Real Time View

For the next three weeks I’m on the road – talking with clients, users and of course, HP. I will be presenting at N2TUG, a vital NonStop user group in Dallas, on behalf of a client even as I am being challenged - Hit a Home Run with HP’s NonStop X! Having just crossed the state line into Texas, shortly we will be on our way to Dallas where we will set up temporary company Command Center from which we will be working for the next six days. N2TUG will be the first engagement, before catching up with clients and prospects; squeezing in a side trip to good friends at IBM is also part of the plan. Yes, IBM, and given my long history with straddling the fence separating two of the biggest players in enterprise computing, it’s always good to see whether the grass is truly greener on one side or the other. Cadillac Ranch – ever been there? A monument to cars of decades past, converted over time into art forms some appreciate while others quickly dismiss as vandalism and graffiti-riddl...

People wrote and talked about their impressions from the 2015 HP Discover and all I could think about was how much younger the crowd looks. There are some distinguished silver heads (we used to call them silver backs, but they took offense, so we stopped that), but they seem to be in leadership positions. Everywhere else it was bright and cheerful smiles coming from younger people only too happy to man the booths twelve plus hours a day. Most of the troops looked like our kids … and there is a reason! With HP offering attractive retirement packages of the kind “you’ve got to be kidding!” most of the older baby boom generation of workers, and even some of the older leaders, just could not refuse. This would tell me that HP wanted to encourage its older cadre to simply go home – the experience and accumulated knowledge isn’t a value worth pursuing any longer. Youth, energy, new ideas and an open mind to embrace the open source; is that what it’s all about today? Is it now a given th...

2015 HP Discover proved eventful for numerous reasons - less about The Machine and more about Composability ... for the NonStop community, the future is beginning to come into view! It’s been a hot, dusty and somewhat dirty week in Las Vegas and returning to the green landscape that is Boulder has brought into stark contrast the difference of just a few hundred miles. Living in the command center wasn’t without its challenges this year, as unfamiliarity brought unintended consequences. Who knew a push tab on the shower head would reduce the flow of water to barely a drip and who knew that the pilot light on the RV’s hot water system would go out … but in the end, we were able to keep our cool (and our hot) while showering with good water pressure! The world takes on a completely different image when all is well on the motor home front. Rested and looking forward to each day’s program, 2015 HP Discover was all about perceptions and presentation. Passing an exits sign on Interst...