• 2023 IBM i Predictions, Part 3

  January 25, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Security. Cloud. AI. The IBM i installed base moves with the general IT tide, which makes these hot topics for all. But what about specific IBM i things, like the availability of IBM i jobs and the difficulty in finding a good RPG developer? These are topics we are tackling in our third – and final – round of 2023 predictions.

  Bob Langieri, the IBM i recruiter who owns Excel Technical Services, has his pulse on the IBM i job situation, particularly in his Southern California region. 2023 looks to be a mixed bag, job-wise, he says.

  “In the …

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• Thoroughly Modern: IBM i Security Is No Longer Set It And Forget It

  March 14, 2022 Amal Macdonald

  For most IBM i shops, who are busy creating and maintaining the applications that run the business and who are not just chronically understaffed but structurally understaffed, the smartest thing they can do when it comes to security is give up.

  You heard that right. They need to put their arms in the air and surrender, absolutely and completely.

  No, we don’t mean they need to open all of the ports on their server, turn off the firewall, and let the ransomware and malware in and let the hackers and phishers do whatever they will. What we do mean by …

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• Strengthen IBM i Password Security With Multi-Factor Authentication

  March 15, 2021 Bill Hammond

  As stories of data breaches caused by exploited credentials continue to make headlines, basic password protection mechanisms are no longer good enough. Organizations require an additional layer of protection that is also easy to use and doesn’t impose an additional burden on administrators.

  IBM i systems contain the data that drives your business, including financial transaction information, healthcare records, and other personally identifiable information for customers, partners, and employees. Much of this data is subject to regulations such as SOX, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR. Therefore, any data breach can result in regulatory fines, lost revenue, remediation costs, legal fees, …

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• M81 Speeds Backups with Flash for i

  February 3, 2021 Alex Woodie

  M81, a French independent software vendor (ISV) that develops IBM i software, recently announced a new release of Flash for i, a utility that uses IBM FlashCopy and EMC SnapShot technology to clone an IBM i disk volume in just two minutes. With version 4.0 out the door and a new partnership with an American company, M81 is looking to expands its operations in the United States.

  Flash for i is an innovative utility designed to provide an IBM i-centric way to manage the FlashCopy and Snapshot commands that IBM and Dell EMC bring to the table with their enterprise …

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• Can You Build Data Integrity Without Securing IBM i Systems?

  January 27, 2021 Bill Hammond

  Nowadays, companies tend to have vast troves of data stored on their IT platforms. Many companies are struggling to use that data – including critical data on IBM i – that could, in theory, help to make better business decisions and run operations more smoothly and efficiently. But in reality, that data is frequently siloed, inaccurate, and unsecured – leading CEOs to be concerned about the integrity of the data upon which they are basing decisions. Businesses across the globe are screaming for data they can trust.

  The pace of digital transformation initiatives has rapidly accelerated in the past year, …

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• OpenLegacy Expands Big Data Partnerships

  September 16, 2020 Alex Woodie

  Over the past few months, OpenLegacy has established new partnerships with a handful of tech firms patrolling the big data waters, including Talend, Collibra, and BigID. According to the legacy application modernization specialist, it’s all part of an effort to help its IBM i and mainframe customers upgrade their applications and experiences.

  OpenLegacy is unique among IBM i modernization vendors in its approach. The company’s software allows customers to expose legacy applications, such as those written in RPG, via APIs and Web services.

  Now the company is bringing several partners into that API-driven approach. For instance, its partnership with Talend …

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• Confidence in IBM i Security Is Dropping, Syncsort Says

  May 6, 2020 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops were significantly less confident in their ability to prevent a security breach in 2019 than the previous two years, according to a new study by Syncsort. More than 40 percent of IBM i shops have suffered at least one security breach, according to the study, which also indicates that awareness of security regulations is growing, but not for the ones you might think.

  In 2019, 11 percent of respondents reported being somewhat or very unconfident in their ability to prevent a data breach at their organization, Syncsort concluded in its new study, which is titled “IBM i …

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• Inside The ISV Revitalization Initiative For IBM i

  March 16, 2020 Alex Woodie

  The IBM i server’s strengths are well known: integration, ease of programming, ease of administration, security, resiliency, and a penchant for putting up with abuse. But aside from the platform’s attributes, another factor in IBM i’s favor is the community of independent software vendors (ISVs) who write business applications. To bolster this strength, IBM recently embarked upon an ISV revitalization initiative, and it wants IBM i ISVs to know all about it.

  In many ways, applications are the face of the platform. It was fairly common for companies to select a business application, such as MRP, ERP, supply chain execution, …

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• Security Still the Top Concern as Privacy Regs Loom

  February 12, 2020 Alex Woodie

  For the fourth year in a row, security is the number one concern of the IBM i installed base, according to HelpSystems’ 2020 IBM i Marketplace Survey. IBM i shops are clearly concerned about the need to prevent unauthorized access to applications and data. But security’s first cousin, data privacy, also stands to gain more attention with the recent passage of data privacy laws, such as GDPR and CCPA.

  HelpSystems released the results of its latest marketplace survey last month, as it has done for the past six years. And just as it has for every year since 2017, security …

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• HelpSystems Bolsters Data Loss Prevention with Clearswift Buy

  December 4, 2019 Alex Woodie

  HelpSystems completed the first acquisition of the Kate Bolseth era this week with the purchase of Clearswift, a UK-based provider of data loss prevention (DLP) solutions. The software will play nicely with HelpSystems’ existing managed file transfer (MFT) offerings for IBM i and other platforms, according to new CEO Bolseth, who indicates that more and bigger acquisitions are on the horizon.

  Clearswift develops what it calls adaptive DLP, or A-DLP, technology that can automatically stop sensitive data from leaving the digital bounds of a company. When installed on a network gateway, the software will analyze the content of the documents …

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