Dan Burger
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IBM Expects Linux Integration To Work For i Shops
October 13, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreIt’s been said before, but maybe the time for Linux and i integration is finally drawing near.
“We have a fundamental belief that you can’t survive in this new world of mobile, social, big data, and cloud without being able to integrate and interface into the system of record in a secure and scalable manner,” says Stephen Leonard, general manager of IBM Systems and Technology Group sales.
IBM, with its major investment in Linux, thinks Power Systems are the best answer for making that integration and interface not only more effective, but also more cost efficient based on the existing
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Integration Not The Least Of IBM i Mobile Challenges
October 13, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreOrganizations everywhere come under heavy criticism for failing to have mobile application projects lined up like ducks on a pond. The folks with the pitch forks and torches outside the IT castle include the C-level transformational business types, the marketing miracle makers, and the human resources employee self-service advocates. Meanwhile, inside the IT department, there are application development teams wrestling with problems such as integrating front-end systems of engagement with backend systems of records, keeping data secure in a mobile world, and managing the boatload of mobile devices that workers, customers and business partners have at their disposal.
Phil Buckellew,
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Database Modernization Gets A Lift From Midrange Dynamics
October 7, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreModernization projects in the IBM midrange community are one of the most talked about business decisions that companies are facing. It’s been a difficult problem to solve and has stopped many companies in their tracks as they wrestle with new technologies, investment costs, risk, staffing, and skills. Application modernization has been in the spotlight, but database modernization is quickly gaining recognition. And underlying both aspects of modernization is change management software.
A recent announcement from CMS vendor Midrange Dynamics is an indicator or how the modernization process is possibly evolving to take database modernization into consideration. Its latest enhancements are
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Database Modernization Gets A Lift From Midrange Dynamics
October 7, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreModernization projects in the IBM midrange community are one of the most talked about business decisions that companies are facing. It’s been a difficult problem to solve and has stopped many companies in their tracks as they wrestle with new technologies, investment costs, risk, staffing, and skills. Application modernization has been in the spotlight, but database modernization is quickly gaining recognition. And underlying both aspects of modernization is change management software.
A recent announcement from CMS vendor Midrange Dynamics is an indicator or how the modernization process is possibly evolving to take database modernization into consideration. Its latest enhancements are
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Report Writing Punishes IBM Power i Shops
October 6, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreReport writing is a peculiar skill for an IT department. The technical skills to get it done are unquestionably the responsibility of IT, but the actual report generation should be in the hands of the person needing the information–the business analyst, the marketing or financial personnel, and even the C-level decision makers. It takes reporting tools to make this happen, and not the tools that IBM Power Systems shops used 10 or 20 years ago.
Allowing end users to run reports is one of the targets of organizations with the aim of better aligning business requirements and IT optimization. It
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Soltis Picks Trends for Future IBM i On Power
October 6, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreYou can’t look to the past to predict the future. But most forecasts take into account a portion of historical data. At least those that do would have a higher degree of probability. I kept that in the back of my mind as I listened to Frank Soltis on a webcast last week. Soltis played a starring role in the development of the AS/400; he retired as IBM‘s chief scientist and is not shy about forecasting the future of the platform.
“First of all, this system is not going away.” Soltis got that off his chest at the top
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Where’s Your Next RPG Programmer Coming From?
October 6, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreEmployers expect that programmers can learn to work in most environments. And sometimes expectations are unrealistic. It depends on the environment as much as it depends on the programmer.
IBM midrange shops are in a battle as they search for RPG programmers. Organizations that are dependent on old, fixed-form RPG find themselves in an environment with limited ability to attract replacement programmers from the small pool of those know and understand a language that doesn’t fit with today’s IT. And organizations with modern, free-form RPG development environments similarly discover new programmers in limited supply.
Expecting programmers to learn an unfamiliar
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Open Source Lures The Killer App Closer
October 6, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreOpen source software is not exactly a hotbed of activity in the IBM i community. You can find all sorts of examples of it. You can find window shoppers, tire kickers, and sandbox playmates, but it’s more closely related to a small scoop of ice cream than it is to meat and potatoes.
A comment like that will draw some fire from IBM. Big Blue has megabucks invested in Linux and is tooting the Eclipse horn to prove its openness in developing software such as Rational Developer for i. Zend Technologies has had success with PHP, as has other
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Town Considers AS/400 Replacement
September 29, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreThe city of Sterling, Colorado, has depended on IBM midrange systems for many years. Its one-person IT department is a self-proclaimed advocate for the system. New World Systems, an IBM i ISV, provides the software Sterling uses for the city’s financial records and the police department’s records and computer-aided dispatch system. The police have a separate AS/400 server and the city financials run a second AS/400. In a city council meeting last month, the migration to a Windows-based system entered the discussion.
The police department is leaning toward replacing its aging AS/400 server with a Windows-based system. The primary
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For The Love Of Frank
September 29, 2014 Dan Burger
… Read moreHe’s baaaaack!
Everyone knows the name Frank Soltis. He’s an IBM certified legend and even though he retired in 2008, his footprints have not faded away. For years after his retirement, the one-time chief scientist remained a highly visible world traveler and platform advocate. He was a keynote speaker at IBM i conferences, including the RPG & DB2 Summit in 2011 and the series of iBelieve events sponsored by looksoftware during 2012 and 2013. More recently, his IBM stump speech campaign has slowed.
But it’s good to see him back again. Soltis is IBM i comfort food. Like a good