Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) The System i product pipeline from IBM has a new disk controller that promises to be considerably faster than any RAID disk controllers parked in your data centers today. How much faster is "considerably faster"? It's a good bet that you'll see twice the performance. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM cashed in during the fourth quarter showing revenue gains of 7.5 percent and increased earnings to the tune of more than 11 percent. That's nothing to complain about. Well, unless you're specifically interested in how the System i numbers turned out. Sales were down 10 percent. I guess that's something to complain about. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Zend and the art of OS/400 Web development, not to be confused with the popular book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," is about PHP programming and System i5 servers. The topic is gathering a great deal of interest as people sort through the possibilities. READ MORE >

(System iNetwork) For a "box score" of runs, hits, and errors that played out during IBM's fourth quarter, take a look at this breakdown of financial figures. Notice IBM is quite pleased with the software side of its business. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) If it's January, then this must be Orlando. And that means Lotusphere and plenty of talk about all things Lotus. IBM has products to introduce, financial success stories that call for horn tooting, and a few well-chosen words (along the lines of "eat my dust") about what IBM Lotus has that Microsoft doesn't. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) With a melody that sounds similar to that classic '80s tune "Walk Like an Egyptian," some of the marketing people at Applied Logic Software are singing a song with lyrics that sound like "We Talk Encryption." I could be wrong about that, but look for it on CD just in case I'm right. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) It's surprising to me that more people aren't aware of what thin clients can do. New models are consistently (maybe incessantly is a better word) being brought to market yet the advantages over PCs and laptops seems widely unrecognized. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) How many of you are being poked by the sharp stick of integrating legacy applications? It hurts, doesn't it? As you may well know, there are many ways to relieve this pain. In some situations, converting 5250 and 3270 screens into Web-based interfaces is precisely what is needed. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Achieving interoperability among various platforms and technologies has become the number one goal of many IT shops as companies look to optimize their investments in midrange hardware and software. That's why Microsoft's Midrange Alliance Program exists and that's why vendors with familiar names to iSeries users are joining that organization. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(LXI) The priority for disaster recovery planning used to be summed up as "can we recover?" Now it has become "how fast can we recover?" If you need to assess, adjust, or improve your disaster recovery plan, this white paper can provide direction. And it's available without registering. READ MORE >

(Xdata) Business objectives typically include: meeting customers' requirements, maintaining minimum inventory levels, accurately calculating profitability in every transaction, and minimizing the time and effort required to produce accurate and timely business data and financial information. Find out how this all comes together in this white paper titled "Understanding Manufacturing and Inventory Cost Accounting Practices." READ MORE >

(IBM & Zend) This technical report will help you install, configure, and become productive with PHP on System i using Zend Core for i5/OS and Zend Platform for i5/OS. If you are evaluating PHP, this book will also help by providing background information and comparisons with other tools. READ MORE >

(Group 1 Software) The process of determining exact geographic coordinates and linking this intelligence to a street address is known as geocoding. This white paper explains why accuracy really matters and how it factors into making business decisions. It also covers product features to look for in a comprehensive geocoding solution. 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 25 -- Webinar - The latest enhancements for SQL triggers in Version 5 of i5/OS will be covered by SQL expert Skip Marchesani in this one-hour Webcast. Among his topics of discussion are: why a Read trigger can slow your system to a crawl, how you can have multiple triggers per database event, and why your triggers must now be given names. Also included in this session will be how to disable or enable a trigger with the new CHGPFTRG command, log trigger information in the system catalog, and how trigger management process enhancements and increased functionality in SQL triggers can expand data management options. The event, hosted by Linoma Software, begins at 11 a.m. CST. LEARN MORE >

January 25 -- Beaverton, Oregon - This joint meeting of the Oregon WebSphere user group and the Cascade User Group of iSeries professionals will focus on service oriented architecture best practices and lifecycle of adoption. It is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. at the IBM offices. Guest speaker is Rachel Reinitz, a senior consulting IT specialist with IBM. She is a frequent conference presenter and co-author of the popular eight-part developerWorks series "Building an ESB with WebSphere Application Server V6" and the new series "Building an ESB with WebSphere WESB." LEARN MORE >

January 29 -- Orlando, Florida - A one-day application modernization technical seminar focusing on the service oriented architecture, Web services, and extending the value of RPG-based applications and OS/400-based system hardware is being presented by ASNA. It will emphasize using Windows- and Web-based .NET architectures. The sessions are designed for technical managers and implementers. LEARN MORE >

February 6 -- Webinar - Web services and service oriented architecture (SOA) are playing an important role in application development at many shops. This presentation describes how existing RPG or COBOL applications and skills can be reused in an SOA environment. A practical example will be demonstrated of a composite application which reuses an existing iSeries application, and 'snaps' in new functionality. This event, hosted by looksoftware, begins at 1 p.m. EST. LEARN MORE >

February 8 -- Maryland Heights, Missouri - Alison Butterill, from the IBM Toronto Labs, will discuss Embedding SQL into Application Programs at the monthly meeting of the Gateway/400 Group, an iSeries user group serving the greater St. Louis area. The meeting time is 11:30 a.m. with lunch at noon and the presentation following lunch. RSVP no later than Monday before the meeting date. LEARN MORE >

February 8 -- Webinar - Using /Free format logic in RPG programs will be the topic of this session presented by RPG expert Susan Gantner. The topics to be covered include: the basic syntax rules, built-in functions, and other language features that replace unsupported operation codes and new operations only available in /Free form. The event, hosted by Linoma Software, begins at 11 a.m. CST. LEARN MORE >