The photo may not be as
clear as we both hoped. However, it’s still quite readable and serves a
purpose. Snapped on the drive between Cedar City and St George in Utah as we
continued on our drive down to Las Vegas for HPE Discover, 2024. Where the
posted speed limit is 80 mph and where at that speed it is still hard to keep
up with the trucks even as they travel just a little above the posted speed
limit, it is a sign we have passed many times without paying it too much
attention.
Perhaps it can be a case of
being unperturbed by distractions while driving at speed but this time, knowing
the sign was there, we waited and prepared for the shot even as we did come off
the gas to ensure we weren’t stuck behind the tanker. Heading for HPE Discover
2024, we were equally as patient as we were looking for signs. The NonStop platform
looks to be preparing for a major overhaul this coming fall and our anxiousness
was a case of anticipation. What comes next for NonStop?
This isn’t the only sign
that has appeared in posts to this business-focused blog as well as to our
social-commentary blog. In the past, it was the sign that heralded the approach
to a city in New Mexico that always starts a conversation - Truth
or Consequences. Then again and more recently as it was snapped on our way
back from Las Vegas a short time ago - Mussentuchit
. For the NonStop community, both trigger deeper conversations and yes,
commentary as well. But Browse? Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?
The majority of attendees at
this year’s HPE Discover spent much of the on the exhibition floor. Not just
for the continuous supply of cappuccinos and expressos, even if indulging in
them has become a ritual, but also to catch sessions at the many pop-up theatrettes
where everything from ransomware to business resilience to AI and Quantum were
being covered. Our guest speaker at NonStop TBC 2023, HPE’s Kirk Bresniker, was
covering these topics, and more, and I have to say I do regret not being able
to catch up with Kirk this year. Email exchanges will surely follow.
Kirk is always a good sport
and has exhibited a high degree of patience as he walks me through the intricacies
of Quantum, AI and the impact it is already having on security. As I continued
to browse the exhibition floor, I did manage to catch up with the NonStop
leader, Casey Taylor, who was accompanied by EMEA and LATAM boss, Neil Davis, as
well as North America leader, Karen Ramirez. Essentially, the brains trust of
the company combining the building of NonStop with its subsequent delivery into
the hands of enterprises that continue to value NonStop, it was no coincidence
to come across them in front of the abat+ “Manufacturing as a Service” stand.
For many of us, whenever we
come across “browse” we insistently think of Browsers rather than just leisurely
walking through the mall. This association with tech has a lot to do with how
Browsers have become the de-facto GUI and the projection of an enterprises
modernization journey as they support a Customer eXperience (CX). Ever since
the first HTTP Server with support for HTML was made available to the NonStop
community (by Insession, back in 1999), access doors to otherwise challenging
interfaces into NonStop applications have been thrown wide open.
Not only did the appearance
of support of these protocols and the subsequent ease of embracing Browsers
mark some of the earliest steps taken towards modernization but their
appearance triggered a rapid acceptance of much that is open source and the
basic building blocks upon which many other capabilities have been created –
support for Java, XML, REST and the array of development tools from GIT to Ansible
to Jenkins and much more.
Even as this was taking place,
the NonStop community rarely ignored what was fundamentally NonStop.
Availability, Scalability and Data Integrity / Security. As you can imagine,
anchoring a modernization program on NonStop has many upside advantages. Much
of the heavy lifting associated with assuring the CX proceeds as anticipated
with every end-user appreciative of the ease of access to needed applications
who can ignore the almost constant reporting of those end users suffering from
glitches?
Constant repetition of these
key attributes was part and parcel of being a NonStop evangelist. Fundamentals still mean something after all. Well, they used
to be, apparently. Of late, even NonStop managers tell me that scalability has lessened in
importance as there are other ways to do this particularly when you consider
approaches taken by cloud service providers. Data Integrity and Security? So
many ways to address this issue as well. This leaves Availability and a legacy
of fault tolerance dating back decades. Half a century, if you like as we
approach the golden anniversary of NonStop / Tandem Computers.
When we look more closely at
the sign indicating the Browse turn-off was approaching, we can read that
underneath the location name comes the warning, “No Services.” It struck Margo
and me that even as the first thing we do at the start of each day is to open a
browser and then begin working. Loss of the WiFi. Loss of the Server(s) and
even the dreaded “404 – Page not Found” all echo the sentiment that well,
something in the path between browser and server is not functioning.
Availability still maters, no matter how much we talk about modernization programs.
A journey such as modernization
is of no value if it simply leads us over a cliff. Or worse, into unchartered
marshes and swamps where no matter what resources are provided the project
continues to flounder. Availability equates to reliability and to a sense of
professionalism where the CX truly means something. Let’s not loose the meaning
of delivering services from a base that can be trusted to be present 24 x 7.
We may fuss over the aging technical
staff familiar with NonStop and question the absence of a large pool of
qualified college grads with basic familiarity of fault tolerant principles but
these shouldn’t detract from the value proposition of NonStop. We may even
discount the need to perform due diligence or even the pursuit of competitive
PoCs. The NonStop brains trust however, fully aware of issues like this is
clearly in a re-think mode and looking at ways to grow the presence of NonStop
in markets old and new as it is with growth that encourages a following and
that’s all that’s truly needed today.
We often write about “piling
on” when it comes to companies, teams and even individuals who become proven
winners. Isn’t it time to pile-on to NonStop? “No Services” and anathema for
NonStop customers; rather let’s become more aggressive in our championing of
NonStop. As NonStop TBC 2024 draws closer and as we begin to plan our attendance
and plot our own path through the agenda, let’s not turn away to paths that
only tell us: ahead there are no services!
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