Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) The thought of IBM and Microsoft cooperating to allow Windows to run on Power sometimes seems as probable as Sam Palmisano making an appearance on "Dancing with the Stars." But wait. Here's how the unexpected might just happen. And there are actually several scenarios that could allow Windows on Power to play out. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) How did you do on your 2009 New Year's resolutions, especially that one about how the IT department was going to do more with less? Not good enough is the answer that might come to mind. Well, instead of falling on your sword (not a pleasant option), here's an opportunity to use your sword to trim some fat from maintenance contracts. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) It might make you laugh or it might make you cry, but the fact that few people outside of the IT department speak the language can really hinder communication. A good example is often the babble that is misunderstood between IT and the people in finance. Try any or all of these 10 tips for getting on the same page with the CFO. READ MORE >

(IBM Systems Magazine) The possibilities for integrating PHP, RPG, and Lotus Domino were the magnet that attracted consultant Kim Greene to the Zend/PHP conference. What she found was a developer-oriented, community-based conference that surpassed any she had previously attended. She's attended and been a speaker at a lot of conferences from which to compare. There was plenty of i-specific education and a noticeable amount of enthusiasm. READ MORE >

(Silicon Republic) A young insurance company in the U.K. has recently moved up to the number two position in that market. It takes its IT investments very seriously and has an enlightened attitude to IT. The core applications run on two IBM iSeries boxes located at separate sites. These servers operate as virtual platforms using logical partitioning and cluster management. High availability is provided between the primary and contingency servers. How did this CIO get so smart? READ MORE >

(MCPress) IBM investments in the i operating system are resulting in customers taking advantage of new capabilities of the system, according to Mark Shearer, IBM's vice president of marketing communications and sales support for the Systems and Technology Group. Shearer is confident that technology trends in areas such as business intelligence using DB2 Web Query and integration with solid-state drives show the investments are well received. READ MORE >

(System iNews) The dance floor at Club i 6.1 isn't crowded. The operating system has been ready to rock 'n' roll for more than a year, but by and large the AS/400, iSeries, System i users don't seem to be listening, don't like what they are hearing, or just don't feel like dancing. Planning the 6.1 upgrade and the necessary program conversion apparently has made people content to sit. READ MORE >

(System iNews) The BladeCenter option doesn't exactly have the people in iTown dancing in the streets either, but interest in running the i OS on a blade "continues to grow," according to Rick Bause, IBM's Power Systems public relations manager. Sounds like an IBM slow growth initiative if you ask me. Two years after its introduction, BladeCenter is still looking to walk before it can run. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) The promise of business intelligence attracts executives like moths are drawn to a porch light in summer. (You remember summer, don't you?) At the same time, most executives are in the dark about how any meaningful BI project can be accomplished on time and on budget. That means it's time for some information illumination. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) If your company is an AS/400 (or iSeries) shop that suffers from the irritation of restricted 5250 interactive programs capacity, there's an option to the bitter pill that many shops thought they had no choice but to swallow. Just because your box is limited by a governor, doesn't mean your online transaction processing needs to be cramped or your budget will get hijacked. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The choice between FTP functions integrated into IBM i OS and a poke in the eye with a sharp stick has many fans of i-centricity choosing the stick. Third-party vendors--those not selling eye patches--have developed FTP alternatives that are modern, intuitive, and actually useful. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Texting and tweeting and all forms of modern social networking have yet to relegate the fax machine to the history books. The fax remains a communications workhorse for many businesses. And don't be misguided into thinking technology has bypassed the fax. It's a highly customizable tool that includes, for instance, the capability to deliver communications in a time-sensitive fashion throughout multiple time zones. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The iManifest initiative in the United States has picked up some additional support as Linoma Software became the 10th company to join the effort to build awareness of the platform. The organization has raised approximately $48,000 and efforts to recruit corporate members continue. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(IBM) It may come as a surprise that IBM has a strategy and roadmap for its i operating environment. But it must be true because there's a white paper that says so. This report includes info on Power Systems, the integrated operating system known as IBM i, and software from Big Blue as well as some of the ISVs. READ MORE >

(HiT Software) Data integration is seldom, if ever, quick or easy. This report provides guidance in the development of data integration strategies that leverage existing investments in databases and platforms. READ MORE >

(CCSS) Successful implementations of performance monitoring, message management, and remote management software are recorded in these testimonials from companies such as Nippon Express, Newell Rubbermaid, Volvo, Mattel, and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Benefits such as optimizing infrastructure, reducing overhead are emphasized. READ MORE >

(iMessaging) Examples of how interactive telephony services have enabled innovative functionality in business applications running on the IBM i while reducing overhead in industries such as finance, insurance, healthcare, transportation, government, utilities, manufacturing, and distribution are provided in this report titled "I Can Do All That with Telephony?" READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

See our full calendar of events at
http://www.itjungle.com/fhm/fhm-calendar.html

January 12 -- Beaverton, Oregon - Two presentations on PHP on IBM i with one for beginners and one for intermediate-level users will be on the agenda during the regular monthly meeting of the Cascade User Group. Guest speaker is Mike Pavlak of Zend. The meeting will be held at the IBM offices, 15400 S.W. Koll Parkway beginning at noon. LEARN MORE >

January 14 -- Kent, Washington - The Pacific Midrange Systems Association meeting features two presentations on PHP on IBM i: one for beginners and one for intermediate-level users. Guest speaker is Mike Pavlak of Zend. The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. and will be held at the CenterPoint Corporate Park located at 20809 72nd Avenue South, Suite 120. LEARN MORE >

January 14 -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Writing good, reusable ILE code will be covered in two sessions by RPG expert Scott Klement at the monthly meeting of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association. Included in the second session is putting a Web front end on the service program that was created in session one. The first training session begins at 4:30. The second session begins at 7:30. In between is dinner and networking. The event will be held at Klemmer's Banquet Center located at 10401 West Oklahoma Avenue. LEARN MORE >

January 14 -- Maryland Heights, Missouri - Carol Woodbury, president of SkyView Partners and the i OS platform's former security architect while working at IBM, will discuss a step-by-step plan for object level security at the monthly meeting of the Gateway/400 Group, a System i user group serving the greater St. Louis area. The meeting begins with lunch at noon and the presentation following lunch. RSVP no later than Monday before the meeting date. Meetings are held at the Graphic Arts Communication Banquet Facility located at 105 Progress Parkway. LEARN MORE >

January 15 -- Sparks, Nevada - The Reno-Sparks Midrange User Group meeting features a presentation on business intelligence on the IBM i. Guest speaker is Diana Stater from New Generation Software. Stater's presentation includes a product demonstration of NGS-IQ. The meeting beings at 11:30 a.m. and is held at the Scolaris Company headquarters located at 255 South McCarran Boulevard. LEARN MORE >

January 17-21 -- Orlando, Florida - Lotusphere, the biggest Lotus event of each year, brings together developers, administrators, IT and business professionals looking for collaborative software and solutions. It includes presentations on the latest innovations, hands-on training, and networking discussions, as well as the latest word on Lotus products and strategy. LEARN MORE >

January 19 -- Nashville, Tennessee - This meeting of the Tennessee IBM Mid-Range User Group will feature a presentation on high availability by AS/400 veteran Todd Victor. The emphasis will be on set up and configuration, remote journaling, communications, software implementation, and performing a role swap. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Vanderbilt located at 2613 West End Avenue. It begins at 5:30 p.m. LEARN MORE >

January 19 -- Costa Mesa, California - Three sessions on SQL are on the agenda for the regular monthly meeting of the OCEAN User Group. Guest speaker is consultant Joe Pluta. The OCEAN User Group serves the greater Orange County, California, area and meets the third Tuesday of each month. Meetings are held at the IBM offices located at 600 Anton Boulevard and begin at 3 p.m. LEARN MORE >

January 19 -- Norwalk, Connecticut - The Fairfield AS/400 Users Group monthly meeting topic is the seven habits of highly secure organizations. This session examines common security vulnerabilities and the resources that can help develop a strong security policy. Guest speaker is Robin Tatam, director of security technologies at PowerTech, one of the leading vendors in the IBM i community. FASUG meetings are held at the Norwalk Inn, 99 East Avenue, and begin at 5:30 p.m. LEARN MORE >

January 19 -- Irving, Texas - Strategies for Web enabling RPG applications will be covered during this presentation during the monthly meeting of the Metro Midrange Systems Association, a user group for the Dallas and Fort Worth metro areas. A team of presenters will describe how they designed and implemented a Java-based centralized customer service Web application that uses RPG components for the core business logic. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 and the presentation at 6:45. MMSA meetings are held at the Dallas - IBM Innovation Center located at 13800 Diplomat Drive. LEARN MORE >

January 20 -- Seekonk, Massachusetts - The Massachusetts data-breach law will be the featured topic at the monthly meeting of the New England Midrange Users Group. The law affects individuals, corporations, associations, and partnerships, and may require significant operational and technological changes for those entities having custody of personal information, including employer records and customer data. Employers have just over 90 days to comply with these regulations. Guest speaker is Lynda Slevoski, vice president of the AIM Employer's Resource Group. The meeting is held at the Ramada Inn and begins at 5:15 p.m. LEARN MORE >

January 20 -- Fort Washington, Pennsylvania - A one-day training session on RPG application modernization by author and subject matter expert Don Denoncourt explains development strategies used to produce modern applications. Topics will include maintainable and testable code, modular and component-based apps, rich user interfaces, use of the Model-View-Controller design pattern, and apps that are responsive to new business requirements. The sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue to 5 p.m. and will be held at the Holiday Inn. The registration fee is $260 for user group members and $295 for all others. LEARN MORE >

January 21 -- Chattanooga, Tennessee - The Tennessee Valley Midrange User's Group will feature a presentation on DB2 Web Query. Guest speaker Paul Lambert will review of the purpose, benefits, and implementation strategies. A discussion of the architectural concepts surrounding DB2 Web Query will be the launch point for the presentation. Lambert is an instructor for IBM, and a consultant and lecturer in the IBM i world. His special interests include IBM i and AS/400 performance tuning and capacity planning, system operations, and system management. The meeting will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn - Hamilton Place located at 2343 Shallowford Village Drive. It gets under way at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6 and the presentation at 6:30. LEARN MORE >

January 21 -- Virtual Conference - COMMON Directions 2009 will feature educational presentations on topics such as RPG skills, SQL, system management and performance, System i disk, debugging, and IBM DB2 Web Query. In addition, it will offer a question and answer session, interaction with vendors, and networking with peers. The event is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Registration fee is $395, with discounts available. LEARN MORE >