Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) IBM has doubled the processor core counts on its Power Systems servers. Does this make the Power6 boxes more competitive against current and future X64, RISC, and Itanium midrange machines? You betcha. Here's how it all shakes out on the boxes that got the boost: the Power 520, 550, and 570 servers, plus a new model--the 560. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) With a chocolate box full of Power Systems announcements made during the first 10 days of October, IBM has the candy to do some hardware/software sweet-talking with System i customers. If Big Blue really loved its customers, though, wouldn't it publish pricing like it does for AIX and Linux configurations? READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) If business value is to be uncorked in IT departments from Portland to Newport News and all points in between, systems integration needs to take a giant step forward. One area with some achievements to point to is product lifecycle management, a discipline that manufacturers have been tinkering with for years in order to gain efficiencies through better information flow from shop floor to back-end financials to the supply chain. READ MORE >

(SearchDataCenter) IBM says its new Power offerings will be a success because of their scalability, their capability to process more with fewer cores and, with that, reduce users' costs related to licensing fees. Step over here a little closer and let Big Blue tell you about the performance and the energy efficiency. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Are we there yet? We started this trip more than a year ago when IBM announced support for MySQL running on i5/OS V5R4. At that time, IBM promised a DB2/400 storage engine for MySQL. No official progress reports have come from Big Blue, but recently a few clues turned up that indicate the product may be available soon. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) How many strategic business languages can the System i have? For a long time, the answer was one: RPG. Although it remains immensely popular, its most modern format ILE RPG has not been widely adopted. Also on the Not My Favorite Language List is Java. Most RPG programmers choose walking over hot coals in their bare feet over learning Java. Enterprise Generation Language, widely known as EGL, might take the burn out of getting to Java. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) We often make distinctions between the people who mean well and the people who do well, as if they couldn't be one and the same. Here's a software company, an ERP company no less, that is successful and dedicated to its employees and customers. Who says corporate vision only goes as far as the bottom line? READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM's application development tools for the i OS platform are widely used and widely misunderstood. The most used tools are generally speaking the oldest tools. Getting the users to go thoroughly modern has not been easy. It's a stubborn user group but IBM could have done better in terms of creating tools and promoting them effectively. The Eclipse-based Rational tools may be IBM's best shot at getting over the hump. Here are some new features that show some progress. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Medical and healthcare facilities need a patient care record system. What they often don't need is the maintenance and constant IT operation that goes along with it. By using the software as a service model, organizations are eliminating the investment in expensive server architecture and the personnel required to run it. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(RJS Software) This case study report details how a manufacturer with ERP and customer service applications running on different operating systems found a way to easily share information without time-consuming, costly file transfers and redundant data entry. The answer is allowing RPG or COBOL programs to read, write, update, and delete records in SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL and other PC databases--in real time--resulting in seamless System i and PC data integration. READ MORE >

(Quadrant) Document management is one of the quickest ways executives have to improve order processing, cash flow, and access to critical documents. This archive of document management Webinars point the way toward greater efficiencies in areas such as purchasing, receiving, customer service, and the payables processes. READ MORE >

(NGS) Business intelligence on the System i and the new Power Systems servers comes in a variety of options. IBM is very fond of its own software called DB2 Web Query. New Generation Software, in this white paper, compares DB2 Web Query with the NGS alternative called NGS-IQ. Among other things, this report examines the capabilities of these two products, the cost of implementation, licensing terms, and product support. READ MORE >

(IDC) This report, "IBM and i Power Systems: Leveraging Virtualization in the Datacenter for Flexibility and Business Continuity," might be useful to large enterprises where the big Power System boxes work, and where issues such as server virtualization and power and cooling considerations are a high priority. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

October 15 -- Seekonk, Massachusetts - Paperless solutions for the System i presented by Dennis Sylvestre of Quadrant Software, is the featured topic at the monthly meeting of the New England Midrange Users Group. This presentation addresses the planning and implementation of document management, imaging, workflow and related solutions. The session combines the business strategies behind paperless process management with case study examples. The meeting is held at the Ramada Inn and begins at 5:15 p.m. LEARN MORE >

October 16 -- Webinar - This session on Web-enabling existing 5250 applications with no changes to RPG, COBOL, or DDS files will feature BCD's WebSmart Presto. The presentation includes topics such as including menus, subfile, and single-record programs and window look-ups in your Web-enabled applications, configuration options for professional applications, the use of images, drop-down lists, and other graphical features, and incorporating Web-enabled applications with other Web apps and Web content using BCD's Nexus Portal. This is a technical session. It begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

October 19-22 -- Las Vegas, Nevada - IBM i development technologies and learning the skills to implement them will be presented at the RPG & DB2 Summit. The developer-oriented educational conference is hosted by System i Developer, a training organization headed by noted RPG and DB2 experts Jon Paris, Susan Gantner, Paul Tuohy, and Skip Marchesani. Sessions will include topics such as RDi development tools and IBM i 6.1, WDSc/RSE, ILE, SQL, RPG IV, DB2, PHP and XML. The instructor staff also includes many other well-known subject experts, including IBM's George Farr, who will also give a keynote address revealing the latest IBM developments relevant to i programmers. Four optional half-day workshops, separate from the Summit, are also available. Registration for the RPG & DB2 Summit is $1295 ($1095 for alumni), if confirmed prior to October 4. The half-day workshops are priced at $250 for one workshop, or $325 for two. LEARN MORE >

October 21 -- Bloomington, Minnesota - An introduction to Rational Developer for i, the "new WDSc," will be presented at the regularly scheduled QUSER local user group meeting. The event begins at 2 p.m. and will be held at the Comfort Inn located at 1321 East 78th Street. LEARN MORE >

October 21 -- Atlanta, Georgia - The Power of i Event Tour presented by IBM will get top billing at the Atlanta Mid-range Computer Users monthly meeting. The agenda includes insights into product availability, future direction of IBM i development, and information on how to put the latest tools to work for your organization. Featured topics will be Systems Director, PHP, MySQL, DB2 Web Query, and unified communications. The event is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. It will be held at the Cobb Galleria. LEARN MORE >

October 21 -- Danbury, Connecticut - The 16th annual Technical Conference, hosted by the Fairfield AS/400 User Group, places a focus on developing skills and covering timely topics. The one-day event will include such topics as RPG, the HMC, architecture modernization, PHP, and DB2 Web Query. Sessions are available for programmers, managers, operators, and systems administrators. A complete session grid is available online. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and sessions begin at 8:30. LEARN MORE >

October 21 -- Madison, Wisconsin - A session on the IBM i 6.1 operating system and other Power System announcements from Big Blue will be on the agenda at the Madison Area Midrange Systems Users Group. Guest speaker is Jamie Barnes from IBM St. Louis. The event begins at 8 a.m. and takes place at Fiskars restaurant, which is located at the corner of Pflaum Road and Daniels Street. LEARN MORE >

October 21 -- Irving, Texas - Using Web services in application to application connectivity will be the topic at this meeting of the Metro Midrange Systems Association, a user group for the Dallas and Fort Worth metro areas. Guest speaker Al Grega will provide an overview of the technology and compare the various solutions so attendees can make informed decisions on this subject. His discussion will include the IBM I integrated Web services server for RPG that is part of the I OS, the Web services Wizard that is part of WDSc and RDi, and HATS VME and Web services. Grega is responsible for the worldwide sales of IBM Rational host integration software and compilers. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 and Grega's presentation at 6:45. MMSA meetings are held at the Radisson Hotel DFW South. LEARN MORE >

October 22 -- Webinar - For people considering System i portals for controlled access to applications, documents, dashboards, ECM, menus, and user tools for employees, trading partners, and clients, this session will provide in-depth coverage of BCD's Nexus Portal. Topics of discussion include: creating and organizing groups and users; adding folders, documents, and links; creating drop-down menus and menu trees; creating pages and adding portlets; and creating executive dashboards. The event begins at 2 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

October 22 -- Woodbury, New York - The Long Island Systems Users Group monthly meeting topic is an overview of DB2 Web Query presented by Robert Andrews, an IBM advisory software engineer. The session includes information on recent DB2 Web Query enhancements: Report Broker and the software development kit. Report Broker automates the distribution of reports and the SDK is used to integrate Web Query with other applications and Web sites. LISUG meetings are held at the Fox Hollow Inn and begin at 6 p.m. LEARN MORE >

October 22 -- Webcast - The modernization of mission-critical RPG and COBOL applications is happening every day. This online session, hosted by LANSA Product Manager David Brault, presents the real-life stories of how a university and an agricultural software company are modernizing legacy applications without changing a line of code. Both organizations have modernized applications using LANSA's RAMP to increase productivity. And in each case, the applications can execute against IBM i, Windows, Unix, or Linux servers, or in a Web browser. The session, titled "Companies Discover the Hidden Value of their Legacy Applications," begins at 1 p.m. CDT. LEARN MORE >

October 23 - Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania - Insights into Java Server Faces technology will be provided by Matthew Beutel, a member of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Computer Users Group. Beutel has researched rapid application development for Web programming and will discuss his findings. His presentation will be an introduction to JSF and will provide references and practical experience. The event begins at noon at the Wyoming Valley Country Club located at 1695 South Main Street. LEARN MORE >