a good thing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You had spent time
researching, designing, building and then took to market a very sellable product.
A solution for many companies, meeting their current requirements. Oh, the lure
of shiny things … and as Margo and I have plans for celebrating a major
milestone, be assured that there will not be additional jewelry, watches or
even diamonds in the works … are you crazy? As for flowers well, they too were
absent much to the apparent chagrin of Margo; who knew? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Alice Merton, a
British-based German-Irish-Canadian singer-songwriter (all the bases covered
with this acknowledgment) penned these lyrics:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You
don't make any sense to me (how)<br /></span></span></i><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">'Cause
you choose to focus on shiny things (how)</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It’s early 2024 and already
it’s becoming very clear that there will be a record number of HPE NonStop
community events and conference. This doesn’t include HPE Discover 2024 coming in
the summer but then events across four, possibly five, continents confirms that
interest in all things NonStop is not diminishing. To the contrary, there is a
sense that interest in some markets is steadily growing and it makes me wonder
about a time when HPE really gets it and steps up to throw real marketing
dollars in support of NonStop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to former
markets, the presence in almost every stock exchange was quickly overturned
when incoming CEOs (was Ameritrade the true catalyst for this?) were seduced by
shiny Windows boxes. So were NASDAQ and others. In chasing the apparent
attractiveness of these shiny new boxes, they overlooked the value of
reliability and resilience. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, program trading proved
to be a bear on compute power but the transactions? Yes, they were mission
critical and it now seems to have become an annual event to report of outages
and yes, glitches, that made trading next to impossible at these very same
exchanges.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are other industries I
can think of that were attracted to what looked at first glance to be the
latest shiny thing that would prove to be the salvation. Yes, white knights
riding into battle always took on the appearance of radiant light as the sun
bounced off their armor but ultimately, what glistened so brightly reduced
their flexibility and less-equipped individuals on foot simply surrounded them
and eventually nullified whatever advantage they thought that they might have. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Battles are rarely won by
the latest gadget and this is something we are witnessing first hand in the
skirmishes across many battlefields that make their way almost nightly onto our
television screens. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">NonStop as the premier
mission critical transaction processor continues to hold sway among financial
institutions even as it continues to grow a presence in manufacturing,
distributions and transportation. In a global economy where the movement of
goods is all-important, it’s encouraging to know that there are container
terminals, manufacturers and even warehouses where you will find NonStop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These shiny new cars from
the biggest luxury car manufacturer are all created as with the help of
NonStop. Just check in with Mercedes Benz sometime to get the full skinny on its
commitment to NonStop and while you do that, give a big thank you to abat+ for
making it all possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, two things are
taking place across the NonStop community that don’t truly fall into the
category of being shiny and yet, the net result makes the presence of NonStop
look shiny. Modernization together with a renewed focus on resilience have captured
the imagination of many IT professionals. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Much has been written of
late about just how modern NonStop has become and where the need for special
skills (to develop, deploy and operate solutions on NonStop) has lessened
considerably following enormous efforts by NonStop development teams to ensure
transparency. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Use the tools you are
familiar with! Program in languages you were taught in college! Oversee using
any number of open and industry-standard monitoring tools! And yes, pull up a
cloud-based development environment, with cross-compilers on hand, that make
new development of applications destined for deployment on NonStop so much
easier – have you been listening to the NonStop product managers describing how
easy it really has become to leverage the core attributes of NonStop. Transparently!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As for resilience, it’s as
if all the NonStop vendors are engaged in providing systems backup as well as
ensuring business continuity and talk about the message of resilience. As has
been the conversation for much of 2023 then whether it’s business or digital
resilience or even cyber resilience, the NonStop community has a wealth of
options from which to choose. They may not be shiny and completely new yet they
bring to the table some of the best tools to advance an enterprises’ readiness
to repel the attacks of bad actors everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This doesn’t mean that in
repelling bad actors we are going back to deploying our knights in shining
armor, but rather, turning our eyes towards what we have always known to be
fundamentally sound product offerings. These product offerings are proving to
be sound in their current form and are enjoying popularity simply because they are
a good thing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shiny headlines continue to
appear and there are times when they appear at gatherings of the NonStop
community but fortunately, wiser heads more often than not prevail. Ultimately,
it is the reputation and experience of the NonStop vendors that carry the day. I
cannot say that at some point in 2024 there will not be a new car purchase even
as I have to admit that something shiny might appear that seduces Margo and me
to pull out our wallets. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to NonStop in
2024, with as many tech refreshes as I am anticipating as the migration to the
latest NonStop systems will continue as well as the growing acceptance of
NonStop becoming virtual, there are going to be those NonStop customers that
begin looking at their mix of applications, infrastructure, tools and
utilities. With such a renewed interest in optimizing the operation and
performance of the NonStop systems, many of these NonStop customers will turn
to vendors with better mixes of functionality, support and pricing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And somehow that line in the
song, “<i>You don't make any sense to me” </i>continues to intrude my memory.
Perhaps it makes more sense to lift our eyes above the latest shiny object to
see what really is important. For the NonStop community, the reality maybe
setting in with the knowledge that, for what NonStop continues to provide, it’s
not so much about being shiny as it is to shine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With close on four decades
of market presence, shining above all else is what NonStop brings to the party
and nothing we see today diminishes that shine. Making sense? Being crazy?
Wasn’t there another line written about diamonds, and craziness and simply
shining on?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let’s encourage one another
to keep NonStop in the conversation throughout the year as even now, there is a
sense that sentiment is turning and once again, NonStop will have quite a bit
to say in the outcomes of any enterprise future plans. Once again, let me
reiterate Margo’s and my plans for 2024 and the many NonStop events and
conferences we will be attending even as we brace ourselves for a hectic travel
schedule. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you see us at any of these events and you would like to chat, then pull us aside as with a
certainty, it is our objective to make every NonStop customer shine as they
should.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p>
</p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-14864298507815347092023-12-13T16:58:00.000-08:002023-12-13T17:17:59.056-08:00Did someone say party time ?<p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcx7g8T6EeyFLHf3sJpaPAd_wk2eBg2NqyCZs85zHYESk238U90j7cbVN2iNx0ZNXulEfLL39ojJ7tz2KqCpWJYdv6MiF3_4VpSSfxGIfgFiw_HtQJJl9HutLlhviga0QNxu5Z5M_Nf-JQg-quuzEp6JNCtNHfqx05YeILLHIgpWJSXlWeQiW7_rhwGBI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="519" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcx7g8T6EeyFLHf3sJpaPAd_wk2eBg2NqyCZs85zHYESk238U90j7cbVN2iNx0ZNXulEfLL39ojJ7tz2KqCpWJYdv6MiF3_4VpSSfxGIfgFiw_HtQJJl9HutLlhviga0QNxu5Z5M_Nf-JQg-quuzEp6JNCtNHfqx05YeILLHIgpWJSXlWeQiW7_rhwGBI=w373-h254" width="373" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The trappings of the festive
season are now all around us. Inescapable, it would seem. Choosing gifts, cards
and the right wrapping paper. It’s all happening and for many of us, it’s not
only the season of joy but a time to reflect. Where were we this time last
year? A decade ago? And then there are the numerous business gatherings held at
this time of year. Reluctant to throw around the word party and yet, for many
enterprises, this is exactly how best to describe the occasion. Paper hats?
Streamers? The clink of glasses? Perhaps not but regardless, there is no
escaping what the season means for each of us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">For Margo and I there was
our return from our sojourn in the South Pacific. Spending the last weeks of
November in Sydney, Australia, watching as we did the weather turn from mildly
warm to very warm, even as we kept an eye on the weather back home in Colorado.
It seems an anachronism to view Santas in Sydney decked out in full Northern
Hemisphere winter kit. Ringing bells and fondly wishing us all a Merry
Christmas, some things you can depend upon as never changing. However, our
return to Colorado was short lived as we jumped a plane to Columbus, Ohio, to
join colleagues at NTI for their annual gathering for this Holiday season.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking back over the
calendar of 2023, it seemed as though the end of the year saw a flourish of
NonStop user events. Whether you made it to Norway for VNUG, to London for the
BITUG Little SIG meeting or even to Sydney for drinks with the folks from OzTUG
it seemed as though the echoes of NonStop TBC 2023 were still resonating loudly
while we simply moved on to the next event. What was comforting through all of
this was how the very biggest of NonStop users were still actively supporting
NonStop communities wherever they gathered. The plan ride back from Sydney is a
long one and a journey I rarely look forward to, but now that we have turned
the page to 2024, I can already see dates blocked out where it is back to the
planes once again.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXJTi2UeLrazqhBuAvJ-ZN6VVhZnUj4hbllxy1ca82GfHcBRXBEd4r1xmUnu96LVoDMluORdYgxkguHbIlEdRMjQeaglYALGoZ6v3KXRutpnApen4foPkuFKW4Er_5yExgzLOS01aa9YsOzqss8b4-NePzK2NBlurEopR7RJOwUdhLmhF6J4Y0DcNKeVE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="531" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXJTi2UeLrazqhBuAvJ-ZN6VVhZnUj4hbllxy1ca82GfHcBRXBEd4r1xmUnu96LVoDMluORdYgxkguHbIlEdRMjQeaglYALGoZ6v3KXRutpnApen4foPkuFKW4Er_5yExgzLOS01aa9YsOzqss8b4-NePzK2NBlurEopR7RJOwUdhLmhF6J4Y0DcNKeVE=w382-h272" width="382" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The photo above as well as
at the top of this post was taken at the recent NTI Holiday party. It would be
stating the obvious to point out just how visible NTI was throughout events of
2023. Time spent around the table at this time of year always proves rewarding
for those looking for soundbites conveying the highlights of the year and with
NTI, this year created even more soundbites than I can remember from similar
occasions in previous years. When you are solely focused on NonStop, as is the
case with NTI, then the level of buzz is always one test of how a year went and
for 2023, there was plenty of buzz being generated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">We often talk about
modernization and of the journey NonStop has undertaken in the pursuit of
modernization. Without mincing words, given that, in 2024 we will all be
celebrating fifty years of NonStop, we are witnessing something quite unique.
Who would have guessed, those 50 years ago, that little would be said today
about Prime, Wang, Digital, Data General, Four Phase and more, given their exit
from the marketplace while at with the same breath be talking about NonStop? And
yet, NonStop is still delivering on the promise of fault tolerance and true 24
x 7 availability! What more can we say about the genius of those founders of
the original Tandem Computers that over the course of a relatively brief period
of time, designed the first systems and programmed the operating system that
today, half a century later, is recognizable as being compatible with those
early ambitions.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkOWk40X6z3gWivrYhVgONFFbKmMj0l_tvsl3O9RIVeKaQ0-GuFpPp8P35tCvZOqYC4JiGUxpYEIko191CL_yKoGQGAgn3Pwl-zdjiYpGDF9FlAn0Zs00AC7-0MCcXc_-KDqBjZPptS4dtaGBJ_lG0qV497DdGu37oUb4-i1kfOJjFSVzs2FAj8SM13pQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="443" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkOWk40X6z3gWivrYhVgONFFbKmMj0l_tvsl3O9RIVeKaQ0-GuFpPp8P35tCvZOqYC4JiGUxpYEIko191CL_yKoGQGAgn3Pwl-zdjiYpGDF9FlAn0Zs00AC7-0MCcXc_-KDqBjZPptS4dtaGBJ_lG0qV497DdGu37oUb4-i1kfOJjFSVzs2FAj8SM13pQ=w346-h325" width="346" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If anyone is to say it’s
time to party then there is probably no better time to say that than shortly as
we all join in on the golden anniversary of NonStop. Yes, we made it and yes,
there is still much to be accomplished. When we talk about modernization, the
transition to open standards, including support of the Intel x86 architecture,
the even more impressive transformation from traditional system packaging to
fully virtualized, it almost seems magical. Then again, it was Arthur C. Clark
that said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Perhaps then it is fitting
to talk about celebrations, parties and yes, magic. A lesser-known quote by
Clark that I particularly like was when he said, “When a distinguished but
elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly
right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably
wrong.” </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The impossible has always been
the quiet attribute of NonStop and one that, likewise, may be lesser-known
among IT professionals, and yet it has always been present. The one that comes
to mind is when SNAX/CDF was first announced as it was the IBM comms folks who
had always told me that implementing PU4 functionality was impossible for
anyone other than IBM, it could not be achieved. And yet, here we are!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A NonStop SQL where all
functions could be performed without ever taking the supporting relational
database off line well, that too was impossible, right? Returning to the topic
of comms, what about implementing DLSw and HPR / EE protocols inboard on NonStop?
That too, next to impossible, but then again, when statements like these all
proved false and products became available, it was a magical time for NonStop!
Each of them proving yet again the nay-sayers hopelessly wrong.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So when conversations turn
to modernization and the NonStop team says that the tools, utilities and
services your developers turn to for development on open systems, including the
likes of Linux and Windows, can now be leveraged to develop new solutions for
NonStop, then who would dare to doubt that this is indeed true? If you missed
reading the series of posts to the HPE Community blog, then you will have
missed hearing how effective the NonStop development team has been of late in bringing
modern development and deployment capabilities to NonStop. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Check out these links for
more on that subject and if as yet you have not read either of them, consider
these, too, cause for celebration as 2023 comes to an end:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">First
for development, follow this hyperlink -</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><a href="https://community.hpe.com/t5/servers-systems-the-right/hpe-nonstop-makes-it-modernization-easy/ba-p/7175761" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">HPE NonStop makes IT modernization
easy</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Then
for deployment, follow this hyperlink -</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><a href="https://community.hpe.com/t5/servers-systems-the-right/what-comes-after-development-simplified-deployment-for-hpe/ba-p/7182667" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">What
comes after development? Simplified deployment for HPE NonStop applications</span></a></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The significance of these
posts is that they turn the tables on those who continue to discount the TCO of
NonStop, bundling in to the cost, as it were, a perceived cost to hire and
train specialist staff. Nothing could be further from the truth and at a time
when NonStop is looking to add more applications to its solutions portfolio,
this comes as good news indeed and well worth celebrating. Party time? Yes, I
reckon so!</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpvPm7gAek1spIotPLkd2K6kyVFCNJ5FWw2LakNPi_u12TwssXKCcfzFFCp-RhwPk3B_OSgjW52o3wiqHNr8mbXCz60Lmwc_tvlfSuUT6KXTIvD0XMgCeV8ncMCTA9t9VqiChziD5QomkJ4gLbLc7jNxshNPOWmB5bZfzpTSBhPh5MBX9LW_xRmkudCU/s4032/Soccer%20Game%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpvPm7gAek1spIotPLkd2K6kyVFCNJ5FWw2LakNPi_u12TwssXKCcfzFFCp-RhwPk3B_OSgjW52o3wiqHNr8mbXCz60Lmwc_tvlfSuUT6KXTIvD0XMgCeV8ncMCTA9t9VqiChziD5QomkJ4gLbLc7jNxshNPOWmB5bZfzpTSBhPh5MBX9LW_xRmkudCU/w266-h473/Soccer%20Game%202.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As I joined in the
celebration in Columbus with the NTI team, I couldn’t help but feel the buzz
that was created. The excitement that comes with success and yes, the big win
against all comers that led to today’s modern DRNet</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">®</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">/Unified replacing a
legacy implementation of GoldenGate has led to a new initiative within NTI that
is focused on further migration opportunities. This is definitely one
initiative worth paying close attention to; think of a new product package
carrying the branding of DRNet</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">®</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">/Unified for GoldenGate
Conversions. Perhaps branding that extends to support the payments industry leaving
open the opportunity to customize offerings for other verticals where many years ago GoldenGate
established a footing with NonStop customers. For good reason then, is it time
to rethink continuing to pay Oracle for anything related to NonStop as no,
there’s no magic there. Can Oracle be trusted to keep supporting HPE and the
NonStop product line forever?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shortly, we will be heading
back out on the road for the Christmas break to celebrate our own time
together. There may not be all the trimmings we associate with this time of
year but it will be party time for the both of us. Someone may have indeed said
its time for the NonStop community to celebrate all that is magic about NonStop
and having no regrets of any kind, Margo and my commitment to NonStop will
continue throughout 2024. Look for us at your favorite user group gathering
next year as we will likely be there. We may not be looking for party caps or
streamers, but for sure, with a golden anniversary on the horizon, who wouldn’t
be excited about the future of NonStop? Onwards to 2024 and further success –
yes, we too will be doing everything in our power to make it so!</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><br /></div><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-78050139663494544132023-11-17T12:23:00.000-08:002023-11-17T12:24:25.695-08:00HPE NonStop: community sees shadows shortening<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtbGHBkWvtguMeNIZT5Rq3CEvupSzeGwEDUVz7Ghx1nzIzCgaBRFYIBs-ZtvkQN5yM36A1GTVQu-tSR6bt95-ztAEwOkaZQE26RIaRwU94RSAmDify2LEj53w0cJO_kbXm0tiwGedYsfirt1UF2z7St0aJZ3Yea10UEjnYL3VzwmdZges3mFJPtoOWDE0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="546" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtbGHBkWvtguMeNIZT5Rq3CEvupSzeGwEDUVz7Ghx1nzIzCgaBRFYIBs-ZtvkQN5yM36A1GTVQu-tSR6bt95-ztAEwOkaZQE26RIaRwU94RSAmDify2LEj53w0cJO_kbXm0tiwGedYsfirt1UF2z7St0aJZ3Yea10UEjnYL3VzwmdZges3mFJPtoOWDE0=w287-h266" width="287" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">Wherever
travel takes Margo and me, I often take photos at that location. A reminder of
where we have been and a way to start conversations with family and friends.
With today’s smartphones, it seems as though we are provided with endless
device memory so much so that we can keep on snapping photos indefinitely. When
it comes time to review the photos and to perform minor edits – I still cannot
seem to capture a straight horizon – some photos don’t make the cut and are
quickly deleted.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">The
longstanding problem of trying to keep a foreground in focus while wrestling
with the impact from different lighting strengths more often than not leads to
barely recognizable photos and are usually the first to be deleted. This was
the case when visiting business colleagues and clients but one or two photos
that fell into this category had me thinking to the point where I opted to keep
the questionable images captured by the smartphone. Maybe software can improve
the quality? On the other hand, they were enough to have me thinking about
shadows in a way that struck me as being loaded with symbolism.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">I
referenced this briefly in a post to LinkedIn that I made at the time. If you
missed it, you can still find it on LinkedIn. Just look for the heading, “Out
from the shadows.” For many of us we are constantly reevaluating our
contributions to the industry and in particular to the HPE NonStop community.
In so doing we recognize that it is oftentimes left to us to carry the message
of NonStop deep into our respective organizations. Whether it is a NonStop
user, vendor or services provider, the story line is the same. We are left as
the sole voice defending the use of NonStop in support of mission critical
applications driving the business within the enterprise we serve.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">If
you have been present when I have been speaking on behalf of clients, you would
have caught on to the number of references I made to defense and offense. I
illustrated these references with imagery taken from sporting encounters. The
old adage that a good offense is the best defense still holds but even when
acknowledging this, how often is the NonStop community called upon to defend
NonStop? The images that I initially questioned featured contrasts that left
the subject in the shadows, projecting a poorly defined image of what should
have been the highlight of the photo – do we see NonStop equally as poorly
defined?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">In
my LinkedIn post I wrote that when it comes to technology, how often do we have
critical infrastructure hiding in the shadows? We often write about what lies
beneath using icebergs as one example but for IT, so much is out of sight that
it is frequently overlooked. Whereas NonStop is more than just infrastructure
much the same can be said about NonStop systems. For the NonStop user this is
very much the case with many enterprises simply ignorant of the role that
NonStop plays in supporting their customer experience. Fancy that: a system
that never fails in turn disappearing into the background, hiding in the
shadows.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">Historically, I am an early riser. I like that
time when there is only a faint light with dawn still an hour or more away. It
is during this time that I often witness the shadows of night shortening giving
way as they are bound to do to the strengthening light of the true dawn. It is
a time too when I am most able to focus on my storytelling as the first phone
calls of the day are yet to begin. Commitments to my colleagues and clients
have a way of creating moments of redirection as the issues of the day begin
proliferating.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">When it comes to NonStop it is hard to ignore just
how consistent NonStop has been over many decades. It does one thing and in so
doing, excels at it in a way that very few competitors have emerged to where
they have made commitments to the long haul. NonStop is unique in this manner
with the design of its operating system legendary. Sitting in a motel room,
whiteboards apparently lining the perimeter of the room, a small group of
technologists engineered a modern marvel – a system that was truly fault tolerant
from hardware to the operating system and supporting software stack.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">The complete NonStop “Package” didn’t all come
together on the same day but enough was implemented to change the world and led
to NonStop achieving a greatness few other systems ever matched. The very
pinnacle of how technology could be turned on itself, so as to speak, and be used
to ensure a NonStop system never failed to complete any given assignment. NonStop
has outlived almost all computer architectures – only the IBM mainframe has
existed longer than NonStop. Other systems that persist for a while rarely gained
the level of recognition afforded NonStop. As we so often observe, some of us
have lived in the shadow of technologies that appeared and then, just as
quickly, ever so quietly left the scene even as their adherents held an almost
religious reverence for them way, way past their use-by date.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">The NonStop community should be proud of its
achievements like running one of the busiest container terminals in Asia,
providing the oversight of luxury cars manufacured by Mercedes Benz, providing underpinning
all of financial institutions’
operations across a region that include multiple nations to where oil and gas
companies support their customers through NonStop. Competitors to HPE have gone
so far as to deploy virtual NonStop in support of their clients and we could
continue going down the list of use cases that continue to amaze us each time
we hear of something new.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">Doing one thing, doing it well and then
ultimately, owning the niche is something all creative folks will tell you is
the holy grail for all product companies. Shadows may be hiding the details
obscuring the observer’s view from what is happening due to the presence of
NonStop but from the many events that were held this year, one observation I
couldn’t shake was just how enthusiastic the NonStop community is about all
things NonStop. The energy that surrounded the launch of NonStop couldn’t have
been much better than what I have witnessed this past year.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">Youthful exuberance is on the rise! Did you count
the presence of folks that are second generation NonStop advocates? Nothing
encourages enthusiasm like thatgenerated around the dinner table and clearly
the NonStop community is benefitting from the growing presence of younger
adherents to NonStop. And with what I am seeing coming out of the NonStop
development teams, more excitement awaits as the true power of NonStop as
Software (and yes, NonStop as a Service) becomes better known.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">Standing in the shadows is no longer an option. As
children we were wired to somehow fear what was lying in the shadows. But for
the NonStop community that was very much present in the shadows for quite a
while, those early morning rays are now hitting us and our presence is coming
into clearer focus. The storytellers among us have picked up the gauntlet and
are unashamedly promoting the benefits of NonStop and for good reason. What
doesn’t fail us make us truly stronger and as for that morning light? Well,
it’s beaming on us now and our presence is on full display in ways unexpected
only a decade ago.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /> </span></span></span><span class="white-space-pre"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Don’t apologize for our history just as we need to
offer no excuses about the longevity of NonStop. Rather, let the industry
witness as we are doing now, the shadows whose lengths are shortening as we watch.
Yes, we do have something to say and for once, by all accounts, through
numerous technology refreshes taking place, we are being heard with our value
proposition no longer avoidable. So smile as yes, we are stepping out of the
shadows and we are liking what we see! </span></span></span></div><p>
</p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-19833884243356645132023-10-12T09:14:00.004-07:002023-10-12T09:14:46.595-07:00Will lightning strike twice For HPE NonStop<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgybOmYVzDgFCUpFzn9WiZe5DNDw0itnj6q_OzhE-qov1FOfgvvIMHmn8MRcgjUyi6aKW26IEMK4kBePvx1_ltJPg-Alw8_9jI3lFez6kgd9AjKTdhYsIogVxezHRCCydkq6JYTNDMCNywysrGq43hLYjdQPmOFVoyl99CJUPWUi5rif7XmGQfVuc3OneI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="591" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgybOmYVzDgFCUpFzn9WiZe5DNDw0itnj6q_OzhE-qov1FOfgvvIMHmn8MRcgjUyi6aKW26IEMK4kBePvx1_ltJPg-Alw8_9jI3lFez6kgd9AjKTdhYsIogVxezHRCCydkq6JYTNDMCNywysrGq43hLYjdQPmOFVoyl99CJUPWUi5rif7XmGQfVuc3OneI=w408-h263" width="408" /></a></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Greeley, Windsor and
Weld County under <br />
severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was late at night last
week when the house shook violently. After stepping out on to our patio deck,
another round of lightning bolts crossed the sky and again, the shock waves
reverberated for some time. Close calls? For those who like to time the
interval between flash and thunder, it was almost instantaneous. We have
entered fall, but still summer conditions prevail with daily temperatures
climbing to 90F followed by an evening of unsettled weather bringing with it
short-lived storm fronts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Photo above appeared in the
nearby Greeley Times and was captured around the same time as I was standing on
the patio deck. Unfortunately, I still haven’t mastered the settings on my
iPhone that will enable me to snap a photo quite like that, although I tried
several times. Entering fall after a period best defined as tempestuous and
unlike any summer previously experienced, can we expect conditions to continue
or is the soft, pleasant, first snowfall of the season about to descend upon us
all. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As this was unfolding, I
couldn’t help but think about the season for NonStop this year. By season, I
mean the conferences and events season. Two events are still to occur – VNUG
(Scandinavia) in September and the annual gathering for the Little SIG (British
Isles) in December. If I had my way, I would have worked out a way to attend
both, but the dates clashed with other commitments. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet, when it’s all said and
done, the NonStop community was able to participate in NonStop conferences and
events almost every month of the year. What did we learn? Did you have the
chance to read my previous posting to this blog - </span><a href="https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/2023/09/nonstop-tbc-2023-lasting-impressions.html"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NonStop
TBC 2023 – lasting impressions?</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> If as yet you haven’t been
able to do so, then just follow the hyperlink above. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The significance of this
post is that it does set the tone for what follows here. For those that might
not remember the closing comments, this was what was posted:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Looking
ahead, what would we like to see at the NonStop TBC 2024 Conference in
Monterey? That is something I would like to explore with the HPE NonStop team
and with those who read this post. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But
for now, as much as I would really like to continue to explore all three in
this post, I am going to leave it to where your comments would be greatly
appreciated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My critique of the NonStop
TBC 2023 Conference included observations on the central theme, Digital
Resilience (too narrow a focus?), NonStop SQL (a design challenge that didn’t
resonate with the community?) and Clouds more specifically, meeting the CIOs
need to deploy NonStop in Clouds (very mixed reactions apart from being able to
respond with a yes, we can do that!). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Although the energy expended
by the HPE NonStop team on getting the balance of content right was
considerable, the proverbial need to pivot to industry worthy topics came about
at a time where many in the NonStop community are looking for clarity. What was
missing was clarity on product lines, product roadmaps and yes, clarity on the
support being provided by corporate HPE.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have to say that on these
points, I was a participant in the planning for the event and contributed as
best as I could to what I thought would be of value to the community. To that
extent, when it comes to the comments above, I have to hold up a mirror to
myself and in so doing deflect some of the attention I may otherwise have
directed at others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From the time Tandem and
subsequently NonStop became a part of HP and then HPE, there are numerous times
when I have rolled my eyes when I see HPE unable to get out of its own way.
Want to buy ten NonStop systems for a new application? Great; wouldn’t Linux be
the better option? I think many a member of the NonStop community has heard
similar remarks being made at sites where major investments have already been
made in the deployment of NonStop.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We all think that lightning
struck rather ominously at the time Compaq bought NonStop, but are we about to
see lightning strike again? Or is it simply a prairie breeze that I feel? From
all the discussions I had with the NonStop community there is still the nagging
question of modernization. Of being able to take anyone, even graduates fresh
from university, and cater to their needs for specific tools and services as
they are let lose to maintain and even develop NonStop applications?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Major strides have been
taken of late. Being able to access a cloud services provider and then access
the HPE NonStop Development Environment (NSDevEnv) is a great start. It is
already in AWS and Azure and will soon be available in Google Cloud, too.
Modernization might mean many things to many of us, but being able to access an
environment that allows me to easily develop new solutions simply by accessing it
in an as-a-Service <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>model om the
ubiquitous public cloud, represents a great jumping-off point for all of us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No lengthy procedures and
hence no waiting period to procure a development environment. Now this is an
immediate advantage. As for the code developed it is real NonStop code in the
sense that access is provided to cross-compilers even as there is support for
NonStop SQL. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“With HPE NSDevEnv, HPE
NonStop customers are being provided with a virtual machine (VM) based Software-as-a-Service
model that has been pre-installed and configured by the HPE NonStop team,” said
Sridhar Neelakantan, NonStop Product Manager responsible for Middleware,
Languages and Tools. “And is ready to go whenever accessed, and is designed to
leverage the public cloud’s reach and flexibility.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While
some may suggest this is going far enough and that there is a lot more involved
in providing a true NonStop development environment as-a-Service but I see this
as a great start. A jumping-off point that for me suggests a sustained
investment is being made in ensuring new applications can be readily created
for NonStop. This has been a long-term goal of the NonStop community for as
long as I have been attending conferences and events.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
as long as I can remember, vendors have always faced prioritizing what is
important for the market. Stray too far from that goal and orphan products
appear that are unlikely to attract the attention initially projected for the
program. Simplify and roll-out basic functions as straying beyond a reasonable
delivery timeframe and again, as good as the program ultimately might become,
it will be passed over in favor of newer offerings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Prioritizing
on simplifying the development and deployment cycle is a priority that the
NonStop team must embrace. Attracting new solutions to NonStop will be the
legitimate driver of such prioritization. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ransomeware
may be the buzzword of the month just as AI begins to grab more cycles from all
of us. This is not to say that with partnerships between vendors greater
protection will be provided but rather, a whole ecosystem of NonStop vendors
needs to come together in pursuit of Ransomeware protection even as we come to
understand where the real risks lie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Post
conference, however, I am encouraged by the energy NonStop vendors are pouring
into addressing NonStop users growing concerns about Ransomware. Perhaps by the
time Euro GTUG comes around early April, 2024, there will be substantial
movement in meeting these concerns coming from a number of vendors. The vendor
to watch addressing the basics? Look no further than ETI-NET who continue to
impress. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Through
integration, ETI-NET is breaking down the barriers to deliver modernization
value to the NonStop market. It’s not just about the presentation, it’s
about listing to customer’s requirements and incorporating a holistic view of
the solution utilizing a broad product portfolio,” said Mike Mitsch ETI-NET,
Business Development Director Management and Storage. “The integration of
QoreStor with BackBox, and the monitoring of Backup and Storage products
through Sentinel are examples of what places ETI-NET as a thought leader in
terms of NonStop modernization.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">NonStop
SQL, whether MP or MX, still struggles for a wider audience but where it makes
sense for an application, having the depth of Oracle compatibility is
encouraging. Again, and perhaps not a surprise to read, when it comes to NS SQL
in the mix with Oracle and aiding migrations the vendor to watch here and
enjoying success in doing so has to be NTI. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Coming
away from yet another successful event where the profile of NTI continues to be
elevated to prominence within the NonStop community,” said Tim Dunne, NTI’s
Global Director Worldwide Sales. “Our sights are set on winning even more
business in 2024”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Clouds?
If they underpin our modernization journey then that’s a major win for NonStop
and a deliverable from the HPE NonStop team that will be hard to ignore. It is
also a diversion from the many conversations about running NonStop applications
in the cloud – let’s get over this; yes, you can but it’s still a case as to
why and can you seriously afford paying a premium in order to satisfy the whims
of the CIO of the day? Vendor to watch here and that has made a sizable
investment in building out its expertise just has to be Scotland’s TCM. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“When
NonStop went virtual and we heard about NonStop users validating and eventually
going live in production with virtual NonStop (vNS), TCM recognized that
investing in virtualization would assure we maintained a leadership role,” said
Daniel Craig Managing Director, TCM Solutions.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lightning
is supposed to never strike the same place twice. Around our township of
Windsor and from where I stood the other night, I don’t think that is the case.
Will HPE get out of the way of a successful NonStop? That is still to be
determined but where clarity has been provided this year is that there is a
path forward for developers on NonStop. And it doesn’t take yet another flash
of lightning to shine a light above that path! <o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-32625139423159889552023-09-20T13:28:00.000-07:002023-09-20T13:28:03.755-07:00NonStop TBC 2023 – lasting impressions? <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHjJG0P6R2INsXSNLt51gQUg-TMxV_v3juRv-KKPytGlT6gQqVe4_nXOT_I1X_E3g8x9XnUfe6M-PmXOf4MAMMlkiRQzwgbQ-qQbUwBISuR4h0phv_AlcA1pdPRvVvdA9dMnLbzjNG5Fi9pHRa-1lRQQAJV9_8a77JtodMtUuaMMBieN2US72Ai3yHAEs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="418" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHjJG0P6R2INsXSNLt51gQUg-TMxV_v3juRv-KKPytGlT6gQqVe4_nXOT_I1X_E3g8x9XnUfe6M-PmXOf4MAMMlkiRQzwgbQ-qQbUwBISuR4h0phv_AlcA1pdPRvVvdA9dMnLbzjNG5Fi9pHRa-1lRQQAJV9_8a77JtodMtUuaMMBieN2US72Ai3yHAEs=w341-h367" width="341" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It has been only a matter of
days since this year’s big tent user conference ended. The NonStop TBC2023
Conference drew attendees from all over the world, with every continent
represented as best as I could tell. I am sure there will be those who remind
me that as yet, no attendee has made it from Antarctica. Nevertheless, it was a
clear demonstration of the value proposition this annual gathering of the
NonStop community provides – did you make it this time?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Right from the start we were
able to enjoy the networking opportunities these conferences always seem to
create. Whether you were attracted to the downstairs bar as escalators passed
you by, or to the vendor pavilion where if you asked TCM nicely, a wee dram of
Scotch could be sampled. And then there was the hospitality provided by the Presidential
Suite sponsored by NTI and TANDsoft that managed to attract a crowd each night
that fostered conversations that went past midnight and closer to the witching
hour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For Margo and me it was a
time to have face-to-face meetings with clients even as the opportunity to talk
to the senior management from the HPE NonStop team were not to be missed. This remains
the most important aspect of each year’s TBC in that it is a time when all members
of the NonStop community are presented with opportunities to catch up on old
times just as afforded the NonStop community an equal opportunity to look for
new solutions and new ways to capitalize on investments in NonStop systems. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What struck us was the
quality of presentations and sessions. Right from the outset and with the first
session Tuesday morning, we were captivated by the presentation by Hewlett
Packard Labs Chief Architect / HPE Fellow/VP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Kirk
Bresniker, <b><i>Future Proofing the Enterprise: Mission Critical, Quantum-Safe, and
AI Augmented</i></b>. As informative and challenging as it proved to be it is a welcome
distraction to hear about the pursuit of future technologies by the teams
within the HPE Lab. Over the years I have had the good fortune to catch up with
Kirk at various HPE Discover events and the patience he exhibited while
listening to any topic I raised was a testament to how well he is attuned to
the HPE customer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was only a year or so ago
where we heard an HPE executive remark that the freshest data can be found on
NonStop but this year we heard Kirk talk about the cleanest data is to be found
on NonStop. When talking about AI and populating models and turning data into
meaningful information that can be consumed by NonStop solutions, having access
to clean data is paramount. And for good reason, its influence on outcomes
ensures a level of accuracy as well as the sense of what I call situational
awareness that is unmatched from any other source.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As for the panel session
where we heard directly from HPE Regional leaders including Neil Davis (EMEA),
Karen Ramirez (Americas) and Suresh Menon (APJ+) gave us substantial evidence
of not just the global presence of NonStop systems deployments but touched on
markets exhibiting growth. This was a message all attendees took to heart as it
was encouraging to see the palpable enthusiasm of all things NonStop coming
from those directly involved in ensuring continued success of NonStop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was the second time we
heard too from Mark Pollans of HPE NonStop. As a leader he was the catalyst for
all that took place and Mark took on this responsibility even as he kept a
steady eye on his day job as a leader of the NonStop product management team. I
have to add at this time my own appreciation of his willingness to listen to a
variety of folks with varying requirements for the coverage to be given at TBC,
but somehow he managed to balance all of the inputs to the benefit of the
NonStop community at large.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, from my perspective,
what were the key observations I made as TBC concluded? Noting as I have of how
much Margo and I enjoyed this year’s conference, three things stood out for me
and I have to say, these are strictly Margo and mine own observations. These
included the planned design challenge, the overall theme of the conference and
the ever-present shadow of clouds. How many of us took note of the April 19,
2023 blog, <a href="https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom/blog-post/2023/04/introducing-hpes-simplified-brand-architecture.html"><b><i>Introducing
HPE’s simplified brand architecture</i></b></a>? Or noted CEO, Antonio Neri,
announcement back in 2019 to “simplify the experience for our customers.”?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to simplifying
the customer experience the choice of Digital Resilience took an unfortunate
turn to embrace Ransomware. So many presentations worked into their storylines
some aspect of Ransomware that it became somewhat tedious. Let me be very clear
– and yes, welcome contrary arguments – Ransomware is simply part of the
ongoing discussion about the harmful presence of viruses. But here’s a useful
data point – no NonStop system has ever experienced the presence of a virus let
alone been subject to Ransomware. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The architecture of NonStop
makes nonsense of some of the claims. And to be honest, having lots of copies
of data, files and audits is only part of any meaningful solution that
addresses Ransomware. Even with todays hybrid NonStop where Linux CLIMS and
Windows Consoles constitute important components making up a NonStop System,
penetrating either the Linux or Windows environments with the intent of
sneaking onto the NonStop makes no sense. Mind you this doesn’t obviate the
need to have robust backup plans in place and having just gotten off the phone
with ETI their BackBox QoreStor supporting bare metal backups confirming to the
general 3-2-1 rule will definitely appeal to many NonStop customers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, when it comes to
NonStop systems, there is still a concern and it’s one that is beginning to be
discussed more openly – system intrusion perpetrated by disgruntled operators.
There is a reason why images of US nuclear silos feature two distanced missile
launch officers; no one would be comfortable with just one officer being
capable to initiate a launch. Against this scene, is it too hard to imagine
that the best solution for virus introduction including potentially Ransomware
is to step up to dual operators and to require some commands to be initiated
jointly? Better still? Just today Randall Becker came up with the suggestion, “is
it time to take keyboards away from operations?” We don’t want to see a missile
launch just as we don’t want to see that disgruntled operator delete critical
files, code and links. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And for SQL and the planned
design challenge this gave the NonStop team insights into the world of NonStop
SQL. Whether it was with the advance promotion of what the challenge was going
to be this year – design / proposal of migration from NonStop SQL/MP to NonStop
SQL/MX – the result that it was a case of witnessing a no-show. Following
conversations confirmed what is widely understood. When it comes to solutions,
the choice of file and database is up to the solutions provider and apart from
a handful of NonStop users, NonStop SQL in any form has still a long way to go
to be viewed as a key middleware offering for the average NonStop user.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finally, clouds; co-lo or
full-on cloud deployment, yes you can deploy NonStop in a cloud but that begs
the question, why? Conversations on this topic varied widely from yes, the
CIO/CTO demands running all platforms in the cloud to simply having the option
for someone else to manage the NonStop systems already deployed in the data
center. The reality is that NonStop can be “on the cloud” without necessarily
being “in the cloud.” By this I mean, you can lock down enough resources to run
a NonStop system from on the cloud but tapping into rearchitecting NonStop
solutions to be fully immersed in the cloud is a situation where the risk /
reward element doesn’t offer enough to warrant such an exercise. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking ahead, what would we
like to see at the NonStop TBC 2024 Conference in Monterey? That is something I
would like to explore with the HPE NonStop team and with those who read this
post. I have an idea but it’s not fully developed but don’t be surprised if I
throw out some early ideas as to what might be worthwhile exploring. One thing
is for sure, when it comes time to return to California and to spend time in
Monterey, much might have developed with respect to Digital Resilience, SQL and
Clouds. But for now, as much as I would really like to continue to explore all
three in this post, I am going to leave it to where your comments would be
greatly appreciated. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Remember, these are Margo
and mine observations and I am sure you came away with observations of your own
so make sure you continue to converse with all the members of the NonStop
community. What for us was the lasting impression was just how warmly each
member of the NonStop community interacted which speaks volumes of the
appreciation of NonStop by all who educate, support, develop and deploy NonStop
systems today. Yes, see you in Monterey and in the meantime, start tracking
upcoming RUG events in 2024 as I anticipate there are many lively conversations
to follow!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /></div><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-73413662376093259922023-08-28T06:50:00.004-07:002023-08-28T06:50:17.580-07:00Unexpected misdirection: What does change bring? <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu8_dEovXcf6Ikh_wSCUdjGHIVT4Dv2CC-RwQ5eQV7POeNh6NH5h1sjv9GQZOFGyEd-UgmbMHjNtnbsDWVnb-L0t1nsHn492kCctLfPqz00AtLf6_PZ32yezQYPmw6ylMGAM6BduPIJoXGHypOGyeW3tevH9qL18xLcig2cSypsbAHvEEktnrZLvB3-08" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="391" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu8_dEovXcf6Ikh_wSCUdjGHIVT4Dv2CC-RwQ5eQV7POeNh6NH5h1sjv9GQZOFGyEd-UgmbMHjNtnbsDWVnb-L0t1nsHn492kCctLfPqz00AtLf6_PZ32yezQYPmw6ylMGAM6BduPIJoXGHypOGyeW3tevH9qL18xLcig2cSypsbAHvEEktnrZLvB3-08=w457-h268" width="457" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There comes a time when it
is not just the seasons that remind you of changes to come. Maybe yellow
foliage is a clue. But the seasons are only one instance where change can come
with vigor even ferocity; changes in our business and social lives can generate
unexpected upheavals. From our earliest age, we are told not to run across the
road, don’t dive into a rock pool and perhaps most important of all, don’t take
sweets from strangers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There has always been the
illustration where puppies are featured; just because someone wants you to see
their puppies is not an opportunity to blindly follow someone. And yet, it
happens even with adults. Many years ago, stopped at a remote gas station for
fuel, after pumping gas and paying the attendant I returned to the car to find
Margo missing. Only a short time passed before she returned. A truck driver had
liked her Corvette and asked if she would like to see the cars he was
transporting. Inside a covered car hauler – go to the back and you will
something interesting!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Only after she returned to
our Corvette did it hit her – she had just fallen for the old puppies in the
trailer rouse. This time there was no harm as the driver was transporting a
Corvette and a Cobra Roadster for the entertainer, Kid Rock who was to perform
in Las Vegas and wanted to have the opportunity to choose his ride as the
circumstances dictated. However, if Margo had indeed gone missing there was no way
I would have suggested to the authorities that maybe they should check out enclosed
trailers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As we gain maturity, change
brings with a renewed sense of caution. Of balancing risk versus reward. Of
simply going with our gut, as they say, which is simply a shorthand way of
saying trust in your experience. When it comes to IT, you would think that this
was likewise the prevailing sentiment. Rip and replace certainly has had its
day just as offshoring, building your own solution/framework/GUI. Having said
that, faced with a lot of exciting new products, it is still an enticement to
dive deep to take a look at those puppies. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the just-published August
2023 issue of NonStop Insider you will come across an article I wrote, </span><a href="https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/the-power-of-choice-its-in-your-hand/"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
power of choice – it’s in your hand!</span></i></b></a><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">You
may have already read the article but with hindsight and with the thought of
puppies fresh in my mind, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a second
look at the topic, choice. In particular, what has changed of late when it
comes to the choices we make and, in particular, what influences the
all-important decisions we make today. In other words, are our choices
necessarily the right ones?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I opened my article with the
following observation: <b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When
it comes to the NonStop community there is a wealth of opportunity – do we
stick with HPE sourced x86 servers and supported fabrics or do we turn to other
vendors – then there are many options to be considered when it comes to
software. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Advertising agencies
struggling with abstract concepts have been know to suggest adding pictures of
puppies. After all, there is nothing as reliable as a photo of a puppy to keep as
reader interested. Fortunately, this metaphor can only go so far when
addressing the NonStop community. Given their experience and acting with caution,
rarely would we have seen this community engaging with the unknown and yet, we
have reached that point where the adage, “<i>trust me</i>” has become
pervasive. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The NonStop team calls the
shots, reading from a single price-book playlist and, in most respects,
eliminating choice. Enjoying a monopoly, the give the appearance of “<i>singing
from the same hymnal</i>” even as they deter their users from considering the
breadth of choice open to them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With this in mind, I made an
additional observation: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The reality that is setting in has to
do with NonStop sales not holding a monopoly on good products. Are the chosen
products the best available or even better than alternative offerings?
Customers seek solutions that best serve their unique requirements and rely
upon sales personnel to guide decision-making with candor and as little bias as
possible. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A number of NonStop vendors
have created partner ecosystems over the years. Look at their web sites and you
will find that many of them have partner and alliances pages. The most recent
NonStop vendor to proactively pursue the creation of such an ecosystem has been
NTI where to date, their NonStop-focuses ecosystem includes vendors whose
products they resell together with adjacent products for which they show a
preference as well as a number of consulting and system integrators. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">After a fashion this is a
tradition within the NonStop vendor community as it leads to intelligence
sharing. No matter the NonStop user, whenever a tech refresh (hardware or
software) comes up for discussion, at least one vendor will hear about it and
readily share with others in the vendor ecosystem. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But is this enough to remain
competitive? Does this offer the same level of attraction as is otherwise the
sole advantage of the NonStop sales team? Beyond the assembling of a number of
NonStop vendor ecosystems, the most critical element has to do with
communication. How do you best provide the Nonstop user with information
related to the options available to them?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For some time, the awareness
that communication and indeed promotion of the NonStop vendor product suites
required more than just showing up for a user event. As important a forum as
these events have become, simply gaining a better understanding of the options
available from walking around can be misleading. Perhaps a key NonStop vendor
elected not to participate in an event. How would you know?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 115%;">At last year’s NonStop
TBC 2022 Conference a number of NonStop vendors came together to consider how
best to address this need to provide information on all products and to do so 24
x 7. What was clearly advantageous for all NonStop vendors was to create a
portal web site. The most advanced in actually providing such a portal happened
to be CSP who had already prototyped such a web site and were only too keen to
make it more accessible for all NonStop vendors. </span><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 115%;">This led to my final
observation: </span><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 115%;">Actions being taken by CSP in their pursuit of the Global NS
Partner Alliance … led to CSP creating a partner portal. Watch too for more
NonStop partners participating in this alliance as they add their presence to
the partner portal; further news to follow at this year's NonStop TBC 2023
Conference. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">To read the article in full,
follow the above hyperlink of you can use this link –<br />
</span><a href="https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/the-power-of-choice-its-in-your-hand/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/the-power-of-choice-its-in-your-hand/</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Watch too for more NonStop
partners participating? While the official promotion including how to be
included in the portal kicks-off in earnest at NonStop TBC 2023 Conference
already the early participation level has climbed to ten with many more being processed
preparatory to inclusion in the portal. The creation of the supporting Global
NS Partner Alliance – again, an initiative whose origins lie with CSP – should
be viewed as an overarching program embracing all partner ecosystems and as
such, ensures information on any vendor or product can be shared quickly and
yes, 24 x 7.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As a community, NonStop
users and vendors alike now have a site that can be relied upon to supply a
comprehensive list of options from which to choose. The products will be
grouped within high-level verticals like security, monitoring, business
continuity, dev tools, and more. In time these lists will grow to embrace all
of the NonStop community and with the NonStop TBC 2023 Conference, education
about this important tool will be a highlight. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Margo fortunately didn’t
disappear on me even if the attraction of virtual puppies temporarily
overwhelmed her. Viewing new Corvettes or Cobras may be tempting but even when
this happened, she was quick to highlight her husband was just outside and that
time had come to let him know of these puppies as well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As a community it is now
time for the NonStop community to tell others and to let their colleagues know
where they can find out the options that are available and in so doing,
continue with the tradition of NonStop that there is a whole world out there
with much to leverage. Aren’t you pleased to read that all NonStop users can
avail themselves of such information and know where to turn to view the full
scope of NonStop vendor investments in all things NonStop?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Change may create upheaval
even as it may force a complete turn around and yet, it may prove to be
salvation. Maybe not; but at least you can now view a more complete product
landscape. See you shortly in Denver for the NonStop TBC 2023 Conference and
yes, make sure you stop and chat to all the NonStop vendors as you may very
well find such interactions as informative as they might be timely!</span></span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-55029131978994564492023-07-26T12:52:00.000-07:002023-07-26T12:52:01.430-07:00When does change end?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQqE1EnUYnd8_2oxYefVxogD1I5DuiqCLxVeSXmHxnLR79PnoB6B3kZPlDG-kbDqeyprg7o0lPnAw_6tLUBATk8XnSU_nb31mTF4U2wyhEYEmGAFOSxywZG29u0EkMDWZ0UjJqdK8LapaHA9rAgvLDZOIW8lo2bDkVSiqq96W89-8QNL7-8igbtGbpxrg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="453" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQqE1EnUYnd8_2oxYefVxogD1I5DuiqCLxVeSXmHxnLR79PnoB6B3kZPlDG-kbDqeyprg7o0lPnAw_6tLUBATk8XnSU_nb31mTF4U2wyhEYEmGAFOSxywZG29u0EkMDWZ0UjJqdK8LapaHA9rAgvLDZOIW8lo2bDkVSiqq96W89-8QNL7-8igbtGbpxrg=w372-h306" width="372" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If there is one overused
word in the world of technology it has to be change. Yes, I have changed a tire
or two in my time just as I have changed houses and even countries. I have been
forced to change travel itineraries more than once even as I have had to change
because of inclement weather. And I am known to change my mind at the very last
moment when ordering a meal off a restaurant’s lengthy menu.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">From our earliest days we
are informed, politely or otherwise, that our attitude is poor and we need to
change. At school we have changed our course preferences even as we changed
allegiances. And when it comes to sporting teams, there are those among us that
just like to back winners and so change their support to match.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to technology,
standing still has never been an option. As a storyteller this is fine by me,
but then being able to pick up on new storylines every week has its benefits. For
the business world where investments in technology are heavily weighed to ensure
true value is provided, change is little more than an expense that needs to be
accommodated.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For as long as I have been a
participant in technological change it never ceases to surprise me how we treat
new as being good and something different as being worth an investment. The
competitive landscape of business today makes it hard to stand still even as
the thought of losing market share is abhorrent to most business leaders. Just
maintaining existing clientele in a market that is growing means you are going
backwards.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But is there an end to
change coming any time soon? Will there be a time when technology no longer
provides differentiation and where every business relies on exactly the same
set of solutions? Despite all the predictions of cloud services providers that
yes, you can leave it all to the cloud, even here there will be multiple cloud
services on offer for many years to come.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking closer to home, for
the NonStop community there has always been the question as to when and what to
change. The excitement that surrounded the support by NonStop of blade form
factors with RISC processors lasted only a short time before the introduction
of the Intel x86 Architecture turned everyone’s heads around. NonStop is going
mainstream! Virtualization came very quickly to where the NonStop team began
championing NonStop as Software! To think that today there are businesses
successfully deploying NonStop on their own x86 servers was unimaginable only a
decade or so ago and yet, it’s all changed.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">To think in terms of change
ending at some point misses the mark by a long way. By definition, change means
making something different, altered or modified. It means too that what came
before will be replaced with something else and in the case of technology, this
usually means being replaced by something better, faster, cheaper and
inherently, more reliable. But does planning for change stop at the system
level or are there more important technology-related developments where change
is required?</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I have been tracking the
NonStop community for many years and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that even
for a community that oftentimes is viewed as one that trails change, preferring
instead the perceived stability that comes with holding fast to what is in
place, there has been plenty of times when changing software has happened at a
rapid clip. Take for instance the change from SNAX to ICE in the 1990s.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, timed to match changes
taking place externally (and driven by IBM), NonStop users changed up from SNAX
to ICE to where it was ICE that became the network standard. Look at GoldenGate
in the late 2000s where changing from RDF became an all too easy decision to
make. If I can go back far enough, NonStop NET/MASTER was more or less
stillborn as on its introduction Prognosis swept all before it.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>But even today, change
continues. ICE losing ground to uLinga. GoldenGate to its fiercest Change Data
Capture (CDC) based competitor, </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">DR<i>Net®/</i>Unified</span><span>. Prognosis may in turn prove vulnerable
to cloud-based services even as open-source solutions are proving popular. As
for the change in payments solutions, where financial institutions are electing
to change from BASE24 to Lusis Payments, it is clear that considering changes
isn’t limited to swapping out tools and utilities.<br /> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Irrespective of former
allegiances, change is not only continuing but is running rampant throughout
the NonStop user community. And as it does, the services companies are reaping
the benefits that come with having change expertise at hand.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What hasn’t changed has been
the NonStop community’s enthusiasm for events. Whether at the regional or
global level, the turn out to community events this year has been outstanding.
As I write stories and opinions having the opportunity to participate in as
many events as I have has proved to be yet one more source for storylines. It
is at these events where the idea that change might be considered is first
nurtured.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is the new offering’s completeness
of functionality meeting all the requirements of the business? Is it the value
proposition and with it, an appropriate affordable price? Is it the service
that is provided gives an access to knowledgeable experts? Doing the job
required of it at a price that is low from people that know what’s needed has
been the driver of change since the first computer was shipped. Who would have
thought that the most popular third-party software in the late 1960s and early
1970s would be a simple printer spooling product for mainframes?</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The simple answer to whether
change will continue unabated for as long as we are all involved in technology
answers itself. It will not end nor will the discussions over what might better
meet the needs of our business. What will not change are the intangibles we
often overlook; the integrity of the vendor, the commitment to development and
support by the vendor and the ecosystem of users and partners attracted to the
vendor.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">All of which will be on show
at the upcoming NonStop TBC 2023 Conference. Colorado may indeed have the
reputation as being colorful but this is only because color changes occur
driven by the changes of seasons. With this in mind, will 2023 be the year of
change with your investments in technology? Will this be the season where the
way forward can best be served through change? Maybe that is what is install
for many NonStop users but before that occurs, there are stories to be shared
and there can be no better place to hear stories than at events.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I will be attending; will I
see you there? And yes, I am always good for a story or two!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-59677389814013144732023-06-23T08:36:00.003-07:002023-06-23T08:36:38.827-07:00How do we know what software products are available for NonStop?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieSdw1iHhC3qihCCfBdRT5C6ybnW8K9M5lKAVujEucVjpfY7_y-3_9XXqErcBKvk7n-Gm-k-OMnufE1My8u6v2C-n5XjhS5lXZofs5RQ2ZYCo-3Qx1L8njpJjt60Uxjeg8PWzmIrDwFOshiX4k3WP6j2ZxkUJuyw66BsUDJa3Jy_sQQwVc5YH9smby-BE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="761" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieSdw1iHhC3qihCCfBdRT5C6ybnW8K9M5lKAVujEucVjpfY7_y-3_9XXqErcBKvk7n-Gm-k-OMnufE1My8u6v2C-n5XjhS5lXZofs5RQ2ZYCo-3Qx1L8njpJjt60Uxjeg8PWzmIrDwFOshiX4k3WP6j2ZxkUJuyw66BsUDJa3Jy_sQQwVc5YH9smby-BE=w376-h161" width="376" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Have you read about the turn out this year for NonStop
user events? Have you had a chance to talk to colleagues who have been among
the attendees? Better still, did you avail yourself of an opportunity to be
among those who participated? No matter how you have kept yourself informed
about all that has been happening of late you must have noticed that there have
been more events than usual and that the number of attendees has been
significantly better than in past years. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It would be so easy to start of this blog recapping how
NonStop has been on a journey of late. The message “Data is created on NonStop”
appeared prior to the global pandemic as it was often repeated by HPE
executives closely associated with NonStop. As important as this remains, more
recently it’s been about freedom: Freedom of Choice and it’s not just HPE executives
who recognize this message. By this I
mean that the NonStop community now has a choice when it comes to a tech
refresh of their NonStop systems.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“The advantage of having options has
always been important <br />
for the NonStop user and NTI is firmly in the camp of <br />
more is better when it comes to what options <br />
are available to NonStop users.”</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tim Dunne, NTI’s Global Director Worldwide Sales</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Whether your next decision favors a continuation of
deploying NonStop Integrated Solutions or perhaps has more to do with
evaluating Virtual NonStop (vNS) that will free the software from any one
vendor’s hardware or even a closer examination of how best to leverage the
offerings of cloud services providers. After all, that initial attraction of
elasticity of provisioning still holds true today. Yes, the NonStop community
is enjoying a new lease on technology life that brings with it, as is apparent
today, freedom to deploy any way at any time to best meet the needs of the
enterprise. </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Imagine for a moment how far NonStop has come in the time
that followed the start of the global pandemic. Margo and I have spent a decade
driving cars competitively on road courses, some of which are well known to car
enthusiasts around the world. The Nurburgring north loop, for starters, then
Road Atlanta, Sonoma and Laguna Seca, to name a few. These times on track saw
us dealing with weather that alternated between hot days with afternoon
temperatures climbing well past 100F and early morning outings that were barely
above freezing. Then there were the rainy days that had us holding our
collective breaths each time we drove onto a “hot” track. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Each and every outing was a learning exercise where those
participating in the on-track sessions were only too happy to share their experiences
once they had driven off the track. No driver ever starts at the top but needs
to work hard on their craft to progress through the ranks. It is easy now to
look back on how far our skills improved the more time we spent driving our
cars. No surprises here, whiteboard sessions only go so far but the experience
needed to progress can only be gained by stepping onto the track and driving
your chosen vehicle. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Much the same can be said today about understanding the
contribution NonStop systems can make to your organization. Presentations only
go so far. Shared experiences are simply that; the conversations that arise
over coffee or luncheon breaks can provide a glimpse of the possible but until
decisions are made, software deployed, testing and performance measurements
actively pursued can any enterprise turn experience into confidence and then to
innovation. Yes, “you just have to do it” applies equally to the decisions you
take for your NonStop system!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As we adjust to the changes taking place with NonStop,
knowing full well there is more to come, how do we go about choosing the right
solutions? This has always been the value proposition of the NonStop community
from the events and conferences that are put on jointly by Connect and HPE.
There’s a reason why so many of us show up for these gatherings of the NonStop
community, learning experiences of others can really help point us in the right
direction. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, of late, unfortunate as it now turns out to be,
turning to your NonStop sales team has them paint only a limited selection of
product offerings. The freedom to choose that has been a characteristic of the
NonStop community ever since the first ITUG Summit’s were held has undergone
considerable shrinkage in the hands of NonStop sales. Against that background
there is now a growing number of NonStop vendors who are calling themselves the
NonStop independent vendors and to provide an overview of all that they
provide, a Global NS Partner Portal has been announced. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was last year at the annual NonStop TBC 2022
Conference that partner ecosystems became a popular topic. This was the NonStop
vendors not represented by NonStop sales looking to find a way to level the
playing field to better compete with their products and to expand the options
available to the NonStop user community. Out of necessity it was first voices
that rather than complain about the situation NonStop sales created it would be
lot better to look at how better to compete and with that, how better to
communicate their own experiences working with the NonStop community. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>“We
have invested in the partner portal in order to promote <br />
a broader cross-section of the vendor
community that in turn <br />
will contribute to a levelling of the product playing field … <br />
presenting a complete landscape of application availability <br />
for NonStop systems that may not otherwise be <br />
common knowledge for all NonStop customers.”</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Henry Fonseca, CSP General
Manager</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Following presentations by NTI on their newly formed
partner ecosystem, it was CSP Security that picked up the ball to drive forward
the idea of creating a portal for the partners. The Global NS Partner Portal
that is now in the prototype phase and is being demonstrated at this year’s
NonStop user events, is the most tangible evidence of the desire by the NonStop
independent vendors to make their voice heard. This year’s NonStop TBC 2023
Conference in Denver isn’t all that far away and it will be here that invitations
will be extended to all NonStop vendors to participate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Already there is a growing list of NonStop vendors. What
you can expect to find on this portal are a series of tiles, one for each
vendor that participates. CSP Security has worked with a web site vendor to
come up with a very attractive model that not only displays the tiles in ways
that can be readily searched but can then be supported by secondary pages
describing the full set of product offerings for each participating NonStop
vendor. From there it is an easy next step to include URLs that take you
directly to these vendors web sites. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Together, CSP and NTI understand that it will be valuable
to link to the Connect Community web site, particularly as there are now
numerous community publications that provide regular vendor and product
updates. Keeping the NonStop community informed is at the very heart of this
initiative. But there is one more aspect to the creation of this Global NS
Partner Portal. Just consider the freedom of choice that the NonStop community
enjoys today being extended to include the GreenLake program. How is the
GreenLake sales organization going to keep track of NonStop vendor offerings if
there isn’t a place for them to go to seek such information? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you have been to recent NonStop events and have sat
through the presentations by NTI and CSP Security, you will be aware of this
latest development to ensure the NonStop user community is fully aware of all
their options. NonStop sales organization doesn’t hold an exclusive on product
offerings nor are the products being currently sold by NonStop sales force representative
of the best value in any given market segment. You might like the simplicity of
just dealing with NonStop sales, but it is all of our responsibilities to
ensure due diligence prevails. Know your options and yes, the best way to keep
track of NonStop vendors and products in order to do just that, is to attend
NonStop user events.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Expect to see an increased level of participation at the
upcoming NonStop TBC Conference 2023 to be held in Denver, September 12 – 14.
Margo and I will be there just as we know many of the NonStop independent
vendors will have a major presence. Will we see you there and will you be
looking to find out more about the Global NS Partner Portal? Take it from us it
will be an experience that leads to the confidence to innovate that we all need
to do this year and next. Yes, registration is open and hotel rooms remain
available and all you need to do to complete the process is to take the time to
visit </span><a href="https://www.nonstoptbc.com/"><span style="line-height: 107%;">https://www.nonstoptbc.com/</span></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span> </span><br /></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-52639761171839244682023-05-11T13:43:00.003-07:002023-05-11T13:43:28.352-07:00Where I stand with you?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikr2xkA1UMJrHPiHFh-mXUaNDyAwsfIP6MWMcenHY90JjYBXEAGr7MtcGIQOUJ46bL_-rMg9MN9YcXjKMPRid7hIZq3PsiLFtsn9SuNbjEpSMxuOOqutzhZZHQ1qvo9O_3a3wKPCqqgBFJfssV5Vq0HsU7l9eXMFkI0TJl5ei6fjDB5WtvlD6PtSMN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="589" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikr2xkA1UMJrHPiHFh-mXUaNDyAwsfIP6MWMcenHY90JjYBXEAGr7MtcGIQOUJ46bL_-rMg9MN9YcXjKMPRid7hIZq3PsiLFtsn9SuNbjEpSMxuOOqutzhZZHQ1qvo9O_3a3wKPCqqgBFJfssV5Vq0HsU7l9eXMFkI0TJl5ei6fjDB5WtvlD6PtSMN=w424-h269" width="424" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Remember the words from that
song long ago by the New Jersey band, The Young Rascals? One of their most
popular releases of the late 1960s? For many of my readers it may well be the
case of “perhaps not!”, but the song <i>How Can I be Sure</i> might be viewed
as topical when addressing the HPE NonStop Community. In particular, the
opening verse:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #202124; line-height: 115%;">How can I be sure</span></i><i><span style="color: #202124; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">In a world that's constantly changing?</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">How can I be sure</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Where I stand with you?</span></span></i><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For the NonStop vendor community,
the talk of the day is about ecosystems. It’s about the creation of software
partnerships that are themselves ecosystems. Viable alternatives to other
ecosystems that perhaps have come about a bit like topsy – “growing quickly
without being noticed.” It has become less of a secret of late that, following
the unveiling of partnerships by the NonStop team as a direct result of its Showcase
initiative, those NonStop vendors not participating in Showcase are coming to
terms with a landscape that is very much changed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At face value, it could be
viewed by the NonStop user community as simply a transformation that puts these
NonStop independent vendors on the outer. As a group, the perception may be
that they have been sidelined, left to look in on deals that are being made. A
constantly changing landscape that is favoring only the NonStop team. After
all, as has become common knowledge, any incentive for the NonStop sales team
to reference or promote a product outside of Showcase can only be viewed as
detrimental to their own personal income stream.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But here’s the deal; now
that this changed landscape is being understood by the NonStop independent
vendors, there is no thought of abandoning the NonStop marketplace. In fact,
its quite the opposite. The NonStop independent vendors I have talked to see
this as a challenge and an opportunity to step up and take on the singular
ecosystem that the NonStop team projects today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And for this, the NonStop
user is benefitting from these NonStop independent vendors rising to the
occasion. Not to be outdone, there is at least one additional software
ecosystem emerging and potentially others that will follow. These ecosystems
are forming around key product options for the NonStop user and are attracting
other NonStop independent vendors occupying adjacent marketplaces. For those
who missed last year’s NonStop TBC 2023 conference, you would have mixed the
emergence of one of the first software ecosystems taking shape that are clearly
prepared to take on the challenge that is coming from the NonStop team.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At the upcoming pan-European
E-BITUG event next week, I have the privilege of being the first to provide a
vendor plenary session immediately following the HPE NonStop sessions. There
will be an interruption as attendees break for coffee but I am hopeful for a
good turnout. The BITUG committee has asked that I take an educational approach
and tone-down the marketing side of things. However, given that it is NTI that
is sponsoring my Tuesday morning session, there will be a number of product and
partnership updates even as fully half of the presentation will be devoted to
my take on this changing NonStop landscape. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Under the theme of
continuous adaptation, I will be acknowledging the impact of the appearance
that business resilience is having on numerous NonStop vendors independent or
otherwise. This has been a topic I have been following for nearly a year.
Business resilience is focused on absorbing and then adapting to outside
events. If you consider fault tolerance coupled with business continuity as
your viable defense then you may want to consider business resilience as your
offense. Something that I have already been illustrating with images from the
NFL here in the US. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As a secondary topic that
has really gained my attention is that with support for business resilience
coming, as it is happening now, from those NonStop independent vendors that first
begun promoting an independent software ecosystem last year, such attention is
ensuring their ongoing relevance within the NonStop user community as a whole.
A relevance that cannot be ignored. As it is well known across the community
many of the largest NonStop users have long-standing business relationships
with the independent vendor community and are loathe to simply let those
relationships slide. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is an important
development to understand. Choices made long ago are now today bearing fruit as
priorities arising from the constantly changing landscape become better known.
It is not just with NTI, I take encouragement from others like CSP Security,
TANDsoft, comforte, TCM, Odyssey and more. In fact, it was following the
initial discussions last year between NTI, CSP Security and TANDsoft that CSP
took the initiative to launch a Partner Portal. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If the NonStop team was
going to be shy about sharing information on vendor products that exist beyond
Showcase then another outlet needed to be created and the Connect community is
on board with this initiative as well. It is also very important that the
GreenLake team has an easy way to be informed about offerings coming from the
independent vendors, as many customers converting to software as a service want
to explore or continue with the products outside of the Showcase umbrella.
Being in Showcase and being on the NonStop Price Book has very little to do
with the GreenLake initiative so it’s only reasonable to provide a place where
those looking to benefit from GreenLake have a place to go to find the latest
product information. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What then does this all
mean? The NonStop community has existed for many decades and has always thrived
on choice. There have always been options when it comes to security,
monitoring, business continuity and more. With what is transpiring there really
isn’t any bad choices for the NonStop user just a rich variety of options to
consider. And it is with this in mind that I will be bringing with me to
Edinburgh a bright spotlight that I will be shining on the rise of the
independent vendor’s software ecosystem. As one HPE senior manager reminded me
only this week, “there’s enough ecosystem to go around; everybody wins!”
However, the opposite is equally as true; should we fail to foster healthy and
indeed competitive ecosystems then the probability that NonStop ceases to grow
becomes a likely outcome. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ecosystems! Partner Portals!
Business Resilience! Continuous Adaptation! And yes, much more will be covered
in my educational presentation next week. I am looking forward to giving this
presentation as I am also thankful for the support from NTI. Will you be there?
I sure hope you make attending this presentation your own priority and will
enjoy hearing it as much as I am looking forward to giving it! See you in
Edinburgh!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">[The opinions expressed here are all mine and may not map exactly to those of companies referenced here]</span><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-90569974823379183712023-04-23T10:12:00.009-07:002023-04-23T10:14:23.654-07:00When Primary and Backup are called for!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGqef1gCVUXmtImw-gpqVOXoFHt65RvpD82wKkWV15sqXEohNR_YL7_ak6K60wvUOXQCfq8yM_J3vruZaVSO_n1OV1b5jSOkkS_rbOUxf2pE58aSUKmeMlcePSNY9zpSw4ynFsCXazdP7kIPY99Dw5s5sVHStxIBayKX8Eor-Eb77VxyZdriOQPQOk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="453" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGqef1gCVUXmtImw-gpqVOXoFHt65RvpD82wKkWV15sqXEohNR_YL7_ak6K60wvUOXQCfq8yM_J3vruZaVSO_n1OV1b5jSOkkS_rbOUxf2pE58aSUKmeMlcePSNY9zpSw4ynFsCXazdP7kIPY99Dw5s5sVHStxIBayKX8Eor-Eb77VxyZdriOQPQOk=w360-h269" width="360" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Many years ago, when Margo and I frequented the
highways of North America in our RV, we talked about buying a dog. For those
who may have passed RVs in parking lots, you may have run across the decal
telling everyone that the RV was unlocked and the keys were under the German
Shephard. We had a colleague from our Tandem Computer days that bred German
Shepherds and we thought that there would be nothing better than to own a pair
of them. Back when I lived in Sydney I had a Shephard – Labrador mix and the
family truly loved him, so the idea of owning a pair of Shepherds didn’t seem all that out of the ordinary. With tickets to California in our hands and plans to accommodate
well advanced, it was only the voice of our family members warning us: with the
dogs we do not get to play with our granddaughter and that led to a late cancellation
of such a purchase. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It then should come as no surprise that at that time we
had made the decision to call them Primary and Backup! I recalled this thwarted
exercise as I stood in the service bay of our local Jaguar dealership. For many
years there was a saying that went something like, “if you own a Jaguar, you
better buy two to make sure you had one to drive!” Today however, nothing could
be further from the truth as the Jaguars of this century have, for us at least,
proved extremely reliable. The two were in the service bay as we dropped off
the second Jaguar when picking up the first and what went through our minds was
well, it all made sense didn’t it? Nothing wrong was there, when you consider
the weather that crossed Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, in having Primary and
Backup!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The April issue of NonStop Insider has hit the digital
newsstands and can be read by following this link - </span><a href="https://www.nonstopinsider.com/editorials/issue-7-4-editorial/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">https://www.nonstopinsider.com/editorials/issue-7-4-editorial/</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">
It is a bumper issue to say the least, with articles from HPE folks across
North America as well as Asia-Pacific. There are numerous commentaries on
NonStop SQL, Security, including Ransomware, Platform Modernization and a return
visit to the IDC grading of systems, ranking them by levels of availability. The
premier level has always been Availability Level 4 and for quite some time,
this level was shared only by NonStop and certain configurations of the IBM
mainframe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But of late, IDC has begun watering down the criteria
to where now it is simply addressed with the following:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">True
fault tolerance through redundancy in hardware and software: This approach
provides continuous data processing, even in the event of the failure of one
hardware or software component. Because all data processing (i.e., support for
a given application) occurs in a side by-side fashion, <b>the failure of any
single component in the system will not affect other sets of computing
resources</b> that also support that same application. As a result, computing can
continue uninterrupted. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Spot the out for most vendors? Here you have it: “<i>The failure of any single component in the
system will not affect other sets of computing resources.” </i>In other words,
you may be down but no other application running at the time should be
affected. So sad to hear you are only running one application! In a world where
we so often hear of good enough being well, good enough and glitches happen all
the time. If as yet you haven’t read my latest commentary on AL4 then check the
article in the April issue of NonStop Insider - </span><a href="https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/the-latest-on-fault-tolerance-hpe-is-a-key-player-in-the-al4-market-according-to-idc/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/the-latest-on-fault-tolerance-hpe-is-a-key-player-in-the-al4-market-according-to-idc/</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">IBM released the Z16 last year to quite a fanfare, most
of which centered on the mainframe now becoming available in rack-mounted form.
Yes, more than a decade after NonStop embraced rack mounting, IBM considers their
work as a breakthrough for the enterprise even as they recognize that in many
ways they were late to the party. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But it isn’t just that NonStop has been available
rack-mounted for such a long time as it is highlighting how little attention
IBM is paying to capitalizing on the presence of the cloud; racking mainframes
may be fun but that’s just a start, surely? And it isn’t until you address the
presence of clouds, be they private or public, that you can truly call yourself
modern. IDC may give a gold star to NonStop and the Mainframe but even then,
the awarding of that star doesn’t suggest for a moment that the system being so
honored is modern!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There is one other article in the April issue of
NonStop Insider that is worth reading in full - </span><a href="https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/what-comes-after-development-simplified-deployment-for-hpe-nonstop-applications/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/what-comes-after-development-simplified-deployment-for-hpe-nonstop-applications/</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"> It
covers the two story lines of two most recent posts to the HPE Community Blog
that focus on just how modern NonStop has become, whether it is from a
development or deployment perspective. Both of these posts reference the many
television episodes featuring home renovations where we have all become
acquainted with what makes a home modern – open floorplan, clear sight lines,
stainless steel appliances. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For a more comprehensive overview of both these posts
on modernization of development and deployment as they appear in the HPE
Community Blog, take a look at the latest issue of The Connection. Re-appearing
in The Connection for the first time in decades is my column </span><a href="https://connect2nonstop.com/real-time-view/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Real Time View</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">.
As noted in prior posts to this blog, Pyalla Technologies, LLC. is throwing its
full support behind Connect and future posts to this blog will only touch on
topics that might otherwise not find their way into NonStop community media.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Comparing today's IT deployments with how modern
homes function can only go so far and yet the imagery is hard to ignore. “In
many ways, IT development wants to leverage open technologies as much as
possible even as they want connectivity to every corner of the enterprise along
with the ease of movement that this entails, within the enterprise and beyond,”
said HPE Mission Critical Systems Marketing Manager, Vikas Kapoor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And now there will be the opportunity to develop
applications for NonStop out of public clouds. For AWS users this is as simple
as connecting to the Public Cloud Marketplace where you will find everything
you need to develop an application that targets the NonStop platform. Look for
support of other public cloud providers to follow shortly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So here is the answer to the question that is almost
certainly going to be asked. Again, isn’t good enough, good enough, but now,
you can have it all – out of the box. Whether you develop in Java, C/C++ or
Python, it’s all there in the public cloud for you to leverage. More
importantly though is the ability to inherit the fault tolerance of NonStop
without digging deep into its internals or becoming an expert in all things
NonStop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The flip side is that accepting good enough can be
dangerous. It leads to a false sense of security anchored solely in the belief
that it’s OK to be good enough as “we have always done it that way!” AL4 with
meaningful and usable fault tolerance is at your fingertips and can be
leveraged right out of the box. This remains an unheard of experience on
platforms other than NonStop, so yes, good enough may be good enough for some,
but why would you ever settle for second best?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This topic and much more will feature heavily in the
upcoming regional user events, the most important event of all being the
E-BITUG in Edinburgh Scotland, May 15 – 17. For the latest updates on this
event, check out the E-BITUG web site - </span><a href="https://www.bitug.com/ebitug-2023"><span style="line-height: 115%;">https://www.bitug.com/ebitug-2023</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">. There
will be a lot of product updates along with news from the participating vendors
you may have missed, so plan accordingly. Looking ahead to future events in
2023 there will continue to be highlights of just how the NonStop technology,
whether running on-prem or in the clouds is still significantly ahead of the
pack. Or, as one NonStop product manager reminded me in a recent exchange, “if
you are not aiming for the best you will eventually fall behind.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What should not be missed is just how far NonStop
systems have come from when it was all about those Primary and Backup use cases
that dominated much earlier events. They still embody the effectiveness of the
“special sauce” of NonStop that separates NonStop from all else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We never did get those German Shepherds and saying we
have tame Jaguars doesn’t really cut it. We no longer have the RV either, but
then again, the thought of having primary and secondary processes behind the
scenes supporting almost every financial transaction we perform assures us that
as blasé as some may be about good enough, ultimately, good enough no longer
cuts it when it comes to the deployment of today’s modern systems.</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-5621868257806866942023-03-27T11:28:00.004-07:002023-03-27T11:28:45.277-07:00Heightened Expectations – Clarity of View<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPkEuYOqP3zYG8MHb7kxLou3hkaEp638V_8Dg2URWPhnhZiTFiBx3ozfCR74wiiH34u_tdmvfW_FPyBjyrvDXykkhA3ukODitmaIdQ98gVaKTKD966o7JYVTQ_zf0v0R-tWWc_mlWSEIrf6xc6w6UoLSi0ZvPpUW3AVhDAjFKtEqvJS0MHfQXiK3zA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="437" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPkEuYOqP3zYG8MHb7kxLou3hkaEp638V_8Dg2URWPhnhZiTFiBx3ozfCR74wiiH34u_tdmvfW_FPyBjyrvDXykkhA3ukODitmaIdQ98gVaKTKD966o7JYVTQ_zf0v0R-tWWc_mlWSEIrf6xc6w6UoLSi0ZvPpUW3AVhDAjFKtEqvJS0MHfQXiK3zA=w372-h278" width="372" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A big welcome shout out to spring, 2023. Well, at least
springtime in the northern hemisphere. It’s been a while and we missed it.
Whether you are on the west coast, the northern plains or upper east coast you
can be forgiven for wanting the weather systems of the past couple of months to
bid a final farewell. It’s been cold, wet and snowy and for many a most
uncomfortable time. Of course, unless you ski:2023 was a fantastic year for
skiing here in Colorado.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I might be taken to task when I admit that for much of
winter and the months prior Margo and I have been fortunate enough to have
spent time in warmer climates. We heard the coast calling and we responded in
like. Continuing to mix business with a break over the holiday season and then
again as anniversaries came around, we managed to miss the worst of winter’s
wrath. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you have as yet not seen the latest post to our
social blog, Buckle-Up, you may find it of interest as it parallels the theme
of this post but from a slightly different perspective. Yes, the subject matter
of both has been expectations. It seems more than appropriate to touch on this
topic from a business perspective, as much is changing here at Pyalla
Technologies, LLC. You may recall that in the previous post to this blog
reference was made to changes ahead but now we can be a little more forthcoming
about the implications. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to the NonStop community at large, it’s
become increasingly important to have the positive aspects of all things
NonStop highlighted in media with a much wider readership than what can be
achieved through my own works. To this end, the upcoming issue of The
Connection will include the first column under the heading that is the same as
this blog – Real Time View. This transition was predicted in the previous post
to this blog and it is all happening rather quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That is not to say that there will be no further posts
to this blog, but rather, a lessening of posting as Pyalla steps up to more
aggressively support the NonStop community through its support of the Connect
community. Consider this the beginning – the dawning if you prefer of an
expanded commitment in support of all things NonStop. A time of heightened
expectations over the future of NonStop as clarity takes hold. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Consider this, too, as Pyalla doubling down on NonStop
in so far as the voice of clients needs to be better illuminated than that of
Pyalla. What this means is that the NonStop community, the HPE NonStop team
together with the NonStop vendor community as a whole will be subject to the
attention I have been giving Pyalla in the past. And the good news here is that
together the HPE NonStop team and the NonStop vendor community are providing me
with a sizable uptick in relevant news that needs to be broadcast more widely. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to HPE and the HPE NonStop team I will be
working on storylines for marketing and product management that shine a
brighter spotlight on the role of NonStop within the enterprise. As for an
expanded media presence as already noted this column will begin appearing under
the same masthead in each issue of The Connection. With this, it will be
complementing the articles and commentaries I provide for my clients that
appear in NonStop Insider and Connect Now. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Look for even more from Pyalla in LinkedIn and Twitter
– do you follow me? My handle on Twitter is @RichardKBuckle and I welcome all
those who want to follow me on LinkedIn. And if you are in any LinkedIn group I
support then expect to see more commentaries and op-ed pieces in the future. As
for the NonStop client community I support, then it is coming to fore to where
there is a real need to support these members of the community even as the HPE
NonStop team focuses on just a small cross-section of NonStop vendors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A division within the NonStop community has arisen and
it is one that the vendor community is finding challenging. The global NonStop
sales teams are no longer promoting or even presenting the broadest mix of
NonStop vendors’ product offerings. Instead, they have trimmed to just a few
NonStop vendors and in so doing are pursuing a high-risk agenda. This is not to
denigrate the motivation of those NonStop vendors who have gone to great
lengths establishing and maintaining personal relationships but rather, it is a
reminder that the HPE NonStop team lacked the resources to evaluate all
available products. No RFPs were ever created nor was there any movement
towards throwing open the entire price book to all NonStop vendors as was done
in the past with the support of the Tandem Alliance Program. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Furthermore, the rise of the invite only user events
takes away from the value proposition of the Connect organization. And this is
sad to watch and for a NonStop “lifer” as Margo and I clearly are, not just or
disappointing but rather ominous. Both Margo and I have seen companies making commitments
to a single vendor only to find out that a bigger company bought them with
little interest in NonStop. Think Oracle buying GoldenGate (DR), ACI buying
Insession and committing to IBM platform, IBM buying Candle (MQ) and VM Software
Inc. buying SDI (NonStop NET/MASTER) with the results being that the desired
products never truly met their ongoing commitments to NonStop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Imagine then if IBM made an offer for a major NonStop
security vendor or Oracle upped the ante and bought a major NonStop business
continuity vendor against a background where alternative NonStop product
offerings were no longer available as these vendors elected to no longer
compete and look for alternate markets. Yes, a very high risk pursuit by HPE
NonStop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Why I am now posting about this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a growing sense that the NonStop
vendor community needs help and will be looking at new initiatives to further
promote their products. Think of separate roadshows organized by these NonStop
vendors. Think too of separate vendor and product web sites that amalgamate the
collective knowledge and offerings by these very same vendors. Think of the
continuation of products and features more in tune with the needs of business
today. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The technology industry is changing rapidly. The
business community at large is evolving to meet end user expectations and
NonStop vendors are adapting to this changing technology landscape and the
evolving enterprise expectations. Indeed, it is as if the NonStop community is
entering, dare I say, NonStop 2.0 with traditional NonStop, virtual NonStop and
NonStop in the clouds all-vying for our attention.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It is with all this in mind that Pyalla will be
providing greater insights into where the NonStop team players and the NonStop
vendor communities are headed. They are priorities and to give them their
voice! In so doing, the expectation is for Pyalla championing its own agenda
lessening significantly. Pyalla is not going away nor is it stepping back, but
rather, giving more support to those you interact with almost daily – the
NonStop team and the collective that we have always supported, the NonStop
vendor community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-68246524081247130282023-03-12T13:31:00.005-07:002023-03-12T13:31:45.047-07:00Another meeting and another airport; event season has started!<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjawF1T6O5cz-A_DEG8MKrGwnG-WHE55NdaJc-mSnimFNuIg7s-fh7zSLLwkmFQwVDjvsP-uag8o2wB_7L3Z5L2Qi3OeE_Wz6_VghGDkWFGVxozPDvEqGQ6OJiKQDq8YTLoFGFA3e4e8qW18BsDHwhmSm8nIGlUzUAweco7c58rXCO7_cA94chKyTch" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="453" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjawF1T6O5cz-A_DEG8MKrGwnG-WHE55NdaJc-mSnimFNuIg7s-fh7zSLLwkmFQwVDjvsP-uag8o2wB_7L3Z5L2Qi3OeE_Wz6_VghGDkWFGVxozPDvEqGQ6OJiKQDq8YTLoFGFA3e4e8qW18BsDHwhmSm8nIGlUzUAweco7c58rXCO7_cA94chKyTch=w254-h294" width="254" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Why it is that so many times meetings involve airport
hotels? As we get closer to spring and the event schedule begins in earnest, we
find ourselves staring out a hotel window at scenery that rarely changes. There
is always that perfect view, overlooking the air conditioning units even as the
sameness about it all does little to encourage enthusiasm (for the day) or
drive innovation (for the topic). And yet, as we look at our calendars there is
a sense of excitement as we count down the days.</span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whether it is a two days, weekend or weeklong event,
they are predictable and follow well-established patterns. Check in for the
flight, grab a cocktail, catch up on email and text, take the hotel shuttle on
arrival, head to your room and unpack, wonder downstairs to the lobby bar and
then hopefully catch up with colleagues. And so it begins; the routine you have
embraced over the years is repeating! <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sitting in a hotel room adjacent to Los Angeles
International Airport (LAX), all of the above took place except it was one more
time when it was Margo and me participating in this event dance. Rather than
heading for the lobby we ventured up to the “runway bar” overlooking the airport.
Quiet, almost relaxing, with just enough “small bites” to see us through to the
end of the evening.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On this occasion, our participation meant that we would
be celebrating my birthday away from home, once again, but yet doing what we
have been doing for so many years; living life on the road! While the number of
events has begun to grow following the global pandemic as our society has been
anxiously awaiting the return to in-person meetings, I have found that time has
collapsed to where road trips in the literal sense have diminished. Only twice in
2022 did we drive to a venue and this year isn’t looking any better. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The NonStop community is already witnessing the start
of these event dances even if the significance of such events has taken on a
new sense of urgency. Not being disrespectful when calling these gatherings
event dances and yet, for many it is all about the importance of maintaining
partnerships. Vendors look to reacquaint themselves with key users even as the
NonStop team look for updates from both sides of the NonStop community.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Perhaps the most important aspect of in-person events
just happens to be the journey. The road trips Margo and I enjoy so much
oftentimes turn into the highlight of the week and when it comes to the NonStop
community simply the reinforcement that investments in NonStop continue is
likewise the highlight of any event week. Where else can the NonStop community
gain important insight into NonStop product roadmaps than at community events? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In a column for the upcoming March – April 2023 issue
of The Connection where I posted on the topic of NonStop modernization, I referenced
recent posts by the HPE NonStop team. At one point, I wrote that </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">the move by HPE to support its entire
product portfolio on the basis of “as-a-Service (XaaS)” has many NonStop users
taking a closer look at the optimal manner in which they acquire and deploy HPE
NonStop. A path that, as of now, is via HPE GreenLake and already HPE NonStop
with HPE GreenLake is becoming quite popular among NonStop customers looking to
modernize the infrastructure and platform.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, the journey
is now taking a sharp turn outwards and for the first time, the options open to
the NonStop community are broader than at any times in the past. Just as
important for the NonStop community is how this is still very much the story of
Tandem Computers albeit morphed significantly from the time of the introduction
of Tandem. Guardian remains even as APIs expand and not just the OSS
personality but across many of its key subsystems. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Want your
application to be fault tolerant and you are a C/C++ shop? No worries, there
are APIs you can leverage. For instance, <span style="background: white;">The Fault Tolerant Interface (NSFTI) takes care of the NonStop specific
API calls and bindings that will uplift any ordinary C / C++ application to
become a Process-Pair considered by IT professionals the highest level of
availability attained through software programming.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">And where did I learn all of this? From attending sessions at
recent events! Yes, the dance continues and Tandem lives on. The journey will
be taking us into places we may not have previously considered visiting and
yet, when we see what the scenery looks like, the possibilities become very
attractive. And this is the most important observation of all – if we are not
looking ahead as we take this journey then we will be left behind and with
that, any future role for NonStop within our enterprise can be seriously
eroded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to Pyalla Technologies, LLC., expect to
see changes in 2023. Many years ago I was asked by the ITUG Board of Directors
to consider taking my column, Real Time View, away from its presence in the
community magazine, The Connection, to start a blog. This was the summer of
2007 and some 620 posts later (with more than half a million views), plans are
afoot to return this post to where that column from two decades ago has started.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pyalla, the company, was created in 2009 and the blog
began providing highlights about the company. This included a constant update
from event dances of the past. But today, with the vendor community Pyalla
supports, the need to keep promoting Pyalla has likewise lessened. The
opportunity to provide posts, articles and commentaries for clients has become
a game changer; a change of direction in the journey that Pyalla has been
on for fifteen plus years. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Consider this an opportunity to augment the blog Real
Time View with the column in The Connection, also called the Real Time View.
While the magazine column will become the focal point for commentaries on HPE
and HPE NonStop, this doesn’t mean the end of this blog. Rather, the posts will
be less frequent with more focus on the IT industry at large. As for our social
blog, Buckle-Up, Margo and I will continue to post about our travels where you
will continue to read about our attendance at events. The focus will be lesson
the tech and more on the journey. No surprises here, naturally enough. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Margo and I have enjoyed the journey to date. The road
continues to unfold with the horizon ever changing. In-person events are
witness to a return to popularity and no matter where the flight might take you
and despite the hotels we choose, it is a dance and for now, the event dance
remains the highlight of any month when we jointly peruse out calendar. Will we
see you at the next NonStop in-person event? We trust that we will and yes,
look for my column in the next issue of The Connection. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-68099775939679251382023-02-13T05:49:00.003-08:002023-02-13T05:49:51.092-08:00Everything I know about business I learnt from watching Indy Cars<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-aWJwO9sksuF3_xvsibdBRmf3LW3z2kC7fhHpf4W4nWY_2y9A0f7LJhtYiIJPfkMaeUctBQ2zBpN1kJbDiDRFPgqhwKfbuG6E6Hk4IVKgJYfS372DQ0Kc_7wjGfI6XQ7DT6IUGqCjjSEzGTKOtJoU1R3K73_ZT3CbS0MPHn46anD6GZLbwimm7_6E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="416" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-aWJwO9sksuF3_xvsibdBRmf3LW3z2kC7fhHpf4W4nWY_2y9A0f7LJhtYiIJPfkMaeUctBQ2zBpN1kJbDiDRFPgqhwKfbuG6E6Hk4IVKgJYfS372DQ0Kc_7wjGfI6XQ7DT6IUGqCjjSEzGTKOtJoU1R3K73_ZT3CbS0MPHn46anD6GZLbwimm7_6E=w273-h320" width="273" /></a></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">[Courtesy of NTT Indy Cars]<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Every so often
there are events that as they play out can influence outcomes apart from what
is actually taking place. For Margo and me there were times when we enjoyed the
occasional track day that gave us an opportunity to take our cars onto real
race tracks to simply have fun driving fast in a safe environment. Everyone
heads in the same direction, right? What could possibly go wrong? However,
these days we no longer enjoy that pleasurable pastime, but rather have been
relegated to spectators.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Following any
sporting team, or, for that matter individuals provides insights into what is
achieved. There is a definite correlation between the learning phase and just
how well a performance plays out. Certainly, in some sports, there is many
inputs that can influence outcomes, but ultimately it comes down to individuals,
particularly those in a leadership role, just “do your job,” as NFL coach Bill
Belichick believes is what wins games for the New England Patriots. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It was in March
2022 that I posted about how </span><a href="https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/2022/03/everything-i-know-about-marketing-i.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Everything
I know about marketing I learnt from watching football.</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none;"> </span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">I have often
been told to write stories based on what I know, observe, participate in –
otherwise known as writing about what I love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many of us have been likewise so advised and when it comes to HPE and
the NonStop product suite, it takes very little encouragement for me to take on
a topic that is of interest to me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, coming
almost a year after my post on what I learnt about marketing (from watching NFL
football) it is time to tackle a topic even closer to my heart. Not that this
is an indication that in the depths of winter I will continue to pursue the
topic of what I have learnt, but rather what I continue to learn in general.
This time, as a sole proprietor – together with Margo, naturally – sustaining a
thriving business is a topic about which I have learnt much.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to
watching the development of an Indy Car driver, over the passage of time there
are several key milestones to be met. First up there is the learning the trade
by which aspiring young drivers have to dedicate considerable time honing their
skills, first in karting and then in junior open wheel race cars. Margo and I
have had the good fortune to be good friends of the extended Herta family and
with that we have watched grandson, Colton Herta, come through the ranks. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Imagine the
surprise of Colton’s parents when barely a teenager he provided a proposal for
a two year apprenticeship racing open wheel cars in Europe. This would involve
the youngster finding accommodation, feeding himself and in general become
reliant on few others apart from himself. Fortunately a family steeped in
facing took to the youngster and it all turned out for the best.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When you look to
start a business the most important aspect is to actually start. Having spent
decades in the NonStop community, participating in lively discussions about
what it would be like to start a business, there comes a time for the talking
to stop and the actual doing to begin. Sounds all rather simple but this comes
with the knowledge that you will go through a heavy learning phase. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Technical knowledge
by itself isn’t going to cut it; the NonStop community is alive with technical
experts on all fronts, be that the OS, the database, security and more. Developing
and then documenting a plan that stands a chance of working and then following through
by putting yourself out there isn’t for everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Young Colton
left home for two years in order to challenge himself on European race tracks
he wanted to learn – and yes, winning races against formidable opponents,
including current F1 driver Lando Norris. But he didn’t just talk about it with
Mom and Dad, he executed and began winning. In business not only do you have to
start, but you have to pick a business opportunity where you not only can learn
but win the occasional “deal.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Margo and I have
watched Colton race from the time before he became a teenager and in that time
we have watched a rate of maturity that was impressive to say the least. But it
was while in Europe and became visible as he rose through the driver ranks back
in the US, this new level of maturity materialized itself in the way he rose
from just being a team player to where he became a team leader. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, he did his
job and this was recognized at an early age. Margo and I were at Sonoma in 2018
for the last Indy Car race of that year when Colton stepped into an Indy Car
for the first time. The day didn’t go particularly well but then three races
into the 2019 season, Colton at the tender age of 18, won his first Indy Race. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It would be
farcical of me to talk about my own youthful exuberance as I can barely recall
any of my antics at the tender age of 18. But then again, like so many in the
NonStop community, the 1970s served as my time as a computer cadet - an
apprentice, no matter how you name it. My formative years of learning to where
I graduated as, more mature relatively speaking, an IT professional, paved the
way for decades spent solely in IT. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Watching Colton
study a table, looking for further insights into improving his performance,
turning to engineering staff to hear what they have to say and yes, having to
relearn his car with every spec change and tire upgrade, made me realize that
the apprenticeship never truly ends. If energy increases at the square of
speed, then so does the need to learn. Where writing becomes your passport to
income then it demands hitting the books even harder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As the 1970s
passed into the 1980s, it was the time of active M&A activities and I
managed to participate in more than one. Were they distraction? For the most
part there were unplanned career changes and, after a fashion, like many of my
colleagues so provoked, I began looking over my shoulder more frequently.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">From his
learning through maturity to becoming a team leader and winning races, Colton
too wasn’t immune to M&A activities and they did prove a distraction as
much as he told reporters that he was solely focused on the task at hand. How
could he not be distracted when others were waving the prospect of a drive in
F1? And the results of his 2022 campaign showed that racing at the highest
level in Indy didn’t cater all that well to the distracted driver. Still, the
rumors persisted and together his team and his major sponsor are having yet one
more tilt at F1. The nay-sayers may ask, what is all the fuss about? Is Colton
worthy? Let’s just saw how this all plays out! <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What I have
learnt from watching Colton is no matter the skillset you have acquired, it can
all count for naught in the blink of an eye. That database management system
you spent years to master is no longer a requirement and that security model
you embraced has become blasé. The road to self employment may not be for
everyone but as I watched Colton power forward it reminded me that what others
are doing should never distract you from what you deliver – services or goods. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For the NonStop
community M&A and the rumors of M&A are ever present and in the 2000s,
they proved to be distracting in the extreme. Margo and I stopped talking about
joining the gig economy in 2009 and stepped up to create Pyalla Technologies,
LLC. But it was only a couple of years later when our business struggled as key
clients looked at M&A actions even as others went through total management
changes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For the NonStop
community the big surprise isn’t so much of how the community has now turned a
corner, returned to in-person events, worked through aspects of hybrid IT and
the true value of engaging with cloud service providers, mostly in part rather
than in whole, but rather that we have a community at all! It’s a testament to
the continued enthusiasm for and championing all things of NonStop that
highlights how well we have left the distractions of the past behind us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to
reaping the rewards, barely 22 years old, Colton signed a new long term
contract with Andretti and sponsor Gainbridge that makes him the highest paid
Indy Driver. That period of focused learning, becoming mature, demonstrating
leadership and putting distractions to one side, has paid off in a way many of
us simply didn’t expect. But looking back at performances through the years, it
wasn’t entirely unexpected.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Colton’s
achievements in this regard no longer parallel that of my own and perhaps this
is where learning and achievements diverge. And yet, I am reminded that with
the uptick in participation in the gig economy brought on by the global
pandemic, life has become a lot more predictable when you elect to be in
business on your own. The apprenticeship may be winding down and the fear from
M&A long gone but the rewards are clearly worth pursuing despite all the
nay-sayers you may encounter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I have learnt so
much from watching Indy Cars. The lifecycle of a business launched as
essentially a gig mirrors much of what happens in the sporting world. Yes, I
did, I taught, and now I write. I cannot draw any comparisons to the rewards on
offer to those of individual sports’ folks but the gig economy brings with it
its own rewards. Time, travel, friendships – they are all on offer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to
those in the NonStop community who find themselves challenged over prospects
for the coming year, or two, there’s no time like the present to have those
conversations. Consider all that has been learnt and what you can give back.
Working with the NonStop community is both the challenge and the reward and in
all seriousness, isn’t this what it is all about? Enjoying the time spent with
likeminded colleagues as you show up and just do your job? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-27711935253951039612023-01-22T14:03:00.067-08:002023-01-26T10:31:04.395-08:00Disaster strikes! What’s your Plan B?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8aH6tHeL94FPltthpPm9eqdc-NAosLDsGlb0xntDEROH-DDZ2JozdDvNuZhTWzVAoQAPxPCSkkGOaJV5hDjPHQOmdMbCwXdfR5pVbRiVDjrpRQ-v84Z7DMcaPS9iHlR-Ea5cZYCbKBxGyqY8Nt-bD_wYArTJ2t19xDEBpiCkmxjbuPVLiaUvU2c0N" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="447" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8aH6tHeL94FPltthpPm9eqdc-NAosLDsGlb0xntDEROH-DDZ2JozdDvNuZhTWzVAoQAPxPCSkkGOaJV5hDjPHQOmdMbCwXdfR5pVbRiVDjrpRQ-v84Z7DMcaPS9iHlR-Ea5cZYCbKBxGyqY8Nt-bD_wYArTJ2t19xDEBpiCkmxjbuPVLiaUvU2c0N=w388-h258" width="388" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Many road warriors we know all too well expect that
when they head to the airport to board their flight and attend to business they
will then return home safely. It happens all the time. For anyone that has
walked through an airport of late there is no doubting that the desire to get
back out into the world has returned. Gates are packed with check in and
security lines back to their former slow crawl patterns.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What is not expected is to see planes parked at the gates,
along taxi runways and worse. Who knew that a simple computer glitch could take
down the air traffic control network across the United States? When news of a
glitch spreads it almost never turns out to be a minor irritation. Of late we
have read about such glitches affecting
banks, trading houses and more – so much so that for the community at
large, it’s become almost a case of well, here we go again. But bringing air
travel to a halt, that’s a glitch on a completely different plain! Everyone it
seems is left hurting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So what did happen? Was it a breach in security?
Ransomware? Someone flipped the wrong switch? Apparently it has something to do
with the database. As it was reported by CNN in an update provided January 12,
2023, it was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/faa-ground-stop-causes/index.html">A
corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage. It was also found in the backup
system</a>. “The computer system that failed was the central database for all
NOTAMs (Notice to Air Missions) nationwide. Those notices advise pilots of
issues along their route and at their destination. It has a backup, which
officials switched to when problems with the main system emerged, according to
the source.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Just this Friday, in a further update as reported by
BBC News in the article FAA outage: US airline regulators blame contractor for
travel chaos, “The FAA said that their contract employee, who was not
identified, deleted the files while working to synchronize the primary and
backup Notam databases.” Imagine that; a problem with synchronizing apparently
replicated databases. Once again, it can be said that it was human error but
then again, who was looking over the shoulder of this contract employee?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is a reason why we don’t let individuals engage
directly, with no supervision, with the maintenance of mission critical
systems. There was a time when we talked about putting a big dog between
operators and the console or, in the case of NonStop, two dogs. As I was
reminded by NonStop technical consultant and longtime supporter of the NonStop
community, Bill Honaker, it is important to remember that steps can be taken to
avoid human error. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At a customer that was upgrading all of their NonStop
servers while their app stayed available, there was a rule that “any time an
engineer was to shut down a cabinet, two people had to lay hands on it and
separately identify it as offline and ready to go down. And all my config
changes were reviewed by the other project manager.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For the NonStop community, to reference the well-known
charter of NASA during the Apollo Program, failure is not an option. NonStop
systems have been running for decades without outages all the while masking outages,
disaster or otherwise, such that the general public was never impacted. That is
the true value of depending upon a fault tolerant platform that already comes
with a built-in Plan B. </span></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUHTlWSkzUCxoi5q_o902CJJImqIKswburzF9NXubrRWlqEi6rmuATBt7IASjH5FxJ0JIszHWui-DhIYXuVWp8p-p3ap-DyOP6qgk6kOC946GKeckGFPHpIYFxtPgIvqqA3y3obSciXQpkSKfd-vjOWKz6lJRb5TihZSm2RN1WGq9mCRcReOGUYTl4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="412" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUHTlWSkzUCxoi5q_o902CJJImqIKswburzF9NXubrRWlqEi6rmuATBt7IASjH5FxJ0JIszHWui-DhIYXuVWp8p-p3ap-DyOP6qgk6kOC946GKeckGFPHpIYFxtPgIvqqA3y3obSciXQpkSKfd-vjOWKz6lJRb5TihZSm2RN1WGq9mCRcReOGUYTl4=w234-h301" width="234" /></span></a></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">From
the archives (circa 1980s)<br />
Courtesy Ceferino Perez, Madrid Spain<br />
As appeared this week in LinkedIn<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, with the most robust application deployment on
NonStop there is almost uniform recognition that beyond fault tolerance there
is disaster tolerance. Natural disasters along with the efforts of maleficent
individuals or institutions impacting operations have become almost routine
occurrences. The need for a second and perhaps even a third (or more)
geographically separated site, in case the primary data center burns down, has
taken on even greater importance. With this in mind, there is the need for a
broader Plan B than one solely focused on just a single system.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For the NonStop user the options are out there and
available from multiple sources. “Our business for nigh on four decades has
been all about ensuring disasters do not take down the operations of any of our
NonStop customers,” said Tim Dunne, NTI’s Global Director Worldwide Sales.
“When you look at the complexity of today’s NonStop modern deployments, it is
of paramount importance that recovery can be achieved in real time to where the
impact on business goes unnoticed.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">NTI is among a group of vendors who have specialized in
ensuring data centers relying on NonStop aren’t the subject to outages for any
reason. It would be so easy for all involved in NonStop to caste stones at
those IT organizations not as robust as what is delivered with NonStop but are
their vulnerabilities in the way NonStop systems are engaged in dialogues with
one another? Are we really sure that when that switch is flipped, it will all
work?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“We know that many of our customers do indeed have
procedures to ensure their backups are up to the task,” said Dunne. “We have
helped many NonStop customers develop plans that take advantage of <span style="background: white;">NTI’s DR<i>Net®/</i>Unified product suite and yes, we continue to provide this service as
part of our License agreement; as much as necessary without ever charging a
Professional Services Fee</span>. NonStop customer support of our
Active/Active option has been experiencing significant growth over the past
decade.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">From firsthand experience, Dunne also noted the value
that comes with direct line of sight with those implementing a broader approach
to Plan B. “Having embraced Change Data Capture (CDC) methodologies earlier
than anyone else NTI is experienced in ensuring whatever Plan B is being
considered can be delivered. Furthermore, as the need for simplified approaches
to software maintenance and upgrades remains a priority, there is emerging
growing trend in support of not only robust solutions but of those that are
economically viable.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">My discussions on the subject of primary and backup
systems and databases was not limited to just NTI. When the experience at FAA
was raised with Bill Honaker, his response was to the point. “Many customers
spend the extra effort to run their sites as Active/Active. To do a
‘transparent’ switchover, that’s the best way,” said Bill. “IT organizations
may say that because the NonStop platform is ‘old’ (from the 90s) it’s risky
but a lot of us have experience with handling this kind of environment dating
back to those times. It is all about designing for fault tolerance,
everywhere (Power, Network, Switches, Routers, Servers, Database).
Companies (and agencies) don’t know it’s possible because of the ‘good enough’
mindset that pervades the industry, in my opinion, so they don’t even try.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As for the view of others who provide services
supporting disaster recovery, when I reached out to Collin Yates of TCM
Solutions, he made an even stronger case for involving experienced personal in
creating working Plan B configurations. “Being able to switch from one site
(one DC) to another seamlessly to the users, especially in a 24x7x365
environment, comes down to two factors really. The first being that the
application in question is running in an Active/Active (A:A) configuration.
That is to say transactions are being processed on BOTH nodes simultaneously,”
said Collin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“As for the second factor, it’s all about customers
having a very good and reliable Database Replication (DR) product installed
that supports the A:A Application. On the NonStop that could be DRNET,
Shadowbase or Oracle’s Golden Gate as the main protagonists. In a nutshell,
running the right platform (NonStop of course) with right Data Replication
engine (DRNET or Shadowbase) things like the outage at the FAA would or should
not ever occur,” observed Collin before adding, “We are experts in Data
Replication and configuring such in either A:A or Active / Passive (A:P) on
your NonStop platform.” And yes, part of the services is to ensure there are
steps in place to test the processes all work to plan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Perhaps that is the most important aspect of all for
the NonStop community. Access to a generous mix of services providers,
consultants and software vendors ensures that no Plan B, whatever the
complexity, need give rise to anxieties over how best to ensure your most
mission-critical application of all can continue serving the business through
any disaster scenario imaginable. It isn’t a simple deployment to get right –
there are all sorts of potential collision scenarios to work through – but the
experience gained from real world deployments has made even the most unlikely
of occurrences manageable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And when it comes to ensuring primary and backup are
indeed synchronized the NonStop community is uniquely blessed by the presence
of industry-leading, usable, software products that do exactly that. Think
TANDsoft with their high-performance FS Compare and Repair utility. There is no
reason to leave to chance and to inexperienced technical staff any opportunity
to perform operations that could lead to events such as that experienced by the
FAA. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The FAA gained considerable notoriety over the failings
and the manner in which they went about explaining what happened only made the
situation worse for them. The press was particularly unkind to the way they
went about solving the problem. For the NonStop community even as the decades
continue to slide past, having a fault tolerant platform on hand as a starting
point and with access to software and services that minimize the potential for
such outages to occur, Plan B is never an afterthought but an integral part of
what makes NonStop the robust solution it is today. </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-70647111324608319952023-01-10T09:43:00.011-08:002023-01-26T10:34:49.724-08:00One more shot at the moon!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmumeulHHfPy7GgccjOU2MEZaNq1qe8Iu-kqiqWbQgZMGaZotGFN2UFM-LUBRnq1Xw197VuKsSChGaNwf1NPxTjDP_sBMcCgzrDYQ3kQd3RFuTudr4OaGEMccVzPjZ7Bz6by8qVEMCSQTKc4PcskhX2FmULS2YknV5OjtDTIbOGZChQixFXyDW5hr6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="460" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmumeulHHfPy7GgccjOU2MEZaNq1qe8Iu-kqiqWbQgZMGaZotGFN2UFM-LUBRnq1Xw197VuKsSChGaNwf1NPxTjDP_sBMcCgzrDYQ3kQd3RFuTudr4OaGEMccVzPjZ7Bz6by8qVEMCSQTKc4PcskhX2FmULS2YknV5OjtDTIbOGZChQixFXyDW5hr6=w382-h214" width="382" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif""><span>Two articles caugh</span>t</span><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif""> my attention last week. Why is it
that during the holidays we find time to read as many stories as we want in
between family dinners eating turkey with the trimmings or maybe shrimps on the
“barbie” and watching football or cricket, depending on the hemisphere where
you live. It’s not that I am trying to escape traditions, then again, perhaps I
am. Nevertheless, having the time to dig through publications for the
occasional editorial gem is something I like to do.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">In the article I came across on December 29, 2022
within the digital NPR (National Public Radio) site, </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/12/29/1145297807/crypto-crash-ftx-cryptocurrency-bitcoin"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">2022 was the year crypto came
crashing down to Earth</span></a><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> the
news looked pretty bad. “</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">In the future, 2022 may be
regarded as a turning point for the world of virtual currencies, when they lost
their luster and were cast out as a fringe product most people approach with
skepticism and caution.” Well, that’s perhaps the biggest understatement of the
year, right? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">But wait, there’s more. According to Lee
Reiners, who teaches cryptocurrency law at Duke University, the swift and total
collapse of FTX (along with the company's founder, Sam Bankman-Fried),
"the biggest event in crypto's history" - a history, he adds, that's
"replete with a lot of failures and scams and frauds and hacks."</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">“We won’t be fooled again,” you might say, but as one
songwriter said, “put it down to simple greed!” Or worse! The way NPR saw
things, even as “<span style="background: white;">there's an expression crypto
enthusiasts use, with fingers crossed, in the hopes a particular digital currency's
value will blast off: ‘To the moon!’ Much of crypto did graze the stratosphere
at the start of 2022, when enthusiasm was astronomically high, but a few months
later it all came crashing back down to Earth.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">Leave it to Warren Buffett to see
things a little differently when back in 2018 he called bitcoin, “rat poison
squared!” And worse. “</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Whether it
goes up or down in the next year, or five or 10 years, I don’t know. But the
one thing I’m pretty sure of is that it doesn’t produce anything,” Buffett said
(to CNBC). “It’s got a magic to it and people have attached magic to lots of
things.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">To the moon? Magic? This
wasn’t the only article that caught my attention as closer to home for some in
IT and even for those in the NonStop community was yet one more story coming
out of CNBC. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Published the day
before, on December 28, 2022, </span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/28/fintech-startups-2022-2023-a-reckoning-is-upon-us-heres-what-to-expect.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.Mail"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">The
fintech reckoning is upon us. Here’s what to expect next year</span></a><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">
came the news that “</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Many fintech
companies — particularly those dealing directly with retail borrowers — will be
forced to shut down or sell themselves next year as startups run out of
funding, according to investors, founders and investment bankers. Others will
accept funding at steep valuation haircuts or onerous terms, which extends the
runway but comes with its own risks, they said.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Rather frightening to
read was the reporting of how “<span style="color: black;">“20% of all VC dollars
went into fintech in 2021,” said </span>Stuart Sopp<span style="color: black;">, founder and CEO of digital bank </span>Current<span style="color: black;">. “You just can’t put that much capital behind something in
such a short time without crazy stuff happening.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Surprised to
read: “‘We overfunded fintech, no question,’ said one founder-turned-VC who
declined to be identified speaking candidly. ‘We don’t need 150 different </span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">neobanks<span style="color: black;">, we don’t
need 10 different banking-as-a-service </span>providers<span style="color: black;">. And I’ve invested in both’ categories, he said.” Even
more surprising to then read: “‘We saw a company that raised $20 million that
couldn’t even get a $300,000 bridge loan because their investors told them `We
are no longer investing a dime. It was unbelievable.’”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">According to
the CNBC reporter, “All along the private company life cycle, from embryonic
startups to pre-IPO companies, the market has </span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">reset lower by at least 30% to 50%<span style="color: black;">, according to investors. That follows the decline in
public company shares and a few notable private examples, like the </span>85%
discount<span style="color: black;"> that Swedish fintech lender Klarna took
in a July fundraising.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Or, to put
it more simply, according to Point72 Ventures partner </span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Pete Casella</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">, </span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">“What ultimately happens is you get
into a death spiral. You can’t get funded and all your best employees start
jumping ship because their equity is underwater.” It’s almost as if echoes of
“there’s gold in them thar hills!” can be heard reverberating across the ether.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">It would be
easy for us to overact and perhaps it is just industries in transition after
all. On the other hand, both the rush to crypto and the enthusiasm for fintech
could benefit from a lot more discretion being exercised. This is not a call to
invest in gold or in commodities in general. There will still be winners in
both the crypto and fintech marketplaces but the prospect of them being
absorbed into traditional businesses seems to be one outcome that I wouldn’t
bet against.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">For the
NonStop community where a degree of conservatism lives long and hard and where
change is more evolution than revolution, such news doesn’t come as a shock.
The presence of NonStop systems in financial institutions is a well-known
reality. With the work that NonStop development has put into ensuring NonStop
is as modern as any IT platform and fully capable of running any application
needed to meet a business need, it’s still good to know that NonStop isn’t
subject to either fashion or fads. It’s also becoming one reason why the
introduction of NonStop into HPE’s GreenLake initiative is an important step
forward. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">How so? As
the availability of money to fund initiatives like crypto and yes, even
fintechs, retreats as rapidly as it has done in 2022, the growth of Cloud
Service Providers will likely stall. Maybe not in quite as dramatic a fashion
as either of the two cases above, but there will be impact. All of which is to
confirm that having a steady hand on the hybrid IT tiller makes a whole lot of
sense in 2023. Leverage your data created on NonStop and bring the cloud
experience to you? Sounds like a plan!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">If it means
we can blend the best of NonStop with the opportunity to leverage cloud
services, where appropriate – access to analytics comes naturally to mind –
then this will keep many a CIO happy for some time. Moonshots are always a
scary proposition. At best, the odds do not favor perceived deliverables arriving
any time soon. To the moon? Yes, fingers crossed for sure, but in all
seriousness, none of us should be all that frightened over what might happen to
NonStop. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">GreenLake
holds promise of blending diverse worlds in a manner that actually maximizes
the continued relevance of NonStop. With further work in support of
virtualization that includes running within clouds, porting applications to
NonStop is a breeze. And why would you do that? Why would this still be a
consideration? Simple. It works. More than that, it has been working
continuously for decades. You want a safe haven for your data? You got it!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The gold in
those hills is data and in case we forget, the freshest data in the enterprise
is created on NonStop so wouldn’t you want your applications to be located as
close to the data creation as possible? You don’t have to think in terms of
going to the moon to retrieve the gold, it’s all right there where it has
always been and for the NonStop community, increasingly the news is of how GreenLake
indeed has become golden!</span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-51350017439666665622022-12-23T10:42:00.010-08:002023-01-26T10:38:38.745-08:00Culture; has to be embraced to be maintained!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjduB7WQoLX-ikbFn9ZxnvXt4Sp2xKuqsZq3gxhIiu0debwUVCcS7DZCpWsafhUxds1IbbAR8_uk4qd2ATJ8aTxqJ9DlzrCCAiRoYUR7UmpN7vX1hzHgD4gLbi3x8h8m9niIy7vlwD4gz7JIZaiye_UOCPY__aeaP_2KNenNj1keMPro5QVE1LP12WU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="340" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjduB7WQoLX-ikbFn9ZxnvXt4Sp2xKuqsZq3gxhIiu0debwUVCcS7DZCpWsafhUxds1IbbAR8_uk4qd2ATJ8aTxqJ9DlzrCCAiRoYUR7UmpN7vX1hzHgD4gLbi3x8h8m9niIy7vlwD4gz7JIZaiye_UOCPY__aeaP_2KNenNj1keMPro5QVE1LP12WU=w264-h352" width="264" /></a></div><br /><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana;"><span>Travel has
always been a part of our lives.</span> Whether business or leisure, rarely did a week
pass this year where we weren’t in planning mode for one trip or another. Not
for Margo or me is the thought of heading out through the front door on our way
to some destination ever giving us pause to wonder why? As our bags are brought
up from storage to reside near our wardrobe, our imminent departure begins to
look real. Even as our respective cultures differ on so many fronts where we
find consistency is in seeing the world.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Culture can be tough to define. Perhaps the best
description of culture I came across was: Customs, laws, dress, architectural
style, social standards and traditions are all examples of cultural
elements. Deconstructing into these elements is helpful but might be a bit too
vague for some. Although it is hard to argue with the role customs and social
standards play in defining culture. Then again, there are plenty of other
obvious examples. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have car
culture; we have cultures based on food and wine. And there is sports culture
of course! Closer to home we all recognize cultures based on different
competing technologies, products and vendors. Think IBM vs the BUNCH? Too far
back in time, perhaps? How about Google vs Microsoft or Intel vs AMD or Nvidia
vs everyone else – they all have ardent supporters. The culture they cultivate
is as fervent as that following any soccer oops, football, team today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How is culture
reinforced? Huge flags flying at sporting events! Cars that seem to be always
painted red? And what about the energy that has gone into reinforcing culture
in places as diverse as there happens to be with culinary and fashion as
perhaps equally as well-known influencers on culture. Black turtleneck
sweaters; sweatpants, and that all important hoodie are as much style as they
are substance. And pizza!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Up and down
Silicon Valley it is as if each new start-up is more than keen to put their
stamp on their unique way of doing business. Their own </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #202124; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">modus operandi</span></i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">!
The HP Way was one of the earliest expressions of a tech company culture even
as today, it has become commonplace to hear tech execs talking about the
culture underpinning their company’s practices. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last year as the
New York Jets football team set about hiring a new coach, the team announced
that, “</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Culture
is one of those words that is overly used in the sports world, and yet not
clearly defined. Why? Well, it's more of a feeling and less of a tangible
quality.” The implication being that the team was disappointed with the culture
of the team following numerous off-field altercations. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the United Kingdom
it was altercations of a different type that has just led the government to
take on financial institutions. CNBC in a December 9, 2022 editorial, </span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/09/uk-announces-major-overhaul-of-its-financial-sector-in-attempt-to-spur-growth.html#:~:text=The%20U.K.%20government%20on%20Friday,operations%20from%20their%20investment%20arms."><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">UK
announces major overhaul of its financial sector in attempt to spur growth</span></a><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,
among the many growth shortcomings identified was the lack of executive
accountability. “</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The government also confirmed it will review rules around the
accountability of top finance executives — another post-2008 regulation. The
Senior Managers Regime, introduced in 2016, means individuals at regulated
firms can face penalties for poor conduct, workplace culture or
decision-making.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whereas the New York Jets were looking to foster a culture
of shared feelings, emotions that could be channeled into better on-field
performances, the UK government was looking to penalize those in charge who let
a negative culture ferment within their institution. Culture, it seems, can go
both ways; lifting up a group to do better as it can stymie others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And yet, simply by associating with our peers we create
cultures we can identify with – HPE and the NonStop communities being among
those organizations where culture can not only be identified but recognized as
continuously evolving. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Part of the attraction of travel is that we get to
experience different cultures. Some we understand and can assimilate quickly
whereas others take time and a whole lot of patience. The pace of adaptation is
oftentimes helped simply by spending time with local folks be they business
acquaintances or members of our extended families. There is nothing like
sitting down at a meal to get an instant refresher on the culture of a place,
be that a lively discussion over football or the fishing or local politics or
even handbags and shoes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Culture has become a common theme of HPE and its CEO,
Antonio Neri, has not been shy talking about building, “a culture that
revisited the former glory days under Hewlett and Packard and that energized
the whole company as it tackled some very challenging projects.” These comments
came during a keynote presentation at HPE Discover 2019. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">The big news here is the change in culture to be more
inclusive, empowering teams to pursue the vision of HPE in ways that produced
results faster - the fear of doing something wrong had completely left HPE and
according to Neri, “teams were now excited once again by the programs they were
advancing.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Fast forward to a blog post of November 10, 2022 by HPE
Chief Communications Officer, Jennifer Temple, where she says, “When Antonio
Neri was named CEO in 2017 he declared culture as one of three top priorities
along with innovation as well as customers and partners.” What is this new
culture? “Our ‘HPE Culture Blueprint,’ a framework of shared beliefs and
behaviors that define who we are and how we do things.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">How is it being demonstrated? One aspect of this
culture has featured many times in 2022 as it highlights behavior; “Our team
members are participating in group volunteer activities around the world to be
a force for good, one of our core culture beliefs.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">In the post to this blog of February 18, 2019 </span><a href="https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/2019/02/of-culture-and-what-we-take-for-granted.html"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">Of
culture, and what we take for granted!</span></a><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;"> I wrote of how changing
the culture of the NonStop community and having it embrace NonStop as software
may prove more challenging than simply introducing NonStop to new users, new
industries and new markets all supporting new applications. Mindsets can evolve
and along with changing mindsets, the underlying culture can change too. This
is no longer the NonStop of Tandem Computers but rather the NonStop of Hybrid
IT – the transformation of NonStop in lock-step with the transformation of IT
itself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">As a community, NonStop already has in place the
mindset and the culture that best accommodates even greater change in the
decades to come. This was clearly on display at this year’s NonStop
Technical Boot Camp and if you missed attending this major event of the year,
you missed out on not just the sessions but that magical notion of feelings. It
isn’t just the New York Jets that recognized the importance of feelings but
every culture has within it a recognition that it just feels right to belong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">We have come a long way as a community with a shared
culture centered on fault tolerance as delivered with continuous availability
as it meets the real needs of business. The original attributes of NonStop
listed scalability and data integrity as well, but in the end these two, important
as they both became, played supporting roles to availability. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Just as important, NonStop continues to take meaningful
strides forward. When so much is discussed about old tech versus new tech, we
need to be reminded that NonStop today being offered in traditional and virtual
variations, is demonstrably new tech. Who could have imagined just a few short
years ago that we would be writing about NonStop in the cloud and nothing
screams new tech more than support for clouds! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">It is just as important to realize that the success of
NonStop has always been meeting the requirements of business wherever those
requirements might lead. I was reminded of this earlier in the week after
receiving an email from HPE Master Technologist, Frans Jongma.</span><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> Together, we had been looking at how best to attract
NonStop users to greater usage of NonStop SQL/MX. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“A first step might be to
take a step back and ask “who could be potential buyers? As I read
recently, looking for ‘reasons to sell’ is the seller’s problem and customers
don’t care about that,” said Frans. He then quoted from </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-deadly-sins-how-successfully-cross-chasm-avoiding-seven-moore/"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The 7 deadly sins to avoid in crossing the chasm</span></a><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> - “The catalyst for driving adoption by mainstream
customers is to understand the target customer’s ‘Compelling reason to buy’ –
the real mission critical point you are solving.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This strikes at the very
heart of how culture really works and how the NonStop community has excelled in
this regard. As a community we have never shied away from difficult
conversations just as we have never shied away from understanding that we exist
only because we address real requirements. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Not in the simplified
manner we so often encounter, “we are customer driven,” which seems to apply
more to car manufacturers than to IT but rather, as a positive outcome of the
relationship that develops between the enterprise, IT and the NonStop
community. It is part of our custom, a key element in our culture, to strive to
provide value and that being, value from not ever failing. And with that
anchoring our culture it becomes understandable why the NonStop community
continues to thrive. To be an influence on our actions, culture requires work
and it should never be forgotten that embracing culture is a must if we believe
it anchors what we do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Our attempt at returning
to the road with just three bags failed miserably. Not only did we have to add
a fourth but the combination proved difficult to manage. But we tried and we
now have plans to revisit and choose another option. For the NonStop community,
nothing could be simpler. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">System upgrades and
migrations are a way of life; we don’t continue relying on a foundation when
something better comes along. We have those tough conversations and we make
those hard calls but ultimately, we all continue to provide the value our
enterprise needs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What better way to end the
year than in the knowledge that NonStop continues and that what first attracted
each of us to NonStop remains at the heart of all things NonStop today. Our
customs and yes, even our traditions, combine to ensure our culture thrives and
passes from one generation to the next. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Where will this take us in
2023? The only answer to that is to make sure you find a way to attend major
NonStop events worldwide as it will be visible in Scotland and Colorado and you
just can’t afford missing seeing culture at work for yourself!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-36777532545843629832022-12-14T07:12:00.009-08:002023-01-26T10:39:40.233-08:00Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFtyhh-_-gtBsjURiY2QimmZwWV2gURnJ4Wajs6WHT5xrHRxk3kJV1Ei7a-fmqwqFPHr-UkKSKxyO_xPxwiCxRVJDcepUUlHQgW6DPMs9SwMYWtiD7slt1FEnBzRsevu0vDOtyORpo8I8EnF7dJ7_MSggLbW_Ir5Jl_Catl-HpIUKjqvIbemKUEjrk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="494" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFtyhh-_-gtBsjURiY2QimmZwWV2gURnJ4Wajs6WHT5xrHRxk3kJV1Ei7a-fmqwqFPHr-UkKSKxyO_xPxwiCxRVJDcepUUlHQgW6DPMs9SwMYWtiD7slt1FEnBzRsevu0vDOtyORpo8I8EnF7dJ7_MSggLbW_Ir5Jl_Catl-HpIUKjqvIbemKUEjrk=w376-h250" width="376" /></a></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="fcabze"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #70757a; line-height: 115%;">Creator: Simon Alvinge </span></span><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #70757a; line-height: 115%;">| <span class="fcabze">Credit: Getty
Images / iStockphoto</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">After moving into our newly built home in northern
Colorado, we cycled through many Kuerig coffee makers. It took a couple of
years and a lot of trials and errors with more than one Kuerig coffee maker
finding its way down into storage. Were we insane not to realize it wasn’t the
coffee machines as we tried one after the other with no resultant changes in results?
Eventually, having called in the electrician, it proved to be a faulty circuit
breaker. “When these breakers were first installed there were a number of them
that were problematic,” was the only response we were given.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">For Margo and me, take away our morning coffee and
expect unpredictable behavior to follow. In fact, on any given day, it takes us
three coffees before we can rationally face the work day. However, as much as
we made adjustments to our schedules – a quick trip to Starbucks became the
norm – there was always that fear lurking in the back of our minds: What if the
coffee shop was closed? Failure of our own infrastructure proved to be a
reminder of just how breakable everyday items have become. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">As the NonStop community returns to its daily routines
following the annual NonStop Technical Boot Camp 2022 (NonStopTBC22), we are
once again faced with the routine challenge of promoting the key attributes of
NonStop. Whereas others in the IT organization may head to VMworld, or the
Microsoft Developer Conference or perhaps a FinTech related event, there is
perhaps more than the occasional sideways glance when we begin to relate our
experience at a purely NonStop event. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">And yet, for the NonStop community our key differentiator
and the one that keeps us focused on all things related to NonStop is
availability. There is no middle ground; it’s completely binary. The coffee pot
is working or it isn’t. The light switch turns on the lights or it doesn’t. Our
terminals project our morning logon screen … or they don’t. Perhaps for the
rest of the IT community it simply has become a case that “Everything That Dies
Someday Comes Back.” No disservice to Bruce Springsteen who popularized this
verse but after so many years, has this truly become the mantra of IT
executives? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">There were times when those around us would simply
report to management that there happened to be a glitch which by inference
means, nothing to worry about; a small and perhaps inconvenient fault that we
are working to correct. Acceptable? “As long as you found it and are working on
it, no worries,” seems to have become an almost routine response from those in
charge. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">However, of late, it would seem that glitch is slipping
a little in popularity. More words are needed as failure continues to wreak
havoc on so much of the infrastructure we have all come to depend upon. Nowhere
is this happening more than with those enterprises that were hardest hit during
the pandemic or those that have struggled to portray a sense of normality when
all else is behaving anywhere near normal.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">The headlines that jumped from my working desktop
screen of late go a long way to reinforce this new creativity - <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik0d_vzJ4xZyb4WXBHXPJ5B8xwRd5Ze6WQxUTzPQ56b-11KyAyPJqmGES9kaThNuvsPyU7RNCGeuzXytbVxalXHnx69Yk13JNVvSETCBXgMk0UMrrpHQbJiZxBNEyEjcCjosiW_zZBs70AgoUCOwjzXYvqKUIEdtUW59h4ex_E0sa-CpumDdDtDic3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="129" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik0d_vzJ4xZyb4WXBHXPJ5B8xwRd5Ze6WQxUTzPQ56b-11KyAyPJqmGES9kaThNuvsPyU7RNCGeuzXytbVxalXHnx69Yk13JNVvSETCBXgMk0UMrrpHQbJiZxBNEyEjcCjosiW_zZBs70AgoUCOwjzXYvqKUIEdtUW59h4ex_E0sa-CpumDdDtDic3=w105-h105" width="105" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;"><b><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">NSW
education minister apologizes for early release of HSC results <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: left;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">“The
NSW education minister has apologized to HSC students after an IT bungle …”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOU2vEPUBXxVjxbzVtJGZYSXT9KikLmNZUlVY4masbxD_juGf_96rYbzfIJwCyoRaB7-yEBTVBAzt-xXh7thtJwewgoo0PGYgS2yqPygRlSmUmO0X27BlHuZwf428eG9XCbatd5pZC9eb16d3Cn1WRp8D1Vp3m2MXLw3xdvrrm5vMYuAdanCEj_aAX" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="361" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOU2vEPUBXxVjxbzVtJGZYSXT9KikLmNZUlVY4masbxD_juGf_96rYbzfIJwCyoRaB7-yEBTVBAzt-xXh7thtJwewgoo0PGYgS2yqPygRlSmUmO0X27BlHuZwf428eG9XCbatd5pZC9eb16d3Cn1WRp8D1Vp3m2MXLw3xdvrrm5vMYuAdanCEj_aAX=w235-h66" width="235" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Air
pressure: The new normal for global travel<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">“These
include the surging cost of fuel (which is pushing up ticket prices), ongoing
performance hiccups …”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNUYuK4VAxjw_keo5gKEo22VcyzDx4HrYGtBlUyQvBMAVMaRnrfz3L9_cRd1x3PMnqLjE-uvo7w20Ya0weu3LYAlhTwUMcKa5TvAKcvKfz3cf-rJH2EhgqueFDWZixj9o6K03WhSA4dAmQPy2cCA6x1PjDjQzFzQWHjXZY0fsPRmv9LEdYwlOAUmTW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" data-original-height="97" data-original-width="129" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNUYuK4VAxjw_keo5gKEo22VcyzDx4HrYGtBlUyQvBMAVMaRnrfz3L9_cRd1x3PMnqLjE-uvo7w20Ya0weu3LYAlhTwUMcKa5TvAKcvKfz3cf-rJH2EhgqueFDWZixj9o6K03WhSA4dAmQPy2cCA6x1PjDjQzFzQWHjXZY0fsPRmv9LEdYwlOAUmTW=w138-h104" width="138" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">Supply
Chain</span></b><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">“When
there's a hiccup in the system, everybody seems to catch the cold …”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjEieQCDMbIaW0F4O4ypCEVsOf2lYpOI1mUo44avBU0fZ888rz5CbDwH20ZEZPfE_CL3gWW8SK-CxtFCYNARjeo702DbEdEZ3L6HPtC1fkeEvoDdyD5zXli2c4pCuvR_Rjjs2B5iQCXQVIYQcdL6Lgv_BSTbRJr1JRuGEfBPmyaN6_oF4L6BilheFy" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="314" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjEieQCDMbIaW0F4O4ypCEVsOf2lYpOI1mUo44avBU0fZ888rz5CbDwH20ZEZPfE_CL3gWW8SK-CxtFCYNARjeo702DbEdEZ3L6HPtC1fkeEvoDdyD5zXli2c4pCuvR_Rjjs2B5iQCXQVIYQcdL6Lgv_BSTbRJr1JRuGEfBPmyaN6_oF4L6BilheFy=w226-h113" width="226" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Cloud
glitch brings down thousands of websites<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;"> “On the flip side, these occasional blips
underline the fragility of its fabric.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Enter into the vocabulary blips, hiccups, bungles and
even catching a cold. Glitches were once all encompassing but apparently no
longer. Apparently not everything dies completely but rather staggers along in
some degraded manner. When it does come back it’s as if nothing too serious has
happened. Tell that to the students in Australia who saw friends being given
results while they were not the recipients of similar information. And do you
know how important that information is to those students?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps remarkable by US standard but after sitting for
the final high school exams the results determine your future. From first place
to last, every name is listed in the Sydney Morning Herald. You don’t really
apply for attending the University, the University picks you from the list. It
may have changed in recent times but it is all on merit as depicted by the
numbers that appear against your name in the statewide newspaper. Hearing from
others about their results and seeing none about you; heart-wrenching. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">A blip? A hiccup? A bungle? A cold that is caught?
Perhaps glitch really does say it all! There have been many times when Margo
and I have accidently turned onto a road that led us nowhere, but there was
always the option to change course to re-find our way. When mission critical
systems experience any of the above no matter how minor the blips, hiccups,
bungles or worse may at first appear, there are communities on the end of the
line being inconvenienced in a way that can be destructive to the reputation of
the business.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">Enterprises thrive when interacting with them presents
no risks to those they serve. This is a message that has been so watered down,
almost dismissed as a concern that has the potential to slowly degrade the most
important message of all. NonStop is fault tolerant. The end devices it
supports and the enterprise links it maintains are super critical to keeping
risks out of the business equation. When all systems creaked and groaned, it
was a regular occurrence to watch a much ballyhooed capability stutter. It was
only a couple of decades ago that promoting a function as being online,
available around the clock was a key marketing differentiator. What’s changed?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">As the world moves to reliance on Cloud Service
Providers (CSPs and not to be confused with CSP Security) it is as if we are
returning to the bad old days of the “wild west.” Bless the IT folks when the
system works. But this is all about to change and for the better with where HPE
is taking the NonStop platform. Continue running your mission critical
applications, but this time, in CSP infrastructure? Pursue development and
porting via NonStop-in-a-Cloud? It’s all happening and for those who attended
NonStopTBC22; it is not just a case of cloudware but rather, a soon to be
realized reality. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">It was clearly the next step in the evolution of
NonStop; from proprietary to open, standards-based and available running on
real or virtual machines or even in the cloud. Public as well as private! However,
that next step is one that needs to be given serious consideration based on the
requirements of the enterprises. For those committed to clouds the option to
run NonStop in a cloud is ideal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 115%;">As for those who are more cautious there is a middle
road that leads them to a further extension of hybrid IT. Either way, NonStop
continues to be as relevant today as it has ever been. When it comes to a blip,
a hiccup, a bungle or even the prospect of catching a cold these glitches as
they are so often referred to become characteristics of other platforms. But
not of NonStop! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As we head into the holiday season with still those
much-desired items to be purchased for many of us there is latent anxiety over
our ability to complete a purchase and to see it shipped on time. We have all
read the <i>Grinch that stole Christmas</i>
and been amused by the story line – but that’s just fantasy, right? Yes,
infrastructure may very well be seen to die and for one day to come back. Let’s
hope that as we get deeper into December, we aren’t a witness to the <i>Glitch that stole Transactions</i>! </span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-47035870544910089102022-11-28T15:07:00.063-08:002022-12-01T09:30:50.603-08:00Further observations following the success of NonStop TBC 22 <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOb0UthgrxBok7oRwDK8MmRF31beMRyFsxKtrFpcrG7WI2TcG1K1xbDGk0f6e85qERrIhMxVQnd-uTFhOgx4cjMxBvey2L2xdNRFh5FVamM4NCn5g8dx78HC83QKkmGN0GLJj4oho1Xb_1lI2t9zsSf88uDG3wRyQskWJynA773hMXt3b8v8BhS8q3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="583" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOb0UthgrxBok7oRwDK8MmRF31beMRyFsxKtrFpcrG7WI2TcG1K1xbDGk0f6e85qERrIhMxVQnd-uTFhOgx4cjMxBvey2L2xdNRFh5FVamM4NCn5g8dx78HC83QKkmGN0GLJj4oho1Xb_1lI2t9zsSf88uDG3wRyQskWJynA773hMXt3b8v8BhS8q3=w373-h280" width="373" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Events tend to develop their own momentum as their
programs unfold. Whether it is just a one day roadshow or a more elaborate
gathering, the energy created through the almost constant interaction of the
attendees is enough to stimulate side conversations that explore topics that may
arise following keynote sessions and major platform and solutions updates. This
was definitely the case with NonStop Technical Boot Camp 2022 (NonStopTBC22)
where the NonStop community came together for its annual conference. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are other HPE conferences held throughout the
year that call on us to commit time and money for an opportunity to hear the
latest news on all things related to HPE and to the IT industry, however, for
the NonStop community to have the opportunity to participate in a conference
solely focused on NonStop continues to elevate NonStopTBC22 to a position of
being the premier event of the year. With a program created to touch on almost
every aspect of interest to the NonStop community it once again succeeded in
offering something for everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In achieving this success the effort exerted by the
Connect organization working with the HPE NonStop team was hard to ignore once
again. Any casual glance of the program highlighted just how important it was
to the NonStop team and how much effort the team gave to this conference.
Throughout the event HPE team’s fingerprints could be seen on an agenda filled
with HPE NonStop employees participants. For the NonStop product management
team this was not just the premier event of the year for the NonStop community
but for the product management organization itself. This was an event to shine
and Product Management certainly did this year. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you missed attending NonStopTBC22 this year then you
missed out on an occasion that celebrated a return to in-person events. From
the outset it was clear that this conference attracted a worldwide audience with
as many new faces making an appearance as there were long term supporters – a
surprise to all present. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There was an expectation that with the passing of the
worst of the global pandemic there would be an uptick in interest in live
events, but even so, looking out at the audience that gathered for the first
day’s keynotes, it certainly proved once again that holding an event for just
the NonStop community would still draw a crowd. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“For me,
this year’s TBC was very much a ‘rebound’ event after <br />
the pandemic and despite customer numbers being lighter <br />
than expected, it was a successful event. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Many of
the customer delegates are comforte customers <br />
and we took the opportunity to rekindle the relationships at TBC. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The
event was well organized and run (a big thank you to <br />
the Connect team) and we’re very much looking forward to <br />
next year’s TBC in Denver (and in Edinburgh).”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thomas
Gloerfeld<br />
</span></i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">Director Partner Development
& Marketing NonStop Solutions<br />
comforte</span><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As those present were often heard repeating throughout
the conference, this rebound was indeed a special occasion that they were
pleased not to have missed. When it came time for a key contributor to the
event’s agenda of sessions, Mark Pollans, Senior Worldwide Product Manager, HPE
NonStop, stepped onto the stage to launch NonStopTBC22, he too was pleasantly surprised
by the number of attendees and the presence of those attending a NonStop TBC
for their first time. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“When
I stepped onto the stage as the event began, I asked the audience two questions,
answers to both confirmed for me that we were overdue for a global face to face
event. ‘How many of you have travelled
from outside the US to be here with us this week? When it appeared as though a third of the
audience raised their hands, I let out an audible, ‘Wow!’ <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“I
then followed this with another question, ‘How many are attending a NonStopTBC22
for your very first time? Again I was pleasantly surprised to see about a third
of the participants were raising their hands.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Myself, having had the opportunity to be the ITUG
Summit chair on three occasions during the transition from Tandem Computers to
the days of Compaq and then attending as the ITUG Chairman during the merger of
Compaq with HP, I am well aware of the demands that are placed on those tasked
with creating the program agenda for the annual gathering of the NonStop
community. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On the occasion of NonStopTBC22 Mark was helped out by
the support of Wendy Bartlett, an independent consultant, with a lengthy tenure
within NonStop development. Together Mark and Wendy were instrumental in
walking that fine line between scheduling NonStop sessions with minimal
conflict among NonStop presenters and with those from the NonStop vendor
community. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ5KQheAgcdkST8uBn9Ef5m9JysUEU4bZHLs1itPkuDcyObiVtIa0Ya45Uo_zcZIDEm0ZdXvBd5sjvMVkH0rN9RmbS1W1vV5xm85kx_D5CFT8e6ArkrHQZnZJm4UrXBe0KKVNc3C3seU3JpbB56VyUqrReAX5KOOAFrHxWLVrUg5j7FONY-5ROA0sx" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="517" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ5KQheAgcdkST8uBn9Ef5m9JysUEU4bZHLs1itPkuDcyObiVtIa0Ya45Uo_zcZIDEm0ZdXvBd5sjvMVkH0rN9RmbS1W1vV5xm85kx_D5CFT8e6ArkrHQZnZJm4UrXBe0KKVNc3C3seU3JpbB56VyUqrReAX5KOOAFrHxWLVrUg5j7FONY-5ROA0sx=w383-h288" width="383" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At the previous in-person event there had been a
Hackathon held for those software developers receptive as to what more they
might learn about NonStop. Reviews following this somewhat competitive
gathering of a small cross section of the NonStop software developers were
mixed. While planning for NonStopTBC22, NonStop Product Management elected to
take a different approach. Mark Pollans commented:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Back
in 2019, the previous pre-event hands-on challenge was a great addition to the
TBC although the turn out wasn’t as high as we had hoped. For NonStopTBC22, we
decided to see what could be done to make it a more inviting pre-event
activity.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“No
longer branded as a ‘Hackathon’ but instead as the ‘NonStop Design Challenge,’ the room was full of
participants and the problem statement given to participating groups proved
more than challenging. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“If
you were unable to attend NonStopTBC22 Design Challenge, then you missed out on
a fun time - educational and challenging for sure, and still a fun time that
celebrated NonStop. With a successful activity completed, it sets the bar higher
for next year’s event where we look forward to even more participants.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mark wasn't alone with his comments as Wendy went on to say, how she "was pleased to see the range of possible solutions from the four teams and that judging wasn't easy especially given the potential real-life tradeoffs that would have to be made about time and effort required for initial development versus ongoing maintainability and adaptability. There will be an article about the challenge in the next issue of The Connection." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNGvHNt8w8j4s5lzOrROnBIb6_5qMbY01_W9Q-9ma-LFfgPpYYT8cqUTyXuT7jK1N1mly4fkm7iGQekoYWKa6289LCqq_7sxzN4a6zAX0EbqcMZyist-pmvpUOyJGPSU7ggit3-j-ljsOc2k9Qa66GjNQ6KOTODZTmfNngxjvEuqNbQvUEBht7JEAV" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="475" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNGvHNt8w8j4s5lzOrROnBIb6_5qMbY01_W9Q-9ma-LFfgPpYYT8cqUTyXuT7jK1N1mly4fkm7iGQekoYWKa6289LCqq_7sxzN4a6zAX0EbqcMZyist-pmvpUOyJGPSU7ggit3-j-ljsOc2k9Qa66GjNQ6KOTODZTmfNngxjvEuqNbQvUEBht7JEAV=w399-h299" width="399" /></a></i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps the most intriguing one of keynote
presentations was that given by VP and Lab Director, HPE Systems Architecture
Lab, Cullen Bash. With a title of The Tech Side of Sustainability, his
presentation opened with observations of how compute was not keeping up and
that the days of silicon were definitely numbered. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Exponentially increasing (volume of) data multiplied
by exploding data sources multiplied further by shrinking time to action (is
giving rise to) massive advances in computing power NEEDED EVERYWHERE,” was
perhaps the most startling slide of his presentation. This was creating a
dilemma when it came to power and cooling that was driving the sustainability
open question as to how best improve energy efficiency from edge to
supercomputer to cloud.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What many attendees caught onto quickly was that the
insights provided by Cullen Bash were indicative of what would likely trickle
down to the NonStop community. With the days of silicon numbered NonStop, along
with other platforms dependent on compute, would likely become beneficiary of
research into the use of photonics. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Today’s data-intensive applications have an insatiable
demand for data movement, consuming too much bandwidth and energy for
electrons,” said Cullen Bash. This isn’t the first time photonics have been
mentioned by those from HPE labs, but in the context of sustainability, the
likelihood that this research would apply to HPE’s products seemed just as
inevitable as was the lessening of enthusiasm to keep stacking chips one atop
the other. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Getting the glimpse into where HPE Labs was headed?
Priceless! It often takes an exposure to where IT as an industry is headed to
generate as many conversations as it provided immediate answers. Nowhere could
the NonStop community go to hear a more illuminating presentation – no photon
puns intended – that at this year’s NonStopTBC22. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you missed attending
this year then planning for next year might be advantageous, as I have to
believe there will be others from HPE Labs invited to participate in future
NonStop events. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1HEvD585pEdpATwZkXhfdfZKTCR3dVCP2jxg_d26HjFhFOIraAddpdh-kQxPgdmsixgX0i37vgvhDLY190o2VNWI9XObXPyEB7lLH7ZK4n8gkw8cQ11Pg_uKdU-CwkGRRNPQT2821moYOGEvczbvHI8S1MGRYUBkPzpv8jMH6NtIeIzg4UL7x0Wwo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="289" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1HEvD585pEdpATwZkXhfdfZKTCR3dVCP2jxg_d26HjFhFOIraAddpdh-kQxPgdmsixgX0i37vgvhDLY190o2VNWI9XObXPyEB7lLH7ZK4n8gkw8cQ11Pg_uKdU-CwkGRRNPQT2821moYOGEvczbvHI8S1MGRYUBkPzpv8jMH6NtIeIzg4UL7x0Wwo=w304-h288" width="304" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As for my own personal drivers for attending NonStopTBC22
then I can look no further than the inaugural gathering of the Tech Forum,
Business Integration and Analysis. Given how this starts with data movement and
how the understanding of the NonStop community is that analysis will be
off-platform and where HPE Apollo servers are likely candidates to help out,
starting a conversation on how to map this to real world solutions seemed an
obvious start to this journey. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">While this Tech Forum was up against major NonStop
product updates and even as the hotel provided ample refreshments, including
numerous adult beverages, it was pleasing to see the participation by Roland
Lemoine of NonStop product management together with a number of vendors actively
engaged in supporting the NonStop community with data movement solutions. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a Tech Forum that I will continue to promote
and to update you on how and what the NonStop vendor community is doing to
support what are next steps to further elicit support from the NonStop user
community. We hope to see users joining this connect group through registering
via the Connect web site – look for references to the Tech Forum Business
Integration and Analysis under the web site’s Community tab. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I only reference this as the NonStop community has a
long standing tradition of supporting SIGs and Birds of a Feather and now, with
Business Integration and Analysis being a continuation of this tradition (with Connect
championing such gatherings), it represents a positive development for everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The work that continues with NonStop Product Management
already looking ahead as is the Connect organization – will we see you in
Denver next year? Will you be in Edinburgh next May for the European-centric
eBITUG? I have committed to participating even as I have already penciled in
NonStopTBC23. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a lot of time to consider whether you will
participate in either or both events, perhaps going so far as to consider
giving a presentation – NonStop users are always welcomed with open arms
according to Mark Pollans. Is what took place this year encouragement enough to
fuel even more enthusiasm about events to come? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As Mark Pollans told me, “where else can you go to get
as much information on what’s happening in the world of NonStop than at an
international NonStop Technical Boot Camp; you just have to be there to hear
and see for yourself!” If you missed out on this years’ conference in part or
in full then don’t miss out on what will take place in 2023. Take this as your
open invitation - we all look forward to seeing you! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-82246865734925396092022-11-14T14:59:00.025-08:002022-11-15T14:54:01.370-08:00NonStop TBC 22 has wrapped up. See what you’ve missed!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwiXmUFG1xSDLoIgpH3vnSvZfdvwgFVbrRvIO65ef5HZcdNVG6-z75PqAEar8m7F01I7BjNtf2vOEBB2Ff3EAoqWPhcxPhqfVjkFQidgwP1i1KJuET4BBupfsyoaIhdGZXrsvjD80UdNID339YGJUGgkZMdIZjAJTA8ACRw-6ON6W-YIcVkZfz3g-e" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="447" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwiXmUFG1xSDLoIgpH3vnSvZfdvwgFVbrRvIO65ef5HZcdNVG6-z75PqAEar8m7F01I7BjNtf2vOEBB2Ff3EAoqWPhcxPhqfVjkFQidgwP1i1KJuET4BBupfsyoaIhdGZXrsvjD80UdNID339YGJUGgkZMdIZjAJTA8ACRw-6ON6W-YIcVkZfz3g-e=w342-h266" width="342" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt;">With his opening words, “It’s not where we are headed but how fast we will get there,” the boss of all things NonStop, Jeff Kyle, set the tone for the latest NonStop Technical Boot Camp (NonStop TBC 22). “We are a platform and not a server; the platform we are perfecting for mission critical applications. We create the data and we transact the data!”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Jeff referenced the ongoing expansion into new markets, including manufacturing, retail and transportation but equally as important for the NonStop community Jeff referenced digital transformation and highlighted how we are all going through this digital transformation on our way to modernization and yes, it’s truly all about the data. “NonStop as a platform is a critical component of digital transformation and the innovation we are bringing to NonStop (is a further illustration) of how NonStop is now a platform.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Among Jeff’s opening slides happened to be one titled, “The Data Realities of Digital Transformation” where the business objectives couldn’t be misunderstood: “Unlock the value of data; Accelerate decision velocity; Deliver innovation with agility.” If you were among those who were not present for this event then see what you’ve missed!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">As the first in-person event post pandemic it had it all and about the only thing we can add at this point is that whatever it might take, make sure you plan on attending this event when it comes around next year. It will be on my home turf in Denver, Colorado, and considering it will be held in September it will not just be a Colorful Colorado you will witness but a Colorful Connect that cannot be missed. </span></p></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgv53e3mkL6yGY77lwBSSLt8qu4KLOrI9CKAuLtUUiCTWoicNXjm_7YFgcYUU4OKPu7t6QpfZ7861pcgE_2ffGM58dYtcgiMFTmukcMLHu1XmfoCE2G5BWHo7tX7ar3cw29Yl8TOjRjgPhKSs8Jygfqz0yGd0fzEFfsTfBnyJY-YyJb-MvQVsmgt-ux" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="370" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgv53e3mkL6yGY77lwBSSLt8qu4KLOrI9CKAuLtUUiCTWoicNXjm_7YFgcYUU4OKPu7t6QpfZ7861pcgE_2ffGM58dYtcgiMFTmukcMLHu1XmfoCE2G5BWHo7tX7ar3cw29Yl8TOjRjgPhKSs8Jygfqz0yGd0fzEFfsTfBnyJY-YyJb-MvQVsmgt-ux=w348-h262" width="348" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As we return to in person events at a time when
recession fears are mounting it was good to see as big a turnout as we all
witnessed. The opening keynotes attracted a standing room only crowd and that
was perhaps one of the biggest highlights of the year and the NonStop vendor
community was quick to tune into the quality of the presentations that
followed. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“The disappointment of a low user turnout for NonStop TBC
2022 was countered by our delight in connecting with the NonStop community in
person again,” said TIC Software President, Phil Ly. “We took the opportunity
to embrace more quality time with users, customers and partners to catch up on
ideas and challenges.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This sentiment was echoed by the observation that came
from former ITUG Board Member and today, the Manager - NonStop Systems Programming at Navy Federal
Credit Union who said, “As always, it’s great seeing colleagues in person and
catching up with vendors on the latest NonStop technologies, the event had good
content around the topic of security and resiliency from both users and
vendors.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With decades of experience participating in community events, Kelvin then
said, “Although the user attendance was light, this event felt like a
rebuilding year, and I’m hopeful that next year will bring more users to the
conference. I look forward to seeing folks at next years’ NonStop Technical
Boot Camp.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Further encouragement for the NonStop community followed
as Phil then added how he sees “the need for more new ideas and closer
collaboration coming from the NonStop community in order to make the next TBC a
more well participated event. Let's start the dialog and the planning now!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This was a common theme among executives of those
NonStop vendors who supported the event. Much the same was heard from ETI-NET
and TANDsoft principals. “’After two years of the pandemic, it was nice to meet
again in person and have a chance to chat with customers, HPE, and partners,”
said ETI-NET COO, Sylvain Tétreault.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“It quickly became clear to us that the dynamism and
enthusiasm are still very much there across the NonStop community and you can
feel the excitement about the future of NonStop; it was palpable as it was
real. Like our colleagues among the NonStop vendor community, we are certainly
looking forward to the next NonStop TBC in Denver where again, we will see the continued
progress of our customers and yes, of HPE NonStop as well.’’<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> When it came to
the observations made by TANDSoft Principal, Jack Di Giacomo, “Connect got it
right; organizing very nice meeting venues, stocked with delicious food and
drinks, allowing the customers, vendors and HPE a perfect forum to meet new
NonStop people and rekindle old friendships.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As we heard from other executives present at the event,
Jack reiterated the sentiment of many when he said he was “looking forward to
meeting, learning and exchanging ideas with all of our amazing NonStop friends
while admiring the majestic views of ‘The Rockies,’ next year in Denver.”</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqC8P8kYVSks_6eu-c6WYBngZEMagwpJLT05rkGBvQxzX96JYrJXq9t-Sq2Z_W1hI6SgL_76acdskl-DNeQFoE2kE-IuQCZJb2HSld9DUM-YetCDUgQzeuN8n-wF_RhBwSx1riBemrzgc8k-45clvnmJx6wNFbJLtSt8L5PlkYN_7Y0l7S36GPvnZn" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="372" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqC8P8kYVSks_6eu-c6WYBngZEMagwpJLT05rkGBvQxzX96JYrJXq9t-Sq2Z_W1hI6SgL_76acdskl-DNeQFoE2kE-IuQCZJb2HSld9DUM-YetCDUgQzeuN8n-wF_RhBwSx1riBemrzgc8k-45clvnmJx6wNFbJLtSt8L5PlkYN_7Y0l7S36GPvnZn=w327-h290" width="327" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt;">For the majority of vendors there was a steady stream
of interested parties prepared to stop by the vendor tables for a conversation.
The traffic ebbed and flowed as it normally does at these events but even so,
the quality was once again, greatly appreciated and the Connect team needs to
be congratulated for ensuring all breaks in the agenda led to attendee traffic
passing by the vendor displays.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Had TBC 2022 only satisfied one objective among many,
restoring the sense of community absent this past year or so,” said Tim Dunne,
NTI’s Global Director Worldwide Sales, “then NonStop TBC 2022 delivered and
then some!" Yes, you guessed it; if you weren’t in attendance you sure did
miss the audible buzz that arose every time the event’s attendees moved onto
the exhibition floor. But of course, there is next year and <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"With TBC 2022 done and dusted and with
expectations vastly exceeded,” added Tim, “NTI now turns its attention to 2023
where customer satisfaction, growth of the NTI community and preparations for
TBC 2023 in Denver take center stage. And of course, we need to add that none
of this would be possible without the continued dedication of the Connect team
that clearly demonstrates their commitment to the NonStop community.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps the best comment that came from the exhibition
floor was that from CSP General Manager, Henry Fonseca. “It was great to come
back to TBC this year. We always look forward to greeting old friends, meeting
new people, and building new relationships. We know that many others could not
attend due to external factors, but you should start planning for TBC 23 in
Denver, CO. You won't want to miss it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have missed the common thread coming from all
those who provided feedback as the event unfolded then it can be summed up in
just two phrases; those who missed this year’s event truly did miss an
opportunity to hear the story of NonStop as it is unfolding and yes, it was
good to be back to in person events after a very long time of little more than tuning
into sessions beamed to our workstations. As we all know there remains no
substitute to in person gatherings of the NonStop community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“It was always going to be a challenge to get the first
real large-scale international event off the ground, and the Connect team did a
superb job. It really proved there is still a strong appetite for in-person
events and gives us all faith that we will see such events becoming a normal
part of life again,” said TCM Managing Director, Daniel Craig. “Also, I have to
say, the quality of the sessions this year was very high which no doubt
contributed to the turnout. TCM is very much looking forward to NonStop TBC ’23
in Colorado, and of course the eBITUG before that in May of next year.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is in closing that I have left it to TCM Technical
Director Collin Yates to sum up much of what others have been relating in this
post. “For me personally, I just liked the fact we could meet people face to
face again. Not only did it give us a chance to catch up with people whom we
had not seen for a long time in person, but also to put a face to name to a
number of contacts (especially HPE) that we had only met over Zoom/Teams in
former times,” said Collin. <br />
<br />
“I think it shows that while yes, you can technically run a virtual event, it
is simply not the same – the face to face networking is vital for business and
to the development of better relationships. And as we all heard first hand, you
don’t get or are able to judge someone’s body language for instance over a Zoom
call! And with the next major event to be held nearby, TCM is really looking
forward to a successful Edinburgh event, May 15-17, 2023.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEha8IGcgAHJWBBD7Mogot6dDab_NLb07QVuEQvQtLGThUvhwCuJTQGZBUOGKqiuItHuwDzGCCbxRICM6jXx94URF51Qi0PSYj8ecaV_tX79FPqecZwHzNMHrtHhOKdSxCwHHvAlBRwXzvmxoRvsxHBcEIFX-vL462eCkX9GicFiN6-mNXnr998lWNO5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="389" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEha8IGcgAHJWBBD7Mogot6dDab_NLb07QVuEQvQtLGThUvhwCuJTQGZBUOGKqiuItHuwDzGCCbxRICM6jXx94URF51Qi0PSYj8ecaV_tX79FPqecZwHzNMHrtHhOKdSxCwHHvAlBRwXzvmxoRvsxHBcEIFX-vL462eCkX9GicFiN6-mNXnr998lWNO5=w247-h329" width="247" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As for Margo and me, work has already commenced on
plans for 2023 with events in Edinburgh and Denver and from all that we
experienced this year in Burlingame, these are going to be events that simply
can’t be missed. NonStop TBC 22 is firmly behind us but as to the future, it
will be all about the continued journey to modernization and data that
contributes to our digital transformation, and the expansion in living in a
world that is increasingly virtual. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">See you all there! <o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-3089360127586908032022-10-09T07:50:00.000-07:002022-10-09T07:50:00.138-07:00It’s all a matter of passion …<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJhBMu7Q52fWitqKSaCGSQDechRj6IMOEVAS0cO-_zDIzZ7beiXCzPrn6anxDnlYUvmktuiL1CDNgPcKJsNx9VkHPSIvCJMs6-5VD9A9IGsY8IBmpHVTuXBGVHqURR9RHBDBq2CcEztHX4v3ix37-78KLa6vq03Fzj8m8csZ9mIMb3RuJbkBGGXHrt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="345" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJhBMu7Q52fWitqKSaCGSQDechRj6IMOEVAS0cO-_zDIzZ7beiXCzPrn6anxDnlYUvmktuiL1CDNgPcKJsNx9VkHPSIvCJMs6-5VD9A9IGsY8IBmpHVTuXBGVHqURR9RHBDBq2CcEztHX4v3ix37-78KLa6vq03Fzj8m8csZ9mIMb3RuJbkBGGXHrt=w361-h342" width="361" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I was in high school there were the usual visits
to the career guidance center. Actually, not so much a center as it was a room
where a counselor would entertain students, listen to their likes and dislikes
and offer some measure of guidance as to what should be considered as a
possible future career path. When it came my turn it was more of a case of
throwing a dart at the board. I was clueless. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, it was
during my time at Normanhurst Boys High School in suburban Sydney Australia that
the first inklings of where my career might take me surfaced. Inklings, but at
the time not passions, began when family friend took me to an insurance company
as its first computer was being deployed. The year was 1963 and the IBM
mainframe being installed was an IBM 650 - sold in the 1953-1962 period – as
the IBM 360 product line really didn’t get rolling until a year or so later. I
took a souvenir from that visit back to school; a white paper tape full of
holes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I kept hold of that simple roll of paper tape for a very
long time. Curious about what information was contained in those rows of
punched holes but I never did figure it out. Two years later, as a more mature
student in Form 3 (or year 10 by US count), my father left for Wellsboro,
Pennsylvania, to learn all about a new computerized typesetting system called
the Mergenthaler’s Linofilm. It was a revolutionary system for setting type,
not in lead ingots, but on film that could be transferred to aluminum plates
for enabling offset printing. From a handful of newspapers to being able to
support twenty six local and regional newspapers, it was the first such system
deployed in Australia. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Translation? There was no support in-country apart from
my father so every weekend I tagged along while he performed routine
maintenance. But there it was again, rolls of paper tape but this time they
were much wider form factors. The process was simple. Fonts and size were
represented by those which when processed moved lenses and a carousel (of
fonts) aligning them before a camera that shot them onto film. Little did I
know at the time that the first seeds of passion were being sown! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finishing high school I went to Sydney University to
study engineering. Every one of my mother’s brothers was an engineer, civil or
mechanical. However, it wasn’t to my taste and after a brief introduction to
architecture, I was done. At the time, computing of any sort wasn’t considered
an academic pursuit. By happenstance, I checked in to a computer aptitude test
IBM was conducting at the University and as the New Year began, I was the sole
candidate selected by IBM. That first seed of passion that had taken root a
couple of years earlier now blossomed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">That passion has sustained
me for the past five decades – yes I was still a teenager when IBM advised that
I was going to join several other successful candidates from across Australia
as a computing apprentice. A trade, no less! Imagine that happening in this
century! For two years, I was taught everything from how to write an operating
system, how to program a computer channel connecting disks, tape drives, card
readers and printers. And for me the charm was learning how to store
information in files and then, what passed as the beginnings of the database
era as it was in 1971.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiH8u2yeS0dPW2t4dbVjqw23JGmrsdt2QFlOH9f7jViBe7FhoQs8iCn9Hbzzeixq0m_6UhmxVP8LhK2Qy5gZxMYMwIoQ-oauu9GunwVF3sXXdbITzwkRx1wVeFC9YDHDzjksN8tuhwGpBcQuwVxpq-q1u3fCGaQyuau64dqWz-Zef4BveY5HjjgF7kZ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="520" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiH8u2yeS0dPW2t4dbVjqw23JGmrsdt2QFlOH9f7jViBe7FhoQs8iCn9Hbzzeixq0m_6UhmxVP8LhK2Qy5gZxMYMwIoQ-oauu9GunwVF3sXXdbITzwkRx1wVeFC9YDHDzjksN8tuhwGpBcQuwVxpq-q1u3fCGaQyuau64dqWz-Zef4BveY5HjjgF7kZ=w367-h242" width="367" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, the passion that was to sustain me through the
years fully blossomed with my time at Tandem Computers. A unique system coupled
to a unique community was all that it took for me to become totally aware of
decisions previously made leading me to what I am doing today. With this post I
am jointly celebrating with Margo the completion of twelve years of our
company, Pyalla Technologies, LLC. Yes, twelve years! Hard to believe and yet,
nothing could have happened without the support from this very unique NonStop
community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margo and I do not have a monopoly on passion when it
comes to Tandem. As we continue to be active in the HPE NonStop community, we
remain as passionate as ever but the same can be said for much of the community.
If you need any more evidence of the community’s passion it was only a week ago
that a reunion held in Silicon Valley drew a crowd from all parts of the
America and beyond. Our schedule didn’t allow us to attend but photos from that
reunion have begun to show up on Facebook. If you aren’t already following the
group, Tandem Computers then you many want to take a second look. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As for the photos included in this post they both come
courtesy of Chris Russell – can you spot familiar faces? It really does look
like they have got the band back together!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMTodHjlpagebITYtVM6f0lwcUJgXaNPjMXXq4TWEBUGWg1ieffkOVoRVqtRuerwsCkTEd06Bys2nu1SimkvEBzjJCiwX8ID8lctVmxJloY8jdWrVW6XutM5mFwIVqjYa0t5dbnnK6-jFp-IdVN7c5HBJAPj_uOxvZAr1csUzdhosJiOSEeNTfMxfs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="554" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMTodHjlpagebITYtVM6f0lwcUJgXaNPjMXXq4TWEBUGWg1ieffkOVoRVqtRuerwsCkTEd06Bys2nu1SimkvEBzjJCiwX8ID8lctVmxJloY8jdWrVW6XutM5mFwIVqjYa0t5dbnnK6-jFp-IdVN7c5HBJAPj_uOxvZAr1csUzdhosJiOSEeNTfMxfs=w366-h243" width="366" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My passion for computing in general was not a singular
occurrence. If you missed reading my latest post to our social blog, Real Time
View, you will have missed reading about the role my heritage has played in
leading me to the work I now do. Just look for the post, </span><a href="https://buckle-up-travel.blogspot.com/2022/09/an-anniversary-that-has-come-around-all.html"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An
anniversary that has come around all too quickly</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.
Turns out that it wasn’t just a case of my father embracing computers back in
the mid-1960s but rather the fact that this made me a third generation
newspaperman. Yes, I am the eldest son of the eldest son whatever that might
imply. Storytelling apparently runs in the family so there really wasn’t any
escaping my eventual destiny. Passion, heritage and destiny – it’s as if I can
hear the opening overture to an autobiographical movie. Fortunately, that’s not
going to happen. I guess you can put down to passion kicking in once again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When it comes to IT and to NonStop there are many
members of the community who are passionate about the technology into which
they have immersed themselves. It would be sad to read that passion has left
our industry. In the coming month all of our passions will be on display when
next NonStop Technical Boot Camp (NonStopTBC22) convenes in Burlingame,
California. NonStopTBC22 is sure to cover a variety of topics but perhaps this
year we will witness a sea-change under way. We have written about NonStop
becoming a software solution on numerous occasions but I am anticipating to see
this becoming even more relevant. How about NonStop in a virtual machine that
is containerized and accessible from anywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In his presentation to the CTUG community last month,
HPE hinted at something like this might be on the agenda. For those in IT who
view today’s NonStop system as the epitome of modern servers – servers, mind
you, with the industry’s best level of availability via a fault tolerance
implementation that remains unmatched to this day – it could be a revelation. I
can continue to speculate about what this all might mean, but like everyone
else, I will just have to wait till November. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paper tapes both narrow and wide form factors are long
gone. Any desire to decode the holes punched into roles of paper tapes having
truly subsided. The passing of such tangible evidence that data was present and
could be touched relegated to the trash can. But the seed that was sown was not
to be ignored and today, celebrating the twelfth anniversary of Pyalla
Technologies and the work that together Margo and I have done and the degree to
which we served the NonStop community, that is as tangible evidence of passion
that can be shared. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Looking forward to seeing you all at NonStopTBC22 and
if as yet you haven’t registered for this free event, make sure you take the
time to do so. Sure would be a shame to miss out on seeing you – there’s still
yet one more story to be told and don’t you want to be a part of that? <o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-27967956253055128252022-09-26T13:59:00.002-07:002022-09-26T13:59:23.519-07:00Call them Chapters, RUGs or simply TUGs - they always pull a crowd<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mfdUcVYRqeyaZgS83aBOINTJuOaSfnFymbzFi318ZV2yRcQY-XtIUHNNJCc_LbHyNVqcEWDU8QTgDUii33wlCNS-pD4iK3tlz1jS-uEBOyOAojc1ypYZZjh9Q8Euyc15qZ36ldQ8O1Uor6430hQwxHiX-B3GHMMWkEMH8OJPquS-U_Swf6L4p-xt/s1702/IMG_1789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1323" data-original-width="1702" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mfdUcVYRqeyaZgS83aBOINTJuOaSfnFymbzFi318ZV2yRcQY-XtIUHNNJCc_LbHyNVqcEWDU8QTgDUii33wlCNS-pD4iK3tlz1jS-uEBOyOAojc1ypYZZjh9Q8Euyc15qZ36ldQ8O1Uor6430hQwxHiX-B3GHMMWkEMH8OJPquS-U_Swf6L4p-xt/w415-h323/IMG_1789.jpg" width="415" /></a></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margo and I have tried to attend as many gatherings of
the NonStop community as possible. This has meant a lot of driving was involved
even as we did resort to flying sometimes. How else can you get to London other
than perhaps by boat? You might even say that it is the whole package we find
so attractive; the travel, the dining, the conversations the events themselves.
There have been times where we have considered scaling back our participation,
but then again, as we unpack from one trip or the other we immediately start
debating the pros and cons of solutions presented at such events. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This month it was Canadians’ turn to hold a regional
event. CTUG, or to call it by its full name, the Canadian Tandem User Group, is
an ever present reminder of times past and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing
for them to do. The NonStop community enjoys a history few other mainstream
vendors can possible duplicate. Maybe, SHARE, the IBM mainframe groups enjoy a
similar heritage and as I have a first-hand experience as a board member serving
SHARE o, I can attest that the enthusiasm of both groups is very similar. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, what truly differentiates the NonStop
community from any other group I have been a part of is the willingness to
embrace each other and to provide encouragement wherever it is needed. NonStop
users are a tightly knit group, but they aren’t alone in this regard as so too
is the NonStop vendor community. Together they ensure that the NonStop product
portfolio continues to expand and clearly, embracing modernization contributed
strongly to NonStop remaining as relevant today as it has ever been. </span></p></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcvo7rdInVuUYnGTqAlu58LKDQ079_f6NNHZBESH9xE1OyXvGjIZxwB7QqCk4yDrMpspKLrHN1FZ3OJ0NDaPyYjNxBeHZx-MnjyLah38UYfz6A3T2IKZwdNdXCsPRJIAYdBz8KCUDl4pMpcq2NqMvmJhBg5P3NwiGq74hojfEEtEI0U-fZ-1pf4Ux/s2016/IMG_1793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcvo7rdInVuUYnGTqAlu58LKDQ079_f6NNHZBESH9xE1OyXvGjIZxwB7QqCk4yDrMpspKLrHN1FZ3OJ0NDaPyYjNxBeHZx-MnjyLah38UYfz6A3T2IKZwdNdXCsPRJIAYdBz8KCUDl4pMpcq2NqMvmJhBg5P3NwiGq74hojfEEtEI0U-fZ-1pf4Ux/w440-h330/IMG_1793.jpg" width="440" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps the biggest question is whether the future of
NonStop lies with NonStop becoming a database machine. Forget previous
references to database appliances but rather consider how appropriate for the
times NonStop SQL/MX has become. One of the biggest pros for cloud computing is
the elasticity of provisioning but with NonStop SQL there is almost no limit to
how wide it can scale out. The initial design of NonStop SQL was influenced by
it never needing to be taken offline for any reason and the byproduct was the capability
of NonStop SQL to scale out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The HPE NonStop team led the CTUG’s sessions with both
Justin Simonds (HPE Master Technologist) and Keith Moore (HPE Distinguished
Technologist) providing further insights into roadmaps as well as potential
areas for investment. Keith provided a grand tour of all that was happening
with NonStop SQL as well as an update on virtualization. Justin on the other
hand took us deep into the unsavory world of human trafficking and how yet
again, to sort out the villains, it was a case of following the money. Not
account by account so much as looking into relationships. No doubt that this
caught the attention of some in the audience, especially those vendors looking
to expand the profile and indeed stickiness of their current NonStop product
offerings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Today, more
than 65% of payment card transactions worldwide run <br />
on HPE mission-critical technology,” said Justin. “<i>Do 65% of human
trafficking transactions run through NonStop?” </i>More than just the rallying call for the NonStop community to consider
greater engagement with those looking to tackle the problem but rather, an
eye-opening reminder that perhaps the NonStop community needs to do a lot more
than just to consider the problem. Moving from an account model to a
relationship model means bringing in a level of AI and in so doing, truly
addresses the problem a lot better when there are multiple financial
institutions involved which is where previous work on Swarm model management
may play a role. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What truly struck me as Keith
and Justin provided updates is the extent to which NonStop SQL has achieved
compatibility with other third party SQL offerings. There is very little today
that separates NonStop SQL from Oracle, for instance. When you hear numbers
like 99% compatible then you do need to take notice. Throw into this mix how
far NonStop has come with its Java offerings and it is looking a lot more
attractive for solutions vendors to embrace NonStop. Just being able to say
that yes, their solution runs on open platforms including NonStop goes a long
way to reinforcing how modern NonStop has become. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It is only at gatherings like
this one in Canada that you get the inside skinny as to just how innovative
NonStop has become. Whether you are looking to develop on NonStop, deploy on
NonStop, embrace a hybrid NonStop and Linux solution or blend with cloud
offerings, it’s all now possible for any NonStop users. And this has been the
true essence of community gatherings. Chapters, RUGs, TUGs and yes, even NUGs
is that whatever we call them, there remains global enthusiasm to participate.
You can even say that for some members of the NonStop community there is an
attraction afforded the HPE Discover events that makes it equally as
attractive. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2EWUrllK38alYvlll6aVQuOFp0OWugmgDun18-M3V4L3AUFfh4xaGgqLr1KAqm8wlCuPf_mUFiXuU8iWIo3FlhAtfJB1Fo3w1uzPG8gk2HJElK2_CDdeKdN1CB4JxPTJ7WneHtUp7mfESvvR-wgv45aSQr3cyF3FpAoRcbAWsohEu_m5Be8eDgWE/s1280/IMG_1806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="925" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2EWUrllK38alYvlll6aVQuOFp0OWugmgDun18-M3V4L3AUFfh4xaGgqLr1KAqm8wlCuPf_mUFiXuU8iWIo3FlhAtfJB1Fo3w1uzPG8gk2HJElK2_CDdeKdN1CB4JxPTJ7WneHtUp7mfESvvR-wgv45aSQr3cyF3FpAoRcbAWsohEu_m5Be8eDgWE/w303-h419/IMG_1806.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What was a little different
about this CTUG event was that it unfolded as a hybrid event. The offices of
HPE in Mississauga, Ontario, played host to CTUG but it presented the community
with a challenge. Major sessions spanned a primary room with the adjacent two
satellite rooms linked via video. As one participant commented, it’s like
having the option to participate in-person along with the ability to
participate via TEAMs or ZOOM. A clear case of win-win for all no matter where their
preferences might lie. With a few exceptions it all worked well even though for
a brief period when I was presenting in one room and TANDsoft in another, our
slide decks showed up on the others screen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It is situations like that
where humor was present that tells its own story. The CTUG audience, as we have
seen with the events held by other NonStop groups are just glad to be back in
person. The sterile nature of virtual experiences is clearly in the past and
for many quickly forgotten. What did we learn from NonStop that we could have
otherwise learnt from a virtual experience? It was clear to all – the secondary
exchanges that took place that gave rise to some serious conversations that
proved illuminating to those present would simply have been missed in the
virtual world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">On a lesser note however even
as it too told a story. Many of the attendees did stay around for the CTUG
closing session where gifts were handed out. Receiving an iPad, which was the
case for the NonStop user chosen at random, from NTI’s Tim Dunne was certainly
worth the wait. As for the cheese and wine tasting that followed, well clearly,
there were many conversations still under way as the CTUG attendees ascended a
staircase to a well laid out reception. As I recently posted, adult beverages
certainly give any conversation additional momentum as “</span><a href="https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/2022/09/weve-got-lot-to-talk-about.html"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">no great story ever started with someone eating a
salad!</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Chapters, RUGs or simply TUGs will forever remain a
force within the NonStop community. Providing a litmus test as to the state of
NonStop even as these gathering ensure everyone becomes fully aware of the huge
investment HPE continues to make in NonStop. The driving may be an extreme
example of the lengths some NonStop enthusiasts might go so as not to miss out,
but even so, for Margo and me it means a lot more. The drive back home is not
just a pleasant distraction but a time for analysis. And at no time have we
ever been disappointed by what we have heard. I am sure there will be a lot
more surprises in stall given the upcoming event calendar as the </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NonStop team
continues to pursue new market opportunities at every corner. Now, it’s onward
to NonStop Technical Boot Camp 2022 – will we see you there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-85563615537782276942022-09-07T05:46:00.000-07:002022-09-07T05:46:08.965-07:00We’ve got a lot to talk about …<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmSwd_u4aB31bik3RB7lGBNiEvyIaBR5Z8ZYyzIZRqhNlx69ZprtRpv2cHsVSKB--18KuteB99gLzAW5x_Zntrv_W3YthQt2Yi3G1zGdQAKcG68Ky4AFxcZiDUu6Re9uFfjzf5LOgntlwp_rz6Aobh9ILRXoqeSkQOKtDmIXfh30j0j4KyZtfuFBIK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="572" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmSwd_u4aB31bik3RB7lGBNiEvyIaBR5Z8ZYyzIZRqhNlx69ZprtRpv2cHsVSKB--18KuteB99gLzAW5x_Zntrv_W3YthQt2Yi3G1zGdQAKcG68Ky4AFxcZiDUu6Re9uFfjzf5LOgntlwp_rz6Aobh9ILRXoqeSkQOKtDmIXfh30j0j4KyZtfuFBIK=w360-h321" width="360" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As we get deeper into the last month of the quarter,
which for some may also be the last month of their financial year, it is
inevitable that we look back at what happened in 2022. It’s a time when
measures are taken to finish the year on a high note even as there will be
those reviewing their product mix against changing market conditions. There is
never a good time to change course and yet, staying the distance can be every
bit as detrimental. But perhaps as we look back at the year, there will be
conversations started that will need to be revisited as scattered among the
many stories we hear are surprisingly numerous gems to be uncovered. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For Margo and me these last couple of months means we
will be toiling for long hours at the tasks at hand. Not so much on keyboards
as on steering wheels. With the return to in-person events we have a desire to
attend as many as we can even if we do succumb to the long-haul flight every
now and then. But as story tellers, there is a constant need for stimuli as it
is an almost impossible task to dream up meaningful story lines when restricted
to the four walls of your office. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For those who have dropped by our offices in Windsor
Colorado – a small township adjacent to Ft Collins and just one highway exit
before you come across the HPE campus on E. Harmony Rd. – there would be no
mistaking the portion of our bar as depicted above. But the symbolism never
escapes me as it’s not just the derogatory remarks about the contribution a
salad has made to a great story but rather, the image of time within a plane
and the reminder that yes, time flies! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There will be some within the NonStop community who may
recall that this month represents the passing of an even greater milestone for
Pyalla Technologies, LLC. This month ends fifteen years of posting to this
NonStop community blog! Come October and Margo and I begin our sixteenth year
of commentaries, opinions and yes, storytelling. To think, all those years ago,
I was still gainfully employed at GoldenGate Software where my colleagues,
amused as they were as I began to post, considered it a temporary pursuit at
best. There were even those who thought I was a little crazy to commit to a
blog featuring little else apart from NonStop. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, clearly with what we have come through in the
past couple of years we have a lot to talk about. For those who recall the
lyrics of one of Jimmy Buffett’s songs, particularly those penned back in the
days of the Global Financial Crises, then these lines should make you smile:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Well the family
devalues</span></i><i><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">And little children plan their net worth</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">And the truth wherever it's hiding,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Can be found on Google Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I can't take another
doomsday minute</span></i><i><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">We got a lot to drink, a lot to think,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">A lot to drink about.</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, we have a lot to talk about too, but in the coming
months as we all head back to in-person events, dare I add that as Jimmy notes
only too well, we got a lot to drink about. But which way do we go? Where do we
steer pertinent conversations? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fortunately, those responsible for organizing the
upcoming in-person events are taking to heart one of the signature components
that have contributed to the success of Tandem Computers that being, the
regular celebratory beer busts. While the keynote and vendor sessions provide
value over the course of the event, the real heavy lifting that occurs between
NonStop community members more often than not takes place while standing up
with an adult beverage in hand. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From the many conversations I have had this past year,
three items jump right off the page – the price book, virtualization and yes,
GreenLake. From the early days of Tandem Computers, the presence of an
energized independent vendor community proved to be key to the success of
NonStop. Looking not so far back, NonStop systems were tangible boxes that
reinforced the notion that investments had been made in state of the art
computers. But now, NonStop is software and with virtualization, can be
deployed almost anywhere the Intel x86 architecture has a presence (along with
fabrics that NonStop supports) and then everything as a service with GreenLake
looming large for all NonStop users. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, the price book: The project going by the name of
Showcase. How did that all happen and what are the implications for the NonStop
community? Despite the early attempts to provide a win-win for all involved,
there are numerous unintended consequences we can sit down and discuss. From
the outset, there were thoughts given to duplicating what existed in from
Tandem days with the alliance program – a catalogue of every product offering
supporting Tandem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However to revisit the alliance program and to take it
many steps further by including every product and service on the NonStop price
book was unrealistic as it was unfair. Unrealistic when it came to expecting the
limited resources that exist today across NonStop product management to then
evaluate every product to ensure that all these products did what they were
supposed to do and that the vendors were viable over the long term was not
possible. Unfair when it came to discounting all the efforts put into lobbying
and nurturing relationships, by numerous vendors, with the NonStop team
spanning decades. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This will likely be a topic to be discussed over more
than one adult beverage and I encourage the community to become involved. As
for unintended consequences, as much as I am a proponent of unity and of
presenting a unified face to the world at large, Showcase has the potential to
be divisive in ways not fully anticipated. Given how today the NonStop sales
team is being remunerated only for products and services sold from the NonStop price
book, don’t expect any enthusiasm on the part of HPE NonStop Sales when it
comes to presenting non price book solutions. Yes, much ground to cover on this
topic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, when it comes to topics up for discussion we
cannot ignore the giant steps that the NonStop team is taking with NonStop.
Virtualization took many of us by surprise when it was first announced that
NonStop as software was becoming a reality and furthermore, the umbilical cord
tying it to HPE hardware was being severed. Run on your favorite x86 with
access to fabrics and there you have it, NonStop running seamlessly anywhere
you care to locate it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What shouldn’t surprise anyone is that this move to
NonStop as software is nowhere near complete. Being able to run NonStop in your
on-prem private cloud is now the realm of possibility. And why consider doing
that? Perhaps giving NonStop SQL/MX the opportunity to enjoy its own cloud
experience is one possibility, but so too is giving developers their own
NonStop environment. And the data never leaves the premises. So, what’s to
discuss? Inevitably such conversations turn to public clouds and while there is
nothing appearing on the whiteboard or on bar coasters as yet, this is
definitely worth a discussion and it’s one I would like to be a part of come
NonStop TBC 22. Bottom line? The support by NonStop of virtualization is
goodness for the community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, GreenLake! Like many of you I am hoping to
hear a lot more about the realities of GreenLake when it comes to NonStop. The
GreenLake Server, Console and API are all significant areas where NonStop is
likely looking to support as indeed early steps have been taken. But the bigger
question is twofold. Has the NonStop vendor community stepped up to support;
are they embracing the GreenLake API for instance. In addition, are NonStop
customers looking to GreenLake and the cloud experience when it comes to
running mission critical applications 24 x 7; are there real benefits to be
gained?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Again, just one more discussion I am sure will take
place as we return to in-person events. There is much that is positive
happening with NonStop and for that I for one am extremely thankful. And I
don’t see any value in bringing negativity to such discussions, apart from the
occasional “if only” or “I wish for this” as that’s all goodness. A healthy
NonStop community prepared to discuss the finer points of the technology, the
products and yes the business is a positive outcome for all involved with
NonStop. The mere fact that HPE through Connect are giving us such an
opportunity has to be recognized for what it is – trust. That is, trust that
the NonStop community still views a future for NonStop that continues to meet
the unique business requirements of those enterprises needing true fault
tolerant operations around the clock.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To finish up I will leave it to the lyrics of yet one
more Jimmy Buffet’s song. Not to be taken too seriously, naturally, but
something we can all respond to even when we think we know the path we need to
tread in the coming year:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Now I'm having a big
problem</span></i><i><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">With my present day career</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">My ship she has a rudder</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">But I don't know where to steer<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Life is complicated
with its</span></i><i><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Ifs and ands and buts</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">It's alright to be crazy,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Just don't let it drive you nuts</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p></div><p><br /> </p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-52967526471445868912022-08-18T08:47:00.000-07:002022-08-18T08:47:12.041-07:00Rules? Consider them more or less guidelines.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOAi0RK-fK6HaaO4WAzY8AEAtBdHpSOyZLcBtiQ8jTpqcSX93AEIvVH68CAYYinQYi4dlCufHmdrGq0qoB1GTjmt3filWh7veN-VHiuyAgRhWKxOJdGG2fYnzrxps_AU7z7ve-oxq4qWVp8xV97h7nL6ddvXDDLSvEjB9F4-m1Uhw0V9PNgiRvRJ8Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="565" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOAi0RK-fK6HaaO4WAzY8AEAtBdHpSOyZLcBtiQ8jTpqcSX93AEIvVH68CAYYinQYi4dlCufHmdrGq0qoB1GTjmt3filWh7veN-VHiuyAgRhWKxOJdGG2fYnzrxps_AU7z7ve-oxq4qWVp8xV97h7nL6ddvXDDLSvEjB9F4-m1Uhw0V9PNgiRvRJ8Q=w471-h315" width="471" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The many times that Margo and I have driven across the
Great Divide there have been occasions when the rules of the road needed to be
stretched. On a number of occasions it was late winter - early spring and
Mother Nature hadn’t relinquished her hold on the environment. Yes, when the
snow falls you cannot argue with it; water may always win but snow comes a
close second. Say what you may but oftentimes the prudent move to make is to
turn around. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the April 24, 2022 post </span><a href="https://buckle-up-travel.blogspot.com/2022/04/no-risk-no-win-with-many-other-chances.html?m=1"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No
risk! No win! With many other chances taken!</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> to our social
blog, Buckle-Up, we recalled how you can never count on favors from Mother
Nature. As it so happened she began showing her indifference to our plans the
moment dawn broke over our Cedar City Utah hotel with just the mountain
crossing to cover before reaching home in Colorado. No sooner had we begun the
climb to Vail Pass then all lanes of traffic came to a halt. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Between the concrete separation-barriers there were
small openings so first responders could break into the oncoming lanes but
state troopers were making U-turns problematic. However, once these troopers
left and before another moment passed we whipped around through the barriers
and headed back to Vail.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More than a decade earlier we had executed exactly the
same escape, that time it was in the Sierras as we passed Truckee, California.
In the April 8, 2011 post, </span><a href="https://buckle-up-travel.blogspot.com/2011/04/follow-or-spin.html?m=1"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Follow
or spin!</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> By the time we had reached the summit, we were in the
middle of a full-scale blizzard that had caught the weather forecasters, as
well as the California Highway Patrol, by surprise. Even with its very capable
AWD system, the Skyline was still shod with summer tires and the conditions
created some very tense moments. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The lanes were blocked as tractor-trailer rigs had spun
passing each other leaving us no other option than to capitalize on the break
in barriers (created as it turned out so that California Highway Patrol
vehicles could turn into their station), and execute another U-turn.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With as much discussion as is taking place within IT
about changes in direction, pivoting and yes, transforming and transitioning,
even as there are no rules per se it would seem that IT professionals are
caught in a dilemma. Where to turn? Who to turn to? And yes, will it even work
for us? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the other hand it was Henry Ford who was reputed to
have said, “If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you
always got.” Or as Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing
over and over and expecting different results”. But if there aren’t any rules
governing changes and pivots, are there at least some guidelines?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the HPE NonStop community there is no getting away
from the almost constant bombardment of recommendations to move on from
NonStop. The prospect of heading down a path of modernization and application
transformation with NonStop is perceived as a daunting task. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An almost no-win situation for IT! Let it go, or so the
pundits suggest. NonStop has seen its day and looking ahead, the potential
value of NonStop is narrowing by the day. The core attributes of NonStop are no
longer as important as they once were for IT and for the enterprise as other
manufacturers of computer systems and the creators of software achieved a high
level of availability. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the old shell game trick has taught us the pea is
never where you think it should be as the sleight-of-hand trickster has moved
the pea as he shuffles the shells. For NonStop it isn’t so much a case that we
have lost sight of what the value proposition is today as it is a case of taking
our eye off the product roadmaps and the engineering deliverables that result. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For many IT professionals in a leadership capacity, there never was the
equivalent of that pea within a NonStop system. Almost five decades on, these
IT professionals continue to claim that they just don’t get it; NonStop is just
another system after all. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Talk to almost any marketer who has more than passing
knowledge of NonStop and you will hear of suggestions for NonStop to reinvent
itself: To make that U-turn and to become a specialty processor. An appliance,
perhaps, focused solely on the potential of its market-leading SQL
implementation. To these advocates, such a U-turn could be done without any
negativity with regards to dilution of function and lessening of relevance. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, such discussions miss the point entirely.
NonStop has put aside the box some time ago; that integrated software stack has
been released into the open world and can run almost anywhere. There are still
documented requirements to make this happen should IT wish to run on another
vendors servers or even within a private cloud, but for many knowledgeable
NonStop watchers, this is likely to be just the opening shots with much more
yet to be announced.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So no, NonStop doesn’t need to do a U-turn as the
challenge driving such a change in direction has already been accomplished with
little fanfare and with very few industry analysts even being aware of the
pivot to a software solution. Consider it rather as a change in direction and
possibly as a course correction. To be clear, I am not advocating a return to
when NonStop was an intimidating package of components targeting data centers;
the era of the VLX and Cyclone systems. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For quite some time you will continue to be able to
purchase the entire hardware and software offering outright but, increasingly,
it is all about the software and where you can deploy your NonStop solutions.
GreenLake happens to be only part of the story as the need for NonStop to
support mission critical applications will see responses take many forms. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Payments-as-a-Service featuring NonStop.
Manufacturing-as-a-Service on NonStop. These are just the opening shots as
NonStop reveals its true capabilities. For all practical purposes, it will the unlimited
scalability of NonStop that is likely to be as welcomed by IT as has been the
world-class availability everyone takes for granted. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you listen to the
whispers taking place behind closed doors, it will only take the arrival of three
maybe four additional application as-a-Service offerings to see the spotlight
once again being directed towards NonStop.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For Margo and me the execution of those unseen U-turns
were necessary actions to be taken to better ensure our safety. But here’s the
thing; if you missed it, NonStop has already made its move and it’s beginning
to flourish as a result. Small gains are being reported. A couple of new logos
have begun to appear. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The NonStop sales teams are becoming more aware of
their winning hand and are beginning to be energized in ways we haven’t seen
for quite some time. Organizationally, HPE seems to be bringing fresh eyes to
the operation and that in itself is good news. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NonStop isn’t going along with a continuation of what
it has always done. It has changed. And if you missed the signs then take this
as a prompt to go take another look at NonStop and to re-engage with the
NonStop sales team. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When it comes to guidelines, while we were dealing with
the abnormal of the global pandemic, NonStop didn’t stand still and while no
laws were infringed upon, while many of us weren’t looking, NonStop didn’t just
evolve as much as it shed its skin. With that, IT professionals have been put
on notice; yes, you can have it all and yes, today’s NonStop will show up
everywhere you turn without so much as a pivot or a reinvention. It’s happened!
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Have you ever wondered why NonStop has enjoyed the
longevity it has surpassing the presence of all but one computer architecture
and that here it is, 2022, and we continue to write about NonStop? Could it be
that with almost five decades of experience, NonStop got it all right after all
and is becoming the solution for the ages? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And with that, Margo and I will be heading
back out onto the highways again this fall to join you to hear the news
directly from HPE itself. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4285729513030543746.post-4047891898625429762022-08-03T08:21:00.002-07:002022-08-03T08:25:33.563-07:00Three more wishes – coming soon! What can we expect for NonStop?<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNLhgxMEypG1qud-Pyc-zpglNCu4DycnvwtdVEwsDOd4n45_f4d0P3AZ-A2ZrtlU7pqj118HoehXJ2HJvLzoS07S1DhqneF5wV8VIGBLA1jECKoOW_F4XZZVZQ5B2bW9KeXdE-9Oq92bicnoPn_RjXvMCzasvzumdDxTWFH8nS_4JQEs3gPm6dagv/s1000/future.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="1000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNLhgxMEypG1qud-Pyc-zpglNCu4DycnvwtdVEwsDOd4n45_f4d0P3AZ-A2ZrtlU7pqj118HoehXJ2HJvLzoS07S1DhqneF5wV8VIGBLA1jECKoOW_F4XZZVZQ5B2bW9KeXdE-9Oq92bicnoPn_RjXvMCzasvzumdDxTWFH8nS_4JQEs3gPm6dagv/s320/future.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With summer in full swing and with temperatures
climbing higher than we have seen in quite some time, it’s hard to imagine that
seasons will be again in transition in oh, say three months’ time. Living
alongside the Rocky Mountains we have come to expect anything and, each day we
step outside, we can be at a loss as to what the will weather do; clear skies
aren’t all that helpful. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s not all that often that I start with a weather
commentary but this year, it’s getting harder to ignore. Floods in Australia
and fires in Portugal! Tornados in the US and more fires even as there are
swarms of jellyfish in the eastern Mediterranean! Predicting the weather so it
seems remains as much a hit and miss exercise as it has always been; here in
Colorado the story goes that “if you don’t like the weather, just wait five
minutes and it will change.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the end of August I will wrap up fifteen years of
posting to this blog, Real Time View. Shortly I will begin my sixteenth year
and you will find me still writing posts about NonStop. As I look back upon
this journey, one thing strikes me more than anything else. We continue to have
a thriving NonStop community even as there are so many more media channels
within which you will find a constant stream of updates and predictions on all
things NonStop! On the other hand, it has never been about waiting five minutes
to see if the NonStop journey will change. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The NonStop community, unlike the weather, is rather
predictable. Change often seems to move at glacial speeds and yet, when you
look back to August 2007 and to that first post to this blog, so much has
changed with NonStop. We have seen it all; racks, blades, pizza boxes, dumb
chassis, smart chassis, disks that were once solid state are now flash drives
and yes, NonStop entered the world of virtual machines. In little over a
decade! Amazing when you look at all the options we have today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Early next year I will once again pen my three wished
for NonStop. I have done this every three years following the first post back
in February, 2008. It has always proved to be a fun project for Margo and me as
we consider what might happen in the following three years. More often than not
we like to stretch the goals we have for NonStop, but with the passage of time,
many of what we wished for have indeed come to fruition. Put it down to the
glacial speed perhaps and the fully visible path already trod, but no matter,
the mere fact that we can openly discuss what might be ahead is testament
enough to the future of NonStop remaining rosy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While this isn’t about the three wishes that we will
address next year it is a sneak preview into what we have listed as
possibilities. If you want to revisit either the three wishes posts or simply
look at the previews, just tab over to Labels and scroll down to the entries
for </span><a href="https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/search/label/Wishes"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wishes</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
and </span><a href="https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/search/label/Wishes%20-%20Preview"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wishes
– Preview</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. But here’s a headline for you – the list of candidate
possibilities for what will be included in our predictions as three wishes has
never been longer and that too is an encouraging sign.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What has made the list to date (and I am sure between
now and February 2023 new entries will appear) and what will we be
prioritizing? For now we have five entries but with NonStop TBC 2022 upcoming
as well as with what we are still digesting following HPE Discover, expect to
see two and maybe three more entries added to the list. But what did we cover
in the three wishes posted February 13, 2020? Would you now be surprised that
we covered topics that included new systems options for NonStop (not just
ProLiant but Synergy and Apollo), NonStop’s presence in GreenLake and yes, the
gradual disappearance of NonStop within virtual machines.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What we did miss is the option for NonStop to run on
EdgeLine systems (EL4000 and EL8000) which has us excited as well as appearance
of NonStop applications on the basis of “as-a-Service.” Also missing from our
observations was the organizational shifts that occurred, with NonStop an
integral part of High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence. Headed
by Justin Hotard and together with a new Senior VP and Chief Product Officer
for the group, Trish Damkroger, where oversight of NonStop will reside, it
leaves open the bigger question of what comes next for NonStop.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is no better way to introduce the candidates that
made the list than to say that organizational shifts present opportunities as
much as they simply suggest change. As Tom Petty used to sing, “the sky was the
limit” even as he added, “</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Into the great wide open</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">; <span style="background: white;">Under them skies of blue”</span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
the future for NonStop may be so bright, as another popular singer suggested,
“I gotta wear shades.” With changes too in the sales organizations, “things are
going great and they’re only getting better,” seems more than an appropriate
line to add. With Neil Davis in EMEA, new arrival Karen Ramirez in North
America and Suresh Menon in APAC, I have a sense that there will be additional
logos added to the portfolio by the time we post next February.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Making the list? How about Partnerships. Neil has done
a great job in bringing Manufacturing-as-a-Service through abat+ and
Payments-as-a-Service through Lusis to market. The next year or so will be
telling with respect to the traction developed by the presence of these
applications. Seriously, though we need a lot more and in this regard, I am
wishing for HPE to provide additional seed money to select vendors to bring
them into partnership with the NonStop team. There has been considerable talk
of late about doing something like this, but seriously, it is time for action
and I am hoping we hear more on this topic at the upcoming NonStop Technical
Boot Camp, 2022. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The NonStop community itself is a candidate as we wish
for a continuation of the unity that Connect provides through its publications,
events and forums. Sharing knowledge is incredibly important and remains the
sole voice for every member of the NonStop vendor community. Margo and I have
been involved with user groups for decades and view them as a vital instrument
in fostering shared experiences across all regions and within all market
verticals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">GreenLake will remain a candidate even as I am looking
for feedback from the community as to the level of interest in moving from
CapEx to OpEx. Only paying for what you need is a message appearing everywhere
you turn these days, but for those running mission critical applications
requiring permanent availability there remains some doubt as to the advantages
of re-implementing on this basis. Perhaps there are some financial services
organizations enamored with running applications on private clouds where
security might be better but even so, the move to GreenLake by existing NonStop
users will probably take many years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The path to being able to run anywhere and everywhere
on virtual machines more or less at the touch of an icon is still a very long
way off. However, the potential to add yet more layers of abstraction such that
it matters little as to the fabric on hand with NonStop being able to leverage
whatever technology is being provided quite transparently. This has been a goal
of mine for some time as we moved from ServerNet to InfiniBand then Converged
Ethernet/RoCE so why not support it all? There are still obstacles in the way
of those wishing to be able to run NonStop in public clouds but adding this
transparency couldn’t hurt. And there is still the issue with how fine grained
you want your fault zones to be, but like fabrics, there are choices that can
be made in this regard. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, the name NonStop. Surprise you to read that I
think it has served its purpose and we need to move on. While I am not
suggesting a return or reintroduction of Tandem or of the image of the Tandem
bicycle, but rather, NonStop is really an attribute and simply adding HPE
doesn’t help a whole lot. Introduce the former Tandem chevron, but this time,
in green? Call it the Green Machine (ohm, perhaps not)? HULK: NonStop – after
all, he has never stopped and he is green for good measure! Whatever the
branding folks consider new and fresh doesn’t bother me but isn’t it time to
give NonStop a new coat of paint, re-launch, and set it on a new course? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These are all preliminary candidates to make my short
list for the upcoming post on my three wishes. I am sure there will be work
still left to do before finalizing that list and should you like to influence
the direction in which I am headed just let me know. Until then, there is lot
to think about and in simply thinking about NonStop means we all see a bright
future for the product. So yes, can you spare a set of shades as it could
become a lot brighter than any of us could imagine!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Richard Bucklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17723428627971060930noreply@blogger.com0