Four Hundred Monitor, March 17
March 17, 2021 Jenny Thomas
For most of us, it was just about one year ago that the world came screeching to a halt and we scrambled to upgrade our home Wi-Fi in order to join the work from home workforce. It’s a safe bet that more than one of our IT peers had a sleepless night or two as they adapted to managing an entirely remote workforce overnight. What started as a temporary arrangement to get organizations through a few weeks has become a mainstay as many workers have no plans to return to work in an office, if a brick-and-mortar building is even deemed necessary for their business after all. This week’s Top Stories all take a look at some of the changes the pandemic brought to the way we work, and how we have adapted.
Top Stories From Outside The Jungle
(ComputerWorld) When the world decided to work from home just over a year ago, security pros got a crash course in keeping data and employees safe online. Here are some lessons learned.
(CRN) IBM CEO Arvind Krishna predicts accelerated digital transformation efforts in the wake of the global pandemic and says IBM is poised to help.
(InformationWeek) How has AI changed as a result of the pandemic? This article takes a look at the impact of the last year.
(CIO) Quick fixes done to survive the pandemic may become the new way of doing business for many organizations.
(ZDNet) Working from home isn’t going away anytime soon, possibly ever.
Redbooks, White Papers, Blogs, and Other Resources
(Precisely) Take this annual survey to share your IBM i security challenges and get alerts to results.
(CYBRA) Learn how to get the most out of your warehouse management system with this eBook.
(COMMON) Catch up on the Incredible i Show podcast with Peg Tuttle and Tony Turetsky. Episode 8 features IBM Power Champion Steve Bradshaw, who chats about retro computers, F8 key and more.
(Facebook) COBOL programmers can come together in this group on Facebook.
(Zend) A step-by-step guide for writing PHP extensions.
(IBM) Watch this webinar on-demand to attend this roundtable webinar discussion – 10 Surprising Insights On Used IT – with IDC, IBM, Skytap, Celerity, and ChannelWorks featuring IDC research on the used IT marketplace. Learn why organizations are increasingly turning to used IT, the most important criteria in selecting a used IT equipment provider and how used IT may help accelerate your sustainability initiatives, plus more research insights.
Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings
March 17 – Webinar – “Shift Left: Code Quality and Security on IBM i” from ARCAD Software will show you a full CI/CT/CD pipeline using ARCAD Code Checker to learn how to scrub your IBM i code clean automatically. This free webinar begins at 12 p.m. EDT, 4 p.m. GMT.
March 22-26 – Online Training – The 400School.com presents the “Expanded Control Language Programming Workshop” programmer bootcamp. This live five-day hands-on lab-style workshop provides a comprehensive introduction to the IBM i control language, with a focus on writing programs. Students will write, test and debug numerous control language programs of increasing complexity. Each student receives the Control Language Programming for IBM i textbook. Special $500 discount when combined with RPG IV and/or Concepts and Facilities workshop.
March 25 – Webinar – From ATM machines to POS systems, Excel spreadsheets to healthcare applications, and everything in between, each time an application connects to your IBM i a network connection is being made. Do you know who is making the connection? Do you know what is being accessed through these connections? Do you have log data to trace them? This one-hour session from Trinity Guard will dive into the how-to’s of securing IBM i network connections and help you gain a deeper understanding of this critical component in safeguarding your organization against costly security breaches.
March 29- April 2 – Online Training – The ” ILE COBOL/400 for COBOL Programmers Workshop” from 400School.com is a live five-day hands-on lab-style workshop designed for students with some knowledge of COBOL who need to understand the extensions made for IBM’s version of ILE COBOL/400. A main focus is Database I/O and the way that COBOL/400 interacts with IBM i DDS to process externally described database files and internally defined files. Additional Focus is placed on screen display files used for COBOL/400 interactive programming, as it replaces the mainframe CICS programming model.
April 13 – Online Meeting – The Central Texas IBM i User Group, CTXiUG, will have its free April meeting online at 6:30 p.m. CT. Space is limited, so register early to avoid disappointment. The April meeting will feature the presentation “Consume REST APIs from IBM i” by Ramraj Kasamsetty.
April 27-May 20 – Hands-On Workshops for IBM i Developers – Summit Hands-On Live! features your choice of eight interactive, 1-day workshops online with Paul Tuohy, Susan Ganter, Jon Paris, or Mike Pavlak. Cement new skills in SQL, RPG Procedures & Service Programs, RDi, Python, and building modern RPG applications. Each of the eight single-topic workshops includes in-person instruction, hands-on labs, a lab workbook, and access to an IBM i. Check the link above for full details.
May 3-5 – Framingham, Massachusetts – Plan now for the 2021 Northeast User Group (NEUGC) Conference. NEUGC is the largest technical conference in New England for IBM i.
May 24-27 – Columbus, Ohio, and Virtual – NAViGATE is COMMON’s new Hybrid event, completely reimagined content that focuses on quick tips-and-tricks, business cases, lessons learned, and innovative technologies and solutions – education that can immediately impact your job and organization that is entirely new content. NAViGATE will feature more than 250 short-format sessions presented by industry experts, peers, and solution providers from the i community, plus an in-person tabletop Expo, and Virtual Expo, of leading solution providers. This conference will offer unique in-person and virtual networking opportunities for attendees to interact and share knowledge.
October 4-6 – Virginia Beach, Virginia – The 2021 IT Executive Conference was created with the needs of IT managers and decision makers in mind to provide content and insight on leading topics that impact business. With a focus on strategic issues, ITEC attendees will hear from, and network with, IBM executives, industry recognized experts and peers on how to maximize IT investments.
October 4-7 – Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Virtual – POWERUp 2021 will be COMMON’s first Hybrid conference and will offer an in-person experience and virtual access to our remote attendees. Join friends and colleagues in the COMMON community and enjoy the best in Power Systems and IBM i education over the course of four days. Choose from nearly 300 sessions, which cover a broad range of IT topic areas that will be delivered live in-person and virtually. POWERUp will also boasts the largest Expo of its kind so that all attendees can learn about all the great products and solutions available to this community from our vendor partners. This conference is structured to give you the pure education and professional connections needed to best enhance your career.
