Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Because the converged Power Systems product line continues to feature unique products for i OS, AIX, and Linux, it is not as converged as that word would indicate. Think of the convergence as a work in progress--a process that should reach its conclusion in the next four or five months. Here's how the pieces are coming together. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Last week Gartner had its shot at dissecting the first quarter 2008 server sales and revenue figures. This week it's IDC's turn to disembowel the server market and come to its own conclusions. You might think that the two analyst firms would come to the same conclusions. Sometimes that happens and sometimes you'd be surprised. But the old adage that you learn something new everyday is as true here as it is anywhere. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Do you ever feel like you've been poked in the i with a sharp stick? Building a brand often takes a greater investment and the involvement of more people than creating the product or service. At least it seems that way because branding has become such an important part of building a business. Funny how this plays out because if you're in marketing you believe branding builds sales and if you are in sales you credit sales with establishing brands. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Why aren't more IT departments effectively supporting business innovation? If your IT department is the only cat watching nine rat holes, you understand there's no time for innovation. Along with almost no time for anything beyond maintaining the status quo, there's that budget thing that also keeps a lid on innovation. Management that is hungry for innovation looks to application migration for an answer. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Tape storage or disk storage, which side are you on? Now be ready to change your mind. According to a recent analysts' report, the cost of long-term storage for an array of SATA disks is 24 times higher than LTO-4 tape arrays. Surprised? And that's without factoring in the energy costs, which are 290 times higher for disk. Those higher costs may turn your next bonus to toast if you've recommended a switch to disk. READ MORE >

(IBM Systems Magazine) Financial institutions are among the organizations that are most serious about security. Subsequently, the rest of the business world cherry picks the best ideas and implements them for their own security interests. One reoccurring nightmare involves lost or stolen data tapes. In this case study article, one bank takes time out to praise a storage encryption appliance that helps ensure the security of its customers' information. READ MORE >

(VoIP News) Travel expenses are a big ticket item that can dominate budgets. It's one reason the idea of Web conferencing is gaining attention. There are software-based solutions, hosted services, and options that combine the two. Some require proprietary hardware and software and are best suited for existing infrastructure only. Integration is an obvious consideration when shopping, and often a voice over IP solution is part of the equation. Here are a few factors to take into consideration. READ MORE >

(MCPress) Reducing energy costs using virtualization technologies is on the radar screen for many IT managers these days. Opportunities for running IBM i PowerVM virtualization solutions integrated with BladeCenters and System x servers running VMware ESX across iSCSI are coming to light as corporate management gains a greater awareness and understanding of the potential savings. It's good to see IBM and its business partners offering solutions not only within the Power Systems division, but also with its other server platforms as well. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Data quality problems are the monkey wrenches that get thrown into otherwise smooth-running software and the channels of information exchange. Banks, insurance companies, and hospitals are particularly hard hit when data quality becomes an issue, but it's an equal opportunity problem that bedevils business intelligence, CRM, and data warehouse initiatives regardless of industry, geography, or company size. Cleaning up the mess requires software that can analyze and fix anomalies in the data. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Discussions about application development usually focus on how it's going to be done. The how much it will cost part comes later. As organizations plan for rich internet application development, it's a mistake to ignore or even downplay the fact that separate development is being done for the client tier and the server tier. That's not the way things used to get done and it's not making development any cheaper. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Some people remember--like it was yesterday--the stacks of paper reports their companies' were dependent upon to disseminate business information. Not only does it seem like it was yesterday, it was yesterday--and today and tomorrow, too. Document management, in these situations, is about three-ring binders and metal filing cabinets. There are better and less expensive ways of doing this. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) With Salesforce.com as its launching pad, software delivered as a service (SaaS) has its high profile success story. The advantages of SaaS include quick implementation of standardized applications, current technology without the licensing and infrastructure costs, and the convenience of having one less thing cluttering up your IT table. It's another option for all companies, but a particularly good fit for those in the small to mid size markets. And, it's very attractive to companies wanting business intelligence without the complexity and expense that usually comes with it. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) A good argument can be made that thin clients provide advantages in workflow, security, and lower maintenance compared to the PC alternative. Most are known (in the System i shops) for their capability to run TCP/IP TN5250e terminal emulation, but their features go well beyond that, including virtual environments. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) There's a certain appeal to running Java applications on Java virtual machines. Saving money has that effect on certain people. You and I know it can get expensive when general purpose servers get bogged down with heavy Java loads. What I have yet to learn is how to get my '64 Pontiac to run on virtual gasoline. That problem makes JVM seem easy. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(SafeData) This report, "High Stakes of Data Availability," provides a brief overview of data availability and recovery options and make a case for electronic vaulting as a managed service. The backup and recovery options considered in this white paper include tape backup and off-site storage, high availability, managed high availability, electronic vaulting, and electronic vaulting with recovery. READ MORE >

(Tango/04) Some companies continue to struggle with Sarbanes Oxley compliance issues that require a great deal of manual effort. This white paper highlights the implementation of internal auditing controls featuring the vendor's software, which centralizes the control of all security and operations events. READ MORE >

(ARCAD) This white paper takes a view of service oriented architecture in the System i world as the route to system flexibility and open communications. It ties business change with software change and makes the case that software has often been a delaying factor in business changes required to support new products and services. READ MORE >

(Vision Solutions) Managers, even those outside the IT department, realize the high stakes gamble that downtime and data loss bring to a company. Productivity and profitability are easy to understand even if you don't know a server from a hole in the ground. This white paper provides a road map for effective strategies and technologies to protect data and provide fast recovery should data be lost or corrupted due to accident or malicious action. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

June 17-20 -- Chaska, Minnesota - This four-day conference, hosted by Help/Systems, features a variety of sessions including the latest in System i news from IBM experts, techniques for using Help/Systems automation and business intelligence products, and new ways for IT professionals to integrate their professional and personal lives. Among those presenting are Dr. Frank Soltis, the creator of the System i architecture; Richard Dolewski, an expert in disaster recovery; and Kent Milligan, a specialist in System i database topics. Help/Systems will also offer a two-day workshop on June 16 and 17 that will provide in-depth training on its products. LEARN MORE >

June 17 -- Atlanta, Georgia - Converting iSeries spool files to PC formats such as Excel and Word, creating PDFs from reports, and distributing reports via e-mail are part of the presentation at the Atlanta Midrange Users Exchange meeting this month. Guest speakers Richard Voss and Chris Burns will emphasize automating the distribution and storage of electronic reports and laser forms, linking them to a searchable audit trail, and cutting costs in the process. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. and will be held at the Brio Tuscan Grille located at 700 Ashwood Parkway. LEARN MORE >

June 18 -- Webcast - The use of encryption for protecting confidential information and expediting compliance with PCI standards, federal regulations (HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley being two examples) and state privacy laws is the focus of this online session hosted by Linoma Software. Topics of discussion include protecting sensitive fields and backups on the IBM System i (iSeries) through the use of encryption, integrated key management, and auditing. Linoma software will be used to automatically encrypt database fields without changing applications, protect System i libraries, objects and files, rotate keys without re-encrypting, and produce audit trails and reports. The session begins at noon CDT. LEARN MORE >

June 18 -- Freeport, New York - The Long Island Systems Users Group is hosting a dinner cruise rather than a regular monthly meeting this month. Emphasis on this four-hour cruise is on networking with members. The boat leaves the dock at 6:30 p.m. Register before June 13 and save $15 per ticket. LEARN MORE >

June 18 -- Seekonk, Massachusetts - OS/400 upgrades will be the featured topic at the monthly meeting of the New England Midrange Users Group. Guest speaker is Pete Masiello, an expert on systems management and technical support. RSVP no later than June 13. The meeting is held at the Ramada Inn and begins at 5:15 p.m. LEARN MORE >

June 25 -- Independence, Ohio - Data analysis and systems automation 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. Guest speaker is Tom Huntington, vice president of technical services at Help/Systems. LEARN MORE >

June 25 -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The Delaware Valley Computer Users Group will host a presentation on the new Power Systems and the DB2 enhancements for i 6.1. Guest speakers will be IBM's Rick Clements and Mark Anderson. The event, which will be held at the Union League of Philadelphia, begins at 5:30 p.m. LEARN MORE >

June 25 -- Webinar - The migration path from Query/400 does not necessarily lead directly to DB2 Web Query. In this session, presented by New Generation Software, a comparison is made between New Generation Software's NGS-IQ and DB2 Web Query. Topics of discussion include replacement factors considerations such as ease-of-use, performance, licensing terms, and support. The NGS-IQ product will be used to demonstrate the capabilities related to building business dashboards, OLAP presentations, Microsoft Excel reports, and includes a look at the NGS Query/400 API that enhances existing queries with a variety of output options. The presentation begins at 1 p.m. CDT. LEARN MORE >

June 26 -- Bolton, Ontario, Canada - The Toronto Users Group is participating in a charity golf tournament benefiting Bloorview Kids Rehab. Starting time is 8 a.m. LEARN MORE >

June 30 -- Irvine, California - The 15th Annual OCEAN Tech Conference, Vendor Expo, and Executive Breakfast-Briefing on ROI is scheduled to take place at the Irvine Hyatt Regency Hotel. This full-day event includes training for developers, systems support, and IT management and includes some of the top experts in the business as well as a vendor expo. The six educational tracks include RPG IV, i5Web Development, Security and Infrastructure, System i5 Integration, and New Technology. A discounted registration fee is available until June 1. LEARN MORE >