• Pride In Advancing The IBM i Community

  July 10, 2017 Dan Burger

  The IBM i community is a global community. We sometimes forget that as we limit our view to the horizon as seen from our own IT departments. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but the smart cats will tell you it’s far more likely to simply kill ignorance. The power of ideas should not be underestimated. And access to ideas is the reason the IBM i community benefits from events like the recent COMMON Europe Congress (CEC). The education and networking opportunities are what inspires people to participate, says Ranga Deshpande, president of COMMON Europe. “There’s pride in advancing the …

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• Say Sayonara To IBM i 7.1 Next Spring

  May 22, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  We sometimes think that the IBM announcement system tries to pull a fast one on us. Like many people in this market, we watch this system like a hawk, looking for anything pertinent to Power Systems or IBM i. A very important announcement was made on April 11, well ahead of the COMMON user group meeting in Orlando, Florida, two weeks ago, but no one we know saw it. A business partner saw it late last week and alerted us to it.

  In announcement letter 917-080, Big Blue announced the date when IBM i 7.1 will see its software …

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• Investment In IBM i Leads To Innovation Award

  May 22, 2017 Dan Burger

  Running the company website on the IBM i is one of those ideas that demonstrates how people get in their own way by creating phantom obstacles. Without thinking much about it, the default website decision often is “put it on the Windows or Linux server.” Regrettably, the default setting doesn’t always yield the best results.

  Evidence to that effect is the work done by the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors. Migrating their website from a Windows server to their IBM i, on close examination, was a smart choice for several good reasons. Lower cost of operation, a content management system …

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• COMMON Looking Youthful In 2017

  May 15, 2017 Dan Burger

  Professional organizations like COMMON exist to unite members, improve skills, provide information, encourage active participation, and promote professionalism. It takes more than meeting minimal requirements to stay on top of the fast-changing technology field and so agility is an attribute for COMMON.

  For the coming year, the association has a few new focus items, a new president, and two new board members. At the Annual Meeting last week in Orlando, Florida, out-going president Jeff Carey and executive director Manzoor Siddiqui discussed plans to improve COMMON and the benefits it offers its members.

  Personnel-wise Justin Porter is taking over as president. …

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• Reporter’s Notebook: COMMON Spring 2017

  May 10, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Harry Potter sightings remain at an abnormally high level here at the COMMON conference, which is taking place in the heart of Universal Orlando. The young wizard appears to be everywhere – in sessions, by the pool, at the Expo, buying raffle tickets. But it’s left some wondering: Can he program in ILE?

  The COMMON conference wraps up today after a four-day run here at the brand-spanking-new Lowes Sapphire Falls Resort. The site has mostly lived up to the expectations of COMMON’s management, who booked the event before the massive construction project was even finished. You just can’t fake that …

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• Watson Puts On A Show At COMMON

  May 8, 2017 Dan Burger

  Watson, the anthropomorphic face of IBM cognitive computing, is used to being on the big stage. Fame came quickly and easily with the TV quiz show Jeopardy! Then there was recognition for work in cancer research and fighting cybercrime. IBM has invited Watson to all its major conferences and even changed the name, and some of the focus, of its Power Systems group into the Cognitive Systems business unit.

  Yesterday, Watson showed up at the COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world’s largest gathering of IBM i professionals. The first impression was a good one. It emphasized easy integration …

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• IBM Brings Cloud Management In-House with New Console

  May 8, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Don’t be surprised to see the cloud seeping into your data center, because it’s all part of IBM’s plan. Yesterday during the COMMON Opening Session in Orlando, Florida, IBM executives gave the IBM i faithful a preview of a new Cloud Management Console that’s designed to enable customers to monitor and (eventually) manage their Power Systems environments from the comfort of the cloud.

  Steve Sibley, IBM‘s director of worldwide product management for IBM’s Power Systems line, gave IT Jungle a preview of the new Cloud Management Console, which was expected to be one of three products announcements he planned …

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• COMMON Opening Session Highlights Excellence

  May 8, 2017 Dan Burger

  IBM i innovation and community service were singled out during the opening session of the COMMON Annual Meeting and Expo, which opened yesterday and continues through Wednesday in Orlando, Florida. Anan Ayyad, a recent graduate of Purdue University Northwest was the top student innovator for his work on an automotive data acquisition system. The Grand Rapids, Michigan, Association of Realtors received the Innovation Award for a modernization of its website that included WordPress running on IBM i and open source development in conjunction with RPG.

  COMMON president Jeff Carey and IBM Cognitive Systems executives Stephanie Chiras and Steve Sibley presented …

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• A Youth Movement For IBM i Champions

  March 1, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Don’t look now, but there’s a veritable youth movement afoot in IBM i land. While the platform may not be turning heads on college campuses just yet, it received a vigorous shot in the arm when IBM named relative youngsters Liam Allan and Kody Robinson to the latest crop of Champions for Power.

  The IBM i platform may appear to outsiders as a stodgy old platform maintained by graying men and women on the brink of retirement. But for those on the inside and in the know, there’s an understanding that sophisticated software never gets old and never goes out …

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• IBM i Community To Get Closer Look At Watson

  February 27, 2017 Dan Burger

  The cogs in cognitive are turning. And there are indications that IBM is ready to go beyond the story of how it works to stories about it is working. The messengers remain somewhat tight lipped, but we can expect cognitive to be a celebrated technology at the COMMON conference in early May.

  Watson, the face of IBM cognitive computing, is highly recognizable. Bluemix, IBM’s cloud platform for building, running, and managing apps and services, including Watson, is getting more attention. And the number of APIs that pull this together with integration points for all platforms, including IBM i, …

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