• Keep Your IBM i Baby, Not The Bathwater

  May 7, 2018 Alex Woodie

  In the quest to modernize computer systems, some IBM i shops cease being IBM i shops. Wholesale migrations or complete rewrites of applications on different operating systems are sometimes necessary and beneficial, and sometimes they do more harm than good. When King III Solutions set out to enhance its advanced replenishment system, it managed to create a modern Web front-end that resonates with millennials without giving up its rock-solid IBM i back-end.

  Based in Marietta, Georgia, King III Solutions, or K3S, develops software that helps wholesale distributors and retailers better manage their inventory, in part through a collection of …

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• IBM Wheels And Deals To Boost Power System Sales

  May 7, 2018 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  A lot of the revenue that comes to the Power Systems division – and perhaps the bulk of it if history and the changed nature of the product line is any guide – comes from relatively big iron machines, at least by IBM i standards for what is little, middle, and big iron. And IBM needs to do something here in early 2018 to keep customers of big iron boxes investing while it prepares to ship machines with four sockets or more of the Power9 processors under a schedule that we told you about back in February and that seems …

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• Guru: Refactoring into Routines

  May 7, 2018 Ted Holt

  In RDi and Refactoring, I illustrated the process of refactoring by taking code of a very old style and converting it little by little into something modern. I promised to write more about the subject, and today I fulfill that promise.

  The things I did in that first article — removing indicators, removing the COMP op code, removing GOTO, and renaming variables — are great, but they are not the only refactoring techniques. One of the best ways to refactor is to create new routines or improve existing routines, especially routines that can stand alone.

  To illustrate, I’ll begin …

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• As I See It: The Long And Intertwined Road

  May 7, 2018 Victor Rozek

  I’m part Neanderthal. No, that’s not just my wife’s opinion. Nor is it an unkind conclusion based on observation, although that could be open to debate. In fact, my wife is part Neanderthal, too, a data point that invites further comment but could only get me into trouble.

  The bearer of this startling revelation is an organization long celebrated for its examination of such diverse, yet interconnected subjects as history, culture, science, and the environment. Its playground was, and continues to be, planet Earth. From its early days as a sponsor of exploration; to producing a publication so beloved that, …

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• Spring Cleaning In IBM i Land

  May 7, 2018 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It has been a busy couple of weeks with IBM winding down a whole bunch of different products related to the IBM i platform. It is a kind of spring cleaning, we suppose. IBM doesn’t usually offer explanations for its decision to discontinue products, so we just have to take them at face value. Sometimes there are upgraded or replacement products, and sometimes it is just the end of the line.

  In announcement letter 918-056, IBM says that it will be withdrawing the 7042-CR9 Hardware Management Console (HMC), and moreover, IBM says that going forward, support for the Model …

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• Survey Paints a Picture of IBM i Community, Product Usage

  May 2, 2018 Alex Woodie

  The folks behind the All 400s website have published the first results of an online survey that seeks to illuminate the state of the IBM i community, ranging from possible plans to migrate off the platform to third-party product preferences. The first 400 people have taken the 25-question survey, and the results may surprise you.

  About a week ago, John Rockwell, the owner of the All 400s website (www.all400s.com) announced in the LinkedIn group “IBM i, iSeries, and AS/400 Professionals” that the first set of results has been released. The survey, which is hosted by Survey Monkey, …

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• GDPR and IBM i: The Final Countdown

  May 2, 2018 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops have just 24 days until the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect. If you haven’t started your GDPR project yet, it’s likely too late to complete it by May 25. But a good faith start to a GDPR remediation effort could benefit you in the eyes of regulators, should you happen to cross their path. Here’s what IBM i shops need to know as the countdown to GDPR-ageddon continues.

  GDPR is a far-reaching law that governs how companies and other organizations are allowed to collect, process, and store data about European Union citizens, no matter …

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• LaserVault Puts the ‘i’ in VTL

  May 2, 2018 Alex Woodie

  LaserVault is rolling out a new virtual tape library (VTL) offering that could interest IBM i shops who are looking to get away from physical tape. Dubbed ViTL, the offering emulates an IBM LTO tape library, and thanks to integration with BRMS and HelpSystems‘ Robot Save, can provide the “set it and forget it” level of automation that IBM i shops expect from enterprise storage, the company says.

  LaserVault, which is also known as Electronic Storage Corp., is no newbie when it comes to virtualizing tape products. In 2006, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, company debuted LaserVault Backup to provide customers …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, May 2

  May 2, 2018 Dan Burger

  The robots are coming . . . to help? The only thing clear about the future of artificial intelligence is that it is set to play a huge role in how we analyze and use data. How worried or excited we should be about the possibilities is still murky. AI will impact how we work, and possibly if we work, which has caused law makers to start taking a closer look at the potential impact of AI on jobs and the economy. Meanwhile, IBM and others are all in and looking to emerge as leaders with AI in most every …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 17

  May 2, 2018 Doug Bidwell

  This week’s PTF Guide brings us a Security Bulletin from IBM. There are multiple vulnerabilities in OpenSSL (5733-SC1) that affect the IBM i. Check this link for details on the recommended PTFs. A list of all PTFs available for OpenSSL can be found here.

  In other news, there is one situation where CPYFRMIMPF fails to convert a .csv file to a database file. You can see the details and the fix here.

  Use our archive of the IBM i PTF Guide below to help you work through the PTFs in chronological order:

  April 28, 2018: Volume 20, Number …

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