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Looking back at what was presented at recent Regional User Group (RUG) meetings here in America it was clear that the commitment to keeping NonStop systems attractive to the next generation of developers is materializing. And it all has to do with HPE’s commitment to open systems and industry standards … While dancing across the grass this past week with our just-turning-three granddaughter Ella, I was reminded of the fears of youngsters. It was a simple case of not wanting to attract insects and bugs for me, but for her, it was all about the possibility of running across snakes. In a suburban Boulder garden? Not likely, although there was an occasion where good friends from one of my clients joined us for an outside  barbecue  only to see one of Colorado’s rat snakes slither along the stonework of our home. So perhaps it wasn’t such an unusual concern of Ella’s, after all. Reading the latest update from the Node.js community I couldn’t help but remember this incid...

For a decade and a half, Martin Fink, EVP & CTO, HPE has been a recognized pioneer in bringing the world of open source into the commercial world. For the NonStop community this is well understood even as open source plays an important role in the growing popularity of NonStop systems today. Fair enough, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose . There’s no sense of accusing me of waxing eloquent, but this week I was compelled to dig deep for just the right exclamation. By the way, this reminds me of my father who, when I was a child, called his cars “eloquent” and every Saturday afternoon he would pull them from the garage just so that he could wax eloquent ! Nothing original in this, as I am sure families everywhere in the English speaking world can retell something similar, but what strikes me is not so much the reference to cars, but the reference to waxing and waning as in phases of the moon. The reason waves lap the beach, moving up the sand just a few inches at ...

Randy Meyer, the former senior manager overseeing all of NonStop, who is now Mission Critical Systems VP and GM, has been lobbying all and sundry within the NonStop vendor community to become bigger and M&A actions offer one way to achieve this. The news coming from ETI-NET has been hard to miss of late and now, there’s even more changes taking place … Visitors to the Las Vegas strip, whether it is to attend the HPE Discover conference or a similar event will be hard pressed to miss the condominium complex known as Veer Towers. Leaning away from each other, in a manner that suggests they will fall down, Veer represents an engineering wonder but its quirkiness also adds to the overall carnival-like atmosphere of Las Vegas where anything is possible. Its symbolism isn’t lost on me – a kind of engineered contrarianism, where, should you go left, I will most likely go right! Veering from center is something I frequently do, although less kindly souls might remind me that all too o...

Making time to check the flowers may not be a priority for business and yet, as challenging as it was to arrange, financial institutions are facing bigger challenges as they look to better serve a rapidly changing constituency.    My attendance at the recent ATMIA US Conference in New Orleans wasn’t just a time for networking and for sampling a little of what New Orleans offers but, more importantly, it was a time to hear firsthand what was happening in the world of ATMs, ATM networks and the payments solutions supporting them. For more years than I care to recount, I have been in and around payments solutions and so it would be very easy for me to become a little jaded and yet, with each conference, I run into a presentation that truly proves enlightening. Such was the case when I walked into the presentation A Blueprint for Next-Generation ATM Networks by Peter Kulik, Director, Digital ATM, Citibank. The ATM network at Citi represents the face of Citi as seen by its c...

Spending time at RUG meetings and I have been a fan for more years than I care to count, is what I enjoy doing more than practically anything else. Shouldn’t you be participating? Often times, this is where news on NonStop breaks first! Shortly we return to the road; destination – the DUST event in Scottsdale. This time I will be presenting on behalf of a client, OmniPayments, and I am really looking forward to the opportunity to meet-and-greet fellow members of the NonStop community. Originally I had planned on driving up to Chicago and across to Columbus to attend MRTUG and OTUG events but supporting my clients always comes first, so perhaps, next time. Ever since I became involved with the NonStop Regional User Groups (RUGs), back in 2001 and on behalf of the ITUG Board, I have really enjoyed the camaraderie that emanates from RUG events no matter where they are held. I have travelled on a ferry boat between Stockholm and Helsinki for VNUG, the gathering of Viking NonStop Use...

Nothing but clear skies ahead even as the highway beckons! At the ATMIA US Conference the panel sessions proved to be an interesting backdrop to challenges still facing financial institutions and yet, financial transactions still pass through NonStop …  The ATMIA US Conference in New Orleans was the must-to-go place for everyone involved with ATMs. Whether it’s the devices themselves, the parties involved with moving the cash around or those involved in providing payments solutions, this rapidly growing event had it all. Of course, the conference itself featured an exhibition hall with 85 plus exhibitors and there certainly was a lot to take in. It was also good to see companies with strong ties to NonStop exhibiting and this included companies such as FSS and FIS as well as Visa and Pulse / Discover. However, for me, the real excitement came with the numerous panel sessions where ATMIA did a very good job of ensuring a representation from all interested parties were inc...

It was a wild ride into New Orleans but we had to continue driving – there wasn’t any alternative as commitments had been made. How often do we make plans even today without fully exploring back-up options? I have covered a lot of distance over the past couple of weeks and with February already drawing to a close these trips have included visits to Las Vegas and New Orleans. What we observed and how we handled the travel have been covered in previous posts, but it’s fair to say, both towns share a couple of things in common. They are entertainment capitals certainly, but they are also living on the edge – gambling is in evidence everywhere you turn. A history steeped in riverboat gamblers is hard to hide in New Orleans even as the crime bosses inventiveness in Las Vegas too seems to still permeate its streets and yet, there’s a constant stream of visitors to both locations who seem focused on doing nothing other than gambling. And with risk come rewards, but only to a select few an...