Author: Mark Whitfield

Welcome to my site! After graduating in Computing in 1990, I accepted a position as a programmer at a Runcorn based software house specialising in electronic banking software, namely sp/ARCHITECT-BANK on Tandem Computers (now HPE NonStop). This was before the internet became more prevalent and so the notion of enabling desktop access to company accounts for inter-account transfers and book keeping was still quite a cutting edge idea (and smartphones only ever hinted at in Space 1999). The company was called The Software Partnership (which was taken over by Deluxe Data in 1994). I spent 5 years in Runcorn developing code for SP/ARCHITECT for various banks like TSB, Bank of Scotland, Rabobank and Girofon (Denmark) to name but a few. I then moved onto a software house in Salford Quays for further bank facing projects. After a further 23 years in the IT industry and now a Senior IT Project Manager (both Agile and Waterfall delivery), I thought I would echo out my Career Profile in this corner of the internet for quick and easy access.

Operating Expenditure OPEX, Capital Expenditure CAPEX, Revenue Expenditure REVEX, Finance Expenditure FINEX

Roman Origin Arena Amphitheater re-purposed in Pollenzo village

Project Management videos

Project Management

Project Management videos

Some of my favourite Movies / Music / Comedy as of today :

Great movie clips

Movie Clips

Top 30 movies

Top 30 Movies

Music/ videos I like

Music Videos

Comedy

Comedy

Some of my favourite Movies / Music / Comedy as of today

Insider Technologies Limited, Spinnaker Court, Chandlers Point, 37 Broadway, Salford Quays, M50 2YR

Company Website – Open Content Management Framework, DotNetNuke

In the early part of the millenium, ITL requested that I design and author a new company website using the Open Content
Management framework, DotNetNuke. This is a Visual Basic .NET Microsoft SQL database driven technology that enables website updates from any location with internet browser access.

As part of this exercise, website prominence was a key driver along with a more professional, corporate look-and-feel. The website is an ongoing programme of work that takes up a few hours a week of my time in taking it forward. I have attended 2 gbdirect (iTrain) website courses in this regard; ‘Writing for the Web’ and ‘Website Prominence and Visibility’. More information.

Agile Scrum Terms Summary Overview

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured, process-based project management methodology

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured, process-based project management methodology used globally to manage projects of any size and complexity. It focuses on dividing projects into manageable stages, ensuring accountability, and maintaining a clear business justification from start to finish.

Core Framework (PRINCE2 7)

The latest version, PRINCE2 7th Edition (2023), centers on five integrated elements:

7 Principles: The “guiding obligations” that must be followed for a project to be considered PRINCE2 (e.g., Continued Business Justification, Learn from Experience, and Manage by Exception).
7 Practices: Essential aspects of management (formerly “Themes”) applied throughout the lifecycle: Business Case, Organizing, Plans, Quality, Risk, Issues, and Progress.
7 Processes: A step-by-step guide from Starting up a Project to Closing a Project.
People: A major addition in Version 7, focusing on the human side of change and team dynamics.
Project Context: Emphasises the need to tailor the methodology to suit the specific project environment.

Certification Levels:

Qualifications are typically sought through PeopleCert Accredited Training Organisations (ATOs):

Foundation: Introduces basic concepts and terminology; no prerequisites required.
Practitioner: Focuses on applying and tailoring the method to real-world scenarios. Requires a valid Foundation-level certificate or an equivalent (like PMP or CAPM).
PRINCE2 Agile: A specialised version that blends the structure of PRINCE2 with agile delivery frameworks like Scrum and Kanban.

Comparison and Value

Geographic Dominance: PRINCE2 is the de facto standard in the UK public sector and is widely used across Europe and Australia. In contrast, the PMP (from PMI) is more prevalent in the USA and Canada.
Cost: In the UK, Foundation courses typically range from £549 to £1,000, while Practitioner courses cost between £599 and £1,100.
Renewal: All current PRINCE2 certifications must be renewed every three years.

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured, process-based project management methodology.

May 2011 – Registered PRINCE2 Practitioner with ILX

mark whitfield mark_whitfield_prince2_registered_practitioner — PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured, process-based project management methodology

Connect : HPE Nonstop Ecosystem – formerly NSK, Tandem, Himalaya

Connect’s Influencer of the Year Program

Park High Secondary School, Park Road, Hindley, Wigan, Lancashire, UK. WN2 3RY

1980 to 1985 : Park High Secondary School
Park Road, Hindley, Wigan, Lancashire, UK. WN2 3RY
(formerly Hindley and Abram Grammar School now PDC)

8 GCE ‘O’ Levels – mark whitfield
All grades ‘C’ and above including Computer Studies, Maths and English

Class photos: first year (bottom, 2nd from right), fourth year (top, 4th from left)

mark whitfield DSCF0557 — Park High Secondary School
Park Road, Hindley, Wigan, Lancashire, UK. WN2 3RY

Project Management Templates with FREE Upgrades and Additions

Free Upgrade and Additions – 200+ Project Management & Planning Template Examples:

Contents of ZIP file (purchase templates here):

Gallery of ALL Project Management templates…

(also download the Template Inventory PDF file – 15MB)

Join the FREE PM templates related Facebook Group (LIKE Facebook page) and LinkedIn Group.

Accounting Key Performance Indicators KPIs Overview

Common IT Protocol Ports Summary Overview

Common IT Protocol Ports Summary Overview

Overview – Agile Scrum Kanban SAFe LeSS XP

Education Summary – 1980 thru 1990 – Mark Whitfield

1988 to 1990 : University of Bolton (previously BIHE, Bolton Institute of Higher Education)
Deane Road, Bolton, Lancashire, UK. BL3 5AB

Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computer Studies –
DISTINCTION – overall first over the 2 years

1985 to 1988 : Leigh College (now Wigan and Leigh College)
Marshall Street, Leigh, Lancashire, UK. WN7 4HX

2 ‘A’ Levels – Computer Science and Biology

1980 to 1985 : Park High Secondary School
Park Road, Hindley, Wigan, Lancashire, UK. WN2 3RY

8 GCE ‘O’ Levels –
All grades ‘C’ and above including Computer Studies, Maths and English

Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computer Studies – Certificates:

LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/51224

HP HPE NonStop NSK Himalaya Tandem Date Timeline

The HP NonStop (originally Tandem) timeline spans over 50 years of evolution in fault-tolerant computing, beginning with the vision of James Treybig and transitioning through several major corporate owners.

Founding and Initial Growth (1974–1980s)

1974: Tandem Computers Incorporated is founded by James (Jimmy) Treybig in Cupertino, CA.
1976: The first NonStop I (T/16) servers are shipped to Citibank, introducing the “fail-fast” architecture.
1981: NonStop II is introduced, adding 32-bit addressing support to the 16-bit registers.
1983: NonStop TXP (Tandem Extended Processor) debuts, featuring the first use of cache memory and a native Transaction Monitoring Facility (TMF).
1986: NonStop VLX (Very Large eXtension) is released, introducing 32-bit data paths and the first fault-tolerant SQL database, NonStop SQL.
1987: NonStop CLX is launched as a low-cost, office-ready minicomputer system.
1989: NonStop Cyclone is introduced for high-end mainframe workloads, alongside the Integrity line of Unix-based servers.

Architecture Transitions (1990s–2000s)

1991: Cyclone/R (CLX/R) marks the start of the TNS/R migration to MIPS microprocessors.
1993: NonStop Himalaya K-series is released, featuring native-mode Guardian OS on MIPS R4400 processors.
1994: Open System Services (OSS) adds a POSIX-compliant environment to the NonStop Kernel.
1997: NonStop Himalaya S-Series introduces ServerNet, replacing older bus technologies with high-speed point-to-point connections.
1997: Compaq acquires Tandem Computers to bolster its high-end enterprise server offerings.
2002: Hewlett-Packard (HP) acquires Compaq, bringing Tandem technology under the HP banner as the NonStop Enterprise Division.
2005: The HP Integrity NonStop (TNS/E) series is launched, migrating the architecture from MIPS to Intel Itanium processors.

The Modern Era (2010s–Present)

2014: NonStop X (TNS/X) is introduced, transitioning the platform to standard Intel x86-64 processors.
2015: HP splits into HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE); the NonStop line moves to HPE.
2017: Virtualized NonStop (vNS) is introduced, allowing the system to run in software-defined data centres and cloud environments.
2020: HP ends sales of Itanium-based systems in July, completing the transition to the x86 platform.
2024: The NonStop community celebrates 50 years of Tandem/NonStop technology.