• dbFunnel Provides Native ETL For IBM i

  June 17, 2015 Alex Woodie

  One of the software startups showcasing new wares at the recent COMMON conference was Hamway Software Solutions, which develops an extract, transform, and load (ETL) application called dbFunnel that runs natively on IBM i. As CEO Laura Hamway explains to IT Jungle, the software fills a need for lightweight data extraction and reporting involving DB2 for i. Hamway’s journey to becoming an ISV begins, as so many do, with a consulting gig. The programmer was helping Del Monte Foods with an implementation of an automated data collection system for its packing and warehouse operations. The longtime BPCS shop

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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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• Should We Just Call It Power i Now?

  June 8, 2015 Alex Woodie

  “What’s in a name?” Shakespeare wrote so eloquently hundreds of years ago. “That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” Words may be imperfect representations for the things we encounter in real life, but even the Bard realized that words nonetheless carry a certain power and have a certain life of their own. And when it comes to the midrange server platform that we all know and love, what we call it is a discussion all its own. The platform’s official name, per IBM, is “IBM i on IBM Power Systems.” This name

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• As I See It: Listen Up And Ignore Me

  June 8, 2015 Victor Rozek

  There’s an old chestnut that says you should hire the young while they still know it all. And what a bargain! Insecurity and confusion masked by arrogance and bravado, all at entry level prices. Who could resist? It’s the curse of the human condition that each generation must learn all things afresh. Unfortunately, ignorance coupled with limited experience offer a ready foundation for making poor career choices–decisions that can color a lifetime. And once mistakes codify into lifestyles, they become very hard to correct. By middle age, bad career choices manifest in resentment and regret. I know of no one

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