Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Double the performance for the same price. Offer two cores for the price of one. Shave maintenance costs. Bring out the guys in tuxedos talking through bullhorns. We're talking the new IBM Power7 servers and a competitive server market with blood in the water. Big Blue is making a bid to be the great white shark. But are these Power7 promoters really predators or are they pretenders? READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Most of you have been around for the entire AS/400-to-IBM i ride. At times it felt like floating on a cloud (even before cloud computing) and other times it was as bumpy as a donkey cart in a plowed field. What's past is past. It's the future that's important. And what do you think IBM is saying about the lifecycle of the i? READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The IBM Power7 boxes are in a graduated roll out. First out the door are the middle-of-the-pack servers. (Go up two stories on the Monitor menu for that info.) It's still a guessing game on the exact details of the most popularly priced iron. So if you are more interested in trying a Blade on for size, start here to get a good feel for what might be just around the corner. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Where will business and industry turn for the skills necessary to navigate the anticipated IT transformations that will take shape during the 21st century? IBM is lining up its business partners to help customers shoulder that load. And it's going to make sure there are certification requirements and plenty of training in place. READ MORE >

(System iNetwork) Would you say the introduction of Power7 has HP and Sun-Oracle on the ropes? Ask Ian Jarman, IBM's manager of Power Systems software, who describes Power7 as "astonishing new technology." And check in with the two-person team at Clabby Analytics who predict Power7 just might "drive Itanium and SPARC out of the market." READ MORE >

(MCPress) Let's make this perfectly clear: Open source software is not free software. If you didn't already know that, read this article. It uses ERP as an example, and makes good points relating to both open source and closed source software: Analyze how much time, money, and resources it will take to get the solution you desire and seek the opinions of someone running the software under consideration. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Have you ever seen a frantic puppy on a freshly waxed floor? That's sometimes what it's like for the IT person who has to make sure jobs run on time and in the right order. If it can be that way managing a single server, what can it be like managing multiple servers and even multiple platforms? It doesn't have to be as bad as you might imagine. In fact, it can be handled quite sanely. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Take the situation noted above and add one or more cloud computing providers to the picture. And while you're at it, why not stir the pot with some virtual servers, too? Before circumstances put you in a straight jacket frame of mind, read this (and the story above). When you babysit multiple systems, you need all the help you can get. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) In the enterprise printer business, there are plenty of companies with equipment designed to support IPDS. Maybe you can recite the names of quite a few printer companies. But here's one I'll bet you don't know. And it may pay you to find out more about what it can do for IBM i customers. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) People talk about end-to-end security solutions, but often they are vague about defining each of the ends. In this case, the conversation begins with monitoring users and transactions from the application firewall on one end to the back-office database on the other end. And if you are already wondering about an audit trail, rest assured, it's there. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The smartphone link to key business information already has reached the "must have" status at many companies. When key performance indicators such as inventory levels, work-in-process, and delivery status are offered in real time from one supplier and not the next, it can be a deal maker or deal breaker. Your sales team knows this very well. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(Raz-Lee) Guidelines for best security practices related to PCI compliance and the IBM Power i are covered in this report. Of particular note are vulnerabilities related to system exit points and the lack of application data trails. Either one can allow data to be exposed. READ MORE >

(Aldon) Building a multi-platform development process around the IBM i represents an opportunity to combine the platform's traditional strengths of reliability, security, and ease-of-use with technological advances such as WebSphere, Java, and SOA. This white paper examines the benefits of a comprehensive application lifecycle management system that addresses multi-platform development. READ MORE >

(inFORM Decisions) Eliminating paper forms by converting to electronic document management can save money and improve workflows. This report includes tips on how to cost-evaluate and implement effective paperless systems READ MORE >

(IBM) This IBM Redbook provides a technical overview of features, functions, and enhancements available in IBM i 6.1 (formerly called i5/OS V6R1). It summarizes changes in the operating system and also many of the licensed programs and application development tools associated with IBM i. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

February 11 -- St. Louis, Missouri - Scott Klement, IT manager and senior programmer at Klement Sausage Company, will be discussing patterns for reusable RPG and RPG user defined functions and table functions 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 presentations following lunch. RSVP no later than Monday before the meeting date. There's a new meeting location this month Spazios Restaurant in the Comfort Inn located at 12031 Lackland Road in Westport. LEARN MORE >

February 11 -- Webinar - Upgrading or consolidating existing terminal emulation solutions are the focus of this online session hosted by Open Text. Topics include choosing between thin client and fat clients, understanding the difference between Web-to-host and desktop solutions, and evaluating existing infrastructure. The presentation begins at 11 a.m. EST. Jonathan Carroll, a senior director of research and development at Open Text will lead the session. LEARN MORE >

February 11 -- Wauwatosa, Wisconsin - Two topics--using PHP on IBM I to create mobile applications and re-architecting IBM I applications for the Web using PHP will be discussed at the monthly meeting of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association. Guest speaker is Lane Nelson of Harris Data. The meeting begins at 4 p.m. at Alioto's Restaurant located at 3041 North Mayfair Road. LEARN MORE >

February 16 -- Costa Mesa, California - The latest announcements from IBM regarding Power Systems servers and Rational development tools will be the featured topics at the regular monthly meeting of the OCEAN User Group. This presentation by IBM's Mark Olsen and George Voutsinas will be done via private Webcast to the OCEAN group. Dinner and networking begins at 6 p.m. with the presentation at 7. The meeting location is the IBM South Coast Office located at 600 Anton Boulevard. LEARN MORE >

February 16 -- Bloomington, Minnesota - SQL fundamentals will be the featured topic at the regularly scheduled QUSER local user group meeting. The meeting takes place at noon at the Comfort Inn located at 1321 East 78th Street. LEARN MORE >

February 16 -- Irving, Texas - Web development, application modernization, and integration on IBM i are on the agenda during the monthly meeting of the Metro Midrange Systems Association, a user group for the Dallas and Fort Worth metro areas. Guest speaker Jeff Stevens is the chief technology officer for RestaurantLink, a company providing services to the restaurant industry. His current focus is developing browser-based applications using GeneXus software deployed on Linux/Tomcat servers with the data housed on the IBM i. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 and Stevens' presentation at 7. MMSA meetings are held at the Dallas - IBM Innovation Center located at 13800 Diplomat Drive. LEARN MORE >

February 16 -- Bloomfield Hills, Michigan - An introduction to browser-based applications and HTML will be presented at the regularly scheduled local user group meeting of the Southeast Michigan iSeries User Group. Guest speaker is Laura Ubelhor, author of the book "HTML for the Business Developer." The session will begin with a PowerPoint presentation followed by a hands-on lab. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at Bloomfield Township Library located at 1099 Lone Pine Road. LEARN MORE >

February 16 -- Nashville, Tennessee - This meeting of the Tennessee IBM Mid-Range User Group will feature a presentation on IBM I security with guest speaker Robin Tatam of PowerTech Group. Tatam will discuss how users have access to numerous interfaces that bypass controls, making it easy to view, update, and even delete data in the database. His talk will emphasize weaknesses in traditional menu security systems. 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 >

February 17 -- Seekonk, Massachusetts - Implementing PHP solutions on IBM i will be the featured topic at the monthly meeting of the New England Midrange Users Group. Guest speaker is Alan Seiden, a senior developer and consultant with Strategic Business Systems. Seiden's presentation examines how PHP was used to take a green-screen order entry application to the Web. Details include using most of the backend RPG logic while adding new functionality. The meeting is held at the Ramada Inn and begins at 5:15 p.m. LEARN MORE >

February 17 -- Markham, Ontario, Canada - George Farr, IBM World Wide Power System Segment Leader, and Mark Buchner, Toronto User Group executive director, will be discussing the next generation of Systems and Development tooling at the monthly TUG meeting of the members. The focus will be on IBM i strategy for Rational and IBM Power Systems. The event begins at 1 p.m. at the IBM Canada Software Lab. LEARN MORE >

February 18 -- Webinar - The encryption of IBM i data including: database fields (credit card information, social security numbers, and other sensitive data) backup tapes, and files on the Integrated File System will be discussed during this online session hosted by Linoma Software and featuring the company's software. Also on the agenda are topics such as proper key management, securing access to masked/decrypted values, audit logging, tokenization, and the centralization of sensitive data that can minimize the scope of compliance audits. This session begins at 11 a.m. CST. LEARN MORE >