• IBM Welcomes COMMON Advisory Councils to Rochester

  December 7, 2022 Alex Woodie

  One of the hallmarks of a good company is listening to customers. A company may not do everything that its customers wish, but it must show that it’s listening to maintain the relationship. This dynamic was in play during an IBM i meeting that took place last month in Rochester, Minnesota, between IBM and the advisory councils for both COMMON North America and COMMON Europe.

  The three-day meeting that took place November 14 through 16 involved a handful of members from the COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) as well as the COMMON Europe Advisory Council (CEAC). Both advisory councils had …

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• COMMON Launches IBM i Security Conference

  August 17, 2022 Alex Woodie

  Security is a big concern for IBM i professionals, and now the topic is getting its very own conference. COMMON recently announced that the inaugural i on Security 2022 conference will take place this October in conjunction with its NAViGATE conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

  Security on the IBM i has been dismal for many years, according the annual PowerTech State of Security report, which has documented the poor security practices of IBM i shops. While the servers can be locked down as tightly as any in the industry, the combination of poor configuration, archaic programming models, and lazy administrative …

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• Guild Mortgage Takes The 20-Year Option For Modernization

  June 27, 2022 Alex Woodie

  When Kurt Reheiser returned to the IBM i server after a 15-year hiatus away the platform, things weren’t a lot different than how he left them. “My skills were more relevant than I thought they would be,” the former RPG developer said during last month’s POWERUp 2022 conference. Now as the CIO of a multi-billion-dollar company called Guild Mortgage, Reheiser is overseeing a modernization initiative that will keep building on the company’s successful history of custom development on the IBM i platform.

  Reheiser shared his and his company’s IT journey during a keynote address at COMMON’s annual user conference …

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• Plotting A Middle Age Career Change To IBM i

  June 20, 2022 Alex Woodie

  Not many colleges teach the IBM i and RPG anymore, which makes it hard for midrange shops to replenish talent that way. But organizations have another resource they can tap for technical personnel: slightly more experienced individuals who are ready to start a second career. This is the path taken by Shelly Petty, who recently shared her story at the POWERUp 2022 conference in New Orleans.

  Petty spent 12 years working in the banking field before making her career change to IBM i. Her previous job was a high-stress position that required her to handle securities on behalf of corporate …

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• Let’s Celebrate The Diamond Jubilee Of COMMON Europe

  June 13, 2022 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Europe is a collection of countries that, over centuries of commerce, cultural exchange, and war have learned to come together and create a community of common interest. And so it is not a surprise at all that COMMON Europe, which is celebrating its 60^th year – it’s Diamond Jubilee – and that is something that very few organizations in the world ever attain.

  And so, as the COMMON Europe Congress gets underway today in Alicante, Spain, we wanted to offer our congratulations and celebrate that longevity and continuity. (If you have a hankering to travel this week, you can …

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• POWERUp Brings IBM i Base Back Together in the Big Easy

  May 25, 2022 Alex Woodie

  After two years of lockdowns and Zoom calls, IBM i professionals were joyful to be face to face with fellow users this week at the POWERUp conference in New Orleans. The celebration lasted all week, and spilled over onto Bourbon Street at times, but that didn’t get in the way of the primary mission: Getting educated on IBM i. And with the latest enhancements, there was a lot to learn.

  For many POWERUp 2022 attendees and ISVs, COMMON’s annual conference is the first physical event they’ve attended since the pandemic started back in March 2020. With the easing of …

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• COMMON Set for First Annual Conference in Three Years

  May 18, 2022 Alex Woodie

  Don’t look now, but COMMON is about to hold its first annual conference in three years. Starting on Monday in New Orleans, POWERUp 2022 will be the biggest gathering of the IBM i community since the pandemic started more than two years ago. There is still time to register for the conference, which will feature a raft of presentations on the newly released IBM i version 7.5.

  COMMON’s annual conference scheduled for the New Orleans Marriott next week is shaping up to be a good one. More than 100 speakers are scheduled to present more than 300 sessions on …

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• IBM Delivers More Out-of-the-Box Security with IBM i 7.5

  May 11, 2022 Alex Woodie

  It’s often said that IBM i is one of the most securable server platforms on the market. But all too often, customers don’t take the time to properly configure it, leaving their applications and data at risk. With IBM i 7.5, IBM is taking aim at security and delivering a system that is more secure when it ships from the factory.

  From default settings to the elimination of some options, IBM has taken several steps to make IBM i more secure by default. IBM i security expert Carol Woodbury, a former security IBM architect for OS/400 and now the co-founder …

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• Springing Anew: IBM i Tech Refresh Expected Soon

  April 13, 2022 Alex Woodie

  If you’ve been waiting for the spring IBM i Technology Refreshes, you’re not alone. We’re nearly a month into spring, but IBM has yet to embark upon the bi-annual pilgrimage of operating system enhancements. The good news is that the good news is nearly here.

  “Big IBM i Announcements Coming Soon,” Steve Will, the chief architect of IBM i, wrote in 22.5 point font on his “You and i” blog, which was recently resurrected on TechChannel, the online successor to the now-defunct IBM Systems Magazine, where his column ran for years.

  “It’s time to hint at things that …

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• Midrange Optimism for In-Person Events in 2022

  January 26, 2022 Alex Woodie

  If you’re hankering to reconnect with your IBM i colleagues in person this year, we have good news for you: In-person events are set to make a comeback in 2022. COMMON’s annual POWERUp conference in New Orleans in May tops the list, but many other groups are making their physical comebacks, too.

  COMMON president Gordon Leary is eager to bring the world’s largest IBM i user group back into the physical fold starting May 23, when the POWERUp 2022 conference kicks off at the New Orleans Marriott. So are a lot of COMMON members who haven’t seen each other in …

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