• Consider Modernizing Your Approach to IBM i Security, Too

  November 10, 2021 Alex Woodie

  Many IBM i users are facing the reality that they need to modernize their IBM i applications, especially those based on monolithic blocks of fixed-format RPG. But other aspects of the IBM i experience can use some renovating too, including how organizations manage their security settings. Luckily, in the last few Technology Refreshes to IBM i, IBM has provided a slew of new SQL-based services for doing just that.

  Traditionally on IBM i, administrators had two main approaches for viewing and changing security settings. They could view and control the settings directly using commands, often automated through CL programs. Or …

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• Fabric Company Keeps to Its Knitting with Cleo

  November 10, 2021 Alex Woodie

  Camira Fabrics Ltd. has historically run its core operations on the IBM i platform. But when the UK company started expanding through acquisition, it suddenly found itself running a number of specialized ERP systems. Rather than embarking upon risky migrations, the company took an integration-based approach using tools from Cleo.

  Based in Mirfield, a city in Northern England, Camira Fabrics has been making fabrics for nearly 200 years. The company today designs and manufacture upholstery and panel textiles for a range of uses, including education, healthcare, hospitality, busses, RVs, and trains.

  The company, which manufactures 8 million meters of fabric …

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• IBM i Developer Day This Week

  November 10, 2021 Alex Woodie

  IBM i developers of all stripes are welcome to IBM i Developer Day, a free virtual event that’s scheduled to take place next Friday, November 19, at 1 p.m. ET. Organized by Liam Allan, the event will feature a heavy dose of Visual Studio Code (Allan’s favorite IDE) plus discussions hosted by IBMers on the future of IBM i and its role in the cloud.

  The world of application development is moving fast, but many IBM i pros are still stuck in the past when it comes to the tools, technologies, and techniques they use. While RPG and COBOL development …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, November 10

  November 10, 2021 Jenny Thomas

  “Parting is such sweet sorrow” is an oxymoron Juliet cries to her lover, Romeo, when he departs for the evening. It might also appropriately describe IBM’s separation from Kyndryl, which was finalized last week and now allows the two companies to begin focusing on their own priorities while looking forward to a time when they might be reunited in the domination of their chosen space. For IBM, it’s back to full attention on AI and the hybrid cloud. And as we see from the news this week, Big Blue is wasting no time in refocusing its efforts and we hope …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 23, Number 45

  November 10, 2021 Doug Bidwell

  Don’t get hyper, but there are new High Impact/Pervasive PTFs that you need to take a look at for the supported releases of the IBM i platform. Those are HIPERs in the IBM lingo. There are also some patches for Temporary Storage PTFs that you also need to be aware of.

  Here is the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level:

  PTF Groups 7.4:

  • HIPERs
  • Temporary Storage PTFs

  PTF Groups 7.3:

  • HIPERs
  • Temporary Storage PTFs

  PTF Groups 7.2:

  • HIPERs

  PTF Groups 7.1:

  • Nothing going on here, as is typical but not always true.

  New (or Updated) Links for …

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• Inside The IBM “Denali” Power E1080 System

  November 8, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  With Big Blue not really shipping its Power10-based big, bad “Denali” Power E1080 system in full volume and with full configurations until December, we knew we would have some time to dig down into the architecture of the Denali systems. And with other things out of the way, which also needed to be covered, including our initial coverage on the Power E1080 machine on September 8 and some follow-on stories, we are now eagerly taking the lid off the Denali machine and taking a hard look at it for you.

  Seriously. Here is the machine with the lid off of …

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• Thoroughly Modern: Infrastructure Challenges And Easing Into The Cloud

  November 8, 2021 Marcel Sarrasin

  There is an old saying, purportedly a Chinese curse but never proven to be anything but a saying by English diplomats who interfaced with the Middle Kingdom: “May you live in interesting times.” There is an equally mistaken etymology that the word for “crisis” in Chinese is comprised of two Mandarin words for “danger” and “opportunity.”

  Even though people misunderstand the source of these sayings, and the latter one is just simply not true at all, it is still the case that there has never been a more interesting time in the information technology sector in general and …

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• Guru: Abstract Data Types and RPG

  November 8, 2021 Ted Holt

  An abstract data type (ADT) is a type of data and a set of operations defined over that type of data. Using ADTs allows a programmer to work with data in terms of functionality rather than physical representation. The ADT is the basis of object-oriented programming. Does that mean that abstract data types don’t apply to procedural languages like RPG? Not at all. Quite the contrary.

  Before I show you how you can use abstract data types in RPG-based applications, let me further illustrate abstract data types with another, non-OO object — the user profile. The user profile is a …

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• IBM Offers Free Security Check for IBM i

  November 8, 2021 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops that are concerned about security – and really, who isn’t concerned about their security these days? – may be interested in receiving a free security check from the experts at IBM Systems Lab Services.

  The IBM i Security Quick Check, as the free offering is called, was introduced by IBM in October as a way to help IBM i shops pinpoint the areas where their servers are susceptible to external attacks, insider threats, and malware.

  The security check will let organizations know where the security vulnerabilities exist in their IBM i configurations, according to a blog post …

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• Gartner Revises IT Spending Forecasts Upward For 2021 And 2022

  November 8, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  With a market as large as the information technology racket, small changes rack up to tens of billions of dollars up or down in global spending. Any increase is generally seen as good news because so many of the individual IT budgets are gauged against the global average. So, in a sense, it just got a little bit easier for you to argue that your own IT department should be spending more dough on IT because the prognosticators at Gartner have just raised their forecast for IT spending in 2022.

  It’s not much of an increase, mind you. So don’t …

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