Are you depending on social media posts? NonStop users gain insights from NonStop community members!

 

Over a morning cup of coffee I read an article promoted on Facebook. Or, was it Twitter or perhaps LinkedIn? Can’t quite recall right now, but it matters little although at a guess it must have been an article related to the cloud experience or perhaps even platform-as-a-service (Paas). The article took me to yet another web site and while the story itself and the attraction it held for me are not all that important what struck me was just how reliant we have become on social media to help us navigate the news – technology or otherwise.

For the past few days Margo and I have been heads down finalizing the September issue of NonStop Insider. With this issue going live we have successfully completed five years of publication and the sixty issues that can be accessed online contain a wealth of information on all things NonStop. Naturally enough, over that five years period there have been numerous changes to NonStop and these can all be seen as the editorial direction evolved right alongside NonStop.

Even so, as we worked through the submissions the number of references direct or oblique to social media were too numerous to recount. Every vendor wants to influence us with some stunning disclosure in a social media exchange. The path ahead may indeed be one of many changes of direction and getting to where you want to go may prove difficult all by yourself. Coming across references to colleagues on social media that have successfully accomplishing what you intend to pursue can easily straighten any twisting path.

Put it down to the global pandemic perhaps as we stroll across a crosswalk deeply immersed in content on our smartphone. Or perhaps over a latte or something stronger but nevertheless, our eyes firmly fixed on out smartphone. Then again, put it down to the immense impact that the cloud is having on the story lines of almost every article published on social media even as the cloud experience dominates much of what we see in posts or tweets.

The only traditional magazines still able to attract a crowd are hobby and sports related. Whether your tastes take you to the boating publication, the lifestyles of the very rich or simply to car magazines there remains a variety of such publications that you can still enjoy turning the page if you so desire. While reading one of the car magazines one columnist stopped me in my tracks. Seriously, Car Software-as-a-Service (CSaaS)! Surely not! But there it was -

“In 2019, BMW announced that it would begin charging owners of its vehicles $80 per year for the privilege of using Apple CarPlay … BMW next decided that it would return to a subscription model for features such as smartphone-based virtual key, remote start, and even heated seats.

“Porsche offers a range-optimization feature and lane-keeping assist on its Taycan electric models for a monthly charge.

“Cadillac does the same with its hands-free Super Cruise drive assistance and Audi with its immersive WiFi-enabled navigation system.

“Of course, Tesla now asks customers to plunk down $200 per month for its always-a-day-away misnomered Full Self-Driving.

“Welcome to the digital automotive buffet where you can pick and choose what you want – then pay for it every month.”

Maybe an overkill of quotes but you get the story. We could reference similar developments in media where streaming services have exploded of late. I am not sure how many streaming channels I have subscribed to but it has to be a lot. Subscription has become synonymous with IT so much so that the options afforded enterprises today caters to almost all their needs. Be it a decision to pay once on presentation of just one invoice or a need to deploy more technology than they previously could afford, major vendors have all come to understand that having options that suit their customers helps them better compete in the marketplace.

For the NonStop community, it doesn’t take too many glances at social media sites to know that NonStop is on track to support such subscription models as are today offered by HPE. If by now you haven’t seen a post from HPE promoting the benefits of GreenLake then perhaps you aren’t logging into the right social media channels. These promotions by HPE are simply too hard to miss and they continue to come thick and fast with an upcoming webinar or podcast about to happen every other day of the week. Yes, for HPE GreenLake has become its most important initiative and is the centerpiece in HPE CEO Antonio Neri’s stated objective of having everything in the HPE product portfolio available on the basis of as-a-service.

Navigating all these updates can take a serious bite out of our daily routines. Even as they can really help in keeping us on a tried-and-true straight path, it’s all so easy to get sidetracked and perhaps today the biggest of these is the thought that HPE would be offering only GreenLake. With all the images and supporting bullet points many members of the NonStop user community have been left with the impression that they had better start planning to move to GreenLake or be left behind. Likewise members of the NonStop vendor community have drawn the same conclusion. Better be participating alongside NonStop itself to support GreenLake.

It’s at this point we need to revisit the words of HPE’s Neri. Having everything available as-a-service isn’t binary. In case you misread or perhaps misheard HPE’s marketing team, it’s all about giving enterprises the option to lease the whole package rather than financing a purchase. To return to the car image once again, leasing has always been popular as you can get more car for your dollar. You can still buy the car outright, pay for it over time with a loan or yes, lease it. The same is now applicable for how we elect to acquire our technology.

So who is the target market for GreenLake? Clearly, from the outset, it has been the really big users of HPE products. For an enterprise committed to HPE getting that one invoice has it’s upside but for those enterprises with NonStop systems deployed in support of a single application maybe it continues to be one of many invoices – IBM, Oracle, MS Azure, SAP will all be sending you their monthly invoices as well. 

For the majority of NonStop users the idea of as-a-service is good to know but perhaps not yet. Perhaps there is still consideration to buying outright your NonStop system and leave the challenges to their accounting department to sort out to the best advantage for the enterprise. At the very least, when you turn to social media, make sure you follow what your NonStop peers are doing as there is going to be many more updates coming from the NonStop community in this regard.

Independent NonStop vendors will continue to enjoy a market that is substantial and that continues to upgrade in line with their own plans. Social media channels may be overwhelmed with promotions for all things as-a-service even as they extoll the virtue of the cloud experience but that’s just one story. Albeit the latest story and as enticing and seductive as it may appear, its simply that. One more story, one more option to explore, one more way to fund IT.

For the NonStop community it will continue to be good news that going down the path to as-a-service will not leave behind NonStop systems as indeed HPE is committed to being all-inclusive and the NonStop team has literally moved mountains to ensure NonStop becomes an active participant in GreenLake, but that’s not the complete story. 

If you want to stay the course on a path that is straight and you tap into the social media channels that support your course of action then yes, keep on running NonStop as you do today. As they say, all vendors no matter their product plans or marketing campaigns know only too well; it’ you, the NonStop user, that continues to occupy the driver’s seat and the course you set is entirely driven by your own business needs.