• The Many Faces Of IT Modernization

  October 7, 2024 Alex Woodie

  The clarion call of modernization has been heard loud and clear among IBM i and System z shops for decades. Old IT is hampering your competitiveness, they’re told, and something must be done about it. In reality, there’s no single path to modernization, which is a multi-faceted phenomenon that can have wide ranging impacts on the business, Rocket Software says in a new report.

  Business transformation is separate from IT transformation, but the two are linked, according to Rocket Software’s new study, titled IT Modernization Without Disruption, which is based on a survey of 309 decision-maker at System …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 38

  October 7, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  There is a hodge podge of stuff that you need to deal with this week when it comes to patching your IBM i system.

  First, there is a security vulnerability. Read all about it in Security Bulletin: Vulnerability in Node.js affects IBM Rational Developer for i RPG and COBOL + Modernization Tools, Java Edition (CVE-2024-36138), which you can find out more about at this link. The issue can be fixed by loading an interim fix. IBM strongly recommends addressing the vulnerability now by upgrading to Node.js 18.20.4. Please follow Upgrading the Node.js that is used by Cordova or NodeRed …

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• Guru: RPG Select Operation Gets Some Sweet Upgrades

  September 23, 2024 Gregory Simmons

  I have always been a fan of RPG’s Select operation. Any time I’m coding an If statement and think there’s a chance that there could be a third situation other than the If-Else conditions, I will go ahead and code the Select operation instead of the If statement. The RPG language’s Select operation got a pretty sweet upgrade in V7R5 TR2 and V7R4 TR8. Now, the Select statement can be presented with a value and we have two new op-codes to use within the Select operation; When-is and When-in.

  DISCLAIMER: The edibility of the mushrooms listed in my test …

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• Making Basic IT Services Great Again

  September 23, 2024 Alex Woodie

  The focus of the tech world has been squarely on generative AI since ChatGPT descended the golden staircase and entered our hearts and minds in late 2022. Since then, building GenAI apps and services has become the number one priority for businesses around the globe. Unfortunately, the GenAI fixation has come at the detriment of basic IT services, a recent IBM study suggests.

  The level of hype for generative AI the past two years has been off the chart. Not since the initial dot-com boom of the late 1990s has a new technology triggered such a tsunami of interest, some …

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• GenAI Interest ‘Exploding’ for Modernization on IBM i and Z, Kyndryl Says

  September 18, 2024 Alex Woodie

  There’s been an explosion of interest in using generative AI on IBM i and System Z servers, according to Kyndryl’s latest report on mainframe modernization. Hybrid IT, security, the skills gap, and observability round out the top five trends impacting the IBM midrange and mainframe platforms.

  Last year, Kyndryl contracted with Coleman Parkes Research to survey about 500 senior IT leaders at IBM i and System Z mainframe shops around the world. That effort turned into the 2023 State of Mainframe Modernization Survey Report, which we covered here.

  Many of the same modernization trends that the former IBM Global …

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• Remain Bolsters Development Options with TD/OMS

  September 18, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Remain Software recently rolled out a major upgrade to its change management software for IBM i. The big enhancements with TD/OMS 16.1 include the availability of Remain’s Web-based development framework, dubbed Octo, as well as support for the popular Web-based IDE, VS Code.

  Remain Software introduced Octo more than two years ago as a lightweight Web-based framework to unite its various IBM i offerings. Short for Open Core for Technology Orchestration, Octo was initially put forward as a way to integrate and display information from other Remain Software applications, such as TD/OMS, Gravity, API Studio, and MiWorkplace, its lightweight, Web-based …

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• ISE Grows MSP Business With Maxava’s Monitor Mi8

  September 16, 2024 Ash Giddings

  Maxava, the global provider of innovative monitoring, high availability, and disaster recovery software and services solutions for the IBM i platform, announced today that Information Systems Engineering (ISE) is finding success using Maxava’s Mi8 to monitor its clients IBM i systems.

  ISE, which provides consulting, software, and managed services for IBM i clients, was founded in 1984. The company’s specialty is working with the Infor XA (MAPICS) line of ERP software. The company also owns Paper-Less, a manufacturing execution solution (MES). Experts in the IBM i, ISE employees have over 300 years of RPG programming experience and over 70 years …

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• COMMON to Kick Off First of Two Fall NAViGATE Shows

  September 11, 2024 Alex Woodie

  What’s better than having one fall COMMON conference to learn new IBM i skills and meet with other midrange folks? The answer, of course, is to hold two NAViGATE shows – one in sizzling Florida next week, followed by a second event in November in the cooler climate of Toronto, Ontario.

  The IBM i community will converge on the Gulf Coast of Florida next week for NAViGATE 2024 Bonita Springs, which is being held at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point from Monday September 16 through Wednesday September 18.

  Hundreds of attendees are expected at the fall COMMON conference next week, …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 33

  September 9, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  We are back to the Quiet Time again in PTF Land, and we are beginning to wonder if the slowdown in patches has anything to do with the recent closures of the research and development labs by China, which we report on elsewhere in this issue. Probably not. But maybe.

  Fact is, there is not a lot going on this week, and thankfully no security vulnerabilities that we could see.

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

  PTF Groups 7.5:

  • HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)
  • Java
  • RPG Café

  PTF Groups 7.4:

  • HIPERs (High

  …

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• Is It Worth Investing in IBM i and RPG?

  August 21, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Nobody is mistaking the IBM i server as a brand-new system. It can’t hide from its status as a legacy platform. But does that mean that it’s no longer worth investing in IBM i and RPG? That’s the focus of a new paper by the outsourcing company DDC FPO.

  DDC FPO is an Evergreen, Colorado-based business process outsourcing company that serves the trucking industry and specializes in things like freight billing and customer service for truckers. Considering the continued popularity of the IBM i server in the trucking business, it’s not surprising that DDC has taken an interest in the …

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