Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) IBM, led by superhero Sam Palmisano, is out to save the world. It's a seize-the-moment time. Businesses are lining up to get onboard. At Big Blue, the talk is about building a "Smart World" and doing it with a "Dynamic Infrastructure." The emphasis is on global automation and worldwide integration. It's an attractive proposition, especially with its focus on reducing costs, managing risks, and improving customer service. "What does a smarter planet look like" is just one of the questions people need to be asking. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The server market crumpled in the fourth quarter of 2008 according to the Gartner box counters. Shipments slipped nearly 12 percent and revenue was off by a little more than 15 percent. Deferring hardware purchases due to the economic downturn was the chief cause. Revenues at IBM dipped 17.4 percent and Big Blue lost a full point of market share. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The customer is (almost) always right. The exception, at least in the ERP software business that is run by Infor, is when the customer is suspected of not staying current on software licenses. Infor is in a legal tussle with two customers after settling out of court with a third. At issue are possible hardware upgrades that Infor claims should trigger increases in software fees. READ MORE >

(SDTimes) The new CEO of Zend Technologies is a young guy but an old hand at PHP. In this Q&A session he talks about the production and performance of PHP, the new Zend server (now in beta) strategy, PHP versus Java, and moving applications into the browser. His name may not be familiar, but he co-founded Zend, helped it grow as a PHP tool maker, and had a part in growing the PHP community. READ MORE >

(CRMBuyer) Don't buy the "flocking to the cloud" hype, but take a look at this article for its information on negotiating with providers, obtaining security assurances, and overall agreements relating to service level agreements. READ MORE >

(CNET) Sam Palmisano, the $21 million dollar man (that's his 2008 reimbursement from IBM), is talking about Big Blue going on the offensive during this current economic crisis. In his recent letter to the shareholders, he vowed IBM was "continuing to invest in R&D, in strategic acquisitions, in growth initiatives--and most importantly, during these difficult times, in our people." How about an IBM i User Appreciation Day? READ MORE >

(KTTC) The local NBC television affiliate in Rochester, Minnesota, took a closer look at the recent layoffs that occurred at the IBM facility there. The report says the estimated number of eliminated jobs were between 400 and 800; that employees over the age of 50 were hit particularly hard; and that severance packages were tied to "will not sue" agreements. Didn't I just read a quote from Sam Palmisano about how IBM will continue to invest in its people? Maybe he was talking about the people who live "offshore." READ MORE >

(Daily Tech) Back in January, Four Hundred Monitor linked to an article about IBM's 4,000-plus patents in 2008. Seems like a ton of intellectual property, doesn't it? Some folks might quibble over the definition of intellectual in certain cases and how it ties up the patent process. Take this IBM application to ignore its software as a good example. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) You know, I had a premonition this was going to show up eventually. It was nearly two years ago when IBM announced plans to build the IBMDB2i Storage Engine for the MySQL database. Now it's finally arrived . . . in beta. If you have applications written to MySQL, and want the data stored in the native database--DB2 for i, formerly known as DB2/400--then this is a happy day. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Everybody who is selling something has a pitch about how much money it will save to buy whatever it is that's being sold. Well, that's a lot easier said than done, so I recommend you find someone who's done it rather than just said it. Here's a good example. Rather than replace its ERP system, this company programmed Web interfaces on the existing ERP applications. Compared to the cost of the new system, this effort saved millions. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Subscription-based software is searching for niches. Systems management tools for monitoring servers and networks might be one of those places where it gains traction early. Making software as a service make sense is a matter of upgrading performance while reducing costs. Those who do their homework may find that on demand software is a smart strategy. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Many of you have a keen need for security and a shedload of logs and vulnerability data on the topic that do practically nothing useful. Sorting what you need from the purely unnecessary is why cagey veterans use security information and event management software. In certain installations, it can tackle the three interrelated problems of network visibility, regulatory compliance, and security. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) WDSc and RDi users take note. You know the value of shortcuts when it comes to programming. That's why most of you regularly read the Four Hundred Guru. Well, here's an opportunity to pick up some tips and techniques that will save you some time and trouble. It's a handy reference guide and it's F-R-E-E. 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 >

(LANSA) As organizations plot strategies that make use of existing applications while meeting modern technology and business challenges, application modernization initiatives are becoming more common. Generally these projects are weighed against the prospect of total system replacement and application rewrites. This white paper, written by Paul Conte, provides guidelines for dealing with the challenges, requirements, and demands that come along with application modernization. READ MORE >

(YiPs) The Young i Professionals are an international group of business-quality techno-geeks interested in the modern capabilities offered on the IBM Power Systems i. One thing you'll find on the YiP Web site is a sandbox where you can test Sugar CRM, one of the most widely used open source business applications. No one checks ID. So even if you are not so young, have some of what these "kids" are drinking. READ MORE >

(ProData) Even years after the U.S. government enacted Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPPA, and other regulations, companies continue to define and redefine business processes and functions that touch sensitive data within their organizations. This whitepaper examines how journaling and auditing tools can greatly simplify the job of continuously providing regulatory compliance. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

March 11 -- Jackson, Michigan - System configuration and work management risks will be the topic of discussion at the regularly scheduled local user group meeting of the Midrange Users of Mid-Michigan. Guest speaker is John Earl, founder and Director of Security Technology for PowerTech. His presentation will reveal how OS/400 systems are exposed through bad security practices, and will provide real-world fixes. A first session dealing with security risks begins at 4 p.m. There will be a break at 5:30, and then a second session focused on OS/400 security by object type, begins at 6:30. The meeting will be held at the offices of Dawn Foods located at 3333 Sargent Road. LEARN MORE >

March 11 -- Tampa, Florida - The Data Exchange Bay Area User's Group will host its regularly scheduled meeting at Bascom's Chop Shop, located at 3665 Ulmerton Road, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The feature topic of discussion will be IBM Power Systems and System i security considerations. LEARN MORE >

March 12 -- Maryland Heights, Missouri - Barbara Brown, Director of Technical Services for Alliance Systems & Programming and advocate for service oriented architecture, will discuss Internet security using secure sockets layer and managing certificates on System i at the monthly meeting of the Gateway/400 Group, a System i user group serving the greater St. Louis area. Topics will include multiple applications such as Web serving (HTTP), file transfer (FTP), terminal emulation (telnet) and System i Navigator. The meeting begins with lunch at noon and the presentation following lunch. RSVP no later than Monday before the meeting date. LEARN MORE >

March 12 -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Acquiring a business-class voice over IP system is the topic of the day at the monthly meeting of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association. Guest speaker is Frank Dolik, president of D&A InfoTech. Dolik has been involved in the planning, installation, and support of IP-based phone systems for more than 8 years. This session will focus on topics such as replacing existing PBX systems, dealing with existing telecom contracts, linking enterprise locations, and cost reductions attributable to unified network architecture. Two sessions are on the agenda. The first begins at 4:30 p.m. The second begins at 7:30. In between is dinner and networking with the members. LEARN MORE >

March 12 -- Webinar - This technical session focuses on BCD WebSmart PHP users. It walks through the IDE and with a product demo creates an application, changing the HTML, and calling an RPG program. Those considering System i PHP development will also find this Webinar useful. The session begins at 2 p.m. EST. LEARN MORE >

March 12 -- Kent, Washington - The Pacific Midrange Systems Association meeting features a session on the impact on the IT professional of the current economic environment. Guest speaker is Bob Breilh, the executive vice president and co-founder of Strategic Solutions, an information technology consultancy and services firm based in Redmond, Washington. Breilh will discuss some practical responses to dire circumstances and how to increase the chances of survival of your jobs and your organizations. 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 >

March 17 -- Irving, Texas - What Enterprise Generation Language (EGL) will be the featured topic at the monthly meeting of the Metro Midrange Systems Association, a user group for the Dallas and Fort Worth metro areas. This session will show how EGL can provide you with a strategic advantage by allowing your business to create more modern systems while leveraging existing code assets through re-use. This session includes a demonstration of calling/debugging an iSeries RPG program from EGL and case studies. Guest speakers Eric Simone and Raymond Everhart will show how organizations are creating modern systems while leveraging existing code assets through re-use. The presentation also includes a demonstration of calling/debugging an iSeries RPG program from EGL and will highlight several case studies. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 and Perry's presentation at 6:45. MMSA meetings are held at the Radisson Hotel DFW South. LEARN MORE >

March 17 -- Costa Mesa, California - A presentation on using PHP for Web services is the highlight of the regular monthly meeting of the OCEAN User Group. Guest speaker is Sharon Hoffman. This session includes a short introduction to the PHP language and the operating environment for PHP in i5/OS. It will also cover PHP capabilities for working with WSDL and SOAP Web services standards, as well as building and parsing XML documents. 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 and begin at 6 p.m. LEARN MORE >

March 18 -- West Chester, Pennsylvania - The Delaware Valley Computer Users Group will host a presentation on modern RPG and the IBM i 6.1 operating system with guest speaker Don Yantzi, IBM's technical lead for WDSc and Rational Developer for System i. Session topics include declaring files in sub-procedures, passing files as parameters, defining huge variables, and running in multiple threads. Yantzi will also cover RPG, COBOL, CL and DDS application development in Remote System Explorer and Rational Developer for i. This half-day seminar begins at 8 a.m. and concludes at 12:30 p.m. It's being held at the West Chester University Graduate Business Center. LEARN MORE >

March 19 -- Webinar - This online technical session examines the key features of BCD's query and reporting tool, Clover. Attendees get a product demo that includes creating web reports, drill downs, graphs and dashboards. This Webinar is geared to anyone considering a real-time System i query and reporting tool. The session begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

March 19 -- Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada - The Toronto Users Group's annual Technical Education Conference and Vendor Showcase will be held at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North hotel and conference center. A preliminary agenda is available on the TUG Web site. LEARN MORE >

March 18 -- West Chester, Pennsylvania - The Delaware Valley Computer Users Group will host a presentation on modern RPG and the IBM i 6.1 operating system with guest speaker Don Yantzi, IBM's technical lead for WDSc and Rational Developer for System i. Session topics include declaring files in sub-procedures, passing files as parameters, defining huge variables, and running in multiple threads. Yantzi will also cover RPG, COBOL, CL and DDS application development in Remote System Explorer and Rational Developer for i. This half-day seminar begins at 8 a.m. and concludes at 12:30 p.m. It's being held at the West Chester University Graduate Business Center. LEARN MORE >