• IBM i Fall 2023 Event Calendar Shaping Up

  September 11, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The next variant of the coronavirus might try to stage a viral comeback, but that’s not stopping IBM i professionals from packing their bags and gearing up for a busy fall conference season, which starts this week with the IBM TechXchange in Vegas.

  IBM TechXchange is a major conference that offers hundreds of sessions for developers, data scientists, IT architects, operations professionals, and infrastructure architects, among other personas. The event, which takes place September 11 -14 at the MGM Grand resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, is expected to draw more than 5,000 attendees for educational and training sessions on AI, …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 25, Number 35

  September 11, 2023 Doug Bidwell

  We have been on hiatus for a few weeks, and there is a lot of stuff to catch up on. There are a slew of security vulnerabilities and a whole bunch of PTFs for the current releases of IBM i that you need to deal with. Let’s start with the security issues.

  First, we have Security Bulletin: IBM Java SDK and IBM Java Runtime for IBM i are vulnerable to denial of service, availability, integrity, and confidentiality impacts due to multiple vulnerabilities, which you can find out more about at this link. Here are the PTFs for this vulnerability: …

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• How Long Before Big Blue Brings Code Assist To IBM i?

  August 23, 2023 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  IBM Research and Big Blue’s Software group have been collaborating to bring generative AI capabilities to market through the Watsonx stack of large language models and related tools. Watsonx is a basis for customers to create customized LLMs based on data from their own businesses and to integrate the quasi-cognitive capabilities of LLMs into their applications.

  Watsonx is also being used by IBM to augment some tools of its own, and the most recent one that will be in tech preview in September and generally available sometime in the fourth quarter is called Watsonx Code Assistant for Z, which as …

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• Profound Logic Explores AI Paths for IBM i

  August 23, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The burgeoning world of artificial intelligence may seem far away to IBM i shops, but in fact, the technology is quite accessible to the users. One vendor that’s helping to guide IBM i users through the growing AI jungle is Profound Logic.

  Profound Logic is best known as an application modernization vendor, and one that provides tools for developing Web and mobile interfaces for IBM i applications, as well as working with APIs on the platform.

  In a series of YouTube videos, Profound Logic co-founder and CEO Alex Roytman provides a rundown on the latest developments in the world …

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• New Run SQL Scripts Features in ACS Update

  August 23, 2023 Alex Woodie

  If you’re a fan of the Run SQL Scripts features in IBM i Access Client Solutions, then there’s good news: IBM has adopted several suggestions on how to improve the functionality in the latest release of ACS.

  IBM quietly released ACS version 1.1.9.3 last month, enabling a series of new functions in the popular Java-based utility used by IBM i professionals to interact with the platform, as well as a handful of fixes.

  At the top of the list, according to an IBM Support document on the new release, are enhancements to Run SQL Scripts (RSS), the handy facility that …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, August 23

  August 23, 2023 Jenny Thomas

  A recent report from Goldman Sachs found that up to 300 million jobs globally could be lost to automation in the coming years. According to the study, administrative roles, such as office support, customer service, and HR will all see a decline in roles due to generative AI. But that’s not all, tasks performed by programmers and software developers are also at risk, along with IT support technicians. Gulp. The news isn’t all bad, but it is going to require some new skills for the current workforce. Get the latest news and predictions for AI in our Top Stories below. …

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• A Hacker’s Dozen: 11 New Security Vulns Reported in IBM i

  August 23, 2023 Alex Woodie

  IBM on August 18 reported 11 new security vulnerabilities in IBM i’s Java stack, including two critical Java flaws that should be patched immediately. The new batch of vulns continues what has been an active summer for security flaws on the platform.

  IBM revealed the existence of the 11 Java security flaws in IBM i version 7.2 through 7.5 and the availability of emergency program temporary fixes (PTFs) on the security bulletin section of its IBM Product Security Central webpage.

  The security bulletin shows 11 flaws, CVE-2022-21426 through CVE-2023-21968, impacting various components of the Java stack, including the Java Software …

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• Say Sayonara To The IBM i Integrated Server

  August 21, 2023 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  One of the neat things about the AS/400 platform and its progeny is that it takes integration seriously, even to the extent of wrapping the OS/400 and IBM i platform around competitive platforms to bring them into the fold. The File Serving I/O Processor (FSIOP), which became the Integrated Netfinity Server, which became the Integrated xSeries Server, which became the IBM i Integrated Server is a good example of this.

  This integrated server approach brought a real, discrete, physical X86 server running Windows Server, OS/2, Novell NetWare, or SCO Unix under the skins of the AS/400 and IBM i Server. …

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• Infoview Launches New IBM i Integration Tool

  August 21, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Infoview Systems has launched a new integration product for IBM i customers. Called infoConnect Hub, the software is designed to expose IBM i data and applications to outside programs as a basic REST API, without any IBM i programming skills required, the company says.

  Integration continues to be a challenge for many enterprises, particularly those running “non-standard” platforms like IBM i. When there’s a need to access a program or fetch data from an IBM i server – such as checking a stock balance, delivery date, or fulfillment status – it often requires folks with IBM i skills to develop …

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• Software Price Inflation Helps Boost IT Spending In 2023

  August 21, 2023 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Datacenter and client device sales are slumping and are expected to be down from spending levels in 2022, according to the latest prognostications for worldwide IT spending from market researcher Gartner. But thanks to exploding budgets for software and services, the market for IT spending across all categories is anticipated to grow at a fairly healthy rate this year – and will do better in 2024, if Gartner is right.

  That is a big “if” of course. The only way to accurately predict the future is to live it – and even that is looking dubious sometimes. (Wink.) …

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