Is there a better way?

TCM

TCM: Is there a better way?

For those of us within the Nonstop community who have brought up young children, be they our own or our grandchildren, you learn early on that kids have minds of their own. They will run, change direction and often run into things like furniture or perhaps slide on polished floors. When challenged, they will often look at us, puzzled, and then take off in another direction often claiming that’s where they always wanted to go. Quick to ask question and perhaps, interestingly enough, they can form answers that have little to do with their immediate surroundings. “Can I go downstairs?” And before you answer they respond “I always have done it this way,” as they then proceed to slide down these steps; “it’s fun!” As much as they provide amusement they illustrate just how even the youngest child can challenge our understanding of motivation – whichever way they are headed is the right way, didn’t you know? Fun for them quickly becomes anxieties for us!

In business what makes the successful companies is their ability to understand directions, goals and the necessity for discipline and teamwork. In confidence the managers will tell you that their company is a source of joy in that their success has come about because of the company’s understanding of what its employees can do and what is outside their areas of expertise. When we interact with the Nonstop community, it is our belief that accumulating knowledge of best practices as we do, TCM is amongst the best sources for information about how the solution they support on a Nonstop system is helping their clients retain customers while attracting new ones. For as long as TCM has provided managed services, the story is the same: “I always have done it this way!”

Among the most frequent questions asked of TCM by Nonstop customers, is the age-old issue “are we solving the right problem?” Foremost in these customer’s minds is whether maintaining the status quo is appropriate given their circumstance. During the subsequent interactions with these customers, we pose the question, “is there a better way?” Once we ask this question, we quickly follow-up with, “Let us find it together.” As these conversations progress, they soon turn to questioning whether starting again today, from a fresh piece of paper, “would we still do it this way?”

For TCM the response is the same whether it is from us or from the customer following his own thoughts, “what does success look like?” This level of conversations, and the questions they generate, is commonplace today as HPE Nonstop delivers updated Nonstop systems amid tectonic shifts in the manner whereby data created on Nonstop is delivered to adjacent servers. Before there’s any conversation around the immediacy of responses that AI demands, there’s still the many less than real time delivery methodologies being utilized – MQSeries, JDBC to databases, JSON to processes and even support of modern Data Streaming Platforms.

Rather than focusing on a specific technology or product announcement, according to Andy Vasey, Services Business Consultant, TCM, “hearing these questions being asked is really all about exploring how Nonstop customers define where they are today, where they want to be, and how they get there.” When it comes to answering the primary question of “is there a better way,” there’s not a Nonstop customer who has asked this question that has then turned away from consulting their peers and turning to industry thought-leaders. By themselves, Nonstop customers typically sidestep answering these questions directly given that they’ve been long-term Nonstop customers who have simply evolved only at the speed of their upgraded replacement Nonstop systems. Descending stairs to the basement may not be these Nonstop customers goal for their IT organization, and letting it slide away, even less of an option and yet, for Nonstop Customers the question remains. Is there a better way?

When TCM introduced Optimiser+ we followed observations we made during these conversations. How do we establish a baseline and how do we best illustrate the current performance and state of system configurations and the key subsystems they support. What we also observed is that while the graphics we provide that are part of the Optimiser+ driven technology review, “the value comes from the discussions that follow after the data is reviewed,” said Andy Vasey. Conferences such as the upcoming Nonstop Technology & Business Conference 2026 (Nonstop TBC 26) will provide insight of a general nature focused on the technology on offer from the Nonstop team – and yes, TCM will be a participant of this conference to be held in Orlando, Florida.

Shifting the conversation from technology to strategy,
achievable outcomes and then focusing on future directions,
is key for TCM’s business model.

Of a more serious nature is how veterans of Nonstop oftentimes overlook or even disregard the recommendations of seasoned Nonstop experts. For this segment of the Nonstop community, their developed pragmatism leads them to depend on their own scripts and workarounds, to where they become slow to recognize that there are alternatives. It might even be their influence that is contributing to the customer realizing less-than-stellar performance from their Nonstop solution. Maybe, for them, the status quo is perfectly fine! Just as it is with little children, happily changing direction, blundering into furniture and sliding across polished floors, the actions of these seasoned veterans can not only be dangerous and error prone but follow practices and methodologies unsuited to the oversight of today’s modern Nonstop systems. Maybe, just maybe, they are in serious need of adult supervision?

Optimiser+ has proved insightful when it comes to assessing skills and with it, succession risks. “What we uncovered was how the greatest risk was not technological performance but rather, long-term platform sustainability and supportability,” said Andy Vasey. “When the challenge for business-critical Nonstop applications came down to running with limited internal system management capabilities, ensuring continuity of skillsets is critical when having any conversations about the longevity of Nonstop.” Consistent with these views, “what we also uncovered was how new stakeholders (in the form of new hires being recent graduates), especially when given responsibilities for Nonstop, wanted confidence, visibility of risks and a structured improvement plan. All of which is how we are finding Optimiser+ proving successful with identifying a better way.

TCM is a Platinum Sponsor of Nonstop TBC 26 where you will hear from Daniel Craig, Managing Director at TCM, giving a Lightning session on Wednesday at 1:05pm. You will find us as exhibitors where there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss how TCM can help you pursue this topic of: Is there a better way?

Watch, too, as Daniel delivers his N2NS Rotary Session, part of TCM’s support of New2NonStop. Information about this session has just been released by the New2Nonstop team and can be found on the New to Nonstop Linked Group:

“Hear about Dan’s story from a childhood around Tandem Computing
to his current role as Operations Director at TCM
Learn about the current affairs of the Nonstop space
and how the industry continues to transform.
Hear about solutions from TCM to help customers continue to grow and evolve.”

His conversation with the Nonstop community happens to fall on Thursday, August 20 and if this comes after this magazine’s publication date, the session will be recorded and can be viewed on the New2Nonstop YouTube channel. Check it out – it may be a good thing to do prior to Nonstop TBC 26 as it will give you time to plan your questions for Daniel that you might arise after having heard from him.

As always, we welcome any topics or subjects you would like to talk to us about and you can initiate these conversations by contacting the TCM team directly at –