Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) You want feeds and speeds on the Power Systems boxes packed with the Power 6+ chips? This is the only place you'll find that information. IBM has slipped them into the 520, the 550, and new blade server called the JS23/JS43. And here's how they stack up against the Power 6. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) COMMON, the world's largest IBM i user group, is shifting its emphasis toward IBM Power Systems. You could see it at the Annual Conference and Expo in Reno, Nevada, last week, but you had to look pretty hard. There were more educational sessions on AIX and Linux, and a few vendors in the Expo with those two platforms on the front burner, but true to tradition this event keeps the spotlight on the i. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM's Ian Jarman, manager of Power Systems software, is confident that BladeCenter will become very popular with the Power System i installed base. The blade servers are only in a few hundred IBM i shops, but Jarman says new developments in storage and within the ranks of the ISVs will propel blade sales in IBM i environments. It is early. Only 10 percent of all server shipments, all platforms considered, are blades, and it's estimated that no more than 20 percent of i shops are running i 6.1, which is necessary to deploy blade solutions. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) We've been hearing about flash-based solid state disk drives for quite a while. But what we've been waiting to hear is that Power Systems will support SSDs. Well, the wait is finally over, and here's why you should be happy about that. READ MORE >

(The Register) IBM took a long, hard look at buying Sun Microsystems, but the deal was never consummated. Next in line was Oracle, and it wrapped up a deal in pretty short order. Meanwhile, a plan was hatched to build a new company, called Moon Macrosystems, that could accomplish what Sun was incapable of achieving. It's hypothetical, but, hey, in a virtual world anything is possible, right? READ MORE >

(MCPress) IBM announcements at the COMMON 2009 Conference and Expo last week were highlighted by upgrades in the areas of resource management and processor speed. For a quick rundown on the new hardware and software announcements that included blades, virtual tape support, Power Systems servers, virtualization, solid-state drives, and a few other things, follow this link. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) The frustrations of the AS/400 community have boiled over on numerous occasions and on an assortment of topics. The absence of a native graphical user interface is one of the sores that IBM chooses to ignore. Maybe IBM was just waiting for one of its ISVs to step up and do the job. Well, that's happened. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Microsoft .NET application development is becoming a bigger deal in IBM i shops. This is not necessarily a migration story, so don't be waving bye to the i. There's room in most organizations for both development environments and workloads that are better suited to each platform. How the two will tango is another question, but here's one way to do the dance. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) When your job requires you shuffle application screens like a blackjack dealer after seven cups of coffee, do you ever get the feeling how much easier this should be? Navigating among multiple screens is the scourge of many nearly insane help desk representatives. Aye carumba! Hasn't anyone discovered ease of use when it comes to screen-to-screen adventures? Yes, someone has. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) It's not always easy to explain why certain software "enhancements" are introduced. "The devil made me do it" will only work once or maybe twice. A better answer is "our customers asked us to do this." Here's how it applies to document management. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Application development, especially when multiple development environments are in the mix, can be crazier than a June bug in May. Step off AS/400 island, and you'll find developers clutching their versioning tools like they were the only lifelines to the mother ship. Will they give them up? No way. Can you fit them into a build release management program? Yes, you can. READ MORE >

(MCPress) Another summarization of the third-party vendor product announcements can be seen in this review of the expo at COMMON. This one includes snapshots of some of the vendors' product experts, marketing staff, and executive management, and a listing of all the vendors exhibiting at the event. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(nuBridges) This white paper is a brief overview options for centralizing, securing, and managing file transfer activities within your enterprise. Organizations that understand the importance of imposing stringent data exchange standards inside the corporate network will find this useful. READ MORE >

(Forrester/Guardium) This commissioned case study by Forrester Consulting describes how a global manufacturer implemented Guardium's real-time monitoring technology to protect corporate data and enforce change controls for critical databases supporting SAP, Siebel, and 22 other key financial systems. The customer is a Fortune 500 manufacturer whose brands are household names around the world. READ MORE >

(Lawson) Implementing lean manufacturing methods has had a big impact on the worldwide industrial segment, and IT departments, particularly the use of ERP software, have been in the middle of it. This Web page is a source for white papers, podcasts, and case studies on lean manufacturing strategies, roadmaps, and measuring criteria. READ MORE >

(Aberdeen) This analyst report on ERP in manufacturing serves as a industry benchmark. It quantifies ERP usage, identifies preferences for fully integrated suites versus point solutions, measures total cost of ownership as well as the business benefits derived from best-in-class implementations. Those participating in the survey will have access to the full benchmark report, including advice on best practices and maximizing business value from ERP, as soon as it is published. Individual responses will be kept strictly confidential and data will only be used in aggregate. To participate, follow this link. READ MORE >

(DarkBagel69) A lot of people in the IBM AS/400 community know Scott Klement. He's one of the top RPG experts and is highly respected for his education and training sessions that are provided in a variety of venues. During the COMMON 2009 Conference and Expo, Klement put together daily video reports that mix sort of a Prairie Home Companion Garrison Keillor monolog with a man-on-the-street view of the event. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

May 3-8 -- Las Vegas, Nevada - IMPACT 2009, IBM's largest SOA event, features more than 150 interactive executive-level sessions, including industry-specific presentations for financial services, distribution, manufacturing, communications, healthcare, and government. Overall, the number of sessions tops 500. There will be an emphasis that highlights strategies for the current economy, maximizes the supply chain, addresses changes in customer behavior, and increases channel efficiency and cross-selling. LEARN MORE >

May 7 -- Webinar - Creating IBM System i Web applications using BCD WebSmart ILE is the focus of this online technical session. The presentation includes how to use templates to quickly create Web applications, defining business and presentation rules, application security, and accessing DB2/400, SQL, and MySQL databases. The session begins at 12:30 EDT. LEARN MORE >

May 12 -- Jacksonville, Florida - Data management strategies to control costs, improve performance, and mitigate risk will be discussed at the Jacksonville iSeries local user group meeting. Topics on the agenda include: archiving strategies to control costs, improve service levels, and support compliance initiatives, test data management strategies to reduce risk, streamline procedures, and control costs for testing and rolling-out new releases of enterprise applications, and managing applications in today's economy. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at the IBM offices located at 4601 Touchton Road, East Building 400, Suite 4120. The pizza and soft drinks are on the house. For additional details and to register for the event, e-mail: benbrower@comcast.net LEARN MORE >

May 12 -- Beaverton, Oregon - A presentation on IT capabilities required in a business-oriented "modernization" strategy will be the featured topic at the regular monthly meeting of the Cascade iSeries User Group. Paul Conte, a well-known author and consultant, will be the guest speaker. Conte will offer advice on effective practices and tools, model-centric development, integrating legacy applications, and discuss how enterprise application architecture is the foundation for modern development. The meeting will be held at the IBM offices, 15400 S.W. Koll Parkway starting at noon. LEARN MORE >

May 14 -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin - PHP on the IBM i will be presented in a two sessions at the monthly meeting of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association. Guest speaker is Chris Anderson, who will present his first session at 4:30 p.m. and his second session at 7:30 p.m. In between is dinner and networking with the members. The meeting will be held at Klemmer's Banquet Center located at 10401 West Oklahoma Avenue. LEARN MORE >