Four Hundred Monitor, January 17
January 17, 2018 Dan Burger
Forward-looking RPG programmers are modernizing legacy systems and making it clear IBM i is not the dinosaur that some folks think it is. Along with modernized thinking, comes the need for education and training and learning the skills needed to build next-generation applications. Where does that skill set come from? How long does it take to be skillful? Hear what two insiders have to say on the subject.
Other stories topics in Monitor this week include: the complexity of multi-cloud environments, the dismantling of IBM Global Technical Services, and the IBM i trends that indicate good things to come, as picked by Mr. IBM i Evangelist.
Top Stories From Outside The Jungle
(You and i) In his endless quest to lead a horse to water and make him drink, IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will talks with two IBM i experts about strategies to get RPG developers (the horse) to learn modern RPG (the water). His experts are also teachers of modern RPG and there are a few indicators of what makes the IBM i modern.
(InformationWeek) As enterprises move more of their computing and data to the cloud, many IT departments find that they’re working in multi-cloud environments. IDC research indicates that the number of enterprise-scale organizations using multiple clouds will grow to 90 percent during the next couple years. However, as multiple cloud environments become par for the course, enterprises grapple with the complexity that comes with managing multiple services.
(The Register) IBM has indicated to senior Global Technology Services management that a third of the global workforce will be “productively redeployed” in 2018 with tens of thousands of personnel “impacted.” Insiders say Big Blue had hired consultant Bain & Company to help it plot a way forward for GTS, bringing in external business consultants despite spending $3.5 billion to buy PwC Consulting in 2002.
(iTalk With Tuohy) IBM i evangelist and Power Champion Trevor Perry dishes out his highlights of 2017 and forecast for 2018 in this interview. Among his observations and insights: IBM’s investment in Power9 is a good sign for IBM i shops worried about a lack of interest in the platform. More IT management types are seeing IBM i as strategic for the future and are willing to invest in the stuff that runs on i. Few have found a case study for Watson, but there are “a ton of people” who want to understand it and put it to use. If you know Trevor, you know he has a lot more to say. Trevor is many things, but brief is not one of them!
Redbooks, White Papers, and Other Resources
(Seiden Group) The Git trend makes perfect sense as IBM i teams adopt languages such as PHP, JavaScript, and Python to develop Web user interfaces, APIs, and other functionality. That said, Git also supports the traditional IBM i language, RPG.
(Profound Logic) This survey of the IBM i community is focused on modernization projects completed and projected. Among its findings are that more businesses have upgraded to the latest versions of IBM i and RPG compared to last year and that companies remaining on the platform are embracing options to optimize IBM i for their modern enterprise. There’s plenty here to discover and discuss.
(IBM) Full IBM support for i 7.1 will cease in April. Will you be upgrading to 7.2 or 7.3? Read the official 7.1 withdrawal announcement from IBM and check out the information on OS upgrades that is available here.
(PSIRT Blog) This site contains important information regarding security vulnerabilities that may affect IBM products and solutions. The most recent vulnerability has a potential impact on Power processors. It doesn’t allow an external unauthorized party to gain access to a machine, but it could allow a party that has access to the system to access unauthorized data. Firmware patches for IBM i systems won’t be available until February 12.
(Fresche) Tips and techniques that make it easier to manage RPG and SQL are available in this archived webinar. Reduce the time spent managing applications, remove the risks in making code changes, and modernize where it makes sense.
Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings
January 17 — North Attleboro, Massachusetts – IBM RDi specialist Charles Guarino will be the guest speaker at the New England Midrange Users Group meeting. In his presentation, Guarino will explain the advantages of the RDi debugger compared to the green-screen version that hasn’t been enhanced for years. The meeting will be held at the Red Stone Grill located at 120 Chestnut Street and begins at 5:15 p.m.
January 17 — Westbury, New York – The Long Island Systems Users Group monthly meeting will include two presentations by IBM i expert Charles Kaplan. At 3 p.m., he will discuss how to build a website in less than three hours. At 8 p.m., Kaplan returns with a session on secure PHP and MySQL. In between the sessions is time for networking, cocktails, and dinner. LISUG meetings are held at the Westbury Manor located at 1100 Jericho Turnpike.
January 18 — Parsippany, New Jersey – Guest speaker Charles Kaplan will discuss secure PHP and MySQL at the regular monthly meeting of the North Eastern Systems Technology Users (NESTU) meeting. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at the Spice Grill located at 111 US 46.
January 25 — Webinar – Technology can automate much of the modernization process, but organizations need to think about the future when making application development decisions. In this online session, IBM i experts Greg Patterson and Nick Hampson will discuss options for creating modern Web and mobile applications. Among the topics that will be examined are: the paradigm shift of green-screen to GUI development; practical examples for starting a project; and integrating IBM i applications with other systems, new applications and modern technologies. The presentation begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
March 13 -15 — Delavan, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association Spring Technical Conference is the largest conference in the Midwest. It features more than 50 informative presentations on current topics such as SQL, PHP, RPG, .NET and IBM administration. The tech conference includes a vendor expo and is hosted by the Lake Lawn Resort.
March 19-22 — Las Vegas, Nevada – Think 2018 is a new IBM conference that highlights topics such as IT transitions to the cloud, data and analytics, application development, IBM research, the Internet of Things, IT infrastructure, mobile, security, collaboration, and Watson. Programs available for C-level executives, IT managers, developers, and academics.
March 20-22 — Dallas, Texas – The twice-a-year, spring and fall, RPG & DB2 Summit returns to the Southwest for its next technical conference with an agenda of in-depth sessions that covers new and traditional topics. In addition to the three-day Summit, an optional fourth day of hands-on workshops provide intensive education into popular IBM i development technologies.
April 23-25 — Framingham, Massachusetts – The Northeast IBM i User Group Conference features more than 70 educational sessions in seven skills categories. It offers the opportunity to learn about new technologies, engage with vendors to discuss packaged software advancements, hear IBM i executives and lead developers discuss products and roadmaps for the platform, and gain knowledge that can benefit your company and your career. The user groups that combine to organize this conference come from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
May 20-23 — San Antonio, Texas – PowerUp 18 (formerly the COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition) is the largest IBM i educational event of the year. It includes more than 300 sessions related to IBM i, as well as AIX and Linux. Open source, high availability, security, DB2, and application development are a few of the popular skill-building topics. The agenda includes all-day pre-conference workshops, open labs, and a wide variety of lecture-type sessions presented by subject matter experts. Pre-conference workshops (May 19) are also planned. An early registration discount ($1,695 for members; $1,995 for non-members) is available through December 31.
