NonStop RUG, TUG, and Chapter update for: Q1 2024 (plus).

Casey Taylor with the keynote opening in Berlin

Call them whatever you prefer, but whenever the NonStop community gathers and yes, it can be any level, from city to region to global, there is always something attractive about finding a way to participate. For the NTI this has been the case for the past couple of years where such participation has been escalated to the highest level. Whether it’s a Diamond, a Platinum or something even higher, as traditional marketeers will tell you, it’s always a good case to go big or else go home.

What you might think about the value of attending there is always something new to be discovered. Major industry analyst establishments and many technology influencers might view any need to gather as a community a legacy leftover reflecting models of the past. For the NonStop community it has become the major source (in some cases the sole source) for information on the primary vendor, the HPE NonStop team, it’s growing product portfolio and yes, recent wins and market penetration.

Neil Davis with the EMEA update at the Berlin event.

Did I just write wins? Well in the case of EMEA it was clear from the presentation from EMEA boss, Neil Davis that two events were worth mentioning. The growth in the Nordic and Benelux regions that have led to the addition of three new NonStop users as well as the decision by a middle eastern financial institution to back away from cloud deployment preferring instead to deploy their mission critical solutions on new NonStop converged systems. The cloud may be of value to some enterprises but not necessarily all enterprises.

As for product portfolio, where else would you hear updates on the new NonStop trifecta? And yes, by all accounts from those who have participated in multiple RUG events in 2024, it’s three sure things for those enterprises to step up to the latest option for NonStop deployment. NonStop running in the cloud – a new target vNS for those wanting more than just a development environment and want to test; NonStop virtualized for enterprise’s choice of hardware – a flexibility that supports private cloud deployment; a Converged System – from what was presented, a NonStop system shipped with an embedded hypervisor – think in terms of KVM present and capable of supporting multiple virtual machines flexing its muscles by leveraging all the cores available to the hypervisor.

Franz Koenig challenging the NonStop community as he always does!

Its at these RUG events that word gets passed around about new people, new products and solutions and new NonStop customers. It’s common knowledge that getting all the approvals needed to deliver a case study is getting a lot harder to achieve, but at a RUG event word of mouth works wonders. It’s the only place to truly “get the skinny” on who’s doing what with whom! And this has been at the heart of NonStop events, conferences, summits for decades. For anyone who thought that the traditional NonStop beer bust was no longer, think again. These are the times where info is shared at light speed.

Product updates. Customer exchanges. Executive access. It all happens at NonStop RUG events and it was particularly encouraging to see more senior members of the management team mingling with the NonStop community. We have enjoyed the presence of Casey Taylor, VP & GM of NonStop, who is someone very influential when it comes to the future of NonStop. We have also enjoyed the presence of senior management from the sales business unit – the presence of Neil Davis of EMEA certainly. Neil really does like to “work the floor” when it comes to interacting with all members of the NonStop community. And then we have seen a solid turn out by Product Management with Ian Inglis, the head of the Product Management team present in Berlin and Mark Pollans, HPE Senior Worldwide Product Manager, present in Australia.

Balloons weren’t the only item in ascent!

These commitments by the NonStop team, including those from different business units within HPE, go a long way in renewing confidence in NonStop. After a couple of years – and they did include the time when the global pandemic held sway – that were assessed by the NonStop community as being less than stellar, we have essentially turned full circle. “Can’t stop; won’t stop; NonStop!”

A phrase we first heard in Australia at OzTUG and spoken by Casey Taylor was yet again repeated by her in Berlin. It’s catchy and for the NonStop community, makes perfect sense. But what is reassuring is that it is the boss saying this. Previously we had heard of “the freshest data can be found on NonStop” but that doesn’t quite convey the same positive, indisputable, mantra-like message as does can’t stop, won’t stop, NonStop.

Will stop; Always stops; Trabant! A reminder that all cars aren’t the same.

I have a sense we will be hearing this repeated many times at the upcoming NonStop TBC 2024 Conference in Monterey this fall. Hopefully, too, we might hear it uttered at HPE Discover 2024 in Las Vegas this summer. Wherever we hear it, most likely it will be at a RUG gathering and this is encouragement enough for the NonStop community. After all, it is the basic fundamentals of NonStop that continues to drive the enthusiasm for NonStop amongst community members and coming up on fifty years – our golden anniversary – isn’t it good to see HPE firmly behind its premier mission critical product portfolio?

In the meantime, there are other NonStop RUG events in the works. Up next for Margo and me will be N2TUG even as others we talked to in Berlin are making plans to attend MexTUG (May) and CTUG and BITUG (both in June). Globally, there are other RUGs planning on meeting as summer gets under way in the lead up to the big events referenced above so there is really ample opportunity to hear everything you need to know about what’s next for NonStop. With the current executives and managers now in place, there really isn’t any preventative walls distancing us from where NonStop is headed.

Check Point Charlie, Berlin
(Look carefully for some familiar faces)

Irrespective of your own position on the merits of RUG events, there’s an inescapable upside available to all. Call it educational and indeed instructional, but at least you can leave yourself open to the transformational. It’s a time too for renewal amidst the routine and oftentimes, downright drudgery that comes with the territory.

Supporting the fault tolerant NonStop system after fifty years may not be the glamor occupation you may have once thought, but rest assured, as Casey Taylor noted, “NonStop powers the world.” HPE CEO, Antonio Neri, in a prerecorded message for the community, called it “the future of NonStop is bright!” but to hear all of this, you just have to be there! See you next RUG events and I trust you enjoy them as much as we have enjoyed the events we have attended of late.

Clearly, the future of Berlin is indeed bright!
Sidwalk cafes alongside every river and canal.