Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Aggressive cost cutting and margin management propelled IBM to fourth quarter profits and a financial report card that earned the admiration of Wall Street warriors. Sales revenue slipped 14 percent (constant currency) for the Systems and Technology Group. Within the STG, Power Systems sales jumped 14 percent (constant currency), but because IBM doesn't reveal System i numbers any longer, there's no way to gauge how much or how little that platform contributed. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM might have some odd naming conventions, but at least they don't have an i user group that's referred to as "Venti." The biggest of the i customers are part of what IBM calls the Large User Group. The members of this group are very influential. I suppose if they wanted to change the name to Venti User Group, they could, but they have suggestions for the platform that merit more serious consideration. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) When it comes to IT spending predictions, most would say spending will be down in 2009 compared to 2008. Some say it will be up. Analysts at Forester are saying it will be up and down. What part of "you can't have it both ways" don't they understand? Don't be fooled by this trick question. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Patents spew out of IBM like water from a fire hose. During 2008, IBM scored the most patents for the 16th consecutive year and was the first company to top 4,000 patents in a single year. Microsoft and Intel, Big Blue's closest rivals in this race, couldn't compete if they combined their totals. How important is intellectual property? Money doesn't begin to tell the tale. Still, IBM finds plenty of patents to turn over to the public. READ MORE >

(MCPress) With a new administration leading the United States, there's a better than even chance that investments in computer technology will be made in order to increase efficiency in several areas. The number one target will likely be healthcare, but advances in information technology are also expected to bring needed changes in the areas of scientific innovation, and citizen empowerment. READ MORE >

(eWeek) Trouble usually occurs when our list of priorities and our list of things we are working on don't resemble one another. Do you suppose this happens to the CIO at IBM? Here's a list of his top five priorities. He doesn't say how much money he's spending on these things, and frequently that tells you how priorities match up with realities. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM counts heavily on software sales to keep the wind in the Big Blue boat's sails. What's the best tact to maintain momentum? According the director of software channels for North America at IBM, it's the midrange. Expectations are that IT spending growth there will double that of larger companies. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Made-to-order manufacturing is a highly specialized business. It begins with unique engineering and includes very specialized versions of materials, inventories, cost controls, and job reporting. It's so highly customized that creating an ERP system to organize the entire operation (don't forget the financial side), is equally exclusive. Some companies have developed in-house solutions, but third-party software has also been available since the dawn of the AS/400. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Yellow fever strikes Florida each January when the Lotusphere circus comes to Orlando. The annual Notes/Domino love fest is a launching pad for IBM Lotus product announcements. In the main ring early this week, we have cloud-based social networking and collaboration services, SAP applications integrated with Lotus Notes, and, for the high mobility folks, some new ways to develop Lotus applications for BlackBerry smartphones. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Infor, that giant, multi-platform, multi-elective ERP vendor (the Baskin-Robbins of ERP software?), has an AS/400 installed base that may top any other software vendor. I say AS/400 rather than IBM i, because most of these Infor customers have been around since the four hundred was a pup and even before that. As you might imagine, reseller partnerships are a big deal at Infor. That's why some changes are being made. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Systems management on the IBM i is a sophisticated and sometimes complex operation, but the benefits it offers are very desirable. Automation means reduced human intervention, which means the humans formerly tied to their machines have more time to do more productive things than baby-sit a server. Let's take automated job scheduling as an example. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Because companies are becoming more inclined to treat all data as sensitive, on-disk encryption capabilities were built into the i 6.1 operating system. But in case you haven't heard, upgrading to i 6.1 has few little "gotchas," and one is making sure your high availability system can handle on-disk encryption. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Developers for mobile devices are probably aware of the Google Android platform, a software stack that includes an operating system, middleware, and applications. Applications are written in Java and run on Dalvik, a custom virtual machine that runs on top of a Linux kernel. But do all you developer types know how to manage encryption? READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(RJS) For those interested in electronic document management, here's a video with voice over explaining the product features of the RJS document management solution. Although product specific, it doesn't sound like a sales pitch and it explains the benefits of a document management system and what the various features can provide. The presentation was created as a Flash Video and should be viewable on most operating systems. READ MORE >

(bleedyellow.com) The name alone reminds me of one of those joints you drive by and wonder who the devil goes in there. Well, inside this joint you'll find Lotus people, and they are posting personal profiles, writing blogs, sharing bookmarks, creating communities, tracking activities, and building applications. Check it out, unless you have a fear of NotesNerds and Domino junkies. READ MORE >

(Irving Wladawsky-Berger's Blog) IWB describes his blog as a collection of observations, news, and resources on the changing nature of innovation, technology, leadership, and other subjects. Two weeks ago he wrote a piece titled "Learning from Experience." In it he refers to IBM's resistance to implementing management and organizational changes and how it nearly killed the company. Such resistance is an affliction that most companies share. And, analyzing and improving the effectiveness of organizations goes beyond the corporate world. It is equally common in our institutions such as in health care, education, and government. Some claim to have a strategy for combating this, but strategies are worthless unless you act on them. IWB retired from IBM in 2007 after 37 years with the company. He is currently Chairman Emeritus of the IBM Academy of Technology and is involved in a number of IBM's technical strategy and innovation initiatives. READ MORE >

(IBM) For developers of the EGL persuasion, check out the EGL Café, an online community that shares best practices using IBM's newest favorite programming language. One of the things you'll find in the café is the "EGL Jam," an opportunity to share ideas for enhancements to IBM's Rational software. To put in your two cents worth about Rational, be quick. The time to Jam is over when the calendar turns to January 28. 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 22 -- Webinar - Web application development using PHP applications that run on the System i and other PHP supported platforms such as Windows, Linux and Unix will be the focus of this session that highlights BCD's software known as WebSmart PHP. During this demonstration, attendees will learn how to create a PHP application on the System i in five minutes using templates; edit HTML with WYSIWYG and text-based tools; review the key PHP code for a subfile application; and secure PHP applications and provide a framework with BCD's Nexus portal. The event begins at 1 p.m. EST. LEARN MORE >

January 22 -- Fairfield, New Jersey - Guest speaker Nazmin Haji will discuss the IBM Rational Team Concert for i. RTCi is a development environment for RPG/COBOL and distributed (Java, EGL, PHP) development teams. It integrates capabilities such as source configuration management (SCM) and work items (change management) into the development teams' processes. It also provides project planning, automated data collection, and reporting that helps govern software projects. RTCi is based on Rational's technology platform for collaborative software delivery known as Jazz. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. LEARN MORE >

January 27 -- Webinar - Businesses with customers involved in infrastructure development are preparing their own business infrastructures to support modern applications and technologies. In this presentation -- "Are You Prepared for the Economic Recovery?" -- Joseph Debella, an executive with software vendor VAI, covers the topics surrounding infrastructure development such as rapid development and cost effectiveness. VAI develops ERP software primarily for the manufacturing, distribution, retail, and food service industries. The session begins at 2 p.m. EST. LEARN MORE >

January 28 -- Webinar - Managing information technology infrastructure, development and operations to improve effectiveness, optimize IT processes, and provide better service for users is the focus of this one-hour session presented by ARCAD CEO Philippe Magne. His presentation will include an overview of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and review the benefits of implementing ITIL best practices. Key IT processes that will be discussed include: service desk, incident management, problem management, change management, release management, and service level management. Those registering for this event will get a copy of Magne's white paper on the ITIL framework. LEARN MORE >

January 28 -- Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - RPG experts Susan Gantner and Jon Paris will present two sessions at the monthly meeting of the Toronto User Group. The first session, at 5 p.m., will highlight application modernization strategies from Web enablement to new application development. The second session, at 7 p.m., will uncover new tricks for old RPG dogs. LEARN MORE >

January 29 -- Webcast - Two online sessions on IBM i and i5/OS security compliance topics will cover best practices and reducing costs in the compliance process. The first one-hour session, "Encryption - Your Last Line of Defense," will be presented by Bob Luebbe, president of Linoma Software. It will begin at 1 p.m. EST. It will be followed at 2 p.m. EST by a one-hour session, "Attaining and Maintaining the Compliance Lifestyle," presented by Carol Woodbury, president of SkyView Partners. LEARN MORE >

January 29 -- Webinar - Increasing data visibility, streamlining business processes, and reducing costs by connecting multiple databases and servers through business application mashups is the topic of this online session. Particular focus will be given to gaining a composite view of customers, orders, product, and inventory that are confined to silos in their current application configuration. LANSA Product Marketing Manager David Brault and two individuals from System i organizations that have implemented application mashup programs will be presenting the material. The event begins at 1 p.m. CST. LEARN MORE >