• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 10

  March 15, 2017 Doug Bidwell

  Technical Refresh updates have been a boon for the IBM i base. They have allowed IBM to keep adding features and functions to the current IBM i operating system releases without in any way breaking compatibility with the hardware levels and application software that runs on them. But you have to be careful about falling behind with the Technology Refreshes.

  To be specific, as we explain in the TR tab in the IBM i PTF Guide, while the Technology Refresh updates do not happen that often, but when they do, this tab has all of the information that system …

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• The Feeds And Speeds Of The IBM i Base

  March 13, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Without change, nothing new happens. But change is always difficult, so there is always this push and pull between the way we have always done it and the way we might improve it, and there is also a kind of gravity associated with capital investments in hardware, software, people, and processes that impedes change – and often for the best. Otherwise, we would be changing everything all the time and no one would know what state anything is in.

  The very stability of the IBM i platform, as measured in the way it runs and supports the applications on it …

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• IBM i And Watson: Another Step In The Right Direction

  March 13, 2017 Dan Burger

  One way to understand the future of enterprise computing is to focus on data and systems integration. Not everyone likes that idea. There are strong feelings about certain platforms and processes. But as the IT-business alignment evolves, integration will prevail. The current emphasis, driven by data analysis and cognitive technology, is a powerful motivation.

  IBM’s Watson is on the big stage. Explaining Watson’s analytical power and how it can be integrated into business computing is one of the main cognitive attractions. It will take serious planning and incremental steps to bring Watson into widespread use. One of those incremental steps …

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• Guru: MiWorkplace As An Alternative To SEU

  March 13, 2017 Jon Paris

  From time to time somebody will recommend an application to me and it sounds really useful – until I discover that it is Windows Only. Whenever that happens I usually go to one of the Alternative To websites, such as AlternativeTo.net, to see what I can find.

  Recently I was asked if there were any alternatives to SEU by a programmer who wanted to use fully free RPG and was tired of the green screen blobs all over his code. (See the example below if you don’t know what I mean by this.) This was a topic that …

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• Machine Learning And ERP’s Autonomous Future

  March 13, 2017 Alex Woodie

  What makes Netflix so good at predicting movies you’ll like? A recommendation algorithm based on your viewing history, and the viewing histories of others like you, of course. While consumer technology is rife with such technology, HarrisData president Lane Nelson sees a future when ERP applications augmented with machine learning algorithms can automate nearly all of the back-office decisions currently made by people.

  Machines have been taking over the back-office since the days of the typewriter. But the next wave of innovation occurring around big data analytics and machine learning will likely make the transition to a people-less office nearly …

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• RPG Investment Advice For Long Term Goals

  March 13, 2017 Dan Burger

  RPG programming remains a hugely important skill in the IBM Power Systems niche where the IBM i lives. It shares that space with other languages such as Java, PHP, a few fourth-generation options and a host of open source options. More than once in its long life, RPG has been declared dead.

  Like an untended plant, some IBM i shops have let RPG die. It lingers on with little or no nourishment in other organizations. But it’s also doing very well as a modern language when in the hands of skilled programmers. Who are the skilled programmers and what are …

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• What IBM i Shops Should Know About Digital Transformation

  March 8, 2017 Alex Woodie

  You may have heard the term “digital transformation” bandied about and figured it was probably another two-bit term for a nickel idea. While all the specifics of digital transformation may not apply to the typical IBM i shop, the general idea behind the concept is one that most IBM i shops would do well explore.

  So, what is digital transformation? In an IBM Institute for Business Value report, the company defines it as “Creating new business models where digital meets physical.” Wikipedia calls it “the change associated with the application of digital technology in all aspects of human society.” …

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• IBM VP Dishes Up Statistics For Infrastructure Growth

  March 8, 2017 Dan Burger

  The metamorphosis of IBM has been a journey from typewriters to mainframes, to mini-mainframes to PCs, to infrastructure, to cloud computing, to big data analytics and most recently to cognitive computing. IT infrastructure for cognitive workloads was on the mind of Tom Rosamilia as he spoke to the IBM Business Partners several weeks ago at the PartnerWorld conference in Las Vegas.

  Rosamilia, the senior vice president of IBM Systems group, emphasized the delivery of cognitive insights would depend on infrastructure and that partners would help create the solutions, while customers would choose how they want to deploy it – most …

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• Don’t Look Now, But PCI Just Changed Again

  March 8, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Heads up, IBM i shops: Companies that process any volume of credit card transactions now must send self-assessments to their acquiring banks under the jurisdiction of the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This is a pretty significant change, as previously only merchants processing large volumes were subject to strict PCI DSS requirements.

  On January 31, a new PCI provision went into effect that requires Level 4 merchants to submit a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) to their issuing banks. Previously, Level 4 merchants, which are defined as processing 20,000 or fewer ecommerce transactions or 1 million total transactions, were …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, March 8

  March 8, 2017 Dan Burger

  It’s just an observation, but it seems Rational Developer for i (RDi) is more closely aligned with the desires of IBM i shops since it left the IBM Software Group and moved in with the IBM i development team. An example can be made of the latest RDi enhancements.

  A little bit of play time with RDi helps developers understand the benefits that come with modern development. The same can be said about open source. It doesn’t seem i-oriented until you get a little closer to where the action is. Seeing may not be believing, but give it a fair …

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