Pyalla Technologies, LLC …Providing articles, commentaries and posts focused on HPE, Mission Critical Systems and NonStop

The ramparts rising up to the very top of Edinburgh Castle are a reminder that even today, powerful fortresses project an image of invulnerability. Towering above the city it is a symbol of power with a view over its surroundings from sea to the farmlands that stretched to the horizon. While it became one of the most besieged fortress castles in all of Europe, it was only captured a handful of times with abject failures reported numerous times. Even today it stands as a reminder that what was once thought the epitome of defense is now little more than an ancient relic.

Look closely at the photo above and you will make out the faint white line that is the contrails of a passing plane. Technology never sleeps and its trajectory is almost a straight line upwards. The arrival of gunpowder certainly put a dent in castles perceived invulnerability but as the years passed, so did the arrival of the airplane. Flying machines capable of attacking from above where any and all defenses were laid bare. However, thinking of the future was never part of the plan and in an era when anything new and unexplainable was viewed as little more than witchcraft.

To anyone perusing social media channels including LinkedIn and Twitter will not have missed the attention being given to AI. It’s as though it is becoming the salvation of everything to do with business – attract new customers; address customer inquiries; provide directions; walk through menus when on the phone. There are so many predictions of vocations that will be upended, even becoming obsolete, because of AI. The initial impact of ChatGPT was as if witchcraft had suddenly resurfaced.

However, what caught my attention was he simple declaration, “The future is here!” In reality, this declaration is far from new or even earthshattering. However, as a storyteller long on examining the future impact of technology on business just the thought that well, the journey was over, made me sit up and rethink my own expectations. If the future is indeed here, what comes next? And equally as important, are we prepared for the “next future?”

The problems with IT have long been well-documented. Data Base Management Systems would be our salvation. Standards would ensure we had a firm foundation. Both would provide the strong and impressive ramparts on which we build our applications – solid, immovable, predictable. Then there is the user experience. Wasn’t it supposed to be all that we needed to understand and address but even here, if you have been on the phone of late looking for any kind of product or service assistance, the customer experience seems to have faded into the background. Whatever path we have elected to go down, complexity continues to rule the roost!  

What comes next is the title of a song in Act One of the popular musical, Hamilton –

What comes next?
You’ve been freed
Do you know how hard it is to lead?
You’re on your own
Awesome. Wow!
Do you have a clue what happens now?

Leadership? What happens now? If the future is indeed here then yes, what happens now? Is it AI? Or perhaps Quantum Computing? Neither of the above, as they are both predictable. The thing about the future is that what makes it exciting is the unknown. What is the next future will surprise all of us and will likely appear from a nontraditional industry and I am not for the moment simply thinking in terms of what Elon Musk will do next, even as I am tempted to do so. As a storyteller not knowing the ending can be as frustrating as it is tantalizing.

Which brings me back to events and conferences. Edinburgh was the venue for the first in-person pan-European NonStop event – the E-BITUG 2023. There was a respectable turn out by the NonStop community. The mix of HPE personnel with NonStop vendors and users provided a lively atmosphere for discussions on all things NonStop. Historically, the NonStop community is extremely conservative by nature as mission-critical applications are risk averse. If the future is here then we have known about it for a very long time. And yet, with as many conversations as there were that turned to virtualization, cloud computing and yes, even the latest DevOps offerings, was the NonStop community on the cusp of experience something new? What happens now could very well determine the future of NonStop for many members of the NonStop community.

With the resurgence of interest in business resilience and with it the acknowledgment that it is fault tolerance and business continuity that forms the foundation and provides the ramparts leading up to a level of business operations only dreamt about decades ago. Recoverability as a defense is now augmented with reactive as an offense. Absorb, learn and adapt are the new catch cries of business. With continuous adaptation you have the stepping stones critical to your journey forward without which you may never see what is coming next.

Did you miss E-BITUG? Do you plan on going to other RUGs – MexRUG, CTUG, N2TUG, VNUG and more? Will we see you in September in Denver for the NonStop TBC 2023 conference? Hopefully you are putting your plans together as how else will you know of the future that is here and be able to answer the question, what comes next? This has already become the topic of recent articles commentaries and posts so if you have missed this renewed interest in NonStop and the role it is playing as the journey to the future continues, then perhaps it’s time to consider reading portions of them as this is becoming the key topic of 2023.    

Real Time View column:

March 19, 2023
Modernization is a “must pursuit” for NonStop users
https://connect2nonstop.com/real-time-view/

Real Time View blog:

April 23, 2023
When Primary and Backup are called for!
https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/2023/04/when-primary-and-backup-are-called-for.html

May 11, 2023
Where I stand with you?
https://itug-connection.blogspot.com/2023/05/where-i-stand-with-you.html

Buckle-Up:

April 27, 2023
The starting gun has fired and we are off to events!
https://buckle-up-travel.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-starting-gun-has-fired-and-we-are.html

May 23, 2023
A quick trip to the UK; time to decompress?
https://buckle-up-travel.blogspot.com/2023/05/a-quick-trip-to-uk-time-to-decompress.html

rkbuckle@gmail.com

Richard Buckle
Cofounder and CEO
Pyalla Technologies, LLC