A journey to the stars, and beyond!

With so much press being given to space travel and as the number of participants grow, it seems almost an afterthought that the topic of space enters mainstream conversations of IT professionals. After all, it is tech that makes the renewal of interest in space travel a natural conversation starter. There is a lot of competition, not all as successful as predicted with aeronautical juggernauts faltering at the start line. Whether it is just a commuter trip to the space station, contemplation of a return to the moon or even voyages to distant planets, the rapid escalation in technology has found a rapt audience with almost everyone in IT.

Wild speculation over the possibilities will have us not surprised should, out of a wormhole, or something similar, popular television’s federation starship, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) suddenly appear. Imagination may know no bounds but even now, the appearance of this constitution-class heavy cruiser, possibly being chased by an enemy craft running full stealth mode, might generate little more that a heavy sigh with commentary to the effect, “what took them so long?”

This year, we see the HPE NonStop team launch its own Starship product line. A continuation of the current NonStop server line, bringing with it faster processes together with larger memory options, faster interconnects including fast Ethernet and greater leverage of CLIM I/O architecture. For what this all translates to we will just have to wait and see what the first NonStop customers experience will be, but it is sure to have something for everyone. More than likely, it will prove to be a blast, so as to speak!

It remains hard to ignore the references to space given the program name Starship. Even so, what the HPE NonStop team delivers will be the physical ship and it will be the NonStop vendor community delivering the fuel and mission controls. Destinations will vary even as the launch points but one thing has become very obvious; HPE’s commitment to NonStop remains intact as is continuing to attract development dollars. This is a positive reaffirmation that the NonStop community needs to be supported as the demands on NonStop continue to grow.

This too skips over the coming AI / Analytics integration revolution. It’s out there. It’s available. What do we do with it? If this sounds all too familiar then it is the one constant for IT. With change that takes us on a new trajectory, comes the age-old question: What business problems will Starship allow us to address? It is against this background that NTI is excited by the potential and has become increasingly optimistic over the future of its customers even as it is less cautious, indeed very optimistic, over its own future.

As 2024 ended, the marketing message NTI was taking into 2025 and yes, beyond, is one of travel. Its vision for its place among NonStop customers is as a virtual travel agent. Ensuring passports are in hand, scanning boarding passes and directing to gates for flights to desired destinations goes smoothly and for those who fly frequently, supporting a frequent flyer program under the branding, the 2% Club. Already being promoted across multiple media channels, this new 2% Club is for those NonStop customers who find their current replication deployments are not satisfying. Those NTI customers that are already deploying products from the DRNet® product portfolio automatically become members, but with the upcoming events membership is being thrown open to all NonStop community members contemplating NTI’s offerings.

For the NonStop customer, the presence now of the 2% Club is more than just a perk for a select group of NonStop customers, even as the number is just a reminder that it takes an effort to do due diligence, call in a new supplier, to change course, and to set out on a different path. It’s the new NTI brand that recognizes those NonStop customers who value what NTI can offer. The creation of the 2% Club is also the recognition that as the NonStop community watches as HPE NonStop Starship take off, it is NTI that is working on providing the fuel and ensuring the right destination is chosen. Not just a tag line but it is now, DRNet®; Your journey to discovery.

Supporting this program is a new communications channel just launched. The NTI Quarterly Newsletter, incorporating the 2% Club Advocate, provides updates on team members, product development, industry insight from experts and quotes from NonStop vendors and more. Look for it on the NTI website, under the tab RESOURCES and the section headlined, NEWSSTAND. This is NTI’s way of getting valuable information into the hands of every member of the NonStop community and being fully digital, it will come at you fast where all delivery speeds will sizzle as they tantalize.

Nothing to slow the flow of information from NTI that begins with data and ends with data. Through advanced replication, Starship is fueled. Through optimized distribution to open databases and industry-standard process, Starship is guided. And through newfound bidirectional integration, Starship accelerates its path to participating in hybrid IT. Whether your destination is earthbound, or to the moon and planets or to a space station in orbit delivering data around the world, Starship with NTI puts you ahead of the technology curve.

When the popular rock group, ZZ Top released its album, Eliminator, in 1983, featuring a 1933 hot rod coupe on the cover, cruising a car park. In 1985 the released a follow-up album, Afterburner, that featured the same coupe, no longer earthbound but orbiting a galaxy. The symbolism isn’t lost on anyone today. Simplistically, ZZ Top provided a powerful metaphor for what the future may hold; having mastered earth, it was time to head for the stars. When it comes to metaphors, it is just as simplistic to view the new marketing message of NTI. Delivering on a future that is data centric and demanding data becoming available wherever it is required. Within the data center and beyond.

For many within the NonStop community 2025 will represent a transformative year; New NonStop systems, new requirements on participation, greater modernization and more standards being supported. Most of all, with NTI and the DRNet® product suite, there is a NonStop vendor fully engaged in delivering the future to you in time for NonStop to become even more entrenched in hybrid IT even as its presence is celebrated for what it delivers, NonStop. Can’t wait; Won’t wait, NonStop seems to be equally applicable to the trajectory of NonStop just as it is capable of ensuring no matter where you are coming from, your destination is assured.

No longer just a case for NTI wishing you bon voyage, but rather today wishing you to get seated, strapped in and enjoying the blast. All the sizzle you are looking for is now with your NonStop vendor, NTI.