The Nonstop Community has never been one to pass on a major conference or event. When it came time for Munich, Germany, to play host for E-GTUG – European Nonstop Symposium 2026, the community turned up in numbers that proved reassuring to all supporters of HPE Nonstop. From the outset, there were gatherings of community members in numerous locations whether fine-tuning presentations, simply networking through vendor and customer conversations or just giving the Nonstop team opportunities to socialize.
What stood out was the realization that this year, the path to Munich was anything but smooth. Flights were disrupted and despite this, folks from as far away as Australia, not to mention the many participants that crossed the pond from North America. Some attendees went so far as to cruise across that pond. Wherever your path took you, the numbers spoke for themselves as attendance passed 150 community members when last I checked.
When it came to the serious side of Nonstop, the keynote sessions didn’t disappoint. It is always encouraging too to see Casey Taylor, VP & GM HPE Nonstop, lead off with a clear-cut message for all of us: Who could argue that Nonstop indeed would benefit from entering a new chapter, moving beyond simply recognizing changes in the industry to where Nonstop makes an impact. This was a message confirmed with numbers when it came time for Neil Davis, Global Sales Director, HPE Nonstop, to present worldwide success of system upgrades along with the addition of new customers.
Every bit as relevant in these times was the attention given to fault tolerance and along with it, the all-important message of resilience. Very few Nonstop customers deploy Nonstop solely to a single location preferring to distance multi-system deployments the better to ensure business continuity in times when infrastructure in one location might fail. Then of course, is the headlong rush of us all to the train they call AI. Where this will take the Nonstop community, even with the infancy of AI, will begin to drive conversations at all future gatherings of the Nonstop community.
When it came to capitalizing on the real reason so many Nonstop participants elected to attend this year’s symposium in Munich was its Bavarian hospitality. Wherever you turned, there were conversations taking place. While the content varied, it was clear that, for many who were present for the final evenings banquet, the Nonstop community gave every indication that Nonstop was indeed becoming unstoppable. Can’t stop; won’t stop, Nonstop! is now the mantra of this community, it was worth noting that, this simple declaration of Nonstop intentions, resonated strongly with all Nonstop community participants present for the evening.
Munich has its charm. Whether it’s their rivers with Mandarin ducks floating by, their famous beerhalls, their open markets, their gardens and architecture, it left an indelible mark on all who found ways to get to Munich.
We have already heard that for 2027, the European gathering of the Nonstop community will be, once again, held in Dublin, Ireland. From what we witnessed in Munich our thoughts now go out to the BITUG committee as it’s going to be tough to beat what happened in Munich! Here’s hoping that in 2027, we see a Nonstop community that welcomes “the next chapter!”
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