Don’t Miss New Webinar on Affordable NonStop Application Rejuvenation

 Today the challenge for most NonStop users is how to incorporate new technology into existing business processes with minimal costs and risk. Later this month NuWave Technologies will present a webinar addressing this issue. If you would like to be invited to "Affordable NonStop Application Rejuvenation - How to Integrate Commercial Web Services Into Pathway”, please email Gabrielle at gguerrera@nuwave-tech.com.

With the recent proliferation of commercial Web Services, it is now possible to find inexpensive, sometimes free business functions that can be integrated into existing applications. The webinar will cover topics like: moving beyond web enabling, adding Web Service content to exiting Pathway applications, and examples of plug and play commercial Web Services.

 

Wiesbaden, Germany – August 28, 2009 - ComForte GmbH, a global leading provider of Host Connectivity and Security Solutions for the HP NonStop platform announced that they have acquired all shares of Gresham Software Labs Pty Limited (GSL), based in Sydney, Australia. Through the acquisition of GSL, comForte adds the software product 'The Operations Pack' (TOP) to its portfolio as well as product support staff and a new office location in Sydney, Australia.

Gresham Software Labs is a subsidiary of UK based Gresham Computing Plc., which specialises in the provision of real-time financial solutions to banks and corporations. GSL sells operations management software and support services into the HP NonStop market globally.

The Operations Pack (TOP) is an easy-to-use management tool providing command access to your HP NonStop Expand network, subsystems and components, wrapped in an Explorer type interface. TOP provides a strategic front-end to NonStop server systems and networks. Using TOP any authorised user can operate a NonStop server from a Windows workstation.

"We are very excited about the acquisition of GSL as the company, its people and its products are very much complementary to comForte's product and solution offering", says Dr. Michael Rossbach, CEO of comForte GmbH, "The addition of GSL marks an important step in the execution of our growth strategy". He continues, "This acquisition is great for comForte's customers as we are now able to offer real, global 24*7 support through the addition of product support staff in Australia. It is also reassuring for the existing GSL customers as comForte will provide continued support for TOP. For many years, comForte has been a well respected and trusted partner in the NonStop space and we will continue to be dedicated to the NonStop platform."

For more information please contact Dr. Michael Rossbach at M.Rossbach@comforte.com

About comForte …

comForte is a global leader in the market for HP NonStop solutions - offering customers a comprehensive suite of proven and innovative middleware, connectivity and security products. Organizations in all industries are using comForte products to more effectively leverage their investment in NonStop systems.

With comForte, organizations can …

·         Connect NonStop platforms with the systems, applications, users, and initiatives required to meet their business and technical objectives.

·         Protect mission-critical data as it is stored in and exchanged with NonStop environments.

·         Modernize their environment by seamlessly integrating NonStop with Web services and SOA initiatives.

·         Streamline administrative efforts though intuitive interfaces, and sophisticated, robust management capabilities.

Today, more than 500 customers around the world rely on comForte products to manage access to mission-critical NonStop server applications and data.

 

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NonStop - A Running Commentary – September, 09

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author
and shouldn’t be viewed as reflecting any views
of his current or past employer

In a recent trip back to my home in Boulder I stopped by the local coffee shop for a cappuccino, and picked up a free copy of the Boulder Weekly (Aug 27, ’09). In it I read about a new venture in social networking for students of the University of Colorado where they could anonymously share secrets they wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing even with their closer friends. The article finished with a quote from another social networking site founder, Frank Warren, in which he said “the increasing availability of new forms of communication are more likely to bring people together than pull them apart.”

In a previous issue of TandemWorld newsletter I wrote of how surprised I was with the growth in readership in my own social networking sites. I also wrote of how the work I had done was as much a tribute to how willing the Nonstop community was in sharing information and how an inconsequential approach to marketing – essentially, nothing more than word-of-mouth - worked well, as it was a place to go for information on NonStop. It turned out that there was a global marketplace for such information sharing and it continues to spur me to keep on writing.

Social networking is bringing people together. Whether its university students or fellow NonStop users, we all demonstrate an interest in reading about what’s going on in our area of interest and particularly, in the case of NonStop users, what each of us is doing. According to a recent Neilsen survey of 25,000 active online consumers, according to a recently published story in USA Today, “nine in ten consumers trust their peers more than marketers …” What a surprise!

A lot of what we are watching unfold with social networking is being driven by the economy. People are being forced into becoming more creative with less, and what we are seeing pioneered today will probably stay with us long after the economy turns around and the ‘recovery” kicks-in with a vengeance! Even major companies with huge advertising budgets are turning to social networks for product launches.

In the same USA Today story referenced earlier, from an August 28, ’09 feature article that appeared in the Money section and was called “More marketers sign on to social media,” it reported of how Ford Motor “tapped 100 top bloggers and gave them a Fiesta for six months.” It then reported on how Ford’s head of social media, a job only created a year ago, told the USA Today reporter that “it’s about culture change and adapting to this ongoing communicating. The bloggers are fully free to say what they want.” But the reporter suggests “marketers have noticed” and reports on how Forrester Research has found that “according to its survey of 1,217 business decision makers worldwide late last year, 95% use social networks to some extent.”

Like Ford, Levi Strauss is relying on social networking to better market its products. According to the story in USA Today, Megan ‘Connon, director of digital marketing at Levi’s said, “it was an easy call. This is where our customers are.” While at Intuit, according to Kira Wampler, Intuit’s social-media marketing leader, “Social (media) is one of the key trends driving our business … it’s more than marketing. It’s about fast connections with customers and building an ongoing relationship.” However, USA Today also noted how Michael Brito, social-media strategist at Intel, pointed out that “social media is not the messiah …. it is one of several tools.”

From the quotes above, we read of titles like Ford’s ‘head of social media,” Levi’s “director of digital marketing,” Intuit’s “social-media marketing leader,” and Intel’s “social-media strategist.” And I have to believe that none of these titles would have appeared on anyone’s business cards five years ago. There are some marketing professionals who, even today, turn to me and ask, “I just don’t get it! What’s value proposition!”

According to Forrester’s Natalie Petouhoff, “reaching out to millions of consumers who thrive online around the clock requires an investment, a different type of thinking, and some courage!” However, the social networking success stories we are reading about continue to maintain ties back to more traditional media campaigns. So before anyone dumps their traditional marketing programs, remember Intel and how “it’s one of several tools!” But companies that don’t embracing social networking do risk missing out on opportunities and, in some situations, can end up failing completely.

Readers of my LinkedIn user group may recall how recently, in the discussion group “Social Networking as an integral part of business applications?” I wrote of how “Readers Digest just filed for Chapter 11 - and not entirely ‘unexpectedly!’ ... but is the failure of Readers Digest in any way connected to the rise in social networking? I looked at their web site - and they support a number of bloggers, so what happened?” I suspect that even with their acceptance of social networking, Readers Digest may not have moved fast enough – and many newspapers and magazines are also in similar situations to Readers Digest and could fail at any time.

I am beginning to see a trend develop, however. Traditional marketing managers may soon become part of a new organization headed by the Chief Blogging Officer, or something along this line but perhaps more acceptable to the marketplace. Whatever the title, the immediacy and transparency of social networking, is becoming an increasingly powerful phenomena. “There is no gap between the CEO and customers … the network is so connected, there’s no need for a middleman,” says the CEO of one career-management web-site.

For as long as I can remember, NonStop users have asked why more money isn’t being invested in marketing NonStop! And for just as many years, I can remember hearing of how marketing was spending its money on positioning the company in favor of products, or positioning solutions in favor of technology. Whatever! In more recent times, it was often out of the pockets of NonStop ISVs that case-studies and other collateral on NonStop were produced. But now, in the highly networked world we live in, we are all connected! There’s really no need for the middleman, and there’s no excuse for information on NonStop not becoming readily and easily accessible.

Electronic newsletters, like Tandemworld, online publications like the Availability Digest, and the growing number of blogs and electronic newsgroups and forums in which I am intimately involved, are producing a body of work that cannot be ignored! We may not see too many CBO’s in our organizations, just yet, but if you appreciate and value what we are reading about already, I believe we will!

And will this growth in social networking help pull the NonStop community even closer together, as new communications options appear to be doing of late? From what I am seeing then yes, I believe that it will. Through the years, many of us met in person quit regularly (when travel was allowed, and even encouraged) so I think that, for the NonStop community, the on-line world and importantly the world of on-line discussions and social networks that we are quickly becoming part of, is very real, and very, very, important for us all.

Richard Buckle

HP – ITUG user group:         Director (2000 – 2006)   

- Chairman (2004 & 2005)

IBM – SHARE user group:  Marketing Director (2007 – 2008)

LinkedIn -

                 Real Time View user group:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1878133&trk=hb_side_g

Real Time View blog:           www.itug-connection.blogspot.com

Buckle-Up blog:                  www.buckle-up-travel.blogspot.com

Twitter:                                RichardKBuckle

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Availability Digest Warns of IPv4 “Doomsday”

Remember the Year 2000 Doomsday? We survived that as well as other doomsdays since then. So here comes another one…IPv4. This current version of the Internet Protocol (IP) will exhaust its supply of unique addresses within the next two years, and replacement version IPv6 may not be ready in time. The Availability Digest’s August issue examines the complexities that face the IPv4 to IPv6 transition.

Also in the Digest:

·        “Twitter Taken Down by DDoS Attack” explains how politics in one country effectively disabled the worldwide availability of this social networking site.

·        Our Product Review highlights Double-Take, a unidirectional, asynchronous data-replication engine that replicates file changes in Windows and Linux environments over unlimited distances.

·        “Achieving Fast Failover in Active/Active Systems” is the first of a two-part article on how users and transactions can rapidly be moved from failed to surviving processing nodes. 

Digest Managing Editor Dr. Bill Highleyman recently gave a pair of three-day classes on active/active technology to a major bank’s IT staff. The courses were well-received; but a common attendee concern was that material was too NonStop-focused, with not enough detail on Linux and Windows systems, where clustering is used to achieve high (though not continuous) availability. Active/active came out of the NonStop world and is very slowly making its way into use with other platforms. Bill is searching for case studies where active/active has made a successful migration to other systems. If your work involves a move to active/active, contact editor@availabilitydigest.com.

The Digest is free online and focuses on continuous processing architectures, with particular attention given to active/active technology. www.availabilitydigest.com 

 

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User Groups

BITUG SIG Meeting: Security, Risk, Compliance 7th October 2009

Please join the BITUG SIG for a meeting on Security, Risk and Compliance. For more information, please visit http://www.bitug.com

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2009 CTUG Fall Conference 20th October 2009

 

CTUG is pleased to announce that our 2009 Fall Conference will be held on October 20st with a Training Day on October 21st, 2009.

 

As a result of overwhelming popular response to last year's venue, the Conference and Education Session will once again take place at the Hewlett-Packard Canada Head Quarters, 5150 Spectrum Way, Mississauga, Ontario.

  

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INUG Autumn Conference 18th November 2009.

The event will be held at HP Los Rozas, Madrid. For further information please contact via email info@inug-connect.org

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CONNECT GERMANY & GTUG GO INTERNATIONAL

2-day conference& exhibition 18-19 Nov. 2009

at the Darmstadtium Conference Center in Darmstadt, Germany (Rhein-Main-Area)

 

Mark your calendar for the premier NonStop Community Event presented by GTUG and CONNECT Germany. The goal of this conference and exhibition is to establish itself as the main NonStop Community Event in Europe with a continued focus on NonStop. It is your chance to meet your fellow NonStop users and learn the latest on NonStop from users, HP, and vendors.

Enjoy the breath-taking Darmstadtium, Darmstadt's brand new conference center. Discover Darmstadt’s impressive cultural heritage as the Center of Art Nouveau in the early 1900s.

Organized by Connect Germany and GTUG, fees will be considerably lower compared to last year’s event. Registration for the event will be open starting 1 September 2009. www.gtug.de