Future Proofing NonStop: Complacency’s Slippery Slope Towards Obsolescence

One of the common mistakes that longtime NonStop (or Tandem for those who go way back) users make is that they only think of it in terms of things they know and love about the platform: Pathway, Requester/Server, TMF, Expand, etc. Beneath the pride and strong community spirit, lies a certain amount of overconfidence in the invincibility of the platform, which can be precarious.

I found this in practice during a consulting project back in 2002, when the web was starting to take off in the enterprise.  I was approached by a NonStop user client whose management wanted to take its NonStop parts ordering application to become an eCommerce portal on the Internet. Its NonStop development team told management that it did not believe that NonStop was “suitable for the web.”  In actuality, the truth was that the team didn’t have the skills to web enable the NonStop and thought it unnecessary to acquire those skills.

Why, one might ask?

Because, after all, this was the team for NonStop, the crown jewel application of the enterprise! The team thought Web functions were just window dressings, and not a company priority like the NonStop.

During a two-day workshop, I presented to management and the development team all the different web tools available for NonStop, and how it could all be accomplished. Management was happy to learn that NonStop had tools to web enable its application, but the development team declined to carry that initiative forward. The end result was that a Unix server and a new development team were brought in to “front end” the NonStop application.  That was the beginning of the end, as the Unix web server gradually overshadowed the NonStop, and ultimately took over as the main application portal for the company.

What is the lesson to be learned?

Complacency can lead to obsolescence.

Solution: Future Proof NonStop

• Say no to the status quo. Don’t limit yourself to current applications.
• Be open to new ideas and solutions. Stay ahead of what’s new on NonStop by subscribing to blogs, reading Connect news, and attending User Group meetings.
• Be proactive. Learn what’s possible before you are confronted with a pressing project. Do an evaluation or a POC with one of the many new products on the NonStop.

TIC Software is here to help. Please call, email, or visit our website to learn more about successful use cases, to build a POC to evaluate the solution’s relevance, and/or work with your team to build a bridge to modernization

Phil Ly is the president and founder of TIC Software, a New York-based company specializing in software and services that integrate NonStop with the latest technologies, including Web Services, .NET and Java. Prior to founding TIC in 1983, Phil worked for Tandem Computer in technical support and software development.