For the NonStop community there has always been an annual event that proved hard to resist; with changing times these events are virtual – but can we anticipate change down the road?
Just recently Margo and I chose to return home via US
Highway 129. It may not ring any bells, but for those who prefer to call it the
Tail of the Dragon – 318 curves in 11 miles – it represents the epitome of
mountain excitement. For Margo and me, having now driven the tail in both
directions, driving hard through all these turns never gets old.
Business took us to Florida for an extended week of
meetings that were mostly conversations. Not everything went to plan and we
didn’t get to see some folks, but just to have an opportunity to hit the road
and meet in person certainly made the 4,500 miles excursion worthwhile. The
mere fact that we made touring in a roadster work for us and we were
comfortable in doing so, well, that was a real trick with a car better suited
to day trips.
This is all just a prelude to what follows here and it
is not about a dragon’s tail but rather, a tale of greater importance. But it’s
also about an opportunity to hit the road once again and head south west to Las
Vegas! While we didn’t fully anticipate how hot Florida is in early June there
will be no such misgivings about going to Las Vegas in late June; it will be
hot, indeed.
The opportunity to meet in-person and be a participant
in a major technology industry event however proved hard to resist. Mandalay
Bay, here we come! No excuses; just keep that A/C running and perhaps we will
never experience the heat that builds each day that is just beyond the walls of
this hotel and convention complex.
The event we will be attending in-person will not be
HPE Discover 2021 but rather, the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) US
Conference 2021. As for HPE Discover 2021 it will indeed be virtual once again
but will this be the last time? Should we anticipate changes in the future –
will HPE Discover 2022 be a return to an in-person event?
Too early to say but we will be keeping our fingers
crossed. Irrespective of what the future holds for HPE Discover, the plan is
for Margo and me to participate in both this year, juggling our time between them
and, fortunately, looking at the respective agendas it will be possible.
I am fortunate enough to be attending as a
representative of NTI – well known for the DRNet®
product portfolio – but I will not be alone. There will be many vendors
represented who enjoy ties to NonStop and so it will be a reunion of sorts for
many of us.
Banks, payments processors and switches, and more will
be rubbing shoulders with these vendors and the potential to network over
NonStop seems obvious. However, whether it proves to be a distraction or not,
HPE Discover 2021 will be very much in our minds as we move among the
attendees.
As we prepared for publishing the June issue of NonStop
Insider – yes, it should become available by the middle of the week – it was
Justin Simonds, Master Technologist at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who
submitted an update on what the NonStop community can expect to hear at this
year’s HPE Discover 2021 event.
Simonds did preface his remarks with a caution “NonStop
customers may think that this is all just the larger company stuff but I would
encourage them to attend with a view toward integration and synergies with
NonStop. HPE is doing some great things
and some can take advantage of NonStop capabilities.” As a community we all
look forward to our annual NonStop Technical Boot Camp (TBC) event, but even
so, there is something to be said about hearing directly from HPE CEO Antonio
Neri.
Furthermore, according to Simonds, “This Discover
should provide direction on Infrastructure capabilities, Cloud and HPE’s
go-to-market strategy, Artificial Intelligence and where HPE is making large
bets and finally digital transformation and the Edge.”
To give this some context, if you have been wondering
about NonStop and key HPE initiatives including GreenLake, NS SQL Cloud Edition
or even NonStop on the Edge, then you should register for this event as it’s virtual
and there are no travel requirements. You don’t even have to face the heat of
the Nevada desert in summer.
Joining HPE’s Neri on stage will be Mary Barra, the CEO
of GM and Bob Legters, Chief Data Officer, FIS. FIA F1 Racing. FIA F1 and FIA
Formula E Racing will both be represented by F1 driver Lewis Hamilton appearing
in a panel, Champions
for Change. Also on a panel will be Michelle Wie West, the
professional golfer and Megan Rapinoe, soccer champion.
Perhaps the highlight? How about an “exclusive
on-location tour with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team as your host:
This rare, behind-the-scenes experience will include a look at the team’s Test
and Development Department, Aerodynamics Department, Data Center, and more, as
well as technical insights from the IT Director.”
Team Principal and Managing Partner, ROKiT Venturi
Racing, Susie Wolff whose team participates in Formula E will be making a
return visit to HPE Discover and as I had the chance to throw a question or two
at her during a Q & A session she held with HPE Influencers last year, I
can assure you she is well worth hearing. She too is on a panel session, this
time the Women Leaders in
Technology presents In Her Element: Insights from Trailblazers.
These are interesting times and if you are curious
about HPE the company, its future and the interest in motor vehicles then it
might be assumed that cars are becoming more like computers every day. Perhaps
it will take the entry of Apple into the fray to reinforce the connection
between IT and cars but even so, perhaps there is no better example than a
motor vehicle as an example of just one aspect of the intelligent edge.
NonStop creates data and perhaps in time, NonStop will
not only create data but becomes the gateway to many edge solutions generating
data. If you are driving down the highway in an intelligent car where
vehicle-2-vehicle (V2V) properties are active, wouldn’t you want a NonStop
system as your virtual traffic cop?
The ATMIA US Conference 2021 certainly will be
interesting as we have reached the intersection of cash and digital forms of
currency. Will cash be done in by the latest moves to go global with digital
coin? Or will cash prove to be the ultimate safety blanked in times of crisis?
Likewise, the HPE Discover 2021 event will most likely
be just as interesting as we come to see greater focus placed on the primary
goal of HPE “to be a world leading edge to cloud platform as a service
company.” First announced back at HPE Discover 2019 as a three year program to
dramatically alter the course of HPE, we are now coming to the end of the
second year – don’t you want to hear about the progress made to date in
achieving this goal?
We have already begun to pack our bags and to once
again venture onto America’s highways in our two-seater roadster. It won’t be
as long as our recent trip to Florida, but it certainly will be hotter. We will
roll into Vegas early afternoon Monday, June 21. We sure would welcome any and
every opportunity to talk, face-to-face, with as many members of the NonStop
community as we can.
We all know that if it’s June then it’s HPE’s big tent
marketing event but in these times, juggling a combination of in-person and
virtual events simultaneously seems all rather normal. If you happen to see us
walking the corridors of the Mandalay Bay complex, stop us to say Hi! We sure
would welcome any and every opportunity to talk, face-to-face, with as many
members of the NonStop community as we can. Safe travels to all!
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