The Nonstop Partner Ecosystem – is it truly meeting the needs of the Nonstop community?

The Nonstop Partner Ecosystem – is it truly meeting
the needs of the Nonstop community?

Perhaps it’s time to have a discussion about the Nonstop Partner Ecosystem. Dig a little deeper and the question arises what does the Nonstop team mean when it talks about partnerships and what does it mean to shape and support an ecosystem? It has taken a long time for the traditional vendor community to come to terms with programs focused on partnerships; programs that began prior to Casy Taylor stepping up to lead the Nonstop organization. With that, there has been a lot of enthusiasm within the Nonstop leadership about partners with the all-too-familiar PowerPoint slide, depicting the logos of a myriad array of vendors present in a perceived Partner Ecosystem, becoming a prominent part of any leadership presentation.

However, what separates a true partner from just one more vendor? As the Nonstop Technology & Business Conference 2026 (NonstopTBC26) draws near, we will witness the gathering of many vendors dedicated to supporting the Nonstop platform. However, as has been rehashed many times, there is a very clear divide between vendors and partners. What you will see arrayed around an exhibit hall will be numerous vendors looking to attract you to their tabletop “booth.” A good turnout is always a positive sign for the Nonstop community, even if by former standards back in the days of ITUG Summits it’s very much a scaled down affair. Perhaps the best indicator of just how slim the pickings are here at events, is how vendors with industry solutions are devoting more resources to industry events rather than more aggressively supporting the Nonstop platform.

It’s fair to say that trade shows for the financial service industry or indeed the manufacturing industry is where these solutions vendors gain traction with prospective buyers. Given the make-up of attendees at Nonstop TBC in recent years, there’s little incentive to sell solutions to mid-level technicians and operators. Learning about what the Nonstop development team is focused on, as depicted in their product roadmaps, is important to those who attend these events but inking a deal with a solutions vendor seems highly unlikely. A handshake confirming an upcoming appointment to provide an onsite product presentation is about all any Nonstop vendor can expect to take place.

Increasingly, there is a recognizable trend developing within the Nonstop team. The word vendor is frequently referenced when speaking about an infrastructure, middleware or tools vendor. Alternatively, the word partner is being used to describe a solutions provider or a vendor with products that are included in the HPE Price Book and thus, contributing directly to the HPE bottom line. Clearly, the likes of Lusis and abat+ fall into the category of partners, where a true partnership plays out with the Nonstop team (and, even with the bigger HPE), that is only too willing to present on their behalf. Witness the last couple of HPE Discover events where both Lusis and abat+ featured and were highly visible. This is good news for the Nonstop community as the more solutions partners are attracted to the Nonstop platform, the better for the future of Nonstop.

However, when it comes to entrenched vendors, those providing product offerings best categorized as infrastructure, middleware and tools, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to generate opportunities with prospective Nonstop customers. And it’s for a very simple reason. Partner solutions sell Nonstop systems whereas vendor products offer band-aids and nice-to-have offerings. Not to dismiss the value of vendor products as in many cases they fill technology holes Nonstop development has left unaddressed, but there’s not a vendor product that has moved the revenue needle quite like a partner solution. Again, not to add too fine a point to this argument, at any time and with motivation, nothing says that Nonstop development could diminish the value of a vendor product with a product of their own.

“Picking between a vendor and a partner doesn’t need to be a game
that one team wins and one team loses. Instead, organizations
should think about both options as players on their team.
There’s value in both types of relationships when the time is right.

Partners are intended to help organizations pursue big, strategic goals
that require ongoing engagement, external expertise, deep
organizational understanding, and incremental change. Vendors are
there to support smaller, more contained initiatives. They can also help
to augment teams that already have the necessary expertise in-house
but who need the right product or solution to support the effort.”

INC.com
Why Vendors and Partners Are Both Essential in Business
EXPERT OPINION BY LOUISE K. ALLEN, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER, PLANVIEW

For the Nonstop sales team, the motivation behind referencing a vendor’s product is driven by the need to add a tick in check box. Yes, we can do security and yes, we can support business continuity and of course we can provide our own monitoring. However, this too has its downside for all vendor products. Motivation to present an abundance of competitive offerings simply doesn’t exist, given how Nonstop sales financially rewards its team members when promotion of that tick in the check box is limited to a single vendor on their price book. What is very clear is that all vendors with a competitive product to that which the Nonstop sales references, are disadvantaged in a manner that makes light of their place in the Nonstop management slide, Partner Ecosystem. These vendor products are typically highly focused, offering a better alternative to that being promoted by the partner and worthy of their time to evaluate.

When you consider that partner solutions are typically “complete” and indeed, in the eyes of their sales team, “comprehensive,” and a solution where few gaps exist for other vendor products to participate. Security is addressed, monitoring is integrated, business continuity assured, and much more … it is strictly a distinctive response to any prospect for the partners to say, yes, we can do that, rather than invite a product vendor into a deal. I have seen it time and time again how, even where the solutions provide a mediocre product offering, salesman will not entertain promoting a better offering from a vendor’s product portfolio.

There really isn’t any opportunity to address the current direction of the Nonstop Partner Ecosystem other than for vendors to keep showing up at Nonstop community events. Even better, the vendor networking opportunities may introduce a premier product to a prospect who was unaware that they had options. Vendors on the Nonstop price book have an advantage but it’s a short-lived advantage as the success of the Nonstop drive to enhance the Partner Ecosystem will likely see opportunities to sell product lessen with addition of more solutions partners.

Left with just an install-base, where one product or another is already deployed, all Nonstop vendors providing infrastructure, middleware and tools will see be locked into a base that over time, will dwindle. What is already transpiring is the smart vendors, with just one product, will introduce other products into “their channel” likely setting off a chain reaction as these smart vendors are building their own Partner Ecosystem and for the Nonstop community, that’s a blessing that may have been a longtime coming. Partner solutions and vendor products have a legitimate place in the mission-critical marketplace; let’s not be too hasty in discounting all those who support the Nonstop community. After all, their product might just be the product your customers need right now!