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Volume 4, Number 16 -- April 21, 2005

Sponsored By
ITERA

What would it cost your company if your
iSeries was down for 2½ days?

One large iSeries shop recently experienced a crippling system failure followed by a series of complications that kept the system down
for 2½ days!

Fortunately they had just installed iTera's Echo2 High Availability.

The result: no data was lost, little downtime occurred and
users barely had a clue.

Click here to read the full story.

Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Maybe you've read the IT Jungle reports about certain RAID disk controllers failing in the field. Last week IBM released an auxiliary write cache feature card that backs up the write cache on those iSeries controllers. IBM also introduced storage products related to mirroring, fatter disk drives, and virtual I/O. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) In its ongoing efforts to bring Linux to the smaller iSeries shops, IBM has added another choice for those who see the benefit of Linux partitions on the iSeries. What's sweet about this option is that it eliminates the Hardware Management Console, a device that has caused some folks to curse like sailors. Look for Linux-based Web servers and firewalls to spring up a little more frequently as a result of this improvement. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM blames the increase in pension costs for reducing earnings per share growth from 20 percent to 8 percent in the first quarter. Gee, maybe Big Blue should have been fully funding its pension all along. And because it hasn't, it would seem to have been overstating its past earnings, if you want to look at it that way. The financial report included news that iSeries business grew by 1 percent in the quarter. READ MORE >

(Insider Weekly) IBM's director of client availability solutions for the iSeries, John Reed, talked about product strategies for the year ahead during his keynote address at the Northeast i5/iSeries User Group Conference. Integration was the focal point with some of the targets being DB2 SQL optimization, Lotus Domino, WebSphere Development Studio, and WebFacing. READ MORE >

(iSeries Network) The IT job market is being hit with the double whammy of an increasing number of foreign workers taking jobs here while more research and development gets outsourced. The president of one recruiting firm makes a good point: "How can you develop leaders when you cut off the main channel to identify and develop your talent? If you have no developers or programmers, how can you develop project managers?" READ MORE >

(MCPress) The good news from the perspective of this IT staffing expert is that unemployment is decreasing and candidates are getting hired faster. But right along with this comes reduced salaries and contract rates. Finding a new job can take three months or longer. It's currently a better employment picture than in recent years, but the prospects are not what they once were. Care to purchase some career insurance? READ MORE >

(Search400) A major portion of IBM's efforts to build the iSeries business is going into the independent software vendor community so that applications and tools integrate with IBM current and future hardware, software, and technologies. And much of that effort centers on providing technical resources that will assist ISVs to modernize applications and save them money in the process. READ MORE >

(MCPress) The International Collegiate Programming Contest is the oldest and most prestigious programming contest in the world. The required operating system environment is Linux, the languages are Java and Pascal, and the IDE is Eclipse. Would you be surprised to learn that the highest-ranking U.S. team finished in 17th place? READ MORE >

(Search400) IBM continues to pound out the drumbeat of server consolidation-- managing x86 servers under the reliable and secure iSeries. At the Spring COMMON conference, IBM presented an award to the best server consolidation project. In this article, a continuation of the server consolidation message, the story includes reduced complexity associated with server farm maintenance, and even throws in a reduction in the electical costs for good measure! READ MORE >

Sponsored By
RJS SOFTWARE SYSTEMS

Worried about iSeries and PC data integration?
Don't be!

Seamlessly integrate your iSeries and PC data with Productivity and Development Tools from RJS Software Systems.

· RPG2SQL Integrator - Access SQL databases from RPG and COBOL
· iSeries Office Integrator - Create letters and mail merges using
live iSeries data
· ASP/400 - Develop web-based programs for the iSeries

Visit us at www.rjssoftware.com
or call us at 888-RJS-SOFT for a free 30-day demo.

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Asleep at the wheel is one way to describe someone who is not paying attention. Unfortunately it can be used to describe a great many IT departments. Network Intelligence is a vendor with products that monitor and report on security events that occur across the network--things like audit changes and failures, invalid passwords, log-in and log-outs, changes to user profiles, the creation and deletion of objects, jobs by systems and jobs by users, and . . . you want to hear more? READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Death, taxes, and tape backup--there's just no escape. Wrong answer, Mr. Propellerhead. There is an escape from tape backup. OS/400-centric companies are examining the alternatives and disk-to-disk backup and recovery that sends data offsite using IP networks is one of them. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) How many of you use the OS/400 database tool called Data File Utility (DFU)? It lets you access, update, and delete files in DB2/400. DFU has a reputation for being both slow and awkward (which, by the way, are two words you won't find in any product announcement). You want a DFU professional version? Look to the third-party vendors. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) A call center is supposed to be the integration of telephone systems and data systems. The idea is to get information to callers as quickly and easily as possible. And when the information resides on an iSeries, it often makes sense to have the call center managed on the iSeries and the whole project programmed by RPG and COBOL programmers. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) You don't need an industry analyst's report to know there are iSeries and mainframe shops that want to Web-enable their 5250 and 3270 applications. And, let's play a hunch and say the less programming necessary, the better those companies are going to like it. Cascading style sheets, message pop-up boxes, and a scripting facility that reduces the API code needed to connect screen navigation with the back-end application logic, database access, and field and data formatting are all part of this package from GT Software. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) In the coming months some of you are going to have your first experience with the most current version of the operating system--V5R3, also known as i5 OS. Included in that stack of OS installation disks you'll get is system monitoring software from CCSS. It's ready to install on a try-and-buy basis and it's there, according to CCSS executive Ray Wright, because iSeries customers are calling for system software and IBM is listening and taking action. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The process of modernizing applications to take advantage of service oriented architecture involves four steps: discovery, design, liberation, and deployment. The foundation for those steps has been established by Seagull Software, a company with a history of building new interfaces around the I/O of iSeries, mainframe, Unix, and Windows applications. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) A new Lotus Notes instant messaging gateway and enhanced BlackBerry client software are now available through WebMessenger, a software company focused on bridging wireless networks and mobile devices with corporate data. The software runs on IBM's Linux-enabled eServer platforms including iSeries. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The SQL Query Engine (SQE) inside the DB2/400 database has been juiced for higher performance and a new statistics engine adds to the muscle. Additional tweaks to SQL include materialized query tables (MQTs) and support for "Instead Of" triggers. READ MORE >

Sponsored By
GEEKCORPS

Geekcorps \gek ' kor\ n.

1. A US-based non-profit organization that places international technical volunteers in developing nations. We contribute to local IT projects while transferring technical skills needed to keep projects moving after our volunteers have returned home.

2. The opportunity to be immersed in another culture while using your technical knowledge to assist emerging economies.

www.geekcorps.org

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

April 21 -- Linux in the data center is the topic of this Webcast featuring Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of Linux worldwide business and strategic growth initiatives, and Kathy Cacciatore, senior marketing manager at IBM. Topics of discussion include: Why trust Linux to run critical business applications? Why IBM is making Linux applications available across the entire eServer line? And, why the Power architecture is particularly well suited for hosting Linux-based business applications. The one-hour Webcast begins at noon CST. LEARN MORE >

April 24-28 -- Orlando, Fla. - LANSA Launch 2005, the next annual conference for LANSA users, is meeting at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando. The main goal of this event is to provide extensive education in LANSA technology, including the latest release of LANSA Version 11, which is due for general availability in March. Of course, Florida in April is the right place at the right time for many winter-weary LANSA users. An extra day of sessions and hands-on labs has been added this year. Information on speakers, instructors, and topics will be updated periodically on the conference Web site. LEARN MORE >

April 27 -- Software management experts from IBM and SoftLanding Systems will present a Web seminar on the topic of open source version control that runs natively on the iSeries. SoftLanding has long been associated with OS/400-based software change management, and recently introduced Subversion for OS/400, an open source version control for Web and Java development. The session speakers are Kushal Munir, senior developer for IBM's WebSphere Development Studio Client for iSeries, and Paul Thiel of SoftLanding. The topics of discussion include: version control concepts for Web and Java development, special requirements for IT organizations with iSeries-based applications, and how companies are getting started with open source version control. LEARN MORE >

April 27-29 -- San Antonio - ASNApalooza offers three days of technical presentations and labs that demonstrate the latest tips and techniques for ASNA's Visual RPG for .NET. Meet and network with ASNA's R&D, tech support, and education teams. LEARN MORE >

April 27 -- Philadelphia - The basic concepts of iSeries SQL--data access and retrieval, database management, usage in application programs, and more--will be presented at the regular monthly meeting of the Delaware Valley Computer Users Group. The featured speaker is Brian Kelly, a certified IBM instructor and well-known author. The meeting begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30, and the presentation at 7:30. Pre-registration by April 22 is requested. The meeting location is the Airport Embassy Suites. LEARN MORE >

May 3 -- OS/400 shops running ERP software from the company formerly known as J.D. Edwards may be interested in this Web seminar hosted by Global Software and featuring that firm's Spreadsheet Server application, an Excel-based financial analysis and reporting tool that retrieves data dynamically from the General Ledger files. The Web cast begins at 2 p.m. EST. For more information, email marketing@glbsoft.com or call 800-326-3444. LEARN MORE >

May 3 & 19 -- Creating versatile, dynamic Web applications is the subject of a one-hour Web seminar hosted by Paul Holm, a senior Web architect and developer at PlanetJ, a service, education and consulting company specializing in Java, WebSphere, and DB2. PlanetJ also developed and markets a Java-based Web application development tool called WOW, which is used in during the Web presentation. The Web cast begins at 11 a.m. PST. To register, email njensen@planetjavainc.com LEARN MORE >

May 4 -- Strategies to turn downtime into new revenue and new growth will be explained during a Webcast presented by Lakeview Technology. Among the strategies being discussion are reducing backup windows, meeting service level agreements, and the role of IT departments in helping companies become more efficient. Lakeview's MIMIX product strategy director Bill Hammond and Chris Bartley, a manager from the Information Availability Institute, will be the featured speakers. All registered attendees will receive a $25 restaurant certificate redeemable at more than 4,600 restaurants in the United States. This one-hour Web presentation, titled "Taking on the Time is Money Challenge, begins at 11 a.m. CST. When registering for the event, enter this code: LV05PR. LEARN MORE >

Editor: Dan Burger

Publisher and Advertising Director: Jenny Thomas

Advertising Sales Representative: Kim Reed

Contact the Editor: If you have a resource, event, or any other interesting item
that you want to see publicized in Four Hundred Monitor, send Dan Burger
a message through our contacts page.

THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:
iTera RJS Software Systems Guild Companies Geekcorps

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