Third Time A Charm For Maxava iFoundation Grants, Like Times One And Two

May 20, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

High availability and disaster recovery software maker Maxava is throwing its money around the IBM i community again, and I mean that in the best way possible. The New Zealand company, which has become an increasingly global company over the past decade, has been generous once again and has ponied up $50,000 to fund the Maxava iFoundation, which it started three years ago.

A lot of companies whine about needing to do something to support the IBM i community in direct and tangible ways, but Maxava has put $150,000 of its money where our mouths are. There have been so many attempts to coalesce the community and generate some funding to do something, starting with iSeries Nation more than a decade ago, followed by iSociety, and then a collection of groups called iManifest four years ago. All of these efforts are to be commended for trying to do something, of course.

(In case you are wondering, my personal contribution to the community is to keep a team going to put out the best damned newsletters covering the IBM i platform. It takes great effort and none of us are getting particularly rich doing it, if you want to be honest about it. And I do. It is a job, and a job worth doing, but we do it as much for love as we do for money, if the truth be told. Just like most people who enjoy their work, if they are lucky.)

The iFoundation funding is available to help not-for-profit organizations do things that help strengthen the IBM i community, including any organization that does general promotion of the platform or is involved with exchanging knowledge, ideas, and skills relating to the IBM i platform.

“Maxava is exclusively focused on the IBM i and is absolutely committed to the continuing success of the platform,” said Allan Campbell, CEO of Maxava, in a statement announcing the re-upping of the $50,000 in iFoundation grants. “The main goal of the iFoundation is to encourage the continued growth of a positive IBM i ecosystem and the ongoing growth and development of the people that operate within that realm.”

Grants are given for up to $2,000, and can be used to defer costs for hosting educational conferences and workshops, to pay speaker expenses at user group and other meetings, to do marketing of the IBM i platform or provide collaboration with local colleges and universities. The deadline for this year’s bag of iFoundation cash is June 30, so go to www.maxavaifoundation.com to fill out your application now and don’t miss out.