Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Will the IBM acquisition of Sun Microsystems get done or are these two companies just dancing in the dark? As sure as that big orange ball peeps above the eastern horizon each morning, Sun must be considering other suitors besides Big Blue. Fujitsu comes to mind. If the deal goes down, it's feasible that Solaris joins i, AIX, and Linux on Power Systems. There's much to consider. READ MORE >

(Computerworld) Speculation on the future of Sun technologies if the company is purchased by IBM runs rampant. The Java community wonders whether there would be a real community after IBM takes charge. What IBM would do with the SQL database is also a question without an answer. And then there's the server business and how that would fit into the Big Blue fold. READ MORE >

(Reuters) Analysts say the commotion surrounding the IBM/Sun talks is just the first of many deals that may be struck as the IT bluebloods go on the hunt for bargains in the sluggish economic swamp. Expanding current markets are expected to take a back seat to gaining position in new markets. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Return on investment casts a big shadow on purchases these days. Other than vendor promises, how do you know if your investment in ERP software --everything from upgrades to replacements--is actually paying off for your organization? You need baseline measurements and after-the-deployment measurements to make legitimate comparisons and discover true ROI. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) It's outside the traditional AS/400 paradigm to consider online backup and recovery. The same is true for managed services. But IBM midrange shops are finding both to their liking. In more than a few instances contracting for vaulted backup has led to the elimination of backup tapes and the backup process is ramped up to provide high availability recovery times. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) PHP as a Web application development environment for IBM System i users has a growing number of supporters. Many are interested in application modernization projects, some are doing starter projects, and some are using PHP to deploy applications on Windows, Linux, or Unix platforms as well as the IBM i. READ MORE >

(MCPress) Among the loyal user base of the IBM i, the box is mostly referred to as the AS/400. This may be to IBM's chagrin as it rolls out its iLoyalty program that provides incentives for those old AS/400s (and iSeries and System i boxes) to be traded in on new iron. Consolidating Windows workloads in a BladeCenter system will be heavily promoted as the economic advantages of server and workload consolidation may appeal to some customers. READ MORE >

(System iNews) MBA students in Nebraska, Iowa, and Ohio are being introduced to the System i as well as AIX, Linux, BladeCenter, RPG, and WebSphere in a program that incorporates Second Life, a popular online role-playing game. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) IBM's WebSphere MQ security is weaker than a wet soda cracker according to an industry veteran who also develops software to fix the inherent failings attributed to the default installation practices. How many WebSphere MQ installations are at risk? More than you can shake a stick at. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) There's no escaping the flood of data that's rising in your organization. And you know what that's doing to your backups, right? That's right. The size of your backups is swelling. Maybe you have figured out ways to deal with this. If not, this article about de-duplication can help reduce the swelling quicker than ice on a fat lip. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) With the right tools, job scheduling on the IBM AS/400 is a slam dunk. (Anybody watching the NCAA basketball tournament?) Now the Four Hundred (maybe you call it the i?) can become your cross-platform job scheduler, too. Linux, AIX, and Solaris are already in the game with Windows and HP-UX coming soon to a server near you. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) High availability is just another way of saying your business can't afford to lose the transactions that continue to pour in between the time your system goes down and the time you get it up again. Some companies can live with hours and days of downtime. And it used to be that unless you had deep pockets HA was off the table. If the price was right, would you think differently? READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Location technology has three things going for it. It's becoming more accurate, it contains more details, and it's becoming less expensive. GPS-based solutions are transforming fleet management software and providing users with tools to improve delivery times and bolster customer service, and win bidding wars against competitors that may not be as efficient. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(Halcyon Software) This is an attention-grabbing name for a white paper: "51 Things You Can Automate on Your System i and Prove Return on Investment." The report includes a list of common principles and discusses how good systems management practices can lead to significant cost reductions for companies. READ MORE >

(Centerfield Technologies) This report, called "The Keys to the Kingdom," discusses the use of keys when designing or re-engineering databases. It explains how to improve data security, performance, and application design. It is written by IBM database expert Dan Cruikshank. READ MORE >

(IBM) Using Apache, MySQL, and PHP, IBM i has the open source middleware to run PHP applications and scripts that have been written to the MySQL database that is used on millions of Web sites. And PHP applications written to the MySQL database can have the data stored in the DB2 for i database. This approach provides management benefits because DB2 is integrated into IBM i and users already know how to manage, back up, and protect DB2 data. This IBM Redbook covers installing, configuring, and implementation the MySQL database for use with System i. READ MORE >

(IBM) PowerVM virtualization technology is a combination of hardware and software that supports and manages the virtual environments on POWER5-, POWER5+, and POWER6-based systems. It is designed to aggregate and manage resources using a consolidated, logical view. This report highlights benefits such as energy cost reductions through server consolidation and infrastructure cost reduction based on the improve management of growth, complexity, and risk. 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 26 -- Webinar - Automated report and document distribution is the focus of this technical session featuring the BCD product called Catapult. It includes a product demonstration of how to distribute a report as a PDF. It also covers the topics of splitting reports, how to archive reports to the Web and how to convert them to spreadsheets. The event begins at 1 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

March 26 -- Webinar - An online System i compliance session concerning log monitoring will be presented by Patrick Townsend Security Solutions and Solutionary, one of the PTSS business partners. The session begins at 2 p.m. CST. LEARN MORE >

March 26 -- Fairfield, New Jersey - Guest speaker Charles Guarino will discuss making the move from green-screen development to RDi/WDSc at the regular monthly meeting of the North Eastern Systems Technology Users (NESTU) meeting. Topics will include our old comfort-zone friend STRDBG, and Guarino will show the similarities, differences, and productivity improvements in this new world of application development with an emphasis on debugging. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. LEARN MORE >

March 31 -- Webinar - Knowing your ERP vendor and solution provider is the focus of this online session. An emphasis will be placed on product and company resiliency. Joseph Debella, an executive with software vendor VAI, covers the topics related to getting the most out of vendor relationships. VAI develops ERP software primarily for the manufacturing, distribution, retail, and food service industries. The session begins at 2 p.m. EST. LEARN MORE >

March 31-April 2 -- Delavan, Wisconsin - The 24th annual Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professionals Association (WMCPA) Spring Technical Conference will be held at the Lakelawn Resort. It begins Tuesday night at 6 p.m. with an experts' roundtable discussion titled "The System i; IBM's best kept secret. Will it survive in a Changing IT World?" Sessions and labs are scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. A sample of the educational topics that will be presented by some of the System i community's top experts include: security, backup and recovery, RPG, PHP, XML, CL, and SQL. A tentative agenda featuring these and more topics can be found online. Registration fees for WMCPA members are $350 for one day and $425 for two days. For non-members, the fees are $475 for one day and $550 for two days. LEARN MORE >

April 2 -- Webinar - A product demo of BCD's Nexus Portal will include a technical overview and a walk-through of creating a portal. Key features are highlighted along with step-by-step procedures. The event begins at 2 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

April 2 -- Webinar - If your programmers used IBM's APIs to encrypt data on the System i, then your organization is at risk of failing audits and risking sensitive data if you don't have adequate key management, security controls and audit trails in place. During this online session, topics of discussion will include the latest PCI standards and requirements for protecting sensitive data and managing encryption keys. The dangers that are often found in home-grown encryption solutions will also be discussed. This presentation is hosted by Linoma Software and includes a demonstration of its Crypto Complete product. The session begins at 1 p.m. CDT. LEARN MORE >

April 6-8 -- Framingham, Massachusetts - The annual Northeast User Groups Conference will feature more than 100 sessions and five tracks that will focus on RPG and programming tools such as RPG, SQL, Java, PHP, RDi, and EGL; database technology including SQL and DB2 Web Query; systems management (topics such as security, upgrades, performance tuning, and backup/recovery; Web development including Web services, PHP, and Java; and topics involving management and professional development. The two-day registration fee is $500. Extended hands-on labs and in-depth seminars are available Monday, April 6, for an additional fee. LEARN MORE >

April 6-8 -- Framingham, Massachusetts - The annual Northeast User Groups Conference will feature more than 100 sessions and five tracks that will focus on RPG and programming tools such as RPG, SQL, Java, PHP, RDi, and EGL; database technology including SQL and DB2 Web Query; systems management (topics such as security, upgrades, performance tuning, and backup/recovery; Web development including Web services, PHP, and Java; and topics involving management and professional development. The two-day registration fee is $500. Extended hands-on labs and in-depth seminars are available Monday, April 6, for an additional fee. LEARN MORE >