Roadmaps always receive a lot of attention whenever products are being discussed particularly among NonStop community members. However, when was the last time we took stock of the bigger picture for HPE NonStop systems?
What began with a simple question ended up involving much
more than I had anticipated! Conversations, checking under couch cushions, web
searches and even visits to the local gas station. For a very long time now I
have been using a yellow Hi-Liter pen to record the many North American
highways Margo and I have traversed, but as we make plans for further travels
this year and begin to think about packing our bags once again, I couldn’t find
the marked map! Somehow our filing and retrieval system let us down – no way
would we have thrown away that piece of memorabilia?
After the conversations had run their course I thought
it best if I just get another map and start over, but where to get a map? What
I needed was a simple fold-out map of the US and Canada that included all the
major highways that crisscross this part of the continent. Turns out it is not
that simple; as much as I wanted to see the big picture, supplies were hard to
find. Paper maps are disappearing rapidly from store displays. Not even the
local gas stations carry paper maps any more. Thank goodness for online
shopping and after a couple of searches, Amazon found me the Rand McNally fold
out map I so desperately needed.
I have covered the topic of product roadmaps more than
once and I have no real intention of revisiting this topic yet again. I think
we can all understand that product roadmaps are a desirable must-have when
making strategic decisions. No point in going down a path if it’s poorly
designed or worse, seeing no one else taking the same path. However, what I
miss most is the fold-out paper map itself; being able to see everything laid
out without any need to turn the page over or much worse, look for a different
page altogether.
There have been numerous instances of late where I have
been challenged over my enthusiasm for NonStop systems. Why should we consider
NonStop as part of our long term plan? What role could a NonStop play that
couldn’t be otherwise fulfilled by other products? How does NonStop truly
differentiate itself in a world preoccupied with clouds? Fair enough; when it
comes to the bigger picture however, NonStop continues to hold a couple of
trump cards that continue to prove hard to beat. It may be hard to find a map
of the US, but none is needed when it comes to seeing all the roads down which
NonStop is travelling.
While waiting for a service on my car to complete I
came across a copy of that day’s New York Times. Picking it up it just felt
good to be able to glance at headlines before settling on a story to read. As a
third generation newspaper man I had almost forgotten how comforting it is to
get newsprint on my hands. What I enjoyed most was that with a quick scan
across the pages I knew in an instant what was taking place around the world. I
could tell whether the focus was purely political or held a human interest
story. I could tell whether an article was breaking news or just an opinion.
When it comes to NonStop systems there are so many
things it can do but it only takes a quick glance of the big picture to
recognize what it does best. And what is this big picture in 2021? For me, what
I see is the edge and the core offering opportunities for NonStop in ways we
have more often than not simply glossed over. Yes, I know it can do that and
yes, I have seen NonStop customers deploying NonStop in that manner but in
glossing over such deployments perhaps we are doing NonStop a disservice. It’s
a powerful picture this edge to core and well worth reading in full before
putting down the paper. Coming to terms with the big picture may not be easy
but it really is a must for anyone looking at the future of NonStop in modern
enterprises.
As I was chasing down where to buy a paper map of North
America it also occurred to me that it wasn’t just the big picture such maps
provided. It was in the myriad details that the paper map provided – where
state boundaries lay and where mighty rivers flowed. Even the history of big
cities in the middle of nowhere becomes a lot clearer as you see just how many
highways, railway lines and rivers merged where today rises a very large city. These
are details that are very important for anyone preparing to drive across the
country. For me these many lines are important and if you need a reminder of
the difficulties NonStop vendors face today when building mission-critical
infrastructure just count the number of lines coming out of Kansas City. Or St.
Louis, or even Denver, for that matter!
For the NonStop community the details have always been
important. Even as the big picture highlights how there is an edge and a core,
what might jump from the page are the many “hops” involved between edge and
core. Security and the closing down of vulnerabilities is not a trivial matter.
As a community, we are constantly bombarded it seems every day, with even more
bad press about unauthorized intrusions taking place. Early on it was about
working through the issues of what might happen if such illegalities occurred
and making sure there was nothing of value to be mined but that’s sidestepping
the main issue. Those many lines on the map connecting sites scattered around
the planet aren’t there for dramatic purposes but rather as a reminder that our
very business integrity demands we take steps to protect our enterprise.
When it comes to the big picture in this regard, the HPE
NonStop system does provide value. Not only can we visualize NonStop out on the
edge or deep insider the core, there is a real sense that NonStop offers a
level of security that should not be ignored – it’s still a case of NonStop
having never been compromised. Whether you are processing transactions at the
edge or storing data at the core, there is a reason we cannot ignore NonStop.
To answer those questions raised earlier - what role can a NonStop play and how
does NonStop truly differentiate itself then we can be very clear about our
response. Because no other vendor can do what NonStop does and do so out of the
box – on delivery through to eventual deployment, NonStop just works and
continues to work 24 x 7! As for my enthusiasm, aren’t we all proud to be
working with today’s NonStop systems?
The map arrived from Amazon in due course. Baggage we haven’t used in a year is being retrieved from storage and being cleaned. However my chasing paper left me both bemused and more aware. I was bemused by how much faith I place in the paper I held in my hand even if just for a moment. I was also aware that I may be among the last generation to truly enjoy the feel of a map as it is unfolded. Fortunately, when it comes to HPE and the NonStop system there is nothing transient or old fashioned about anything involving NonStop – it truly is a system of and for the times, no pun intended. And yes, it truly has changed in ways that make it even more suitable for meeting the demands of today’s enterprises, non-stop!
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