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Heightened Expectations – Clarity of View

 

A big welcome shout out to spring, 2023. Well, at least springtime in the northern hemisphere. It’s been a while and we missed it. Whether you are on the west coast, the northern plains or upper east coast you can be forgiven for wanting the weather systems of the past couple of months to bid a final farewell. It’s been cold, wet and snowy and for many a most uncomfortable time. Of course, unless you ski:2023 was a fantastic year for skiing here in Colorado.

I might be taken to task when I admit that for much of winter and the months prior Margo and I have been fortunate enough to have spent time in warmer climates. We heard the coast calling and we responded in like. Continuing to mix business with a break over the holiday season and then again as anniversaries came around, we managed to miss the worst of winter’s wrath.

If you have as yet not seen the latest post to our social blog, Buckle-Up, you may find it of interest as it parallels the theme of this post but from a slightly different perspective. Yes, the subject matter of both has been expectations. It seems more than appropriate to touch on this topic from a business perspective, as much is changing here at Pyalla Technologies, LLC. You may recall that in the previous post to this blog reference was made to changes ahead but now we can be a little more forthcoming about the implications.

When it comes to the NonStop community at large, it’s become increasingly important to have the positive aspects of all things NonStop highlighted in media with a much wider readership than what can be achieved through my own works. To this end, the upcoming issue of The Connection will include the first column under the heading that is the same as this blog – Real Time View. This transition was predicted in the previous post to this blog and it is all happening rather quickly.

That is not to say that there will be no further posts to this blog, but rather, a lessening of posting as Pyalla steps up to more aggressively support the NonStop community through its support of the Connect community. Consider this the beginning – the dawning if you prefer of an expanded commitment in support of all things NonStop. A time of heightened expectations over the future of NonStop as clarity takes hold.  

Consider this, too, as Pyalla doubling down on NonStop in so far as the voice of clients needs to be better illuminated than that of Pyalla. What this means is that the NonStop community, the HPE NonStop team together with the NonStop vendor community as a whole will be subject to the attention I have been giving Pyalla in the past. And the good news here is that together the HPE NonStop team and the NonStop vendor community are providing me with a sizable uptick in relevant news that needs to be broadcast more widely.

When it comes to HPE and the HPE NonStop team I will be working on storylines for marketing and product management that shine a brighter spotlight on the role of NonStop within the enterprise. As for an expanded media presence as already noted this column will begin appearing under the same masthead in each issue of The Connection. With this, it will be complementing the articles and commentaries I provide for my clients that appear in NonStop Insider and Connect Now.

Look for even more from Pyalla in LinkedIn and Twitter – do you follow me? My handle on Twitter is @RichardKBuckle and I welcome all those who want to follow me on LinkedIn. And if you are in any LinkedIn group I support then expect to see more commentaries and op-ed pieces in the future. As for the NonStop client community I support, then it is coming to fore to where there is a real need to support these members of the community even as the HPE NonStop team focuses on just a small cross-section of NonStop vendors.

A division within the NonStop community has arisen and it is one that the vendor community is finding challenging. The global NonStop sales teams are no longer promoting or even presenting the broadest mix of NonStop vendors’ product offerings. Instead, they have trimmed to just a few NonStop vendors and in so doing are pursuing a high-risk agenda. This is not to denigrate the motivation of those NonStop vendors who have gone to great lengths establishing and maintaining personal relationships but rather, it is a reminder that the HPE NonStop team lacked the resources to evaluate all available products. No RFPs were ever created nor was there any movement towards throwing open the entire price book to all NonStop vendors as was done in the past with the support of the Tandem Alliance Program.

Furthermore, the rise of the invite only user events takes away from the value proposition of the Connect organization. And this is sad to watch and for a NonStop “lifer” as Margo and I clearly are, not just or disappointing but rather ominous. Both Margo and I have seen companies making commitments to a single vendor only to find out that a bigger company bought them with little interest in NonStop. Think Oracle buying GoldenGate (DR), ACI buying Insession and committing to IBM platform, IBM buying Candle (MQ) and VM Software Inc. buying SDI (NonStop NET/MASTER) with the results being that the desired products never truly met their ongoing commitments to NonStop.

Imagine then if IBM made an offer for a major NonStop security vendor or Oracle upped the ante and bought a major NonStop business continuity vendor against a background where alternative NonStop product offerings were no longer available as these vendors elected to no longer compete and look for alternate markets. Yes, a very high risk pursuit by HPE NonStop.

Why I am now posting about this?  There is a growing sense that the NonStop vendor community needs help and will be looking at new initiatives to further promote their products. Think of separate roadshows organized by these NonStop vendors. Think too of separate vendor and product web sites that amalgamate the collective knowledge and offerings by these very same vendors. Think of the continuation of products and features more in tune with the needs of business today.

The technology industry is changing rapidly. The business community at large is evolving to meet end user expectations and NonStop vendors are adapting to this changing technology landscape and the evolving enterprise expectations. Indeed, it is as if the NonStop community is entering, dare I say, NonStop 2.0 with traditional NonStop, virtual NonStop and NonStop in the clouds all-vying for our attention.

It is with all this in mind that Pyalla will be providing greater insights into where the NonStop team players and the NonStop vendor communities are headed. They are priorities and to give them their voice! In so doing, the expectation is for Pyalla championing its own agenda lessening significantly. Pyalla is not going away nor is it stepping back, but rather, giving more support to those you interact with almost daily – the NonStop team and the collective that we have always supported, the NonStop vendor community.  


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