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Alex Woodie

Alex Woodie is Senior Editor at IT Jungle. He was previously editor of two of IT Jungle's main newsletters, Four Hundred Stuff and The Windows Observer. Prior to joining Midrange Server (as Guild Companies was formerly called) in October 2001, Alex was a products editor at now defunct publisher Midrange Computing, where he was first introduced to the AS/400 and covered hardware, software, and services for Midrange Technology SHOWCASE magazine. Before joining Midrange Computing, Alex was a staff writer for The Insurance Journal and a reporter and columnist with The Paradise Post newspaper. Woodie obtained his Bachelors of Arts degree in journalism from Humboldt State University in 1997. Upon graduation, Alex intended to make his way onto a major daily newspaper, but in 1999 he found himself drawn to the high-technology industry, where his background in science and engineering has suited him well. He lives in Northern San Diego County. When he is not writing next week's newsletters, Alex can be found in his favorite chair reading the day's paper, in the kitchen, or at the beach.

  • What’s New In Access Client Solutions

    February 20, 2017 Alex Woodie

    IBM unveiled new Technology Refreshes for the IBM i 7.2 and 7.3 operating systems last week, and among the goodies intrepid IBM i professionals will get to use on March 17 are new features and functions in Access Client Solutions. The Java-based interface may not deliver everything that older products offered, but ACS does have some things you can’t find anywhere else.

    ACS, you will recall, is the new run-anywhere client that IBM unveiled back in August 2012 as the new strategic replacement for older clients. The product includes a full 5250 emulator based IBM’s Host-On Demand; 5250 printer emulation; …

    Read more
  • Why You Should Hire An IBM i Database Engineer

    February 15, 2017 Alex Woodie

    You likely know the IBM i platform as an all-in-one, self-contained bundle of computational glory and efficiency that doesn’t need an army of specialists to run like the platforms from “those other guys” do, thankyouverymuch. While that largely continues to be the case, you may consider making one exception for a certain type of technical expert: the database engineer.

    There’s a growing chorus coming out of IBM Rochester that IBM i shops should consider hiring database engineers, or DBEs. Folks like Alison Butterill, the product offering manager for the IBM i server, DB2 for i Business Architect Scott Forstie, …

    Read more
  • Shield Finds Success Through Simplicity With HA4i

    February 15, 2017 Alex Woodie

    IBM i shops that have shied away from implementing high availability software due the high level of complexity may want to take another look at the market. One HA vendor that’s finding traction with its message of simplicity is Shield Advanced Solutions, which has about 100 customers of its C-based HA4i product.

    High availability doesn’t have to be rocket science, according to Shield CEO Chris Hird, who has been navigating the HA waters since his early days selling MIMIX for IBM in the United Kingdom during the 1990s, before MIMIX was acquired by Lakeview Technology (now part of Vision …

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  • Unwinding Python’s Data Science Potential On IBM i

    February 13, 2017 Alex Woodie

    There’s a revolution occurring in the world of big data analytics and data science at the moment, and Python is playing a starring role. Python is one of the languages that IBM has brought to the IBM i platform, so that’s clearly a good thing for midrange shops. But is enough being done to grow Python’s potential on IBM i? The answer to that question is not clear.

    Python was originally conceived by Guido van Rossum as a “hobby” programming language to keep him busy over the 1989 Christmas break. “My office. . .would be closed, but I had a …

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  • Debugging IBM’s New ‘Executive Guide’ For IBM i

    February 8, 2017 Alex Woodie

    Explaining the value of IBM i to a business executive is not an easy thing to do. Because so much of the computing world today runs on the Intel X86 architecture, many execs aren’t even aware there are alternatives. But there are, and the IBM i server, along with the System z mainframe, are among the last of a dying breed.

    IBM recently rolled out an online resource designed to help IBM i professionals explain this weird thing called IBM i. Weighing in at nearly 7,000 words, the IBM i Strategy and Roadmap attempts to lay out the basics of …

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  • With RPG Nearly Excised, Infor Ponders ERP’s Future

    February 8, 2017 Alex Woodie

    Would a multi-tenant cloud version of Infor XA fly? That’s one of the questions that Infor’s senior product manager Ross Freeman is pondering as the company gets closer to completing the Java rewrite the ERP system written in RPG by IBM so many years ago.

    The clock is ticking on RPG, not just for Infor XA (formerly MAPICS), but for all of the company’s IBM i-based ERP systems. Infor XA is just further along the process of being re-written in Java using the Infor Development Framework (IDF).

    “The version [of Infor XA] coming out this year or the middle of …

    Read more
  • Vision ‘Laser Focused’ On IBM i And Power Following Double-Take Sale

    February 6, 2017 Alex Woodie

    Vision Solutions is now free to spend more time and energy building solutions for its core IBM i and Power Systems customer base now that it has sold Double-Take and the Windows high availability business to Carbonite for $65 million, executives with the company tell IT Jungle.

    “It’s hard to divide the brain between two technologies that require a lot of attention, and they both required a ton of attention,” Vision Solutions executive vice president and chief technology officer Alan Arnold said. “Instead of dividing our time, our time can be focused like a laser with what we need …

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  • Lack Of Ciphers In IBM i 7.1 Raises Concern

    February 1, 2017 Alex Woodie

    Companies running IBM i version 7.1 may be up for a rude awakening when they try to establish an encrypted communication session with a trading partner. According to several reports from users, IBM i servers on V7.1 are being blocked from accessing partner systems via SSL/TLS because they’re not using the latest encryption algorithms required by their partners.

    “There are a number of ciphers major trading partners are insisting you use for SSL communications which are not available on IBM i 7.1,” Rob Berendt, a system and security analyst at Group Dekko, says in a recent LinkedIn post titled Is …

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  • IBM i Priorities For 2017: Pivot To Defense

    February 1, 2017 Alex Woodie

    IBM i shops around the country will be concentrating their efforts more on defensive IT measures like security and high availability this year, as offensive measures like application modernization and mobile app development take a back seat on corporate to-do lists, according HelpSystems’ recent marketplace study.

    While digital transformation is still an important topic that IBM i shops should have on their radar, an even bigger priority in 2017 will be getting one’s digital house in order before hackers, disgruntled employees, or natural disasters conspire to compromise data and disrupt operations.

    That message came through loud and clear in HelpSystems …

    Read more
  • 2017 IBM i Predictions: Take Three

    February 1, 2017 Alex Woodie

    In our third and final installment of our 2017 IBM i predictions series, we hear from several more IBM i professionals, including those from Profound Logic, Fresche, and Curbstone. We also hear from a prominent voice in the youth movement taking place in the IBM i community, as well as from the founder of the IBM i community’s newest local user group, MAGIC.

    Our first prediction comes from Stephanie Rabbani, a PHP expert who works at Alan Seiden Consulting. Rabbani has 14 years of developing on the IBM i platform and is involved in COMMON and other community …

    Read more

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