Real Time View

  The trappings of the festive season are now all around us. Inescapable, it would seem. Choosing gifts, cards and the right wrapping paper. It’s all happening and for many of us, it’s not only the season of joy but a time to reflect. Where were we this time last year? A decade ago? And then there are the numerous business gatherings held at this time of year. Reluctant to throw around the word party and yet, for many enterprises, this is exactly how best to describe the occasion. Paper hats? Streamers? The clink of glasses? Perhaps not but regardless, there is no escaping what the season means for each of us.   For Margo and I there was our return from our sojourn in the South Pacific. Spending the last weeks of November in Sydney, Australia, watching as we did the weather turn from mildly warm to very warm, even as we kept an eye on the weather back home in Colorado. It seems an anachronism to view Santas in Sydney decked out in full Northern Hemisphere winter kit. Ringing bells an

  Wherever travel takes Margo and me, I often take photos at that location. A reminder of where we have been and a way to start conversations with family and friends. With today’s smartphones, it seems as though we are provided with endless device memory so much so that we can keep on snapping photos indefinitely. When it comes time to review the photos and to perform minor edits – I still cannot seem to capture a straight horizon – some photos don’t make the cut and are quickly deleted. The longstanding problem of trying to keep a foreground in focus while wrestling with the impact from different lighting strengths more often than not leads to barely recognizable photos and are usually the first to be deleted. This was the case when visiting business colleagues and clients but one or two photos that fell into this category had me thinking to the point where I opted to keep the questionable images captured by the smartphone. Maybe software can improve the quality? On the other hand, t

  Greeley, Windsor and Weld County under severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m. It was late at night last week when the house shook violently. After stepping out on to our patio deck, another round of lightning bolts crossed the sky and again, the shock waves reverberated for some time. Close calls? For those who like to time the interval between flash and thunder, it was almost instantaneous. We have entered fall, but still summer conditions prevail with daily temperatures climbing to 90F followed by an evening of unsettled weather bringing with it short-lived storm fronts. Photo above appeared in the nearby Greeley Times and was captured around the same time as I was standing on the patio deck. Unfortunately, I still haven’t mastered the settings on my iPhone that will enable me to snap a photo quite like that, although I tried several times. Entering fall after a period best defined as tempestuous and unlike any summer previously experienced, can we expect conditions to continue

It has been only a matter of days since this year’s big tent user conference ended. The NonStop TBC2023 Conference drew attendees from all over the world, with every continent represented as best as I could tell. I am sure there will be those who remind me that as yet, no attendee has made it from Antarctica. Nevertheless, it was a clear demonstration of the value proposition this annual gathering of the NonStop community provides – did you make it this time? Right from the start we were able to enjoy the networking opportunities these conferences always seem to create. Whether you were attracted to the downstairs bar as escalators passed you by, or to the vendor pavilion where if you asked TCM nicely, a wee dram of Scotch could be sampled. And then there was the hospitality provided by the Presidential Suite sponsored by NTI and TANDsoft that managed to attract a crowd each night that fostered conversations that went past midnight and closer to the witching hour. For Margo and me

  There comes a time when it is not just the seasons that remind you of changes to come. Maybe yellow foliage is a clue. But the seasons are only one instance where change can come with vigor even ferocity; changes in our business and social lives can generate unexpected upheavals. From our earliest age, we are told not to run across the road, don’t dive into a rock pool and perhaps most important of all, don’t take sweets from strangers. There has always been the illustration where puppies are featured; just because someone wants you to see their puppies is not an opportunity to blindly follow someone. And yet, it happens even with adults. Many years ago, stopped at a remote gas station for fuel, after pumping gas and paying the attendant I returned to the car to find Margo missing. Only a short time passed before she returned. A truck driver had liked her Corvette and asked if she would like to see the cars he was transporting. Inside a covered car hauler – go to the back and you w

  If there is one overused word in the world of technology it has to be change. Yes, I have changed a tire or two in my time just as I have changed houses and even countries. I have been forced to change travel itineraries more than once even as I have had to change because of inclement weather. And I am known to change my mind at the very last moment when ordering a meal off a restaurant’s lengthy menu. From our earliest days we are informed, politely or otherwise, that our attitude is poor and we need to change. At school we have changed our course preferences even as we changed allegiances. And when it comes to sporting teams, there are those among us that just like to back winners and so change their support to match. When it comes to technology, standing still has never been an option. As a storyteller this is fine by me, but then being able to pick up on new storylines every week has its benefits. For the business world where investments in technology are heavily weighed to ensur

Have you read about the turn out this year for NonStop user events? Have you had a chance to talk to colleagues who have been among the attendees? Better still, did you avail yourself of an opportunity to be among those who participated? No matter how you have kept yourself informed about all that has been happening of late you must have noticed that there have been more events than usual and that the number of attendees has been significantly better than in past years. It would be so easy to start of this blog recapping how NonStop has been on a journey of late. The message “Data is created on NonStop” appeared prior to the global pandemic as it was often repeated by HPE executives closely associated with NonStop. As important as this remains, more recently it’s been about freedom: Freedom of Choice and it’s not just HPE executives who recognize this message.  By this I mean that the NonStop community now has a choice when it comes to a tech refresh of their NonStop systems. “The adva

Remember the words from that song long ago by the New Jersey band, The Young Rascals? One of their most popular releases of the late 1960s? For many of my readers it may well be the case of “perhaps not!”, but the song How Can I be Sure might be viewed as topical when addressing the HPE NonStop Community. In particular, the opening verse: How can I be sure In a world that's constantly changing? How can I be sure Where I stand with you? For the NonStop vendor community, the talk of the day is about ecosystems. It’s about the creation of software partnerships that are themselves ecosystems. Viable alternatives to other ecosystems that perhaps have come about a bit like topsy – “growing quickly without being noticed.” It has become less of a secret of late that, following the unveiling of partnerships by the NonStop team as a direct result of its Showcase initiative, those NonStop vendors not participating in Showcase are coming to terms with a landscape that is very much chan