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.

• To Kill SEU Or Not Kill SEU – That Is The Question

  July 12, 2023 Alex Woodie

  It was a simple question posed by Liam Allan on Ryver: Should IBM stop shipping SEU? The dozens of answers it generated exposed a stark divide when it comes to the use of legacy technology in the IBM i ecosystem and to what extent it’s okay for IBM to force its customers to adopt new technology.

  There is no denying that IBM’s Source Entry Utility (SEU) is still in widespread use in the IBM i world. Statistics are tough to come by, but evidence suggests a majority of IBM i developers still use the greenscreen development tool for at least …

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• What Keeps IT Leaders Up At Night? Rocket Seeks Answers

  July 12, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Want a tough job? Then consider becoming a CIO, who are under enormous pressure to use IT to help their businesses. To better gauge what’s keeping them up at night during a period of economic uncertainty, Rocket Software surveyed 275 senior IT leaders at large companies. The responses might surprise you.

  With all the hype surrounding technologies like generative AI, 5G, and virtual reality, it may be a surprise to learn that IT directors and vice presidents of American companies have a largely defensive mindset. Instead of implementing the latest and greatest technologies to leapfrog their competitors, Rocket Software’s …

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• New “High Priority” DDM Vulnerability Affects IBM i

  July 10, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Unauthenticated users can remotely run CL or PASE commands on IBM i as a result of a newly discovered vulnerability in the operating system’s Distributed Data Management (DDM) architecture. IBM issued a patch for the flaw, which it classified as moderate. However, the Hungary-based ethical hacking group that discovered the flaw, Silent Signal, recommends treating it as a high priority.

  IBM disclosed the DDM security flaw and availability of program temporary fixes (PTFs) for IBM i version 7.2 through 7.5 via a security bulletin on June 30. The flaw was assigned CVE-2023-30990 by the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, and given …

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• IBM’s Crypto Card Now a Cloud Service from FNTS

  June 28, 2023 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops that want to utilize IBM’s powerful cryptographical processor card to encrypt transactions but don’t want the hassle of buying and maintaining the setup can now tap into a new cloud-based encryption service that utilizes the IBM crypto card and is managed by First National Technology Solutions.

  Representatives with First National Technology Solutions and CLAI PAYMENTS Technologies shared details of their joint IBM i encryption solution at COMMON’s recent POWERUp conference in Denver, Colorado. An executive from IBM, which has given its blessing to the offering, was also in attendance at the session.

  The need for encryption …

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• Dr. Frank Reminisces on 35th Anniversary, Looks to Platform’s Future

  June 28, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The IBM i community came out in force last week for the 35th anniversary of the creation of the AS/400 back in 1988. IBM corralled a handful of IBM i authorities to speak during three webcasts it held for fans around the world. During a call with European community members, Frank Soltis, who developed the architecture for the S/38 and AS/400, kicked things off by declaring there was really just one platform.

  “I think one of the distinct distinctions that I have is that I worked for IBM for 45 years before retiring,” Soltis, the retired IBM chief scientist told …

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• ALL400S Survey Continues, Goes International

  June 26, 2023 Alex Woodie

  John Rockwell, the driving force behind the ALL400S survey, was close to giving it up. Fewer and fewer people were taking the survey, and so he started telling people this would probably be his last go around. Turns out, that notice may have helped to spur a surge of interest in the survey, which is now underway. And now he’s taking the survey international, too.

  Rockwell, an independent, semi-retired IBM i programmer from Florida has been trying to accumulate a list of every IBM i shop on the planet. He shares this work openly through his ALL400s website and the …

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• What IBM i Turning 35 Means to Me

  June 21, 2023 Alex Woodie

  I started my first AS/400 writing job in the summer of 1999. I already had two part-time writing jobs at the time, for an insurance magazine and as a stringer for a local newspaper, but I wanted a full-time gig, so I did what every job seeker did back in those days: I answered a want ad in the newspaper, of course. I had no idea it would turn into a 24-year career (and counting).

  I still remember the job interview I had with Jenny Thomas, who was then known as Jenny Delroy and who was the editor of AS/400 …

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• Rocket Software Supports IBM i with New Data Intelligence Offering

  June 21, 2023 Alex Woodie

  You’ve probably seen it before: Two departments in the same company have different numbers in their BI reports, when the numbers should be the same. Tracking down these data discrepancies can be very difficult, especially when they touch systems like IBM i or System z mainframes. But with a new release of its Data Intelligence offering, Rocket Software thinks it has found a simpler way.

  Rocket Software has been selling its Data Intelligence product since it obtained it with its ASG Technologies acquisition back in 2021. The software was designed to help organizations track down data problems that surface as …

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• How To Celebrate IBM i Turning 35 This Week

  June 19, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The balloons will drop and the champagne will flow this week as the midrange community takes some well-deserved time to party like it’s 1988 and celebrate the 35th anniversary of the IBM i platform.

  Not every computing community gets to celebrate 10 years of success for their platform, let alone 35, as backers of the venerable IBM i server will have the honor of doing this week. Many of the folks who work on IBM i today were just starting their IT careers back when IBM launched the AS/400 on that hot June day in 1988, so this week will …

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• A Peek Inside Fortra’s Cybersecurity Catalog, And Its Cyber Future

  June 12, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The evolution of Fortra, formerly HelpSystems, from a small IBM i systems management and monitoring provider from the Minneapolis area into one of the top 10 cybersecurity solution providers with an estimated $800 million in annual revenue is an interesting story, and one that we have already written. But what, exactly, does Fortra do in the security realm?

  The cybersecurity space is changing quickly at the moment, as hackers look to exploit vulnerabilities in software and human processes. Lots of security software vendors are trying hard to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape, so where does …

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