The IBM software engineers have prepared another batch of IBM i-centric accomplishments that will be rolled out next month as IBM i 7.1 Technology Refresh (TR) 11 and IBM i 7.2 TR 3. Application development, systems management, and database upgrades are all lined up at the innovation dispenser and this is what is being dished out. Companies with the mind to modernize their RPG development, incorporate some open source languages, and do more with the Apache Web server should pay attention.

Although it’s not part of the Technology Refresh, there are also upgrades to the IBM i Access Client Solutions

Cyber-criminals are increasingly targeting small and midsize American businesses with ransomware that encrypts the contents of a PC or a server until the victim pays $500, $1,000, or more in untraceable Bitcoin. After several of United Computer Group‘s VAULT400 customers were hit with ransomware scams, the company decided to team up with the security training company KnowBe4 to teach VAULT400 customers how to avoid falling victim to a ransomware scam.

A ransomware epidemic is spreading across the country, impacting organizations of all shapes and sizes. “Never before in the history of human kind have people across the world been

OpenLegacy wants to modernize your 5250 screens for $12 to $20 each as part of a new service it unveiled this week at the COMMON conference. Called OpenLegacy Click, the new service is aimed at smaller companies that don’t have the budget for full-blown modernization projects, but have a business need to convert a select number of 5250 screens to Web and mobile interfaces just the same.

OpenLegacy is turning heads in the IBM i modernization space with an approach that emphasizes application re-use and open source technology. Its flagship IBM i product, called OpenLegacy iSuite, essentially models how IBM

Over the years, Rocket Software has bought some well-known properties in the IBM i space: Aldon, Seagull, BlueZone, iCluster. But now the Massachusetts company wants the IBM i community to think of it as a wider source of innovation for the platform, and a one-stop shop for IBM i products–including the new Rocket Mobile for i it launched at this week’s COMMON conference in Florida.

“If you look throughout our portfolio,” Rocket CEO Andy Youniss says, “we have this wide variety and spectrum of products. We’ve done a really bad job of telling that story to the i world because

A thing of beauty is a joy to behold. For programmers, that thing of beauty is called a shortcut. The more you have, the greater the joy. Most RPG programmers know some shortcuts. Some are hoarded, but more often they get passed around with an “it’s better to give than receive” attitude. Call it karma, if you will. If you can go along with that, let me introduce you to the Queen of Karma–Susan Gantner.

Gantner is famous in the IBM i community for coming up with programming shortcuts. They’re tacked to cubical walls, taped to computer monitors, laminated to