Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) When IBM talks about innovation and investment in the Power Systems i, it often brings up topics like server consolidation, logical partitioning, and running multiple operating systems on a single server. These topics have been on the front burner for years and a fair number of IBM i shops have put these innovations to good use. But when you put the 80-20 rule into play (like IBM likes to do on many occasions), the innovations apply primarily to 20 percent of the IBM i shops and 80 percent of the customer base is looking for innovation of another kind. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Are you disgruntled about what IBM is not doing with the System i? If you haven't already heard, there's a group of influential IT vendors in Japan that has decided to promote IBM i, because they can't depend on IBM to do the job. They've put together an action plan and gained momentum after putting some of the plans into action. Keeping the ball rolling will be a challenge, because enthusiasm can wane and keeping everyone focused will not be easy. But at this point, you have to admire their moxie. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Let's go with the basic assumption that more IT managers are being asked to provide increasingly stringent accounting for the IT expenditures that have been generally accepted without a great deal of critical analysis. I hear the term "return on investment" a lot more these days, and I think it gets promised a lot more than it gets fulfilled. But where is ROI most likely to pay off? CRM? Security? BI? Find out here. READ MORE >

(Harvard Business Publishing) Many IT departments are operating in non-stop crisis mode. The cumulative effect of long hours, long weeks, month in and month out will sap energy and creativity. The employee burnout rate goes off the charts. Here are some suggestions for maintaining productivity--yours and the people who work for you and with you. READ MORE >

(CIO) Customer relationship management software vendors are possibly the best at aligning companies' dreams with their products. They speak directly to revenue and profitability. Return on investment is virtually an iron-clad guarantee. Take account of what is not said about CRM before you let your VP of sales fall in love with a box full of promises. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Fifteen thousand AS/400 customers are looking to Infor for the kind of strategic assistance and commitment that goes along with an investment in ERP software. Customers are wary of what's known as the "forced march" of any software (or hardware or services) vendor that ignores "the customer is always right" rule. How Infor handles its software upgrade programs will be closely watched. This is a follow-up article to one that was noted in the June 25 issue of Four Hundred Monitor. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Lock your house and lock your car. It just makes sense, right? Until you lose your keys and then you're up a creek without a paddle. The same thing can happen when you lock your data using encryption. If you lose your keys, you've got a problem. That's where key management comes into play. It sounds easy enough, but often it's not. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Regulatory compliance has been hard on the IT departments in organizations scrambling to adjust to quality assurance issues in areas where little or no quality was ever assured before. IT security is one of those areas where assumptions are often badly misaligned with reality. And knowing that things are not ship-shape is often a long way from knowing how to make things ship-shape. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Integration between IBM System i applications and Windows applications in an electronic payment system can sometimes compare to shifting gears while driving a really expensive Italian sports car without using the clutch. It's enough to make a chill run up and down your spine. One way to improve the integration is to convert i/OS spool files to ASCI format. Ahhhh, that's better. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) To say that social networking and cloud computing are very important to IBM Lotus is one colossal understatement. Lotus is one of the IBM brands that has a difficult time shaking its reputation for being "so yesterday." Past sins cannot be undone, but they can be put aside by new technology. What Lotus was is not what Lotus is today. If you see uses for the new and improved methods of collaboration, you should be paying attention to Lotus. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(LANSA) Supply chain optimization is closely associated with increased revenues, higher productivity, reduced costs, and greater customer satisfaction. However, most organizations are faced with obstacles such as warehouses and inventories that are geographically widespread, shifting to a demand-driven business plan, creating a more efficient supply chain, and doing this on a reduced budget. Coming to grips with this is the topic of a new white paper authored by industry expert Nahid Jilovec. READ MORE >

(The IT Governance Institute) Gaining control of IT involves delivering the needed information in a timely and cohesive fashion, managing risks, and securing IT resources. This report is about the appropriate level of control and setting performance levels for IT departments. It explains the latest release of the COBIT standards designed as best practices for supporting business goals and investments in IT. READ MORE >

(SafeData) This report examines the options for backup and data recovery of the IBM iSeries emphasizing that not all solutions are right for every business by considering price, complexity, and business risk related to downtime. Virtualized recovery is particularly highlighted. READ MORE >

(IBM) Using Apache, MySQL, and PHP, IBM i has the open source middleware to run PHP applications and scripts that have been written to the MySQL database that is used on millions of Web sites. And PHP applications written to the MySQL database can have the data stored in the DB2 for i database. This approach provides management benefits because DB2 is integrated into IBM i and users already know how to manage, back up, and protect DB2 data. This IBM Redbook covers installing, configuring, and implementation the MySQL database for use with System i. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

July 9 -- 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 1:30 EDT. LEARN MORE >

July 9 -- Webinar - An eight-part online session on project management and working with technology vendors to prepare a successful implementation will be presented on an every-other Thursday schedule through October 1. This is session number two titled "Designing Successful Projects." Subject expert Susanne States, director of sales and client services at S4i, is the session leader. States is a tenured veteran of organizational development and project management. The focus of these sessions will be on driving efficiency, improving customer service, and gaining competitive advantage by putting in place adequate processes and resources. Each session begins at 11 a.m. CDT and concludes at 12:30 p.m. LEARN MORE >

July 14 -- Webinar - Demystifying the high availability role swap is the goal of this online session featuring the Maximum Availability product *noMAX. Many System i users believe a role swap between primary and back-up systems is a tricky operation that takes time when time is in short supply. Guest speaker Raymond Hammell, a senior technical specialist with Maximum Availability, will discuss role swaps that ensure the accuracy of data, applications, and programs moving from the primary system to the backup system. The session begins at 11 a.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

July 15 -- Webinar - Managing data changes and data transfers is significant in all organizations, but especially those that are dealing with regulatory compliance issues. This online session explains the importance of data change management by examining the importance of controls on such things as applications that invoke information stored in DB2 database tables and instances when companies isolate data and install it in customers' databases. It also covers topics such as changes to critical parameter settings and configuration data. The session begins at 1 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

July 15 -- Webinar - Successful strategies for improving productivity and reducing costs across supply chains is the topic of this online session presented by David Brault, a product manager at LANSA. Topics of discussion include customer service, business process integration and information flow, data quality management, and streamlining internal applications. The session begins at 1 p.m. CDT. LEARN MORE >

July 16 -- Webinar - Demystifying the high availability role swap is the goal of this online session featuring the Maximum Availability product *noMAX. Many System i users believe a role swap between primary and back- up systems is a tricky operation that takes time when time is in short supply. Guest speaker Raymond Hammell, a senior technical specialist with Maximum Availability, will discuss role swaps that ensure the accuracy of data, applications, and programs moving from the primary system to the backup system. The session begins at 2 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

July 16 -- Webinar - This technical webinar offers a detailed look at the key features of BCD Clover, a Web query and business intelligence tool. A live product demo explains how to create Web reports, drill downs, graphs, and dashboards. The session begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

July 20 -- Irvine, California - The 16th Annual OCEAN Tech Conference and Vendor Expo is a one-day education and training event that features sessions for developers, systems support and IT management. Technical sessions will cover the IBM Power System including System i, System i-OS, and IBM AIX/Unix infrastructure and systems management, programming, and application modernization skills from RPG IV, SOA, EGL, PHP, DB2, Microsoft .NET, Web Services, and how to incorporate open source tools. A "mini-workshop" for executives will be presented by Bob Tipton, who will also present a keynote address titled, "Keeping the Edge Through Innovation." Registration for this event is $120. The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency. LEARN MORE >

July 21 -- Webinar - DB2 Web Query is not always the best path to modern reporting and business intelligence on the IBM i (IBM Power, System i, iSeries, or AS/400). This online session examines DB2 Web Query features, licensing terms, pricing, and support considerations. It also includes a demonstration of NGS-IQ, an alternative to DB2 Web Query that is available from New Generation Software, the company that hosts this Webcast. This session begins at 2 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

July 21 - Webinar - Outsourcing, out-tasking, and offshoring for small to mid size companies is on the agenda for this online seminar presented by Joseph Debella and hosted by VAI. Debella will examine how companies expect solutions to deliver high-impact applications in a rapid and cost efficient manner, but eventually discover higher costs as the end result. LEARN MORE >

July 21 -- Irving, Texas - Developing and modernizing applications using EGL is the featured topic at the monthly meeting of the Metro Midrange Systems Association, a user group for the Dallas and Fort Worth metro areas. The topics for discussion include deploying EGL in the System i environment, a comparison of EGL and PHP, and the options available from IBM for modernizing existing user interfaces by migrating to EGL. Will Smythe, the product manager for IBM Rational Business Developer and the EGL language, is the guest speaker. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 and Smythe's presentation at 7. MMSA meetings are held at the Radisson Hotel DFW South. LEARN MORE >