• COVID-19: A Great Time for Application Modernization

  February 1, 2021 Alex Woodie

  If your IT department has been waiting for the right time to start your digital transformation, then you’re in luck: With hundreds of millions of folks around the world stuck in their homes and largely limited to interacting via the Internet, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic lockdown represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build new digital channels to reach them.

  COVID-19 is taking a brutal toll on our country in terms of lost lives and lost livelihoods. There’s no upside to that, no way to spin that into a positive. But for IBM i shops that, for whatever reason, have resisted …

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• COVID-19 Delivers 2020 Clarity for Omnichannel

  September 9, 2020 Alex Woodie

  The viral pandemic is impacting society in profound and multi-faceted ways. In the consumer goods supply chain, which includes a good chunk of IBM i shops, COVID-19 is forcing manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to get a lot nimbler in a hurry — particularly as it relates to diversifying sales channels and embracing omnichannel fulfillment strategies.

  Ecommerce has exploded during COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns, as consumers elect to make purchases online instead of venturing into stores, which raises the risk of being exposed to the novel coronavirus. According to Adobe Analytics’ Digital Economy Index, ecommerce spending surged by 78 …

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• COVID-19 Tracking Comes to iSeries Central

  August 31, 2020 Alex Woodie

  Companies that use IBM i time and attendance software from UKG (formerly known as Kronos) got a nice surprise from the vendor earlier this year: A free reporting template that helps them perform contact tracing in the event that a worker comes down with COVID-19.

  As a developer of time and attendance software, UKG (which stands for Ultimate Kronos Group following Kronos’ merger with Ultimate Software earlier this year) is to build tools that track when and where an employee has worked. As it turns out, that’s just the sort of data that public health officials need when conducting …

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• As I See It: Searching For The Silver Lining

  June 22, 2020 Victor Rozek

  All clouds, it is said, have their silver linings. Hurricanes are the winds of profit for the building trades; obesity sustains a huge (no pun intended) diet industry; bad relationships sell boatloads of self-help books; and sheltering in place has been a godsend for delivery companies, not to mention cardboard manufacturers, and the sex toy industry.

  Even IT, one of the more bombproof sectors of the economy, is not wholly immune from the laws of cause and effect. Silicon Valley, arguably the most prestigious assembly of high-tech prowess on the planet, was not spared the consequences of COVID-19.

  MIT Technology …

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• COBOL Is Not The Problem; The Data Is

  June 1, 2020 Brad Thomas

  The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on COBOL, with multiple news stories about COBOL systems struggling as unprecedented demands have been placed on them. And then there are the urgent requests for COBOL developers to help ensure these mission-critical systems do their jobs.

  Eventually, the dust will settle, but some tough decisions will loom for organizations that rely on COBOL. The reality, though, is these decisions were already on the horizon because of the constant evolvement of other data management technologies, surging data production and the rapidly increasing average age of COBOL developers. When the dust does settle, it …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, June 1

  June 1, 2020 Jenny Thomas

  A lot has happened in the last week. There has been some exciting news like seeing astronauts heading back into space, and there has been some upsetting like the unrest in cities around the U.S. So we hope you’ll find Four Hundred Monitor to be a respite from the world. While we can’t completely avoid the coronavirus, we can stick to how it is affecting our industry and keep our focus on computing and the midrange space. It has always been our goal to gather interesting news, helpful resources, and industry happenings into this useable resource as a service to …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, May 27

  May 27, 2020 Jenny Thomas

  With the passing of the Memorial Day holiday in America last weekend, observed to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military, the summer season is officially underway. Of course, it looks a lot different this year, with many businesses still shuttered and workers making plans for re-openings instead of vacations. The news continues to reflect the havoc caused by the coronavirus, as we see IBM slashing jobs as companies continue to look for ways to stay connected to employees and customers. With any luck, the warmer weather will bring better news, computing- and coronavirus-wise, …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, May 6

  May 6, 2020 Jenny Thomas

  Depending on where you live, your life might be getting back to some semblance of normal . . . or the “new normal” as we all now commonly refer to life in a coronavirus world. Hopefully you have found new routines and as the weather improves as we head toward summer, we can all look forward to spending more time outside in the socially appropriate distance of others. Until then, rely on IT Jungle to keep you informed about the IBM i ecosystem and beyond. You can also find our COVID-19 Response section below for a recap on how our …

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• As I See It: When The Second Shoe Dropped

  May 4, 2020 Victor Rozek

  I got tested today. Four ordinary words infused with extraordinary dread. They’ve now become part of a new language of fear, along with “cough,” “fever,” and “difficulty breathing.” A persistent sore throat and a slight fever that flared briefly a few days later, was enough to concern my doctor. She told me to come in the same day I called to complain about my throat and did a drive-by swabbing. When I arrived, she was waiting by the curb, helmeted, gloved, and gowned, like something out of Andromeda Strain. Another masked doctor stood behind her at a safe distance counting …

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• IBM i Before And After The Pandemic

  April 27, 2020 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  There is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now, both medically and economically, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that has spread around the globe. The IBM i community is not immune to the effects of the stay at home provisions in many states and countries that has slowed business down to a crawl, but at the same time, many of the classic SMB companies who use the IBM i platform are available for economic stimulus. In my four decades of watching recessions, this is the first time I could ever say that sentence.

  We like to keep our …

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