It’s …. Showtime!

Yes, it’s spring time and even
the big cats crave shade!

However you want to classify it, there is no escaping the arrival of springtime along the front ranges of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. The transition from deep winter to the delights of spring may happened over the course off just a few short weeks but no matter, the trees alongside our condo are putting on quite a show. They are also providing much-needed relief from the fierce afternoon sunshine as already temperatures have climbed into the mid-90s, F (32+ C). Can’t complain though as neither Margo nor me are winter bunnies preferring instead the warmer temperate climate of the near-tropics.

Whatever you might think of Colorado and the mountain retreats should you be only passing through on your way to canyons and reservoirs in nearby states, as the state motto says, it’s always a case of Colorful Colorado. The runoff from the snow-laden mountains is already underway; giving us quite a show with every stream and river bordering our city almost topping the banks. Showtime it might be but it’s hard to ignore the colorful bounty nature always seems to dig deep to find and as hot as it might get, it is nowhere as unbearable as when full-on summer descends on southern states. 

The call came this week that a senior executive at one of our clients had fallen sick. He was scheduled to give a presentation at a NonStop community event in London – the NonStop BITUG BIG SIG. When we asked if we could help in any way, we were both asked whether we could squeeze in a 48 hour visit to London and give the planned presentation. As we all worked on the presentation Margo and I would need to make adjustments to our schedule, but of course we agreed to go. So come early next week it’s a trans-Atlantic flight to London to join the rest of the NonStop community as when all gather for this traditional spring time event.

The reference to spring being showtime is not an accident. As the NonStop community gathers for a number of events through the summer and into the fall, there is a growing awareness that vendors, such as our clients, are facing significant escalation in marketing costs. No longer facing a software-oriented community of vendors, but having to take on the NonStop sales team as well. Having had time to digest the possible outcomes here there is no escaping the obvious fact that if I were standing in the shoes of sales managers across the regions, I would be looking at every eventuality to ensure I met the sales quotas assigned to our teams.

There is nothing wrong with the NonStop sales teams maximizing their potential revenue streams. Having said that, the mere fact that they are working with just a small cross section of the NonStop vendor community is driving up costs for everyone else. To participate and to gain opportunities to explore options with NonStop customers and prospects, seems to be a very high price to pay from the fallout of the NonStop sales teams’ aggressive moves to sideline them. Show time? It’s something everyone looks forward to, but at what price?

Perhaps it’s time to look at how HPE conducts business. Unlike almost every other major vendor I have worked with, there is not a single person given the overall responsibility for the success of NonStop. Separate business units are involved and they don’t come together until they meet up at the HPE CEO Antonio Neri. While not going too deep into organizational issues a quick check of the participants in Neri’s management team , his leadership participants, you will find three groups: HPC & AI; the Chief Sales Officer; Chief Technology Officer plus GreenLake. Neil MacDonald heads up the group that includes NonStop development and product management. Heiko Meyer heads up global sales that includes NonStop sales. Fielma Russo has been rewarded with GreenLake following her evangelizing this program for some time.

Missing from this is the Program Manager. Whether it is IBM, Nixdorf, GM and many others the role of Program Manager has persevered. As program managers, as IBM sees the role, such a badge holder is “an experienced Program/Project Manager who has been nominated and endorsed by IBM leadership as having the requisite skills and experience to lead a complex project/program.” Yes, GreenLake is one such program and having given responsibility to the HPE CTO, Russo, is an encouraging sign. Then again, when you consider NonStop it’s every bit as significant a “program” as anything else from HPE. So, who can we turn to as an ombudsman capable of instigating change?

When you look at the support given by the organization MacDonald heads, then it’s extremely positive. No matter your status elsewhere in the company, as a HPE Partner, it gives all NonStop vendors access to software and hardware that can be heavily discounted or even free as this team wants to keep encouraging development for NonStop. However, when it comes to Meyer’s organization there is an apparent degree of separation – NonStop partners versus NonStop vendors. If you are a partner, you have access to the sales teams but as a vendor you are on your own given no similar access. Hence the escalating marketing costs for NonStop vendors who are no longer viewed as partners by the HPE sales organization.

Not to stretch this storyline too far, what exactly is a program manager today? This is a topic of interest for me as my move to Cupertino was to take up the role of program manager. Being familiar with the role at other vendors, it wasn’t exactly what I expected but then for many, the role remains controversial. Oftentimes, it just doesn’t work out. So, imagine how my curiosity was peeked with an interview of GM’s Corvette Program Manager, Devon Blue:

“The core team,” followed by recognition of “the need to guide and inspire members through interpersonal relationships, expertise and decision-making.” All the while, it’s a case of managing purely by influence. When it comes to technology and to Silicon Valley in particular, where team consensus reached a pinnacle in the late 1990s, no leader felt comfortable with those chosen for the Program Manager role. But that doesn’t mean that the task is no longer required. Furthermore, it doesn’t mean that the need for someone knowledgeable in how things are built, marketed, sold and then maintained is lessened. Who do customers turn to when looking for help in any of these areas when it crosses organizational lines. Then again, who do business units turn to when faced with situations crossing lines of responsibility?

Or, as GM Corvette’s Devon Blue explained:

Making sure business units meet their deliverables … and oversee vehicle launches and yes, lifecycle improvements. And yes, again, managing (the teams) by influence. It’s no surprise, I think, to know that I read Corvette magazines or that I show an interest in organizational structure. Many stories can be told about how organizations prosper when all the pieces are in place and likewise, how they fall short when the pieces are jumbled with gaps between edges even as some edges overlap. For HPE and the NonStop team, as good a job as they continue to do, those edge gaps are starting to become all too apparent.

Yes, it’s show time. Not with colorful displays of flowers but rather, whether there is any consensus forming within the multiple NonStop business units that the line between partners and vendors has reached a point where conciliation is needed. When NonStop vendors took a journey to Australia in support of OzTUG events in Sydney and Melbourne, there was a general invite sent to all “partners” to attend a briefing of the AsiaPac regional sales and technical staff. My advice to my clients at the time was to not attend – why should they brief a competitive group?

However, one very well-known and indeed highly respected vendor did respond. However, while in a taxi on their way to the gathering, they were texted not to come; it was just for partners and not vendors. Only those on the NonStop price book. And so, the division widens. Is there an answer? Does all it requires is an influential program manager? A real-to-life marketing team focused on the bigger picture of NonStop and is open to access by all members of the NonStop community? Not so fast, as after more than a year of lobbying there has been no movement to bridge the gap. And I see no new moves on the horizon – meeting the extraordinary sales quotas are a matter of importance to the sales teams. 

But change does need to happen and unfortunately, it may not happen in my business lifetime. One solution? Throw everything into open source and initiate a free-for-all – a topic I explore in an upcoming article in the June issue of NonStop Insider. Look for it. Just one suggestion, mind you.

However, against the odds, the traditional opening beer bust still prevails affording all participants an opportunity to voice their opinion. And joining BITUG next week, I am pleased to see that this tradition continues. Then again, I will leave you this in passing as it probably can only happen in Colorado and, hopefully, isn’t a foretaste of what the future holds. But imagine a local microbrewery being the venue for axe throwing; what could possibly go wrong!

And with that, I extend my thanks to the many NonStop regional events that still provide us with effective marketing outlets. See you in London and hopefully, share an adult beverage or two.