• Take The Common Europe Top Concerns 2012 Survey Now

  September 10, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The annual Top Concerns of IBM i shops survey may be done by COMMON Europe, but it is meant to cover the world and it is one of the things that COMMON Europe does on behalf of the entire community. This is the seventh year that COMMON Europe is doing the survey in an effort to balance your needs against those of the largest IBM i shops that have more or less direct access to IBM‘s Rochester Labs, and you should therefore take some time and take the survey. It’s for your own good and that of your

  … Read more

• Google’s Nexus 7: A Viable Tablet For IBM i Users

  September 10, 2012 Nick Hampson

  The mobile revolution is starting to have real impact within the IBM i community. In addition to smartphones gaining access to core applications, we are starting to see tablets being utilized to benefit users by freeing them from their desks. Apple‘s iPad has been the poster-child for tablet computing, but is getting some competition. In particular, the Nexus 7 is considered a serious contender. The Nexus 7 is Google‘s first venture into the tablet space, and it serves the dual purpose of benchmarking the design for the Android operating system, a variant of Linux controlled by Google that

  … Read more

• As I See It: Game Changer

  September 10, 2012 Victor Rozek

  Let’s say you’re young and idealistic and still naive enough to believe what politicians tell you. And after watching one of our three-day infomercials, otherwise known as conventions, you’re feeling inspired to register voters for your favorite candidate. But you have no registration forms (which often vary from precinct to precinct), and even if you did, who knows where one precinct ends and another begins? Plus, you don’t really know what you should say, or which doors are likely to remain open once you reveal your party affiliation. But you do have something in your pocket that can solve all

  … Read more

• Gartner Concurs: Second Quarter Server Sales Stall

  September 10, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As we explained in last week’s issue of The Four Hundred in going over IDC‘s casing of the global server market in the second quarter, it was no big surprise to anyone that with so many server processor transitions underway and the global economy somewhat skittish that the second quarter would be a little soft in terms of sales. The box counters at Gartner concur, and present a slightly different dicing and slicing of the market. IDC counts vendor sales shipping out of the factory to large customers who buy directly and to master distributors who in turn peddle

  … Read more

• Casualties Stack Up In The IBM i Job Wars

  September 10, 2012 Dan Burger

  The positive forecasts for the IT job market in general are not to be confused with the weather charts in IBM i-land. We have our own microclimate. Although the climate is similar, the landscape is different–the average employee’s years of experience and skills are sometimes as different as the weather in Laredo and Laramie. Also a factor is that mid-career talent gets more attention than post-mid-year talent (also known as geezers–sometimes affectionately, sometimes not). Although most surveys I’ve read indicate close to two-thirds of all companies are intending to hire IT staff this year, it is harder to find

  … Read more

• Performance Choices For Power7+ Servers Could Be Complicated

  September 10, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  In last week’s issue of The Four Hundred, I gave you the low-down on the forthcoming Power7+ processors from IBM, which are expected to be launched in new Power Systems machines before the end of the year. This information came from a presentation Big Blue’s chip experts made at the Hot Chips 24 conference, and it was refreshing to see IBM talk about the chips a bit before they came out in systems, giving customers some time to ponder their options. If you are an IBM i customer, you are going to need the time because the situation

  … Read more

• Attachmate Add Features with MFT Update

  September 6, 2012 Alex Woodie

  Attachmate recently updated two members of its FileXpress family of managed file transfer (MFT) products. The new version 7.2 releases of FileXpress Internet Server and Command Center deliver new data integration, authentication, and administrative capabilities that are intended to streamline MFT functions. Attachmate has been selling the FileXpress product line for about three years. The software, which was based on technology it OEMed from Proginet (now part of TIBCO), includes four components, including the core MFT engine, called the Platform Server; a Web portal for customers and trading partners called Internet Server; a central, Web-based management console called Command

  … Read more

• Admin Alert: Two Useful PC5250 Parameters In IBM i Access For Windows 7.1

  September 5, 2012 Joe Hertvik

  With IBM i Access for Windows 7.1, IBM offers some valuable parameters for customizing Personal Communications sessions (PC5250) to connect to your IBM i partitions. This week, I’ll look at two of these features–setting a default path for PC5250 configuration files; and storing PC5250 window and font information–that can be useful for IBM i administrators trying to provide better control over their user installs. For this article, I’ll discuss two valuable PC5250 configuration parameters that are available with IBM i Access for Windows 7.1. These features are configured through the IBM i Access for Windows Properties screen, which is accessed

  … Read more

• Checking IBM i OS and PTF Level Status for Sarbanes-Oxley Documentation

  September 5, 2012 Hey, Joe

  I have to write a quarterly procedure for our Sarbanes-Oxley manual that details how we make sure our IBM i operating system and PTFs are current. Our auditors want us to prove that we are up to date on upgrades and fixes. Any ideas on how we can do that? I’m on i 6.1.1. –Bill Here are my thoughts for doing this on a 6.1.1 system. Note: The process I’m describing here can be used to provide operating system and PTF review documentation for any auditing requirements, not just SOX. Review your PTF and upgrade status at least twice yearly

  … Read more

• Future Coding

  September 5, 2012 Paul Tuohy

  One of my favorite benefits that comes from speaking at conferences is the great questions that get asked of me and other speakers. Even if we can answer the question, be assured the next time we’re gathered with colleagues over a cup of coffee (or other beverage of choice), one of us will say, “I was asked an interesting question at my last conference. . .” At the last RPG & DB2 Summit, I was having coffee with Susan Gantner and Barbara Morris, when Susan uttered those intriguing words. The ensuing conversation didn’t result in a change to the answer

  … Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles