TCM Insight – Bringing Your NonStop Into Focus

Responsibilities

We probably all follow routines of checking our financial accounts. We review bank, credit card and investment accounts as we look for errant or poor performing activities. We more often than not schedule visits to our doctors and dentists offices for check-ups as we seek to maintain good health. And we take our cars in for service whether it is mandated or voluntary just to ensure trouble free longevity and to stall any deterioration of our chosen vehicle.

Financial security, health security and yes, relationship security all influence where we take responsibility for outcomes that might eventuate. It’s hard to ignore such responsibilities and when it comes to the systems and software that occupy just as much of our time and for which we are just as responsible, check-ups, reviews and even compliance have become an all-important aspect of our daily IT lives. Simply stated, no IT professional would ever want to take responsibility for not performing a critical task to which they were assigned.

Introducing TCM InSight

In the coming months TCM will be unveiling a product long considered missing from the NonStop software portfolio. This will be a soft launch as we begin to validate the assumptions and targets to better ensure your NonStop system is making as big a contribution to your business as you anticipated from the day your NonStop system arrived. Given the complexity of today’s modern systems and the myriad array of infrastructure, middleware and tools and solutions present on such systems, it isn’t always clear what the optimal configuration is and which operating procedures work best for your business.

Desiring its fault tolerance and massive scale-out properties may fuel the need to deploy a NonStop system but how often do we take a serious look at how it is all put together? For instance, how often do we review our product portfolios and check our system logs to see what is actually in use and what is in need of additional consideration?

“For years we have provided ad-hoc reviews and improvements across numerous system elements, which have improved the performance and stability of our managed services customers’ systems. However, we had never thought to bring all of this together as a unified service that could be made available to all NonStop customers…until now.”  D. Craig – Managing Director, TCM

Our plan is to begin unveiling over the next couple of months the productizing of services we had previously provided on an ad-hoc basis, combining them into a top-to-bottom examination of everything related to what NonStop is supporting. Updates will be provided at user events as they take place throughout the year with a major unveiling taking place at this year’s NonStop Technical Boot Camp 2022, at which time we will be sharing feedback from our early adopters even as we look to start conversations with the community to validate the assumptions and targets we have made. It is important to note that NonStop system do benefit from a little TLC and this is where we see TCM InSight proving most beneficial to the NonStop community.

How does it work?

TCM InSight was born out of conversations we have had with our customers and with the HPE NonStop team. According to those we talked to we were surprised to find out that there were many NonStop customers with no clear idea of the status of their NonStop system or how well configured it was or, as we were to realize all too quickly, how well configured it wasn’t! Being provided with a light-touch audit that gave some tips back to the NonStop customer was seen as not only being helpful but ensures that today’s NonStop does indeed work well with others.

For those who are familiar with the reports vehicle manufacturers provide after completing a service, they will see something from TCM that might look familiar. Just as the average motorist doesn’t need deep technical explanations concerning every single item so too does not IT management when it is their NonStop system that has completed a service review such as provided by TCM.

“Run the script; analyze the data and then provide good insights for the customer became our immediate focus.” D. Craig – Managing Director, TCM

What TCM is now delivering as a product is a living template that will evolve with NonStop as NonStop continues to evolve. Clearly today’s traditional system deployment is being complemented with virtual machines and even virtual deployments within private cloud. Anticipation is that the NonStop journey has only just begun and as with such journeys, it’s always good to have someone alongside who has made the journey before. With TCM InSight, all NonStop users benefit from what has occurred elsewhere in the NonStop community.

One aspect of having a check-up is that you can see what’s happening, make decisions and move on to the next task. As simple as this may sound we are finding that among the smaller customers of NonStop in-house expertise isn’t readily available. Those tasked with the initial deployment oftentimes have moved on and with their absence, scripts initially written to oversee operations and what remains may not be providing the contribution that they once made.

Furthermore, it has been our experience that IT management has been loath to consider further examination in fear that they may disrupt the operations of all that NonStop supports. Working with the HPE NonStop sales team we also came to recognize that in the case of the smaller NonStop user, they too can benefit from such a product as TCM InSight. Given the breadth of coverage already being provided and the reality that, in many situations, NonStop isn’t the only system in a network providing a solution, these NonStop users working with a partner like TCM can benefit from the presence and experience with such configurations.

“TCM Insight is all about putting you in control of your NonStop systems no matter their size or complexity or the availability of skilled staff and for that, bringing TCM InSight to market as a product should prove beneficial to everyone in the NonStop community.” D. Craig – Managing Director, TCM

Watch for more news to follow as the year unfolds but should you want additional information about the product or whether you could benefit from early adoption, simply give us a call. We welcome all inquiries; just email us as below.

nonstop@tcm.uk.com   www.tcm.uk.com