What manifests itself is before me!

There is a phrase from a popular book, later the script for a film, The Art of Racing in the Rain. A captivating, indeed popular, story featuring a Golden Retriever named Enzo. “That which we manifest is before us” and, for me, a quote that resonated strongly at the time of reading and continues to do so even today. This phrase highlights that whatever it is that will become obvious may already be visible. That is, if you are paying attention. What becomes evident may be hidden and yet, it’s hard to miss.

The photo at the top of this column was taken outside a Starbucks. It was wintertime yet, with a break in the weather and with temperatures hovering above 40F, the temptation to take the Corvette for a ride was too hard to ignore. Snapping a quick photo of the Corvette in the Starbucks parking lot happened to reveal something intriguing. Shaded in the background was a very special motorcycle, the Triumph Rocket, which for me should have been taking center stage. What a motorcycle!

My first encounter with the Rocket was back in the early 1970s when Triumph introduced this then-crazy inline three-cylinder motorcycle, the Triumph Trident. A sibling was also built by BSA and was called the BSA Rocket 3. Triumph and BSA were one and the same back then and it was the Rocket branding that stuck with most fans of the British marque. During my most recent time spent on motorcycles, I journeyed far from home to a Triumph dealer to view this new incarnation and almost came to terms purchasing it. But it was tall in the saddle and a tad heavier than I felt comfortable handling.

However, what stood out for me even back then was how the advertising for this new Rocket stated unequivocally that “Triumph’s legendary Rocket is renowned as a pure original, with more muscle, presence and power than all others.” Of late, the reference to “legendary” has appeared in several recent posts and columns, as NonStop having celebrated fifty years, mirroring the former last-run production of the BSA Rocket 3 and the Triumph Trident in 1975 as together, they celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.

“We are the caretakers of the legendary NonStop.” Almost the equal of “That which we manifest is before us!” In a sense, how many times have we skipped over references to NonStop whenever we talk about our careers in IT. And yet, there is no shortage of accolades for the most successful fault tolerant system ever created. From Baby Boomers, to Generation X and onto Generation Y, NonStop systems have made an impression on those whose job was to position them at the center of mission-critical data processing applications. However, times are changing even if the NonStop of today is hidden somewhat, visible only to its caretakers.

Hope remains strong that Generation Y will recognize the legend and take up the torch. After all, legends never die; resilience is what drives their legendary attribute. Already there are signs of such an awakening. Among the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) within the NonStop community what was previously called the Under 40 SIG has just been renamed the New to NonStop SIG and retains its original mission as foreseen by its founding committee –

The NonStop Under 40 mission is to bring HPE NonStop Server awareness to a new generation of professionals by fostering professional development through relationship building, education, and information sharing from
the NonStop Community.

As someone who is hopeful too that this renamed SIG fosters the next generation of thought-leaders and evangelists. Surely, it shouldn’t be too hard to imagine that those participating in this SIG’s networking opportunities see value in taking to heart the vision of NonStop and promoting NonStop systems as vocally and as passionately as those who have been doing so for the past fifty years. I was recently asked where was the noise surrounding NonStop going to come from and my only response is to acknowledge that this SIG may indeed prove to be laying the foundation for creating such a noise.

I am just equally optimistic over the caretaking of the legend as I see the annual NonStop community gatherings have changed their name from the NonStop TBC Conference to something the greater IT community can relate to – the NonStop Business and Technology Conference. Optimistic too that we build on the role of caretaker to where, according to one source I accessed, we as evangelists provide “a level of support that goes beyond basic maintenance or managing tasks, often implying a deeper level of emotional involvement, active problem-solving, and personalized attention.”

The technology behind NonStop will remain a drawcard but increasingly, this major conference is seeking to elevate its attraction among business leaders. Again, hope! It is my hope that the business managers will find attending this major NonStop conference interesting and will support it with their participation. Furthermore, it is my hope indeed more than just hope, that these business managers demand more from the existing sources and encourage them to pursue support of NonStop for future releases.

Attracting new to NonStop while promoting to business leaders is a necessary next step in the ever-transitioning NonStop journey. Today, with the focus on modernization and ease with which NonStop can now be integrated with the rest of Hybrid IT the challenges for NonStop can be summed up in one word – solutions. This is not new nor should it come as a surprise. And generating noise alone is not enough. And yet, what is indeed evident is that the journey forward for NonStop is evident. Penetrating additional market verticals with a clear message tied to the value proposition of NonStop.

What is the value proposition of NonStop today? For all of us, it should be evident. With NonStop, management can go back home for the night, sleep, and come back into the office knowing full well their NonStop applications never missed a beat. No glitches, no outages, no compromises and no late-night phone calls – after fifty years the legendary NonStop delivers time and time again. Basic? You have to believe it but now the onus is on us to not just to make noise, but to make the right noise. In 2025 and beyond, NonStop, and clusters of NonStop, can deliver customer-facing services unlike any other platform.

With that we, the caretakers of the NonStop legend, are putting into place the much-needed advocacy channels that this journey demands. Will you then be the one, shaded in the background or will you take center stage? Who among the NonStop community today will demonstrate leadership and uplift us all. I challenge each and everyone of us to step into the role of building onto the legend of NonStop and do much more; stepping out of the shadows to continue telling the story of NonStop – the worthy titleholder for all that represents mission-critical data processing in the twenty-first century.