Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) If you think politics makes strange bedfellows, consider the IT manager of an average IBM AS/400 shop and the Java salesman. For a long time (thus the reference to the AS/400), the RPG development community has cast a weary eye toward all things Java. Have things changed or are they about to? Some would say this courtship is about to get much more serious. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Services, software, and high-end servers lifted IBM's revenue during a remarkable Q3, considering the unremarkable economic climate. Sales of the most powerful Power Systems servers jumped 19 percent, and the midrange Power Servers beat that with an increase of 21 percent. How much of that is credited to upgrades by the System i installed base? Apparently none. IBM has continued its policy of removing the i from any information on how Power6 servers sales are divided among AIX, i OS, and Linux operating systems. READ MORE >

(MCPress) Nobody in the AS/400 community is happy that IBM doesn't release revenue or shipment figures relating to the operating systems running on Power6-based Power Systems servers. The only gauge on "our" server now is one that measures prior generation (PG) technology. As IBM withdraws its PG System i server technology from the market, which is expected by the end of 2008, what happens to reporting on System i sales and shipments? Does it just vanish? READ MORE >

(Rochester Post-Bulletin) The hometown newspaper for the System i explains how IBM "paints as an overall positive picture for Rochester" in light of its Q3 financial report. The 82 percent drop in revenue attributed to pre-Power6 servers "is not a bad sign for Rochester, but just part of a transition." Because the latest generation Power 560 and Power 570 servers are designed and built in Rochester and IBM reports growth in its midrange market, things are supposed to be hunky-dory at the largest IBM complex under one roof. READ MORE >

(System iNews) A chorus of boos rains down on IBM for its insistence on reporting only System i revenue based on prior generation technology and ignoring the platform's contribution to Power Systems sales increases. This is the third publication to point out IBM's tortured reporting scheme. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) You think your current business battles are tough? You ain't seen nuthin' yet. Giving a preview of coming attractions, Infor Chairman and CEO Jim Schaper says we are entering an era that will favor the agile and adaptive companies and punish those who move slowly. "It's business Darwinism pure and simple," he says. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Imagine an executive at a mid size company publicly admitting that business decisions relied on information that was full of inaccuracies and wasn't particularly timely. Admissions like this are more likely to take place behind closed doors. If improved DB2/400 database management is a concern for you, maybe this cool tool can help. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) If Infor ERP LX doesn't sound familiar to you, maybe BPCS does. LX is the modern version of BPCS, one of the most-used ERP software systems in the process manufacturing world. A few weeks ago, LX users with a maintenance contract received a software upgrade with a few handy features, IBM i 6.1 compatibility, and a "SOA adapter" that puts users on the same Open SOA page as Infor, which expects to deliver a long list of SOA-enabled components beginning in January 2009. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Due to circumstances beyond your control, your IT system will fail at some point in time. It's not an absolute, but the risk looms large. So keeping data and applications highly available continues to gain attention in IT departments that not only hold the keys, but in many ways drive the success of business bus. How the switch-over process is handled makes a huge difference in whether you truly have high availability or whether you just think you do. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Not that I'm all that philosophical, but patience is indeed a virtue. Those who wait until the fourth quarter of the year to purchase items such as memory, disk, and processor cards will be rewarded with some special deals. Those who could not wait paid a higher price. That sounds sorta like a fortune cookie promise, but you'll find some truth in it. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Are you surprised? IT spending will continue to grow in 2009 despite the widespread economic calamity attributable to fraud, greed, and an unwillingness to apply the brakes despite clear signals of an approaching financial wreck. It just won't grow as fast, say the big IT analyst firms that previously predicted IT growth in the 7 to 8 percent range for 2009. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(Seagull Software) The term "screen-scraping" has a bad reputation. Yet next-generation screen-scraping software can be an application modernization solution that solves the problems green screens present. In this white paper, you get the myths regarding screen-scraping plucked, cleaned, cooked, and served along with explanations regarding why these myths are preventing some companies from improving their business applications. READ MORE >

(ARCAD) An archive of Webinars pertaining to topics such as testing productivity and automation, change management for application modernization, multi-platform deployments, managing ILE development, application analysis, and WDSc and RSE are available for viewing in exchange for your e-mail address. These recorded sessions are presented by well known experts Ray Bernardi and Trevor Perry. READ MORE >

(Original Software) This survey of CIOs provides some insight on topics such as software quality, the success and failure of software test automation, and the technical and managerial issues faced by IT management. READ MORE >

(IBM) This on demand Web seminar is designed specifically for IT departments in the energy and utilities industry. It puts the focus on green data center lifecycle and power usage, rising energy costs, and business needs relative to computing demands. 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 23 -- Fairfield, New Jersey - Guest speaker Robert Andrews will discuss DB2 Web Query, Report Broker, the DB2 software development kit, and an overview of SOA Web services at the regular monthly meeting of the North Eastern Systems Technology Users (NESTU) meeting. Andrews is an advisory software engineer at IBM. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. 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 >

October 26-31 -- Las Vegas, Nevada - The IBM Information On Demand 2008 global conference will examine topics such as data management, information integration, enterprise content management, business intelligence, and performance management. The conference will include 120 business leadership sessions, 600 technical skill sessions, hands-on lab sessions, 200 customer speakers, community receptions, and a vendor expo. LEARN MORE >

October 27-29 -- Orlando, Florida - The iSeries DevCon training event features more than 60 sessions covering topics pertaining to development and system management. Topics will include SML, Lava, PHP, RPG, ILE, WebSphere, Rational, SQL, DB2, AJAX, and the latest version of the i operating system. The keynote address will be given by Craig Johnson, product manager for IBM i and PowerVM virtualization technologies. LEARN MORE >

October 28 -- Long Island, New York - VAI, an enterprise software company for the distribution, manufacturing, retail and service industries, is hosting Inventory Management EXPO 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Huntington Hilton hotel. Industry experts will be discussing methods to increase productivity and efficiency, cut costs, manage risk, and grow business. SMC Data Systems and IBM are partners in this event. Numerous workshops and a solutions center are on the agenda. LEARN MORE >

October 28 -- Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois - The 7th Annual Omni User Day of Education will include educational sessions on topics such as RPG, DB2, and iSeries Navigator. A complete session grid is available online. The event is hosted by IBM and will be held at the IBM training facility. Sessions begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 4:30 p.m. There's a continental breakfast at 8 a.m., a vendor expo area, and a box lunch is included. LEARN MORE >

October 29 -- Webinar - A 30-minute session about using SQL queries to access remote data will be presented by ProData Computer Services. The company's RDB CONNECT is featured throughout this Webinar. The software allows full SQL access to MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Postgre and DB2. Topics of discussion include sharing data across platforms; importing and exporting remote data to and from the iSeries; using RPG, COBOL, and CL programs to directly communicate with remote databases; and using batch or interactive programs. The presentation begins at 2 p.m. CDT. LEARN MORE >

October 29 -- Webinar - This session on DB2 for i will be presented by Mike Cain, a senior technical staff member within the IBM Systems and Technology Group focusing on DB2 for i5/OS performance and scalability. Cain will explain how the latest version of the database provides index suggestions based on the queries it sees. The importance of this revolves around whether or not the index advice should always be followed. Find out if you can trust the autonomics or not. This presentation begins at 11 a.m. CDT. LEARN MORE >

October 29 -- Webinar - Web development on the System i will be the focus of this session that features BCD's WebSmart ILE, a rapid Web application development tool that produces native System i-centric CGI Web apps that access DB2 400, SQL, and MySQL databases. Topics will cover the use of the IDE, defining business and presentation rules in the central repository, modifying HTML with WYSIWYG HTML tools, and securing applications. The demonstration will show how Web apps can be created in five minutes. The event begins at 2 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

October 30 -- 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 1:30 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

October 30 -- Hartford, Connecticut - When you look at your warehouse operations, do you see inefficiency, costly mistakes, and the potential to increase productivity? The Inventory Management EXPO is a half-day conference stacked with workshops aimed at warehouse operations improvements. Topics include managing risk, creating operational efficiencies, supply chain trends, optimizing warehouse space, radio frequency solutions, and improving the bottom line. The event is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to noon. LEARN MORE >