Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) The TPC-C online transaction processing benchmark tests for the new two-socket "Nehalem EP" Xeon 5500 processors have been completed. And comparisons to the two-socket and four-socket servers Power6+ chips can be made. Read all about price/performance here. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) It's not pretty. The IBM and Sun union is on the rocks and those rocks may be the only ones that are not being thrown as the quibbles continue. At this time, the deal is not dead, but it's being pummeled pretty good. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Clone memory maker Dataram acquired rival Micro Memory Bank last week. Although it supports the i platform, the company has not made memory modules for high-end i or p boxes and does not sell cards for the biggest Power Systems machines. It's possible, however, that Dataram could be in a position to support SSDs on IBM's Power Systems platforms before Big Blue gets around to it. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Third quarter revenues were down 18 percent for ERP software vendor Lawson Software, but cost cutting enabled the company to post a profit anyway. Company president Harry Debes says revenues were "negatively impacted by reduced capital spending and weakening foreign currencies, things which are beyond our control." READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Application modernization is directly connected to two issues that cause a lot of executive head-rubbing: improved business performance, and reduced application and infrastructure costs. Modernization takes many forms, one of them being conversion of RPG to .NET. For those inclined to this strategy, there's a new resource to research. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Software that automates common integration tasks and office grunt-work (such as re-keying an order from Word into a 5250 application) is widely known as business process integration. The key word is integration. Almost every organization can improve its integration and, therefore, its bottom line. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Requirements for the Payment Cardholder Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) can tie a company into knots. That's why automatically comparing System i security settings against the PCI standards, can reclaim some sanity for those facing audits. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(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 >

(looksoftware) Many application modernization projects have goals such as reducing costs and increasing productivity. Compared to replacing a significant number of applications or even an entire ERP system, a popular alternative is to reuse existing code and deliver Web services. This video presentation shows examples and demonstrations of System i applications being reused and extended with smart, thin and mobile user interfaces. Company software is featured. READ MORE >

(Quadrant) Justifying IT projects means demonstrating that the return on investment is both short and sweet. This white paper on paperless process management examines the cost benefits related to reduced use of paper and printers, the workflow efficiencies that result in reduced labor costs, and the savings gained by running a PPM system on existing hardware. READ MORE >

(Coglin Mill) Building a data warehouse, a data mart, or architecting a business intelligence reporting system relies on converting the data being collected, as well as some that's not being collected, and making it into useful data. This white paper discusses data quality issues and provides remedies based on using the company's software. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

April 16 -- Webinar - This technical session examines instant Web enablement of 5250 screens using BCD Presto. There will be a live product demo that shows how to Web enable an application including menus, subfiles, and window lookups. Also included are how-to instructions for enhancing screens with images, links, and other UI changes. This session begins at 2 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

April 20 -- Webinar - The primary key constraint has some special attributes that go beyond referential integrity in DB2 databases. In this session, Dan Cruikshank, a senior consultant with the IBM Systems and Technology Lab Services Group, will discuss topics such as row filtering using inclusion and exclusion tables, pagination using the PK with ROW_NUMBER, and column sorting for large result sets. Cruikshank has 19 years with IBM and more than 35 years of overall IT experience. His areas of expertise include application and database performance troubleshooting and optimization. He has developed many IBM internal tools for extracting and analyzing system and database performance data. He has written extensively on application performance tuning and database reengineering (DDS to DDL). He is currently one of the IBM Rochester certified instructors for the IBM i Performance Tuning Workshop. This session begins at 11 a.m. CST. LEARN MORE >

April 21 -- Norwalk, Connecticut - The Fairfield AS/400 Users Group monthly meeting topic is Enterprise Generation Language (EGL). This session focuses on why EGL is easier to learn and makes development teams more productive compared to the technical challenges and long learning process associated with Java. The session includes discussions about system and middleware APIs, productivity boosting frameworks, and cross-platform, transactional-data-centric services and applications. FASUG meetings are held at the Norwalk Inn, 99 East Avenue, and begin at 5:30 p.m. LEARN MORE >

April 22 -- Webinar - IBM and iMessaging combine to host this session on smart voice integrations on the IBM i. Michael Rousseaux, a key strategist in IBM's UC program, and Karen Sedlar of iMessaging explain how to structure voice integrations that handle higher call volumes with existing staff, improve service levels, cut infrastructure costs, simplify telephony structure, prepare staff for the move to voice over IP and unified communications, and "future-proof" voice integrations by making them vendor-neutral. The session begins at 1:30 EDT. LEARN MORE >

April 22 -- Webinar - The use of ILE and SQL to create applications will be the topic of this online presentation presented by Arcad Software. Topics to be discussed include ILE as the technical foundation for SOA, the benefits of SQL, productivity improvements, and how a modern change management tool can assist in the app development process. The session begins at 1 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

April 22-24 -- Reno, Nevada - looksoftware's 2009 U.S. conference--a free three-day event--will highlight the company's application modernization success and feature sessions presented by industry leaders, looksoftware speakers, plus partners and customers. Topics will include application modernization's impact on reducing costs, increasing productivity and improving business performance; new trends such as cloud computing; and looksoftware's business and product plans. It will be held at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino. LEARN MORE >

April 26-28 -- Reno, Nevada - The COMMON 2009 Executive Conference focus is on maximizing IBM Power Systems investments. It includes a keynote address by Ross Mauri, general manager of IBM Power Systems; IBM executives discussing future strategy; an industry roundtable, and top concerns presentations. It will be held at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino. LEARN MORE >

April 26-30 -- Reno, Nevada - The COMMON 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition is COMMON's largest educational event of the year. It features in-depth IBM i and AIX education that includes all-day pre-conference workshops, all-day integrated seminars, open labs, and a wide variety of regular-length sessions. An online session guide is available at the link below. A separate link is available for the pre-conference workshops. The "Week at a Glance" link highlights activities such as first-timer sessions, expo hours, receptions, and guest programs. LEARN MORE >

April 29 -- Webinar - Accounts payable solutions ranging from the distribution of purchase orders to the archiving of checks and supporting documents will be the focus of this online presentation hosted by ACOM Solutions. An emphasis will be placed on efficiencies and cost advantages gained when accounts payable departments transition from paper check payments to blended solutions that enable both printed check and electronic payments. The session begins at 11 a.m. PDT. LEARN MORE >