• A Peek Inside Fortra’s Cybersecurity Catalog, And Its Cyber Future

  June 12, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The evolution of Fortra, formerly HelpSystems, from a small IBM i systems management and monitoring provider from the Minneapolis area into one of the top 10 cybersecurity solution providers with an estimated $800 million in annual revenue is an interesting story, and one that we have already written. But what, exactly, does Fortra do in the security realm?

  The cybersecurity space is changing quickly at the moment, as hackers look to exploit vulnerabilities in software and human processes. Lots of security software vendors are trying hard to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape, so where does …

  Read more

• Thoroughly Modern: Proven Strategies For Innovating IT And IBM i In A Digital Age

  June 12, 2023 Chris Koppe

  Over the past 20 years I’ve worked with countless organizations on their IBM i modernization and transformation strategies, enabling them to harness the value derived from their mission-critical applications. Transforming outdated RPG, COBOL and CA 2E (SYNON) applications not only lowers costs and mitigates risks, but it also unlocks new capabilities to innovate and future-proof your business. How are today’s organizations focusing their modernization and transformation efforts? Where should you start?

  What is Driving Innovation On IBM i?

  It’s important to begin by examining IT’s role in innovation. Over my 35+ years in the industry, I’ve worked with dozens …

  Read more

• Guru: Speeding Up RPG By Reducing I/O Operations, Part 2

  June 12, 2023 Gregory Simmons

  Legacy code. Often one admits they have legacy code either with a chuckle or a wince. Nonetheless, it usually is admitted with bad connotations. We must remember though – legacy code becomes legacy code because it works. It performs its tasks day in and day out for many years and is forgotten about. Only the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right?

  The problem with this code is that, while it works, decades slip by, and technology evolves. As these decades roll along, we don’t just end up with a few programs that fit this ‘legacy code’ stereotype, we often end …

  Read more

• Four Hundred Monitor, June 12

  June 12, 2023 Jenny Thomas

  One of the many nice things about the IBM i ecosystem is how we all try to look out for each other. Take reader Michael D. Mayer. Michael is a IBM i Power System Admin who developed and manages an “IBM i Reference Page” blog. He recently shared it with us in hopes that we could spread the word about this free resource, which is his contribution to the IBM i community. The blog is updated often and “It’s something I wished I had when I was working my way through the early days of the AS400, iSeries, i5, etc.,” …

  Read more

• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 25, Number 24

  June 12, 2023 Doug Bidwell

  It is one of those quiet weeks in PTF Land, which probably means next week or the week after won’t be if history is any guide. This week, we have Security Bulletin: Multiple Vulnerabilities in IBM Java SDK affect IBM WebSphere Application Server and IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty due to April 2023 CPU. More information is available here. Below are the affected products and versions.

  Affected Product(s)				Version(s)
  IBM WebSphere Application Server		9.0
  IBM WebSphere Application Server		8.5
  IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty	Continuous delivery
  

  Here is the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level since we …

  Read more

• IBM i Delivers Sizable Benefits, Forrester Consulting Reports

  June 7, 2023 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops have firsthand knowledge of the positive characteristics of the platform relative to industry-standard X86 servers. We often hear anecdotes about the platform and share them with you through these pages. But IBM would like to get beyond mere anecdotes and get to some hard numbers on the IBM i advantage. That’s when it turns to Forrester Consulting.

  According to Forrester Consulting’s latest Total Economic Impact (TEI) report, a typical IBM i customer can expect to save about $2.6 million over three years as a result of the IBM i platform’s uptime, productivity, and efficiency. The report, …

  Read more

• SBOMs Will Come to IBM i, Eventually

  June 7, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The Biden Administration’s push to make software bills of material (SBOMs) mandatory may not be moving ahead as quickly as hoped. But the SBOM requirement is still marching ahead for federal agencies and the vendors who supply them with software – running on IBM i or any other platform – with a major self-attestation deadline.

  The federal government’s SBOM push began back in 2018, when the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA), an agency within the Department of Commerce, spearheaded SBOM work with private-sector partners in an attempt to get better visibility into security vulnerabilities.

  The SBOM movement got a …

  Read more

• IBM i Backup Provider Storagepipe Snapped Up By Thrive

  June 7, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Storagepipe, a Toronto, Ontario-based provider of backup and recovery services for IBM i and other platforms, has been acquired by Thrive, a Massachusetts-based outsourcing company that provides a range of cloud-based IT services.

  Storagepipe has been backing up IBM i servers since it was founded back in 2001. Back in 2015, the last time we checked in with them, the company was utilizing an appliance-based approach to backing up IBM i servers, and any other Windows or Linux servers that customers wanted backed up.

  The backup would be pushed to the Storagepipe appliance, which would then replicate the backup off-site …

  Read more

• Four Hundred Monitor, June 7

  June 7, 2023 Jenny Thomas

  Artificial intelligence is getting a bad rap these days, and IBM’s CEO Arvind Krishna isn’t happy about it. In fact, he says the recent reporting that quoted him as saying that IBM could replace 7,800 workers with AI software was incorrect, and his comments were taken out of context. Of course, that doesn’t explain why IBM recently paused hiring for “replaceable” roles. You can read more about what Krishna is saying about AI now in our Top Story below. Our Calendar is continuing to grow so be sure to check in about the latest learning opportunities.

  Top Stories From Around

  …

  Read more

• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 25, Number 23

  June 7, 2023 Doug Bidwell

  It’s a little more quiet in this issue of the IBM i PTF Guide than it was last time, which is a good thing and which ran on Monday. We will start off with two more security vulnerabilities, one with Rational Developer for i and the other for the WebSphere Application Server Liberty edition.

  First, we have Security Bulletin: IBM Rational Developer for i is vulnerable to attacker obtaining sensitive information due to Java string processing in IBM Toolbox for Java (CVE-2022-43928), which you can find out more about here. Here are the affected releases:

  Affected Product(s)				Version(s)
  IBM 

  …

  Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles