TCM – welcomed the international NonStop community returning to Europe’s for in-person conference

Whenever that final page on your calendar is torn off and you realize that a major NonStop event is about to kick off, there are always mixed feelings. Emotions run high as the days become a matter of hours and the venue begins to fill with attendees. It was no different this year as we began to welcome the NonStop community to their first in-person pan-European event following the global COVID disaster. As tradition would have it, the evening prior to the formal opening of the event was a beer bust celebration and with NonStop community participation any concerns we may have had about the success or otherwise of E-BITUG 2023 were quickly put to rest.

In the Partner Pavilion, there was a real buzz from the moment the conference opened on the Tuesday morning. As a Platinum Sponsor, we scored a prominent position for our stand. We were located directly opposite where coffee and the luncheon food were to be served and this gave us the opportunity to interact unhindered with the NonStop community. Apart from visitors from the US, there were NonStop community members from Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  For many of the attendees simply being able to put a face to a name or to greet a colleague they had only seen on a Zoom call, was all the evidence we needed to understand how appreciative the NonStop community was to once again have an opportunity to socialize and network as in times past.

“We always look forward to the pan European event being held in Edinburgh as this brings the biggest European NonStop event of the year to our home town,” said TCM Managing Director Daniel Craig. “We were pleased with the response we had to the social options that were organized but ultimately it is the event itself that counts and for TCM it proved to be an opportunity to cement relationships with the NonStop community.”

In addition, TCM also provided a comprehensive guide to the best eateries and pubs in Edinburgh which was very well received. Continuing the Scottish theme, the TCM competition this year was a virtual treasure hunt tour of Scotland.

As a Platinum Sponsor, TCM had the opportunity to speak to the NonStop community and we took full advantage of what was afforded us. On the Wednesday morning it was the combination of Andy Vasey and Rick Stather representing TCM with the first vendor plenary session that followed the morning’s all-important NonStop product management update. How InSight stops Oversight was the title of our presentation and it was very well attended. However, it was the breakout session of the Tuesday, vNS: To InfiniBand & Beyond, by Shiva Subramanian where we saw for the first time a standing-room only attendance by the NonStop community.

“Having made the decision to take a deep dive into vNS and to invest in the necessary hardware and software to realize on that decision, we are pleased with the outcome,” said Daniel. “The NonStop community has traditionally been conservative and the lead time to pursuing leading edge technologies does not happen overnight, but when it comes to vNS and NonStop as Software, we are pleased by the positive reception we have received to date.” When it comes to what was influencing our investment in vNS was the awareness we had of how the NonStop community was embracing DevOps and together, in a virtual environment, the tools on hand for developers grew considerably.

“When we talk about modernization and how the NonStop community was going about embracing modernization, the most obvious outcome has to be in DevOps,” said Daniel. “On paper, NonStop systems might appear as though they require specialized skills to fully leverage the NonStop fundamentals but in reality, today the very same tools favored by developers can be leverage to develop applications targeting NonStop systems.” When it comes to NonStop today, it’s a lot more than just InfiniBand & Beyond as the variety of options presents the NonStop developer with an almost endless number of options that truly take them to infinity and beyond!

Our investments in vNS fueled by our awareness of the impact being made by DevOps, have helped considerably in our ability to provide greater value to our clients. Having said this, it was with the second presentation TCM gave at this event where we struck yet another positive note. As TCM offers its InSight product to our clients, what we are in effect providing is the very same tool that TCM has relied on for a number of years. It was apparent to us that we needed to quickly assess how our client’s NonStop systems were being used and to do so in a manner where our findings could be simplified to where even the most senior managers could readily understand with just a cursory glance.

Visualization has always proved challenging as there are many moving parts involved,” said Daniel. “You might say we modelled this after the auto service industry whereby they provide a simple overview illustrated with the green, yellow, red traffic light schematics.” With InSight, that’s exactly how the InSight provides its assessment of your NonStop system – the same one-page visualization those familiar with reports from other industries have resorted to in their exchanges with their own customers. TCM is offering the NonStop community the very same tool TCM has been using where any change in management, any alteration of responsibilities, those new to NonStop have a way of checking how well their system is configured and operated.

It is safe to say that any anxieties that our TCM team may have experienced in the lead up to E-BITUG 2023 relaxed as the week’s activities progressed. Just as we, along with those we talked to, warmly welcomed the return to in-person events for the NonStop community, we do need to thank many parties that helped make this conference the success it was – the BITUG Committee Connect, and HPE. But most of it all, it was the NonStop community itself that made its presence felt where we drew the most encouragement. There will be more events held this year but for now, with memories of E-BITUG fresh in our minds, we are looking forward to working even more closely with all of our clients. It’s the level of cooperation that we see today that not only encourages us, but motivates us to continue meeting the demands of the NonStop community no matter where their technology journey takes them.

nonstop@tcm.uk.com   www.tcm.uk.com