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 will
something interesting!
Only after she returned to
our Corvette did it hit her – she had just fallen for the old puppies in the
trailer rouse. This time there was no harm as the driver was transporting a
Corvette and a Cobra Roadster for the entertainer, Kid Rock who was to perform
in Las Vegas and wanted to have the opportunity to choose his ride as the
circumstances dictated. However, if Margo had indeed gone missing there was no way
I would have suggested to the authorities that maybe they should check out enclosed
trailers.
As we gain maturity, change
brings with a renewed sense of caution. Of balancing risk versus reward. Of
simply going with our gut, as they say, which is simply a shorthand way of
saying trust in your experience. When it comes to IT, you would think that this
was likewise the prevailing sentiment. Rip and replace certainly has had its
day just as offshoring, building your own solution/framework/GUI. Having said
that, faced with a lot of exciting new products, it is still an enticement to
dive deep to take a look at those puppies.
In the just-published August
2023 issue of NonStop Insider you will come across an article I wrote, The
power of choice – it’s in your hand! You
may have already read the article but with hindsight and with the thought of
puppies fresh in my mind, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a second
look at the topic, choice. In particular, what has changed of late when it
comes to the choices we make and, in particular, what influences the
all-important decisions we make today. In other words, are our choices
necessarily the right ones?
I opened my article with the
following observation:
When
it comes to the NonStop community there is a wealth of opportunity – do we
stick with HPE sourced x86 servers and supported fabrics or do we turn to other
vendors – then there are many options to be considered when it comes to
software.
Advertising agencies
struggling with abstract concepts have been know to suggest adding pictures of
puppies. After all, there is nothing as reliable as a photo of a puppy to keep as
reader interested. Fortunately, this metaphor can only go so far when
addressing the NonStop community. Given their experience and acting with caution,
rarely would we have seen this community engaging with the unknown and yet, we
have reached that point where the adage, “trust me” has become
pervasive.
The NonStop team calls the
shots, reading from a single price-book playlist and, in most respects,
eliminating choice. Enjoying a monopoly, the give the appearance of “singing
from the same hymnal” even as they deter their users from considering the
breadth of choice open to them.
With this in mind, I made an
additional observation:
The reality that is setting in has to
do with NonStop sales not holding a monopoly on good products. Are the chosen
products the best available or even better than alternative offerings?
Customers seek solutions that best serve their unique requirements and rely
upon sales personnel to guide decision-making with candor and as little bias as
possible.
A number of NonStop vendors
have created partner ecosystems over the years. Look at their web sites and you
will find that many of them have partner and alliances pages. The most recent
NonStop vendor to proactively pursue the creation of such an ecosystem has been
NTI where to date, their NonStop-focuses ecosystem includes vendors whose
products they resell together with adjacent products for which they show a
preference as well as a number of consulting and system integrators.
After a fashion this is a
tradition within the NonStop vendor community as it leads to intelligence
sharing. No matter the NonStop user, whenever a tech refresh (hardware or
software) comes up for discussion, at least one vendor will hear about it and
readily share with others in the vendor ecosystem.
But is this enough to remain
competitive? Does this offer the same level of attraction as is otherwise the
sole advantage of the NonStop sales team? Beyond the assembling of a number of
NonStop vendor ecosystems, the most critical element has to do with
communication. How do you best provide the Nonstop user with information
related to the options available to them?
For some time, the awareness
that communication and indeed promotion of the NonStop vendor product suites
required more than just showing up for a user event. As important a forum as
these events have become, simply gaining a better understanding of the options
available from walking around can be misleading. Perhaps a key NonStop vendor
elected not to participate in an event. How would you know?
At last year’s NonStop
TBC 2022 Conference a number of NonStop vendors came together to consider how
best to address this need to provide information on all products and to do so 24
x 7. What was clearly advantageous for all NonStop vendors was to create a
portal web site. The most advanced in actually providing such a portal happened
to be CSP who had already prototyped such a web site and were only too keen to
make it more accessible for all NonStop vendors.
This led to my final
observation:
Actions being taken by CSP in their pursuit of the Global NS
Partner Alliance … led to CSP creating a partner portal. Watch too for more
NonStop partners participating in this alliance as they add their presence to
the partner portal; further news to follow at this year's NonStop TBC 2023
Conference.
To read the article in full,
follow the above hyperlink of you can use this link –
https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/the-power-of-choice-its-in-your-hand/
Watch too for more NonStop
partners participating? While the official promotion including how to be
included in the portal kicks-off in earnest at NonStop TBC 2023 Conference
already the early participation level has climbed to ten with many more being processed
preparatory to inclusion in the portal. The creation of the supporting Global
NS Partner Alliance – again, an initiative whose origins lie with CSP – should
be viewed as an overarching program embracing all partner ecosystems and as
such, ensures information on any vendor or product can be shared quickly and
yes, 24 x 7.
As a community, NonStop
users and vendors alike now have a site that can be relied upon to supply a
comprehensive list of options from which to choose. The products will be
grouped within high-level verticals like security, monitoring, business
continuity, dev tools, and more. In time these lists will grow to embrace all
of the NonStop community and with the NonStop TBC 2023 Conference, education
about this important tool will be a highlight.
Margo fortunately didn’t
disappear on me even if the attraction of virtual puppies temporarily
overwhelmed her. Viewing new Corvettes or Cobras may be tempting but even when
this happened, she was quick to highlight her husband was just outside and that
time had come to let him know of these puppies as well.
As a community it is now
time for the NonStop community to tell others and to let their colleagues know
where they can find out the options that are available and in so doing,
continue with the tradition of NonStop that there is a whole world out there
with much to leverage. Aren’t you pleased to read that all NonStop users can
avail themselves of such information and know where to turn to view the full
scope of NonStop vendor investments in all things NonStop?
Change may create upheaval
even as it may force a complete turn around and yet, it may prove to be
salvation. Maybe not; but at least you can now view a more complete product
landscape. See you shortly in Denver for the NonStop TBC 2023 Conference and
yes, make sure you stop and chat to all the NonStop vendors as you may very
well find such interactions as informative as they might be timely!
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