June 15, 2023 — Gravic and HPE Present Shadowbase Solutions at N2TUG in Dallas

N2TUG 2023

After a four-year hiatus, N2TUG turned out to be a content-heavy, yet interactive show. The show was held at the Hilton Garden Inn Dallas Hurst Center. Several attendees commented that they were pleasantly delighted with the hotel and amenities. The breakfast was delightful and energizing; Jeff Boyer, Account Executive at XYPRO, shared a table with us. We made some light-hearted jokes regarding encroaching on each other’s “half.” (Can you recall the old “this is my half, and this is your half” line in the middle of a shared college dorm room 😊?)

To start the show, Bill Honaker opened the day with an introduction and welcome. Karen Ramirez, Director of HPE NonStop Sales in North America, provided NonStop 2023 Highlights, discussing recent business developments, including additional staff in the HPE NonStop space.

Afterwards, Roland Lemoine, HPE NonStop Product Manager, presented HPE NonStop Futures including the current Roadmap and key HPE goals and objectives. We were ecstatic when Roland discussed SQL/MX and HPE Shadowbase, including how it produces real-time, identical data copies to mainstream databases, and how it is being used to produce analytics. Additionally, Roland presented a short update on new HPE Shadowbase features in Recent Releases.

Before lunch, Diane Funkhouser (former HPE employee, colleague, and a good friend to many of us), Vice President of the Bridewell Foundation, presented on Camp Esperanza, including a touching story of how her son fought through cancer and is now helping others combat cancer through his career in healthcare. The camp offers the kids a fun experience with peers undergoing the same struggles and challenges. Gravic was happy to donate towards this worthwhile cause, and we wish Diane good luck with this endeavor!

Lunch included delicious steak, classic Texas food, delicious chocolate cake, and candid conversations with our HPE NonStop peers. Afterwards, Richard Conine, Senior Solution Architect at HPE, presented You Did Everything Right, But… which discussed solutions for recovering from a Ransomware attack, including HPE Shadowbase software. Richard received several difficult questions and comments from customers, including, “Data is where the rubber meets the road.”

Jeff Boyer of XYPRO, presenting on Best Security Practices

Ken Scudder, VP of Global Business Development at Gravic, presented HPE Shadowbase Solutions, and then Paden Holenstein, Business Development Specialist and Marketing Coordinator, described HPE Shadowbase architectures that can be used to recover from Ransomware, including an air-gapped solution and an online one. Paden received many questions, having to answer several of them after the talk.

Afterwards, Jeff Boyer presented on Best Security Practices along with new, recently released XYPRO solutions, including protecting digital assets from the outside in, then from the inside out, with new tools to detect insider attacks, bugs, issues, etc. The frequency, rate, and cost of malware and ransomware attacks was harrowing.

At the end of the day, the vendors hosted a prize drawing for customers, followed by a closing reception with a wide variety of tasty Texas appetizers that enabled candid discussions and networking.

We would like to extend our gratitude to Bill Honaker and the entire N2TUG planning team organizing and hosting this enjoyable event!