BITUG Chairman's Chat May 2025

Dear BITUG Community,

Welcome to the second Chairman’s chat of 2025. The first months of this year have been a whirlwind of activity in terms of work life, personal life and of course BITUG life.

In the world of BITUG, preparation is nearly complete for our biggest event in recent times and probably the biggest European NonStop Symposium for years, the E-BITUG 2025 event in Dublin, Ireland.

E-BITUG 2025 runs from Monday 2nd to Thursday 5th June at the Clayton Hotel Burlington Road, Dublin. This event is more than just a date on our calendar for us, it’s an exciting opportunity for the entire NonStop community to come together and a celebration of all things NonStop.

We are pulling out all the stops for E-BITUG 2025, a world class conferencing location in the Clayton Hotel, a venue large enough to not only do the conference justice but also to accommodate all attendees in the conference hotel itself, making logistics much easier for attendees, sponsors and organisers alike.

FREE Training Tuesday

Tuesday kicks off with HPE NonStop training, which is provided FREE for all attendees by our sponsors. The training day is formed of 4 different sessions split across 2 tracks with lunch provided, allowing you to attend both the morning and afternoon sessions should you wish.

New to NonStop (Concepts and Facilities) - Track One, Morning Session

This course provides an overview of HPE NonStop concepts, covering architecture, fault tolerance, data integrity, security, and key tools for system management. It is ideal for newcomers to the HPE NonStop platform.

Mastering DORA Immutability Compliance - Track Two, Morning Session

ETI-Net and Gravic will host a session led by Senior Solution Architects. Focusing on DORA immutability requirements and making ETI-NET BackBox and Gravic ShadowBase Q-Files; which can recover a database; immutable.

Using DevOps with HPE NonStop Systems - Track One, Afternoon Session

The session will explore Git and NSGit, mapping Guardian naming conventions to DevOps, and creating secure communications. It will also cover integrating NSGit with DevOps tools, running pipelines, and setting up a deploy environment on NonStop.

PCI DSS 4.0.1 Compliance for HPE NonStop Systems - Track Two, Afternoon Session

This master class will provide a detailed roadmap for implementing PCI DSS 4.0.1, enhancing cybersecurity, and protecting payment information. It covers the key changes, best practices for HPE NonStop Systems, and practical advice for integrating PCI DSS controls.

Tuesday Cultural Events

Tuesday is also the day for the local cultural events at Jameson’s Bow Street and the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum. This is highly recommended for all attendees but especially for our American friends with distant Irish roots. We are running two separate visits to EPIC allowing you to attend both the training sessions and this fantastic exhibition.

Beer Bust at the Guinness Storehouse

It wouldn’t be a NonStop event without a Beer Bust. This tradition goes back to the early days of Tandem Computers and was a way for employees to socialise, break down barriers, and foster a strong company culture. Today this tradition continues in the user groups and is always a great way to meet attendees and break the ice before the main conference. Join us at the world famous Guinness Storehouse after the training day and vendor welcome to kick off the main E-BITUG 2025 event with a bang, or at least a hearty clink of glasses. Beer and conversations will flow freely, old friends will be remembered, existing friendships reinforced, and new ones formed.   

E-BITUG 2025 Conference

The main conference then kicks off each day with an inspirational keynote speaker followed by impressive, informational content provided by HPE, Sponsors and end users presenters split over the two days. If you need inspiration, we have posted a list of recommended sessions split by job role on our website. Full session details are also contained within the Whova app.

Why E-BITUG 2025 Matters

E-BITUG will be the largest NonStop gathering outside of the USA in 2025, and is designed to bring together the entire NonStop community. Hewlett Packard Enterprise are there in force and will provide a significant portion of the event content, with 35 HPE staffers on hand and 19 of the premium HPE partners, available to showcase new solutions and updates to their existing product lines. Most importantly the NonStop end user community will be there in force, with representatives from over 30 NonStop end users already registered for the event!!

Meeting face to face is important and at E-BITUG 2025 you will be able to talk directly with HPE and Partner product and development staff, network directly with your industry peers in both the formal setting of the conference and just as importantly in the informal relaxed setting of the evening events.  

So, if you are not already registered for E-BITUG 2025 in Dublin, please visit the E-BITUG 2025 event page for more details and to register now!

A Personal Invitation

I invite you to join us and become an integral part of this transformative experience. Your engagement is the heartbeat of our community, and your participation will help elevate our discussions, shape the future, and inspire change.

Take this opportunity to forge meaningful connections, explore emerging trends, and share your unique perspective. Mark your calendar, register, and prepare your questions and ideas.

We have been told that “Nothing says welcome to Ireland like a pint of the black stuff in the Guinness Storehouse”, a truly iconic spot on the Dublin skyline.  Furthermore, that the Gala dinner at The Merry Ploughboy is “next level”! We certainly expect the event to live up to the hype.

Special Notices re: E-BITUG 2025

BITUG membership

If you are attending E-BITUG 2025 please also take time to sign up for FREE BITUG end user membership, this will ensure you receive our digital newsletter and updates about future BITUG and GTUG hosted events. Visit Join BITUG to join.

If you would like to shape future events, we are always on the lookout for new BITUG committee members, so please let us know if you would like to join us. All are welcome, but we would particularly appreciate new ideas, or areas of specific contribution or expertise.

Hotel reservation issues

We have had reports of hotel booking issues when using the reservation link on the BITUG website, unfortunately the booking system is out of our control and has proven to be somewhat unreliable. We can assure you that there are plenty of rooms available in the hotel and if you book early, we are confident we will be able to accommodate you at the conference special rate. If you have issues booking your room via the link, please do let us know so we can contact the hotel and resolve any booking issues for you.

Irish visitor ‘visa’ applications

BITUG can help you with your Irish visa application. if you require a visa to attend E-BITUG 2025 in Dublin, let us know and we can provide you with the required invitation letter for the event, to support your visa application.  

Booking Training and Cultural Excursions

To secure your place on the training sessions, the cultural excursions to Jameson or EPIC and the ETI-NET Gala dinner, it is ESSENTIAL that you add these to your personal calendar within the Whova app.

We will try to be as accommodating as possible but unless this is done, we cannot guarantee you a place on these events, numbers are limited.

All registered attendees will be given the appropriate activity wristband with their event badge when this is picked up from the registration desk at the Clayton Hotel.

Let’s Shape the Future Together

Now is the time to act. Your voice matters. Your presence matters. The strength of our community lies in the collective energy of every individual who chooses to engage and take part in E-BITUG 2025.

Join us this June. Let’s create a legacy of excellence, innovation, and unity that will inspire the next generation of the HPE NonStop community. If you are new to the HPE NonStop platform, be sure to attend the ‘New to NonStop’ SIG on Wednesday afternoon. This session is hosted by the folks formally known as the NSU40 SIG (NonStop under 40’s), who have recently rebranded to welcome new platform users of all ages. Here you will meet users who are new to the platform and will be able to share your experiences and ideas directly back to HPE and the sponsor community.

Sponsor commitment to HPE NonStop

Talking recently with one of our sponsors I was impressed but not surprised to hear that E-BITUG 2025 will be their 10th face to face community event of 2025 and the year will be only half done. Oh so many Air Miles! The sponsors’ staff make a great sacrifice in terms of time away from home, friends and family to support these events, so spare a thought for them and remember it is the sponsors that make these events possible. We need end users to attend and interact with them, to make this amazing commitment worthwhile. Not only for 2025, but also for many more years to come.

Kairos Pro 2 BJJ Tournament

As you probably already know I am an enthusiastic if not skilled practitioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and a huge fan of the sport. On Sunday 27th April the Kairos Pro 2 BJJ tournament will take place at Escapology in Cambridge UK, an event which is organised by our brilliant Keynote speaker; Vanessa English and is sponsored by, among others, our friends at Brightstrand International.

Please support this event by viewing live or watch the replay on YouTube and by following Kairos Pro and Vanessa English on Instagram. The athletes are featured below.

The event will feature two, five woman brackets with the winner of each bracket going forward to the final. There will also be 2 amazing ‘Super Fights’ on the card.

The Kairos Pro 2 event stream can be found here: Kairos Pro 2 The competitors are just as skilled and committed as male athletes and their lower weights often make for more dynamic and faster transitions.

The Kairos Pro 1 event was won by Vanessa who has now moved behind the scenes to arrange Kairos Pro 2.

Check out the event replay of Kairos Pro 1 on YouTube to see Vanessa in action.

ChatGPT Skills Development

In the spirit of continual learning, I have followed the recent ChatGPT trend of making people into action figures.

Rather than create a ‘BITUG Man’ of myself!, which seems a little self-indulgent, not to mention, pointless, I thought I would create one for Vanessa (I am sure she will be so thrilled). Here I present the official 😉 ‘Jiu-Jitsu Woman’ action figure available in pink or white GI 🤣🤣🤣🤣

eBITUG DUBLIN 2025

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