Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) No one is more closely associated with the IBM AS/400 than Frank Soltis, who is retiring at the end of the year. For the past 45 years, he has been an innovator, integrator, and instigator of the application server that defined midrange business computing--a box with a reputation for rock-solid reliability and an operating system that has always been more than just an operating system. Retirement is not the end of the IBM i road for Soltis. Here's a little bit about where he and his AS/400 have been and where he and his computer are going. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Additional information on the Smart Cube appliance server is bubbling to the surface. Look for it to combine operating systems, systems management, database, middleware, and application software so that remote management, patching, and updating of the entire stack is consistent and automated. The delivery of services, such as disaster recovery or data replication, will be transparent to the end user and the monitoring of underlying hardware and its software will be greatly simplified. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The biggest news to come from IBM's Academic Initiative came to light last week as DeVry University announced it is rolling out an enterprise business computing educational track within its computer information systems bachelor's degree program. IBM Power Systems and mainframe technology gains featured status in the program, which relies heavily on customer and business partner involvement. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) While we're on the topic of education, former IBM kingpin Louis Gerstner penned an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal last week calling for educational reform and a bigger investment in our schools. His suggestions include: a national core curriculum, national standards and evaluations for teacher certification tied in with better pay for the best teachers, and elimination of local school boards. Gerstner's ideas are sure to fuel some heated debate as you'll see here. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) First the good news: server shipments increased during the third quarter. Now the bad: revenue declined. Although platform-specific numbers are not revealed, the midrange market--based on servers that cost between $25,000 and $500,000--took a 9.5 percent revenue stumble. IBM's total server revenue for the quarter slipped 4.2 percent. More details, based on reports by IDC and Gartner, are only a click away. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Optical character recognition has rescued many companies from the many demons that inhabit paper and filing cabinet hell. It's proved to be cost-effective and expeditious in most cases. It also carries a reputation for inaccuracy that is tied to older OCR technology. Modern technology has married dependably accurate OCR with workflow management to create increased efficiencies that far exceed what paper-based businesses can dream. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) If your idea of business continuity is 24x7 operations, replication and high availability software has probably come to your attention. Somewhere in the course of your research, you've read about remote journaling--a fast and reliable method for moving data to a remote location. Here's how it fits into an affordable replication environment that avoids catastrophic downtime. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The process of preparing a magazine for printing typically involves enough last-minute changes to make steady hands shake and dry palms sweat. Editorial layouts and advertisements are often juggled well past the 11th hour. Building an application that choreographs this crazy dance--even one that integrates information from the System i and Windows servers--allowed the folks at PARADE magazine to better deal with chaotic drama that leads up to press time. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) You know the Web application development stew that is being cooked up in the System i shops has more recipes than one of those excitable TV celebrity chefs. For those who aim Web applications at multiple targets and their underlying operating systems, the complexity level tightens the handcuffs just a bit. And some would say that .NET is the best way to tackle this assignment. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The gaming and hospitality business has a lot of money riding on IT investments. That's been a big deal for the IBM System i, which has always played a huge role in running these businesses. The same is true for i-based Infinium Software, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Infor, one of the world's largest business software companies. The latest product news from Infinium concerns workforce scheduling. It's interesting on a couple of levels. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(MKS) This report discusses software change management challenges presented by the use of IBM WDSc or RDi. It discusses modernized application development and extending applications to new uses and new user interfaces. It highlights MKS software as a way to increase development productivity while gaining control and visibility over the application development process. READ MORE >

(ASNA) Making the decision to rewrite, revise, or retire applications in order to respond to business changes and get more value and greater efficiencies from IT assets is the reason this white paper was produced. It examines the options and eventually comes to the conclusion that modernizing to a .NET environment is the best route to take. READ MORE >

(BCD) This white paper discusses PHP as a technology and as a productive method for transforming legacy applications to Web applications or creating new Web applications from square one. It explains the popularity of PHP, how it is different from other technologies, and uses the company's WebSmart PHP as the focal point for Web application development. READ MORE >

(Linoma Software) A new white paper titled "Beyond the Security Breach: Protect Sensitive Data Using Encryption and Key Management" points out how information assets need to be protected from theft and misuse. It explores the landscape of legal liabilities and identifies the technical hurdles facing both management and IT. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

December 11 -- Maryland Heights, Missouri - Scott Klement, an expert on RPG topics and one of the best known speakers on the topic, will be the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Gateway/400 Group, an System i 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 >

December 11 -- Kent, Washington - The Pacific Midrange Systems Association meeting features a session on voice over IP (VoIP) integration on the System i. The session will be presented by IBM business partner 3Com. VoIP provides the option to "be your own phone company" and replace private branch exchange (PBX) with a System i5 server running 3Com software. Reducing telephone expenses is the main benefit and cost cutting is on everyone's mind these days. The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. LEARN MORE >

December 11 -- Wauwatosa, Wisconsin - Dawn May, a senior technical staff member at IBM Rochester, will be the guest speaker at the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association meeting. Her first presentation, at 4:30 p.m., features the performance tool called Performance Data Investigator, which is built into i 6.1. Her second presentation, at 7:30 p.m., features a performance data collector called Job Watcher. In between May's sessions is dinner and networking with the members. The meeting will be held at Alioto's Restaurant located at 3041 North Mayfair Road. LEARN MORE >

December 16 -- Webinar - IT compliance and regulation throws a monkey wrench into many application development efforts. Ditto for frozen or reduced budgets. This session, hosted by Aldon, an application lifecycle management software vendor, examines cost-cutting strategies that balance what's required with what's affordable. It begins at 9 a.m. PST. LEARN MORE >