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.
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.
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!
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.
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:
Well the family
devalues
And little children plan their net worth
And the truth wherever it's hiding,
Can be found on Google Earth.
I can't take another
doomsday minute
We got a lot to drink, a lot to think,
A lot to drink about.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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:
Now I'm having a big
problem
With my present day career
My ship she has a rudder
But I don't know where to steer
Life is complicated
with its
Ifs and ands and buts
It's alright to be crazy,
Just don't let it drive you nuts
Comments
Great article, Richard