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.
-
Inside IBM i’s New Geospatial Functions For Db2
October 24, 2022 Alex Woodie
One of the more interesting elements of the recent IBM i Technology Refreshes is the addition of Watson-based geospatial functions to the Db2 for i relational database. According to IBM, the new capabilities will make it simpler and easier to incorporate advanced geospatial functions into IBM i applications.
As its name implies, Db2 for i’s new geospatial functions allow people to compute data that has a geographical aspect to it. In this case, the geographical data takes the form of latitude and longitude readings on the Earth, and the functions provide ways to manipulate those points (as well as lines …
Read more -
On the Spectrum of Application Modernization
October 19, 2022 Alex Woodie
What is application modernization? If you ask 10 people in the IT world, you’re likely to get 10 different answers. For organizations looking to keep their IBM i assets relevant in an increasingly digital world, being aware of the spectrum of options available will help them make the best choice for their particular situation.
Every organization is unique when it comes to its IT journey. Some may have large in-house development teams and would never think of running packaged business applications, while others have no developers and lean on their vendors and partners to keep things running. Some organizations may …
Read more -
IBM Bolsters Availability, Backup with Latest TRs
October 19, 2022 Alex Woodie
Nobody wants downtime or data loss, but companies’ appetite for both are on the decline as customers increasingly demand 24/7 service. IBM i shops have a lot of solutions to choose from when it comes to ensuring uptime and avoiding data loss, both of which have been enhanced with the latest round of Tech Refreshes (TRs) from IBM.
IBM unveiled updates to its two flagship availability offerings for IBM i with the October 11 announcement of IBM i 7.5 TR1 and 7.4 TR7, including Db2 Mirror and PowerHA SystemMirror for IBM i. It also brought new features to Backup and …
Read more -
How The Latest TRs Bolster App Dev For IBM i
October 17, 2022 Alex Woodie
From Merlin and VSCode to RDi and RPG, good IBM i boys and girls who do their own development will get new toys to play with before Christmas, thanks to a range of new features and functions unveiled by IBM last week as part of its latest Tech Refresh for IBM i.
The introduction of the IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration, or Merlin, was the big attraction this spring with the launch of IBM i version 7.5 and 7.4 TR6 (it was later made available for IBM i 7.3). The offering, which combines a lightweight VSCode development environment …
Read more -
IBM Unveils Fall 2022 Tech Refreshes for IBM i
October 12, 2022 Alex Woodie
IBM yesterday announced Technology Refreshes for its two most current IBM i operating systems, including 7.5 and 7.4. Security continues to be a big driver of new functionality with 7.5 TR1 and 7.4 TR7. But the fall TRs bring a bevy of enhancements across all areas, including the database, IBM i services, open source, application development, and analytics, among others.
Security has been the number one concern for CIOs for a few years now, and IBM has responded with a number of new features in IBM i. Some of the new security features exist in IBM i Navigator, the GUI …
Read more -
Kyndryl Wants to Connect Your IBM i to Microsoft Azure
October 12, 2022 Alex Woodie
Kyndryl, the former IBM division known as Global Technology Services (GTS), last week unveiled an expanded partnership with Microsoft that will see it helping IBM i and System z customers integrate their applications and data with Microsoft Azure, specifically its low-code, no-code development platform called Power.
Kyndryl’s alliance with Microsoft will make it easier for companies to leverage the valuable data and business logic contained in their midrange and mainframe assets as they develop new applications in the Microsoft Power Platform, which is a low-code, no-code development environment.
“Basically, it provides a low-code, no-code environment in Azure for programmers,” …
Read more -
Quantum And Atempo Offer Joint Backup Solution
October 10, 2022 Alex Woodie
An expanded partnership between Atempo and Quantum will see the two vendors go to market with pre-integrated solution that combines Quantum’s storage hardware along with Atempo’s backup software.
The new bundles, which were unveiled in late September, take two forms. The first combines a Quantum media server and a Quantum DXi V5000 virtual backup appliance with Tina, the name of Atempo’s backup software. This solution is targeted at small and midsize businesses (SMBs) that need 80 TB or less of raw backup capacity.
The second bundle, which targets enterprises, combines Tina running on a Quantum media server, along with …
Read more -
Are Code Freezes a Thing of the Past?
October 5, 2022 Alex Woodie
After months of work on your modernization project, the consultant helping you is almost done. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the consultant is now asking you to put a code freeze on changes to your old application. It’s not clear whether the code freeze will lasts two months or two years, but it’s absolutely necessary, you’re told.
That’s the scenario that many enterprises have faced over the years. Whether it’s a monolithic RPG application running on IBM i or a distributed Node.js application running in the cloud, if there are tight dependencies in the components that …
Read more -
HelpSystems Goes on the Security Offensive Again
October 5, 2022 Alex Woodie
Just when you thought HelpSytsems had bought enough companies, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota, company cranks up the acquisition machine again and gobbles up a few more vendors. Like with previous acquisitions, its recent targets are in security.
The most recent buy was completed a month ago, when HelpSystems bought Outflank Security Tooling, which it describes as “an IT security leader with deep expertise in adversary simulation, specialist cyber security trainings, and a unique cloud-based software offering for red teams.”
Penetration testing has become popular as security vulnerabilities in corporate systems have become more apparent. Adversary simulation, or “red teaming,” …
Read more -
Software Supply Chain Attacks Are A Growing Threat
October 3, 2022 Alex Woodie
There’s a lot going on in the world right now, so you probably don’t need something more to worry about. But the cat-and-mouse world of cybersecurity never sleeps, and one of the threats keeping the good guys up at night right now is the growing risk of software supply chain attacks. Unfortunately, security through obscurity won’t provide as much protection for the IBM i server this time around.
Just what is a software supply chain attack? According to the U.S. government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a software supply chain attack occurs when “a cyber threat actor infiltrates a …
Read more