Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Calling it "the best performance in years," IBM last week turned in fourth quarter financial results that bucked the weak economic trend in U.S. financial markets. Most of the major business units played a role in the surge, including a slight bump from System i, but once again it was Global Services that contributed heartily. Not to be overlooked, however, is the change in constant currency that inflated these numbers. READ MORE >

(Business Week) As you can see from IBM's quarterly financial reports for quite some time, the Global Services footprint is growing and its profitability is responsible for a great deal of Big Blue's success in the early years of the 21st century. The shift from emphasizing hardware and software to emphasizing services is paying off royally. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Bill Zeitler, the senior vice president in charge of Systems and Technology Group, says IBM will take care of its existing customers and bring new business into the company by continuing to reduce data center complexity, relieve power consumption pains, and assist organizations in their desire to build out IT infrastructure. He had plenty more to say, including that by the second quarter, IBM would have "more new products than we have had in a decade." READ MORE >

(MCPress) The bright side of the IBM reorganization is that it should benefit the customers if things work out as advertised. Ah, but what about the dark side? Yes, here comes the B word: bureaucracy. IBM is full of it. Bureaucracy, that is. And it could devour all the uniqueness and the strength that is inherent in the System i. READ MORE >

(Business Week) Skeptical executives who harrumpf the idea social networking playing any significant role in enterprise business, need to wake up to what's happening to challenge old ways of thinking and, more importantly, change the way we work with one another. IBM Lotus is taking an innovative approach to this and it could be the right ideas at the right time for businesses that believe victory comes to those who are swift. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) When it comes to the introduction of platform enhancements based on the Power6 processors, it seems as though IBM is treating this progression much more like a marathon than a sprint. Even though they were expected by the end of 2006, and IBM officials have said there are no design or manufacturing issues, the server lines still await the performance pump. What's behind the delay? Could it be that IBM is just making sure it gets everything right? READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The popularity of MySQL has grown considerably during the past several years as Web-based solutions are being depended upon coming to connect organizations with their customers, suppliers, and partners, as well as their employees. For those who have become familiar with this open source software, it may come as a surprise to learn MySQL was purchased last week by Sun Microsystems. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Developing Web applications using PHP has introduced quite a few programmers to MySQL. It's also resulted in a lot of those people asking why there isn't a way to turn DB2/400 into a MySQL storage engine. IBM promised software to do just that, but nothing has materialized. Fortunately another company has delivered. Now MySQL-based PHP applications can have access the same data used by i5/OS applications, without any source code changes. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) This isn't the first time you've heard that organizations would be better off if less time had to be devoted to managing office systems. The thought is as old as IT itself, but IBM Lotus believes it has the answer with Lotus Foundations, a Linux-based server that can handle office productivity software, e-mail, firewall, file management, and directory services, as well as taking on file backup and recovery duties with far less hassle than its Microsoft counterpart. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) System i disaster recovery software doesn't have to be all about waiting for a catastrophe. It can be useful on a daily basis for such things as updating branch offices with information housed in a central system; balancing workloads among multiple systems; or moving data to other systems for business intelligence. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Four people, one umbrella, and the rain is coming down in buckets. That's how it feels in many IT departments where the daily storms overpower the ability to keep a lid on normal activity and make additional projects unthinkable. Can you weather the storm by bringing in consultants? That may depend on how well they know your business and whether they can deliver within budget and deadline constraints. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Four excellent ways to compare document management systems are the basis of security, administration, search functions, and user interface. Those points can be the difference makers because most all the options can capture, store, manage, and route all kinds of electronic documents, including i5/OS spool files, invoices, work orders, faxes, reports, and video and audio files. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Some ERP software is older than dirt. It may be a tribute to longevity, but, in more than a few cases, it is not a model of efficiency. When this is "discovered," there will be many tedious meetings marked by repeated head scratching, chin stroking, and eye rubbing as alternatives are discussed. Here's what one company did and why. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(LANSA) This report covers an application modernization approach called RAMP (Rapid Application Modernization Process), which was designed by the long-time iSeries software vendor LANSA. The company describes RAMP as capturing the best aspects of application refacing and system replacement while regenerating legacy iSeries applications into a graphical application framework that is architected for future expansion. READ MORE >

(Symtrax) This document covers the topic of computer-based decision support applications and how they can work to the advantage of various departments such as sales, finance, human resources, marketing, production and general management. It examines storage and analytical databases, retrieval and analysis tools, and the implementation of a decision support project. READ MORE >

(IBM) A series of fictitious case studies, 10 in all, have been published on the topic of service oriented architecture. The topics include: information as a service, business process management, governance, WebSphere Portal, interaction and collaboration services, service creation, security and management, SOA design, service connectivity, and process. READ MORE >

(IBM) This report on voice over IP, messaging, and multimedia collaboration services details the Nortel Software Communications System 500 Unified Communication Solution for the System i platform. It discusses integration with existing business applications and infrastructure. 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 24 -- Webinar - In this educational online session focuses on the set up and deployment of the BCD WebSmart development and deployment environments. It includes an overview of APACHE, library lists, and WebSmart Change Management. LEARN MORE >

January 30 -- Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - A half-day session featuring George Farr, Wendy Toh, and Danny Mace from the IBM Toronto and Raleigh labs will discuss the significant changes in the System I and i5/OS coming in 2008. Topics of interest will include IBM Rational, new packaging and rebranding, enhancements in ILE RPG and COBOL compilers, application modernization, and IBM's preference for a multi-platform business language. This event is hosted by the Toronto User Group and begins at 1 p.m. LEARN MORE >

January 30 -- Webinar - The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards has taken steps to increase the protection and security of customer data, breaches still occur, and customers' trust in the retail industry is continually put to the test. As a retailer, the mandate is clear, but the action steps that you need to take are not. This online session, hosted by VAI and VeriFone is designed to help retailers navigate the complex and shifting world of PCI compliance. It begins at 1 p.m. EST. LEARN MORE >

February 5 -- Norwalk, Connecticut - DB2 Web Query is IBM's replacement for Query/400. It's designed to modernize the reports generated and provide more advanced reporting. This session will cover topics such as importing Query/400 queries into DB2 Web Query and "Web enabling" the output, build new reports, building graphs, and techniques for report and data security. Guest speaker is Robert Andrews, an advisory software engineer at IBM. This training event is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. It is produced in partnership with COMMON and the Fairfield AS/400 Users Group. LEARN MORE >