Real Time View

How much does a computer have in common with a car? Not much, until you want to purchase: For NonStop customers getting from A to B is not a good enough reason to buy!          Ever wondered what finally tips the scales when it comes to buying a new computer? Thought about what transpires behind the scenes when key pieces of software are acquired? Was it the price a choice of features or comprehensive packaging providing an all-in-one solution? There are many factors contributing to an outcome and of late, within the NonStop community, there couldn’t be more options to choose from what is being sold today.  While Margo and I aren’t involved in the major decisions influencing the technical direction at any major enterprise, it’s something we run into on a regular basis. Whether it’s buying the latest Apple iPhone or iPad or a really big smart TV, sometimes it comes down to the intangibles. Can I buy it online and can it be delivered soon? Do we like the fo...

Call it the new normal, the not normal or even the new abnormal, our world as we knew it when we celebrated the new year is long gone; on the other hand, for IT and NonStop things are becoming clearer, with a meaning … One of the more enjoyable aspects of spending my days writing is that it is a legitimate excuse to leave the family and go hole up in my office. In so doing, I can switch off and put the rigors of daily life behind me. I can escape into a world of my own making, right? Well, not exactly! More like only after I have helped clean up after breakfast, assisted in making our bed and even taking out the trash. Yet, it goes without saying, the escape is real even as the opportunity to lose myself in my work overrides all else. For the record – my wife’s view on all this is totally different to mine – Margo claims I use my writing as an excuse to retreat to my office leaving the breakfast mess for her to clean up. Statistically she is probably right, but t...

Whenever a technology, product or solution appears to be the only answer then it’s time to look beyond it … At this time of year we can expect to be the victims of weather systems that Mother Nature cares to throw at us. Living alongside the Rocky Mountains simply means it can be cold and windy and the skies can be dark and cloudy. On the flip side, I don’t have to venture too far from my desk and given how I have just finished a major upgrade to my systems – a new HPE Pavilion laptop connected to multiple monitors, one of which is vertical and is the one I am using right now – it’s all still at the fun stage. Of course, the fun factor will diminish in time as patterns set in and I realize that it is still all work.  This week it’s been all about publishing. The December 2019 issue of NonStop Insider has been the priority and given how close we are to the holiday season Margo an I have been pleased with the responses we have had to date from the NonStop vendor community;...

You can tell a lot about an organization from their body language and when it comes to the NonStop team, they have to be pleased by all that transpired this week … Perhaps the best album that Bob Dylan ever created was Highway 61 Revisited. Many years ago Margo and I attended an event in New Orleans, the ATMIA annual conference for the financial community. As you can imagine it was focused on ATMs and it was the subject of the post, Covering all points on the compass, NonStop is hard to miss! ,but it had been our plan to drive up to Memphis via Highway 61 and that didn’t happen as the weather wasn’t the best and we were running up against the clock. The highway, or as it may be better known as route, 61 follows the Mississippi River north out of New Orleans and is often referred to as the Blues Highway and had been on my bucket list for decades. What made Bob Dylan’s album so memorable were tracks that included Like a Rolling Stone, Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row and y...

There are always expectations when the annual TBC event comes along but for me, there are three items I will be looking to see being addressed ... In  the quiet moments during the drive from Windsor, Colorado, to Burlingame, California, there were plenty of opportunities to think on what lays ahead. Not in terms of road conditions, as almost all evidence of the snowstorms that had hit us hard during the week had evaporated (except for a few spots in Wyoming), but rather, with regards to expectations as the biggest event of the year for the NonStop community draws near. Margo and I have missed very few major events over the course of three decades – whether ITUG Summits (yes, Margo and I both served as ITUG Summit Chairs during our respective times on the ITUG Board), joint ITUG and DECUS events, or TBCs as these NonStop focused events   are now called.  As expected, the thoughts we had centered mostly on change. Maybe it did have to do with the two storms that...

Sailing a modern racing yacht can be complicated and yet, for many years this too it’s been the same for IT. However, CIOs all want to see IT simplified and HPE has now stepped up to address this … When I first started sailing I had to learn the ropes. Actually, and figuratively! In terms of actually I had to be able to translate what I had to do into tying an appropriate knot and as for figuratively, just a few outings before I really did have to know how to tie a bowline knot. No excuses! Yes, and pretty much blindfolded. So much for learning, “the rabbit comes out of the hole” and yes, “around the tree and back down the hole!” Never did visualize that but one seasoned sailor taught me a short-hand way of achieving exactly the same goal. Simple, right? Well not exactly; seems like everyone with whom I sailed had a different way of tying a bowline knot. No matter; the ends justify the means, right? On the other hand a yacht is a vessel where everything can go horribly wrong ...

So, another three years have passed by and I find myself writing a preview of what I will likely focus on in eighteen months’ time – my next three wishes for NonStop! It wouldn’t be fair on my family if I said 2019 had been a routine year for Pyalla Technologies. It started with the return flight from Sydney, Australia, and continued with three separate trips to Europe plus a lengthy road trip to Las Vegas for HPE Discover 2019 combined with stops in southern California and participation in N2TUG back in Texas. The miles have added up but all the while even as the adventurous life continued to unfold, there was so much news coming out of HPE that scarcely a day passed without a discussion or two over what it all means. Margo and I have our roots firmly anchored in NonStop, dating back to Tandem Computers where Margo had risen through the development organization all the way to the COO role under the stewardship of Bill Heil when Bill headed the NonStop Software BU. As for me...