Connect HPE NonStop TBC 2022 Recap

In case you missed it, the NonStop Technical Boot Camp was a resounding success!

After a three-year-long hiatus, the TBC reemerged on November 8-10 at the Hyatt Regency SFO in downtown Burlingame, California. The event was the first in-person opportunity in a long time for many attendees; there were also quite a few first-time attendees. Both are very encouraging developments. It seems that the world is slowly starting to open up and folks are getting more comfortable traveling. Gradually, things are resetting “back to normal” after the pandemic.

The TBC offered the welcome chance to meet new faces, reconnect with existing ones, and get a glimpse into the latest and greatest developments in the HPE NonStop world. Sessions included dozens of technical breakouts, vendor theaters, and numerous developer chats and in-booth demos.

Tuesday morning, Kristi Elizondo, Connect’s CEO, welcomed everyone to the show. Then, Jeff Kyle, Vice President & General Manager of HC/AI – Data Solutions, focused the HPE Executive Keynote on the movement towards virtualization. HPE is investing considerable effort towards porting HPE NonStop as a software stack that can run on a number of the major cloud providers. Afterward, Cullen Bash, HPE Vice President of Research and Development, discussed The Tech Side of Sustainability, including numerous trends and developments that large corporations (including HPE) are making toward the goal of net-zero carbon emissions within the next decade.

During the event, numerous sessions occurred simultaneously, creating a plethora of sessions to choose from. On Tuesday, Marcelo de Azevedo, Jim Hamrick, Ken James, and Lars Plum discussed Virtualized NonStop: Journey to the Cloud. They discussed existing obstacles that they and their colleagues are facing in the goal of enabling Virtualized NonStop to run on the Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services.

Tuesday night, NuWave and TIC Software graciously hosted a “Surprise Nightcap!” networking event in one of the Hyatt Regency’s suites. Those that attended enjoyed the candid conversation, light snacks, refreshments, and as always, a great time with their fellow peers.

Wednesday morning’s keynote included Traci Brown, The Fraud-busting Body Language Expert. Traci created a very interactive and fun session. In fact, Traci invited Paul Holenstein (Gravic) and Steve Tcherchian (XYPRO) onto the stage, interviewed them, and then allowed the audience to interview them as well. If you missed this fun time – be sure to reach out to those who attended! Later in the morning, John Vollers, Lars Plum, Keith Moore, and John Zimsky hosted an informative panel: Everything You Wanted to Know about NonStop but Were Afraid to Ask. Attendees enjoyed a summary overview of popular HPE NonStop uses and a Questions and Answer session afterward.

Wednesday evening, the NSU40s group met and enjoyed a Pub Crawl, which provided time for the U40s to network, have candid conversations, and enjoy a bite to eat in nearby restaurants and bars. As the night progressed, the group had fewer and fewer participants, ending with a small group of “stragglers” sharing jokes, snacks, and even a few songs.

Thursday morning included a half-day of sessions, various SIGs (Special Interest Groups), and a farewell lunch. We are pleased that many stayed to attend our Thursday session on Validation Architectures, a rather interesting development for the mission-critical space.

Ultimately, the TBC was a massive success. It was a pleasure that we could all get together after several long years apart. If possible, please be sure to thank the show’s organizers. These folks contributed a massive amount of effort while experiencing numerous challenges, stress, and difficulties along the way (thankfully, mostly unbeknownst to the attendees). In addition to HPE, this list includes the Connect team as well as key ISV and partner volunteers. Thank you for a job well done! This includes (but is certainly not limited to):

• Kristi Elizondo, Kelly Luna, Stacie Neall (Connect)
• Mark Pollans (HPE)
• Kathy Wood (Blackwood Systems)
• The customers
• HPE employees
• The vendors

Besides the Pub Crawl, a fun and well-attended Design Challenge took place on Monday. I would like to thank those who sponsored and helped organize both of these events:

• The HPE NonStop Design Challenge
  • Wendy Bartlett (Wendy Bartlett Consulting)
  • Bill Honaker (XID Software)
  • Randall Becker (Nexbridge)
  • Sridhar Neelakantan, Suveer Nagendra, and numerous of their colleagues (from the HPE NonStop engineering team in India)
  • Casey Krasner (NuWave)
  • John Zimsky (HPE)
  • The sponsors
    • Ascert
    • Carr Scott
    • CSP
    • Gravic
    • HPE
    • Idelji
    • NuWave
    • TCM
    • XYPRO
  • The participants
• Under 40 Pub Crawl
  • Casey Krasner
  • The sponsors
    • CSP
    • Gravic
    • Idelji
    • Insider Technologies
    • NuWave
    • SMX
    • TCM
    • XYPRO
  • The participants

It was wonderful seeing the NonStop community together again. We hope those who attended enjoyed the event! Please be sure to mention the next NonStop TBC event on September 12-14, 2023 in Denver, Colorado to your friends and colleagues.

Warm regards and best wishes,
Paden