No conference for long-serving Nonstop alumni?

No conference for long-serving Nonstop alumni?

It proved to be a sobering time walking around the exhibition pavilions and rooms at this year’s major Nonstop events. While at the venues of Dublin and Houston as they hosted the E-BITUG and Nonstop Technical and Business conferences respectively, there was a clear thinning of the presence of community members who have been part of the fabric of Nonstop for many years and decades with some members approaching half-century milestones. The numbers are noticeably thinning as retirements call, interests that were once more of a hobby begin to take center stage and more unfortunate still, some members are on longer with us.

As a member of the Nonstop Community since 1988 – a relative youngster compared to some – Nonstop has been an important part of my life for near on four decades. But that was only a second chapter. As commentaries posted in the past note, for nearly two decades the central theme of my early years had been on IBM and IBM PCM mainframes – even the reference to PCMs and the decade of a thriving Plug-Compatible Mainframe marketplace, quickly dates me. I was fortunate to be recruited, fresh out of an Australian High School (and one semester into University studies), by IBM Australia to attend a Programming Apprenticeship. It was billed as the first Australian “cadetship” program where a small group of us was mentored by IBM staff (from the US).

The year was 1969. So, I have seen IT develop across nearly seven decades. While this is neither here nor there, and of little interest today for most Nonstop community members, nevertheless it is not something that is unique to me. Whether it was 1969 or 1970 or even a few years later, the point is that truly, for this generation, there’s nothing new and very little excites us. Surprised? Shocked? I can be accused of being one of those enthusiastic endorses of what, at the time, was branded as being new and indeed transformational only to bear, first-hand, witness to almost all such “breakthroughs” crash and burn. However, is the experience I have gained worth anything to the latest generation of IT recruits?

It seems not to be. This morning, the morning of Thanksgiving and a household full of family members, I was reminded of the film, No Country for Old Men. In this movie, the theme addressed the inevitability of change, the nature of violence, and the struggle to find one’s place in a morally changing world.   Even worse, from my perspective along with those of my peers, there was the exploration of how the changing times leave behind characters who are unable to cope.  While I don’t identify with all of these noted themes, I can sympathize with the characters that were experiencing some of them. Inevitability of change; finding one’s place in a morally changing world; changing times leaving behind “characters.”

Perhaps just as telling is the heading on the film’s billboard posters (remember them?): There are no clean getaways. I am not going to provide a blow-by-blow account of the many changes I have encountered, frantically supporting and promoting (on occasion), but let’s just say, there’s nothing new even today and leave it at that for now. It’s the same old problems being addressed where the only new requirement is to connect to more, faster and yes, securely. Where we actually run the applications has evolved and will continue to evolve but that in and of itself isn’t news. The industry has been on that journey for decades.

As I walked around the exhibition areas of the most recent Nonstop events, watched as small groups gathered around tables and coffee stations, among the jovial eruptions coming from sone groups clearly excited by something or someone, there were serious discussions taking place. Among the most serious that I witnessed was the prospect of mentoring. Apparently and for me, quite surprisingly, there is a new generation of Nonstop professionals arriving. Some are simply second-generation members of a long-serving Nonstop vendors and yet, there were a number of fresh-faced, enthusiastic, youngsters. Internships are once again fashionable and Nonstop managers need to be applauded for supporting them. Internships are just mentoring revisited and today, mentoring is a serious business but it is also a responsibility of those of my generation not to insert our bias and prejudices into the mix.

As scarry as it may be, propagating a single point of view is not helpful. Pulling back to cover topics as broadly as possible, looking at what did work and what faded from our collective memories (for good and for bad), is important where the objective is to learn and to recognize technology dead-ends, branches that whither and blatant unsubstituted hype, lest we go down the same path with the same results:

“If we fail to learn from history, we are likely to repeat past mistakes
and negative patterns. Understanding history provides crucial insights
for decision-making in the present and helps avoid repeating the errors
that led to negative outcomes.

“The core idea is that without knowledge of past failures,
history is destined to repeat itself.”

Mentoring needs to be as forthright about failures as it needs to promote success. For Nonstop, sad to say, there have been many failures both in terms of decision-making, leadership, product direction, partnerships and more. It’s all there. While decision-making and leadership have improved greatly of late, we are now witnessing a future of “multiple universes.” A return to whether to centralize or distribute; whether to buy or subscribe; whether to specialize or generalize. This comes down to simple statements including centralizing with systems that are purchased running applications tailored to our requirements, inhouse. Or not.

Time is now running out for many of us. Sad to say, in just a year or so, many of those who have lived through the entirety of the age of technology will no longer be participants. Even sadder to say, all that we have witnessed and learnt will go with us. Is this a bad thing or simply how things should be – everyone learning anew. The jury remains out on this one suffice to say, there’s never been an easy answer when history suggests, the immediacy of meeting today’s requirements provides little opportunity to consider how we got here, how technology has improved our lives, how communities provide leadership.

Next time you see any one of us at a conference or event – yes, more than likely, we will be sitting down, enjoying a coffee – then talk to us about our respective technology adventures. For my generation, with longevity with Nonstop, we know of the inevitability of change, the struggle to find one’s place in a changing world, just as know of those not with us any longer, unable to cope with changing times. No need to reference Bob Dylan (remember him?) or his anthems of the ‘60s, but the one constant we can talk about, having lived it, is how the seat for us at the Nonstop table will shortly be given up to those who follow.

Meanwhile, can you share with us, one last coffee?