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Surround Tech Goes Up The Stack

June 17, 2015 Alex Woodie

Surround Technologies is a well-known provider of .NET-based tooling for modernizing IBM i applications. If you want to outfit your 5250 application with Web, Windows, or mobile clients using Microsoft technologies, its flagship Accelerator series can provide that. But with the latest version, Surround Tech is going up the stack by offering pre-built apps for things like document management, content management, and even human resources.

Modernizing legacy IBM i applications and moving from 5250 to modern Web and mobile apps is one thing, says Surround Tech CEO Lee Paul. But what IBM i shops need these days goes beyond application

…

Two Ways To Rollup

June 16, 2015 Ted Holt

In Three Powerful SQL Words, I showed how to enhance summary queries with aggregate values over subsets of grouping columns. Today I continue that discussion by showing the two syntaxes of rollup and illustrating the difference between them.

First, assume a table of accounting transactions.

select department, account, amount
  from xacts2
 order by 1, 2
 
DEPARTMENT  ACCOUNT     AMOUNT
     1          10      200.00
     1          10      250.00
     1          30      300.00
     2          10      125.00
     2          20      175.00
     2          20      225.00

Here’s a typical summary query using the familiar GROUP BY clause.

select department, account, sum(amount) as tamt
  from xacts2                                  
 group by department, account

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Security Policies Vs. Security Procedures

June 16, 2015 Patrick Botz

It seems that many people don’t understand the difference between security policies and procedures. When I ask to see a customer’s security policy, if I get anything, it is usually documentation about how system security values should be set. Once in a while it contains a description about how certain tasks will be accomplished. For example, updating applications on the production system. While this kind of documentation is useful, it is not a security policy.

In short, security policy identifies acceptable and/or unacceptable uses of various business assets. Importantly, security policy shouldn’t include descriptions of how to enforce, prevent, or

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IBM i Multiple Language Support Generates Value Decisions

June 15, 2015 Dan Burger

IBM i support for multiple programming languages leads to freedom of choice, but that doesn’t necessarily make the choice easy. Many of the application development experts say picking a programming language depends on the goal in mind and, of course, which language skills the user possesses. But to say you can’t argue with that is an oversimplification. RPG is always going to be an IBM midrange programmer favorite no matter what. And then there’s the native versus non-native debate.

IT Jungle turned to several application development experts with deep experience and various opinions on programming language decisions.

For database access

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Big Blue Gives MSPs Monthly Rates On IBM i Stack

June 15, 2015 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Off and on over the past several years, IBM has tinkered around with special pricing for managed service providers that are building IBM i hosting and cloud businesses. The central issue is that Big Blue charges a perpetual license plus annual Software Maintenance fees for the IBM i stack, but MSPs charge customers by the month. The gap between the initial investment and the initial cash flow can be huge–in fact, big enough that building an IBM i cloud can be prohibitively expensive.

Given the legendary ease of use of the IBM i platform and its predecessors, as well as

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Change Management Plays Major Role In IBM i Modernization

June 15, 2015 Dan Burger

The word is getting around the IBM midrange community that application modernization has not reached mission accomplished status after converting the green-screen interface to a graphical user interface. There’s backend work to be done. And if you don’t have software change management tools, or the SCM you have is only minimally adequate, this is a piece of the modernization puzzle to keep in mind. Recent activity in the SCM market has drawn my attention, so I talked with the folks at Remain Software about what’s up.

There’s a one-word answer to the question about what’s up. The answer is business.

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Reader Feedback On Should We Just Call It Power i Now?

June 15, 2015 Alex Woodie

Last week’s story “Should We Just Call It Power i Now?” generated a mix of responses. While some thought the name Power i was an improvement on the status quo, others were hesitant to endorse yet another name change. Here are the top reader responses, edited for clarity.

IBM has done a really good job of confusing not only current system owners but everybody else as to what the system should be called, apparently even their own business leaders aren’t even sure anymore. Why can’t they just leave it be? Pick something, anything and just leave it for crying out

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OpenPower Partners Open SuperVessel Dev Cloud

June 15, 2015 Dan Burger and Timothy Prickett Morgan

The Power Tech Open Lab in Beijing, China, is the home to the first open development cloud that IBM is firing up to help developers worldwide gain access to Power8 hybrid systems to create innovative applications. The idea is simple enough: servers ain’t cheap, but without some access to cheap or free iron, developers will stick to the X86 systems they know and can prototype on their laptops.

The development cloud, known as SuperVessel, was created by the IBM Systems Lab and IBM Research arms, which both have facilities in Beijing. (A certain portion of IBM i hardware and software

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HelpSystems Adds SkyView Partners To Its Security Assets

June 8, 2015 Dan Burger

The IBM midrange has undergone a transformation in the past 10 years. Technologically? Yes, but there’s also an evolving process of vendor acquisitions and an increased interest in managed services. Last week we saw another prize claimed by HelpSystems as it purchased the security vendor SkyView Partners. The move signals HelpSystems’ interest in developing security as a service for IBM i shops with little or no time to accomplish security initiatives.

The SkyView acquisition is not the first IBM i security company scooped up by HelpSystems. It acquired both PowerTech and Bytware in 2008, and then Safestone in 2012,

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Enterprise Server Refresh Cycle Gathers Momentum

June 8, 2015 Timothy Prickett Morgan

The server refresh cycle is picking up steam, with the market turning in one of the best spurts of growth in the first quarter in many a year and reversing a slight downward trend in server revenues across all vendors and machine types that has been putting pressure on vendors for the past several years since the big bounce after the Great Recession recovery. Some big deals at hyperscale companies, in fact, allowed sales in Q1 2015 to more or less match levels set in the second and third quarters of last year.

According to the IDC quarterly server tracker,

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