Dan Burger
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100,000 And Counting in IBM i Grassroots Campaign
October 31, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreFor those of you who have never seen a barn raising, I direct your attention to Steve Pitcher, a devoted member of the Lotus Notes/Domino on IBM i congregation. As far as I know, Pitcher has never raised a barn. But it seems he’s passed a sort of equivalency test.
Instead of gathering enough friends and family to build a large farm building in the course of a weekend, Pitcher has compiled, at last count, more than 100,000 Lotus license pledges to run Connections, Sametime, and Notes Traveler on IBM i. He did it using social media (and possibly a
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Q3 Financial Report Bumps Manhattan Associates Stock
October 31, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreManhattan Associates, a supply chain software company with hundreds of IBM i-based companies using its warehouse management software, has completed its third quarter financial reports for 2011 with record-setting accomplishments. And on that news, shares last week reached a new all-time high.
Record revenue for the third quarter reached $85.6 million, an increase of 16 percent compared to one year ago. Year to date that puts the company slightly more than $20 million ahead of this time last year. Services revenue grew 19 percent and licensing revenue grew 12 percent.
Services revenue totaled $63.6 million, with consulting services contributing
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RPG Open Access Availability Expands Modernization Efforts
October 24, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreEarlier this month, looksoftware became the third IBM i ISV to set up a distribution program for IBM‘s Rational Open Access: RPG Edition that coincides with the purchase of the company’s lookserver Open Access, a product that provides the integration layer for creating composite applications, generates XML clients, and supports browser-based devices.
By distributing Rational Open Access: RPG Edition, looksoftware is avoiding the complicated and frustrating ordering process that companies have experienced when attempting to order the ROA product from IBM. Other application modernization tool vendors, Profound Logic and ASNA, have previously taken the step to handle distribution
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IBM Chooses Power Systems Champions
October 24, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreReal innovation and emerging trends can get lost in the IT world where buzzwords show up and disappear like the phases of the moon. The IBM Power Systems universe is no different. Maybe the buzz isn’t as deafening and maybe the innovation and trends sometimes get buried under the weight of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” status quo–a place where “No Innovation” signs are nailed to all the fence posts–but the Power Systems users have their moments of glory.
Giving the innovators a bigger stage is the idea behind the IBM Champions, a group of IT professionals, developers,
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New Xcase Release Propels DDS-to-SQL Migrations
October 18, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreIf you think IBM DB2 database modernization is a time-consuming, money-gobbling adventure into the unknown, you’re right. But that’s the correct answer only if you try to wade through it while depending on manual procedures. Automation will save time and money, as it always does when the alternative is dependent on heavy manual labor. That’s exactly why Resolution Software designed and is selling Xcase Modernize-DB, which last week became generally available in version 9.1.
Databases at typical IBM i shops are like roadkill. The older they are, the more likely they are to smell. If you’re around them all the
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RTFM Being Replaced by GTFM
October 18, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read more“Read the freaking manual” (RTFM) is a common response (usually agitated response) to questions that invariably come up in IT settings. Sometimes it’s conversational, but it more frequently occurs in email or instant messaging or a posting on a forum.
But in a conversation I had last week with Bill Hammond, product marketing manager at Vision Solutions, he asked me to imagine a world where sagging shelves overloaded with manuals the size of Tokyo phone books no longer existed. What? No product manuals? You’ve got to be kidding. How will anything get fixed?
It’s all about changing the user
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Connectria Customers Pleased with Hosted Services
October 17, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreNo matter if you call them hosted services, managed services, or cloud services, the common denominator is services. Can a hosted services company provide service at a level that meets extremely high expectations? Inquiring minds want to know. A simple “trust me” doesn’t close the deal.
So to make sure customers are satisfied, a hosted survey provider checks in frequently with its customers. A customer satisfaction survey comes in handy in determining what’s right and what’s wrong.
Apparently, Connectria is keeping its eye on its customers like a cat watching a mouse hole. Last week, the company sent out
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Innovative CIO Keynotes at RPG & DB2 Summit
October 11, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreInnovative CIO Keynotes at RPG & DB2 Summit
Roxanne Reynolds-Lair, CIO at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming RPG & DB2 Summit held October 16-19 in St. Louis, Missouri. Reynolds-Lair will talk about the value of planning and implementing innovative projects from the perspective of a CIO who happens to prefer running an IBM i-centric business.
Reynolds-Lair’s success has not been rare or fleeting. FIDM has received four IBM-COMMON Innovation Awards. The most recent was presented at the COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition in May 2011. FIDM also won in
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Speaking of IBM i Innovation . . .
October 10, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreA lot of people wouldn’t pay attention to innovation if it walked into the room and sat down next to them. Some recognize it and cross to the opposite side of the street if they see it coming their way. A few treat it like it’s their best friend. Who are these people and do you ever find them running an IT department in an IBM i shop?
Yes, you do. And the best known (kind of like being the best known mountain climber in Florida) is Roxanne Reynolds-Lair, the CIO at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM)
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Continued U.S. Investments In IT Pay Off
October 3, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreIf you have noticed that short-term business planning and financial performance is replacing long-term value creation, then you might well have some concerns when the topic of U.S. competitiveness in the global markets is debated. Pocketing short-term profits while manipulating earnings and blaming a lack of investments on the wobbly economy has been known to happen within individual companies. You might even know some examples in the IBM i community. However, entire industry segments, such as the information technology sector, seem to be built for the long haul–at least that’s true in nations interested in revving their economic engines with