• Take The IBM i Marketplace Survey

  October 2, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  In days gone by, IBM used to have a great amount of insight into what was going on at AS/400 shops. But somewhere between the iSeries and through the System i down to Power Systems running IBM i and what is, apparently, being called Db2 instead of DB2 these days, with or without i, Big Blue stopped having the kind of insight that helped us not only understand the trends in our community, but how they related – or didn’t – to the larger IT community.

  This community, which is more than a marketplace but still encompasses that, has always …

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• Symtrax Compleo Diversifies Document Management Evolution

  September 13, 2017 Dan Burger

  Ask anyone who’s been researching document management software: This is no longer a conversation about forms printing or how to access spool files and convert them to Excel spreadsheets. It’s much more than that. It’s about integration with multiple systems, multiple delivery channels, and multiple workflow processes. It’s not just about spool files anymore.

  Symtrax, a company that’s cultivated an IBM midrange business for more than 25 years, has evolved much like the AS/400 has evolved into the IBM i. “Our evolution is still on the IBM i platform,” says Kirk Fackre, director of enterprise solutions at Symtrax, “but it …

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• Of Course i’s Not The AS/400

  July 17, 2017 Alex Woodie

  The AS/400 was a great computer. No doubt about that. In the pantheon of business machines, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything that remotely compares to IBM’s long-lived midrange champion. But today’s IBM i on Power Systems platform has evolved far beyond the AS/400, and midrange professionals who cling to the old words and ways are doing us all a disservice. Are you one of them?

  Chances are, you’re not. If you’re reading this article, you’re likely one of the “engaged” midrange professionals who takes an active interest in news, works to improve your skills, and embraces newer technologies available …

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• Seven Bright Spots To Ponder On The AS/400’s 29th Birthday

  June 21, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Today is the 29th birthday of the AS/400. If the box was a person, it would be pondering the big three-oh coming next year, and perhaps taking one last year to bask in the glory of youth. While the IBM i platform is no youngster, it’s far from the grave.

  Here are seven bright spots that could potentially illuminate the platform’s path forward into middle age:

  All About Those Apps, Apps, Apps

  IT decision makers typical don’t start using a particular computer platform because of the platform itself, but because of the applications. Applications drive server sales.

  The IBM i …

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• The Cognitive Systems/500 2018 Edition

  June 12, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  With the Power9 processor not coming to the IBM i and AIX platforms until sometime early in 2018, rather than right now as many of us were led to believe would be happening, we have some extra time on our hands. So we should all – including the executives who run IBM Systems and its subordinate Cognitive Systems division (formerly known as Power Systems) – take this opportunity to take a hard look at how the IBM i platform is packaged and priced and how a modern integrated platform should be architected.

  The IBM i customer base needs the Cognitive …

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• Doctor Frank Talks Power With Vision

  January 23, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Vision Solutions landed a pretty popular guest for the inaugural episode of its new PowerTalk podcast last month. Former IBM chief scientist Doctor Frank Soltis, the Father of the AS/400, shared stories about the sudden popularity of memory-oriented architectures, the limitations of the System/38, and the origins of the MIMIX product.

  Becky Hjellming, Vision’s director of product strategy, was excited to have such a distinguished IBMer on her very first PowerTalk podcast. She started out by asking Soltis about his recent COMMON Europe tour, during which he made several predictions about how the computing world is about to change in …

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