Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) With more than 200,000 OS/400 and i5/OS accounts, this platform still has a lot of muscle regardless of the disappointing revenue declines that consistently come to light on a quarterly basis. When IBM looks at its customer list, it finds System i, iSeries, and AS/400 users in just about 50 percent of those accounts. So don't let anyone underestimate the importance of the platform. Ask the top System i executive about this--and the potential for growth--and here's what he has to say. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) No offense to Dr. Emmett Brown (actor Christopher Lloyd), but nobody does "Back to the Future" like Frank Soltis. Not that we have to worry about Dr. Frank going Hollywood, but he is somewhat of a matinee idol with the OS/400 fan base. Put him on stage talking about where his AS/400 came from, is now, and will be in the future and you have a chemistry that enables him to connect with an audience like few others. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) What do today's graduates need? Same as yesterday's graduates and tomorrow's graduates--they need jobs. So if the job suppliers get acquainted with the student educators, it only makes sense that the two of them can collaborate on educational curriculum that prepares students for employment. It's working that way for the Academic Initiative program. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Let's pretend that nine out of 10 IT professionals know that the "i" in System i stands for innovation. I know some marketing people who would do double back flips if this were true, but that's beside the point. The point is . . . there are some incredibly innovative projects happening in the System i world, despite what some folks say is the legacy albatross around all of our necks. IBM and COMMON would like to introduce you to the most innovative of the innovative. READ MORE >

(System iNetwork) When IBM moved its application development tools for System i under the Rational umbrella, it was a billboard along the road to a new tools strategy. And George Farr, who many of you have come to know during his 22 years of service in the IBM Toronto Lab, is now a Rational guy. Farr has been a point man for the WDSc tools, and in this interview he talks about the Rational brand and the recent flap over WDSc 7.0. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) I've never been to Peterborough, New Hampshire. That probably doesn't surprise you, because I'd bet that all but a handful of Four Hundred Monitor readers could say the same thing. So what's so special about Peterborough? Well, for one thing, it has two change management software vendors. That's pretty unusual. You've probably heard of one of them. The other is a company you'll be hearing more of in the future. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Chances are good that you've been a witness to a person (better yet, a committee) who has taken a simple problem and made it so complicated that it is barely recognizable. Converting green screens into HTML displayed through a Web browser is a good example. Sometimes keeping it simple is the best strategy. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) If you've met and talked with Mark Shearer, the System i general manager, or heard him discuss the i5/OS platform at COMMON or another conference, then you've heard about Voice Over IP and IBM's combined efforts with 3Com in this promising area of IT technology. Here's an opportunity to broaden your knowledge into areas such as interactive voice response, intelligent call routing, and automatic call distribution queuing. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) For those of you who are not yet fluent in service oriented architectures, let me be the first to break the news that SOA is not exactly a hotbed of System i technology. But that doesn't mean you can't develop an SOA of native System i assets, by System i programmers, and for the benefit of System i shops. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM came up with the Express Advantage program to help small to mid size customers solve business problems with IT solutions. It's a hardware-software package deal with a specialized set of features and pricing that fits an SMB budget. As of last week, the new entry-level i5 515 and 525 servers have their own special bundles. Let's see if the "set it and forget it" reputation for dependability and low maintenance combined with the user-based pricing wins some new customers. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Not everyone who is implementing business intelligence software is shelling out big bucks. Before you decide it's unaffordable or that less expensive alternatives will leave you short changed on features and benefits, determine what bells and whistles you really need and what level of scalability is required. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Change management software vendors need to keep up with the latest application development tools. And when your fishing for customers in the Big Blue ocean, that means keeping up with WebSphere tools. READ MORE >

(IBM Systems Magazine) TurboGorilla-Software, creators of iSeries/PC integration tools, was awarded the IBM Systems Magazine 2007 Honor Roll award at the COMMON Conference in Anaheim, California. The award was based on receiving high scores in the categories of installation, ease of use, documentation, functionality, usefulness, and support. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(IBM) Upgrading from an existing AS/400e or iSeries server to a new model ranges from simple to complex. If you are going to make a plan for this migration (and pity those who don't), this redbook should save you all kinds of aggravation. You'll appreciate the insights into V5R4 and its new features such as thin console support, tape encryption, and i5 disk. READ MORE >

(IBM) System i users let the good times roll on this Web page. It's loaded with success stories based on System i hardware and a wide variety of software solutions. You'll find tales of virtualization, IP telephony, portals, server consolidation, high availability, and a ton of other examples. READ MORE >

(IBM) The System i independent software vendor community has its own Web page packed full of successful implementations, too. Among the vendors featured here are: BCD, LANSA, Vormittag (VAI), System Objects, and CMS Software. READ MORE >

(iMessaging Systems) This white paper examines interactive voice response software (sometimes referred to as call routing) and how it works with OS/400-based applications. The description includes examples of how customers can gain automated 24-hour-a-day access to company services and information. Cases are taken from several industries and an ROI analysis based on each example. 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 10 -- Kent, Washington - The Pacific Midrange Systems Association meeting features a session on business intelligence this month. Guest speaker is Mike Lawton. The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. LEARN MORE >

May 10 -- Maryland Heights, Missouri - Application modernization evangelist, Trevor Perry, will discuss his favorite topic at the monthly meeting of the Gateway/400 Group, an iSeries user group serving the greater St. Louis area. The meeting time is 11:30 a.m. with lunch at noon and the presentation following lunch. RSVP no later than Monday before the meeting date. LEARN MORE >

May 10 -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin - PHP on System i will be the highlighted topic during the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association meeting, which begins at 4:30 p.m. and takes place at Klemmer's Banquet Center. This session will provide an update on the PHP Web application development program including products for i5/OS, MySQL, open source applications, and plans for 2007. Guest speaker is Craig Johnson, System i product manager for PHP. Johnson will also present a second session on infrastructure simplification at 7:30 p.m. LEARN MORE >

May 11 -- Atlantic City, New Jersey - Food processors and distributors have an opportunity to learn about enterprise software that can help mange critical areas of the business such as inventory management and lot tracking, shelf life dates, multiple units of measure, broken-case units, conversions, catch-weight pricing, flexible contract pricing, and route management. The event is hosted by VAI and it features the vendor's ERP software, S2K Enterprise Solution for Food Processors and Distributors. The seminar will be held at the Trump Casino and Resort and is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and end by 2 p.m. LEARN MORE >

May 15 -- Bloomington, Minnesota -- A session on DB2 indexing will be presented at the regularly scheduled Minneapolis-St. Paul local user group meeting. Guest speaker is Mark Holm, a DB2/400 expert and CTO at Centerfield Technology. The event gets under way at 2 p.m. at the Comfort Inn on East 78th Street. LEARN MORE >

May 15 -- Reno, Nevada -- A PHP comparison to .NET is on the agenda of the Reno-Sparks Midrange User Group meeting. Guest speaker is Reggie Stevens. This session will also be available via WebEx, for those unable to attend. The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. The meeting location is at Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, 450 Lillard Drive, Sparks. LEARN MORE >

May 15 -- Norwalk, Connecticut - The Fairfield AS/400 Users Group monthly meeting will include three RPG presentations by Paul Tuohy. The first session discusses RPB IV and ILE features and methodologies. It takes place from 2:30 to 3:45. The second session, from 4 to 5:15, deals with RPG programs output as Web pages. Session three discusses ILE implementation factors including how to control and manage the development environment, development tools, design considerations (activation groups, binding directories, using service programs), and documenting procedures. Between sessions two and three is a dinner break. FASUG meetings are held at the Norwalk Inn. LEARN MORE >

May 16 -- Independence, Ohio - PHP on System i will be the highlighted topic during the Application Systems Users Group of Greater Cleveland meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m. and takes place at Harry's Steakhouse. This session will provide an update on the PHP Web application development program including products for i5/OS, MySQL, open source applications, and plans for 2007. Guest speaker is Erwin Earley, an engineer in the IBM Rochester lab. He also heads the Open Source Technologies Center of Competency for System i within the System i Technology Center. LEARN MORE >

May 16 -- Woodbury, New York - The Long Island Systems Users Group will host its annual Education Day event featuring two tracks, seven sessions, and a vendor expo. Guest speakers include RPG guru Paul Tuohy and Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association. LISUG meetings are held at the Fox Hollow Inn and begin at 6 p.m. LEARN MORE >