• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 24, Number 20

  May 18, 2022 Doug Bidwell

  It was busy last week in the world of PTFs, but this week it is pretty quiet, excepting a few things. Which is good, because maybe you are not quite yet caught up anyway, right? It has been a long four years since we have new machines to play with, and we’re looking forward to getting our hands on IBM i 7.5 and, more importantly, seeing what kind of machines and deals that IBM will be making with the Power10 machines in July.

  Here is the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level since we last published, with …

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• Simplified IBM i Stack Bundling Ahead Of Subscription Pricing

  May 16, 2022 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  There are a bunch of things that were announced on May 3 by IBM ahead of the POWERUp 2022 conference coming later this month and well ahead of the launch of entry and midrange Power10 machines in July. One of them was IBM i 7.5, and the other was the Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration, otherwise known as Merlin, for transforming old RPG code into free format RPG code.

  The third thing, which IBM has been talking around for a while and is getting more serious about is offering IBM i hardware and software on a subscription basis rather than …

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• Big Blue Readies Power10 And IBM i 7.5 Training for Partners

  May 16, 2022 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Whenever there is a big product announcement from IBM, there are months and months of field work that gets done ahead of that super Tuesday when the customers are notified of the new systems and systems software that has been in development for years and that is finally available. Well, usually available within a few weeks if not at announcement.

  That announcement education and training machine has been in motion for months, and the next and penultimate phase of this process is soon going to be underway, which means that Big Blue is getting ready to launch Power10 systems into …

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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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• IBM i Community Reacts to IBM i 7.5

  May 11, 2022 Alex Woodie

  With the first new version of IBM i in over three years, IBM has certainly captured the attention of the IBM i community. But what do users think of the new release? What’s catching their eyes? We queried a few members of the community to find out.

  IBM Merlin, a new licensed product that stands for Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration, appeared to capture the bulk of the initial attention around the launch of IBM i 7.5.

  Consisting of VS Code IDE, DevOps and CI/CD software from Git and Jenkins, and IBM i-native tools from ARCAD Software — all …

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• Database And Developer Enhancements In IBM i 7.5 And 7.4 TR6

  May 9, 2022 Alex Woodie

  IBM has made a number of enhancements to the Db2 for i database with the launch of IBM i 7.5, which becomes generally available tomorrow. It also is bringing new features for developers, including changes to Integrated Web Services (IWS), which will improve REST integration.

  Most of the new features added to Db2 for i are only available in IBM i 7.5, which will give users a reason to adopt it. However, there are a few enhancements added in IBM i 7.4 Technology Release 6, which doesn’t ship until May 24.

  As we previously reported, IBM i 7.5 expands …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 24, Number 18

  May 4, 2022 Doug Bidwell

  Well, good people of IBM i Land, you are getting another relatively light week when it comes to PTFs, which makes sense with IBM i 7.5 and IBM i 7.4 TR 6 rolling out this week. This is good news because now you have time to digest all of the announcements and to start thinking about how you might take advantage of all of the new software Big Blue has been working on.

  For those of you who have not kept current on your PTF patches, there is a vast archive of IBM i PTF Guide editions for you to …

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• Announcement Day: IBM Lifts The Veil On IBM i 7.5 And 7.4 TR6

  May 3, 2022 Alex Woodie

  Big Blue today announced IBM i version 7.5, the first new version of the operating system in three years. Among the big new features with this release are enhancements to Db2 Mirror, better security configurations, and new database features. A new modernization framework called Merlin and a new IBM i subscription option were also unveiled by IBM, which also announced IBM i 7.4 Technology Release 6.

  One of the big headlines with the IBM i 7.5 announcement is Merlin, which IBM says stands for the Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration. Merlin provides a lightweight, browser-based development environment for creating new …

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• The State Of The IBM i Base 2022, Part Two: Upgrade Plans

  February 23, 2022 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It is always good for the IBM i ecosystem when there are new machines on the horizon with new processors, a lot more performance, and much better bang for the buck. This is, in many ways, what has drive the System/3X, AS/400, and IBM i midrange business forward for more than four decades.

  But you have to admit, the kind of excitement that we used to have in the early years of the AS/400, when performance needs often outstripped what Big Blue – and indeed, any system supplier – could afford, is not prevalent in the IBM i base today. …

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• IBM Readies Power Systems Announcements For February 23

  February 1, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The word on the street is that IBM is getting ready to do a slew of announcements relating to its Power Systems platform at the end of this month, specifically on February 23. Generally speaking, the announcements are going to focus on IT infrastructure modernization, cloud computing, and application modernization, which are obviously things that a lot of the IBM i base in particular has to consider here in 2021.

  As best as we can figure, IBM is going to tell business partners in the Power Systems channel a bit about what is happening on February 9, two weeks before …

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