• Rocket DevOps Gets Update for Free Format RPG, VS Code, and DORA

  April 24, 2024 Alex Woodie

  The latest release of Rocket’s change management tool for IBM i brings several new capabilities, including improved support for VS Code and Free Form RPG. Rocket DevOps version 10.3.1 also brings better code testing capabilities and will help companies comply with new regulations, such as the EU’s Digital Operations Resilience Act (DORA).

  Rocket Software added support for the browser-based development environment VS Code last fall with the launch of Rocket DevOps version 10.2.2. Customers will find the new release of Rocket DevOps improves on that initial VS Code support, says Puneet Kohli, the president of the Rocket’s Application Modernization Business …

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• What’s Up with Open Source on IBM i?

  March 27, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Open source software has become a steadfast component of the IBM i stack. But what open source software are IBM i shops using today? Results from Fortra’s recent IBM i Marketplace Survey provide answers.

  It may seem odd now, but open source hasn’t always been a staple of the IBM i server’s software diet. Until PHP arrived on the platform two decades ago, proprietary software was the only option for IBM i shops.

  But today, IBM i shops have hundreds of open source products to choose from. Thanks to the IBM i server’s openness, just about any product that can …

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• What the 2024 Marketplace Report Says About IBM i App Dev, Language Use

  March 13, 2024 Alex Woodie

  What languages, development environments, and tools are IBM i developers currently using to create new applications? How many users are still on SEU? And how are VS Code and Merlin faring among Web-based development tools? Fortra sought to answer those questions with its IBM i Marketplace Survey for 2024, and the results may surprise you.

  In late 2023, Fortra surveyed 270 IBM i professionals from around the world for the 2024 IBM i Marketplace Survey, which it published in January. You can download the report here.

  For the most part, Fortra asks the same questions every year, which is …

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• Thoroughly Modern: From Tradition To Transformation For IBM i In The Era Of Cloud And AI

  February 12, 2024 Monica Sanchez

  The value of IBM i is undeniable, especially if you are running an IBM i shop. But that does not mean IT leaders can ignore pivotal market changes in cloud, cybersecurity, and AI. These disruptive forces all have something in common – they are driving change. They are shaping operations and future strategies, pushing IT leaders to innovate.

  As we dig deeper into these transformative forces, it becomes clearer that the path forward for IBM i shops is all about continuous evolution and strategic foresight.

  Cybersecurity: Trends and Tactics

  Cybersecurity has been a major concern in the past few years. …

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• IBM i Job Outlook for 2024 Not Great, But Not All Bad Either

  January 17, 2024 Bob Langieri

  First, the good news: Salaries for IBM i and RPG developers and programmers continue to go up. Average salaries of new hires of senior developers in 2023 have been getting $120,000 to $130,000. I predict this going up 6 to 10 percent in 2024, to $127,000 to $143,000. Some with specialized skills will get 10 to 20 percent more.

  This is why it’s important to add to your skills. IBM i salaries still pale compared to other more popular platforms and skills. Hiring is still very slow in the IBM RPG world as companies are doing more with less! Hot …

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• Eradani Lays Waste to API Payload Restrictions

  November 15, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Eradani Connect customers who need to pass large amounts of data to IBM i via external API calls have often been stymied by a built-in restriction in IBM i that limits their payload to a mere 16MB. Those customers will be thrilled that Eradani has launched a new big data connector that smashes those payload restrictions to smithereens.

  Eradani Connect is a packaged application designed to simplify the creation and execution of API calls on IBM i. The software functions as a middleware layer that makes it easy for .NET, JavaScript, and Python developers to get access to the IBM …

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• Old PHP and Other PASE Apps Break on IBM i 7.5

  November 15, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Customers running old versions of PHP and other PASE applications like Node.JS may run into compatibility issues when running on IBM i 7.5. The issue is due to an upgrade in OpenSSL support in the latest release of the IBM i operating system, according to Alan Seiden.

  Seiden, the principle of Seiden Group, first sounded the alarm in July about the problems running older, non-RPM versions of PHP and Node.JS on IBM i 7.5, which was upgraded from OpenSSL version 1.0.2 to version 1.1. In October, he recently published a blog post restating the issue.

  “While [the OpenSSL upgrade …

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• Eradani Debuts DevOps Suite for IBM i

  October 4, 2023 Alex Woodie

  It’s been five years since Dan Magid, the former CEO of Aldon and an executive with Rocket Software, has been involved in the IBM i change management and DevOps business. But with next week’s launch of Eradani DevOps at COMMON’s NAViGATE conference, the longtime change management expert is getting back into the game. This time, however, Magid is taking a decidedly different approach.

  What makes Eradani DevOps stand out from other change management tools on IBM i is its focus on open source tools. The folks at Eradani have realized that application developers in the mainstream IT world have pretty …

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• How Long Before Big Blue Brings Code Assist To IBM i?

  August 23, 2023 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  IBM Research and Big Blue’s Software group have been collaborating to bring generative AI capabilities to market through the Watsonx stack of large language models and related tools. Watsonx is a basis for customers to create customized LLMs based on data from their own businesses and to integrate the quasi-cognitive capabilities of LLMs into their applications.

  Watsonx is also being used by IBM to augment some tools of its own, and the most recent one that will be in tech preview in September and generally available sometime in the fourth quarter is called Watsonx Code Assistant for Z, which as …

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• Profound Logic Explores AI Paths for IBM i

  August 23, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The burgeoning world of artificial intelligence may seem far away to IBM i shops, but in fact, the technology is quite accessible to the users. One vendor that’s helping to guide IBM i users through the growing AI jungle is Profound Logic.

  Profound Logic is best known as an application modernization vendor, and one that provides tools for developing Web and mobile interfaces for IBM i applications, as well as working with APIs on the platform.

  In a series of YouTube videos, Profound Logic co-founder and CEO Alex Roytman provides a rundown on the latest developments in the world …

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