Four Hundred Monitor, February 22

February 22, 2017 Dan Burger

A few weeks ago, Jesse Gorzinski was featured in an IT Jungle story. This week the IBM business architect of open source technologies shows up as the author of new blog called Open Your i. Open source can be really good for IBM i. And since we’re all accustomed to acronyms, OYi has a nice ring to it. We’ll be keeping an eye on Jesse.

Monitor is also pointing to stories on cloud security mythology, IT budget advice for a bigger piece of the pie, testing your mental strength when taking on new projects, dialing into the top ten tech trends, and good economic news for small to midsize enterprises.

Top Stories From Outside The Jungle

(Open Your i) Gotta give Jesse Gorzinski, IBM’s Business Architect of open source technologies, props for this clever name for his new blog. Let the good times roll, Jesse. Hope to hear a lot from you.

(Botz Security Bytes) There are lots of valid business reasons to move your computing operations to a cloud service provider. Although Pat Botz doesn’t believe cloud computing is inherently riskier than on-premise computing, he isn’t going to say it is inherently more secure than on-premise computing either.

(Information Week) If your IT budget is staying flat, there are techniques for getting more bang from the same bucks in a new age of IT. Make room for training and education, reduce CapEx, and don’t ignore security. There’s more good advice here.

(Harvard Business Review) Facing a new challenge will test you. In your mind, even if it becomes too hard or too time consuming, the results of this survey indicate benefits that might be the incentive you need to stick with your challenge and overcome it.

(TechCrunch) The way companies buy, build, manage, optimize and secure information technology is changing dramatically. From cloud computing to big data analytics to ubiquitous mobile connectivity, corporate IT systems are getting faster, more efficient, cheaper to operate and easier to use. Take a stab at the top ten trends changing the face of enterprise computing.

(Industry Week) The future is looking good to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), both in the U.S. and globally, according to the American Express Global SME Pulse report.

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other Resources

(IBM) The latest IBM i Technology Refresh will be available March 15, but the overview from IBM is available now on the developerWorks website. The list of categories includes DB2 for i, systems management, hardware, and open source. If you are running i 7.3, follow this link.

(IBM) The latest IBM i Technology Refresh will be available March 15, but the overview from IBM is available now on the developerWorks website. The list of categories includes DB2 for i, systems management, hardware, and open source. If you are running i 7.2, follow this link.

(IBM) The IBM i announcements for the 7.2 and 7.3 TRs don’t mention the three upcoming RPG enhancements that will be available through PTFs at the same time as the TRs. The PTFs will be available individually, and they will also be part of the upcoming 7.2 and 7.3 DB2 group PTFs.

(IBM) Rational Developer for i is a modern, Eclipse-based development tool for IBM i. It includes a visual editor; integrated file management; search edit, compile/build and debug capabilities; analysis tools; and debugger tools. This presentation–by Eric Simpson, RDi developer, release lead, and install architect–includes information on the newest enhancements, as well as feedback and direction setting.

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

March 14 -16 — Delavan, Wisconsin – A one-day Women in IT Seminar will take place in conjunction with the Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association Spring Technical Conference. The agenda includes sessions on IT careers, mentoring, and the business environment; a keynote address by Stefanie Chiras, vice president of Power Systems offering management; as well as an open discussion.

March 14 -16 — Delavan, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association Spring Technical Conference is the largest conference in the Midwest. It features more than 50 informative presentations on current topics such as SQL, PHP, RPG, .NET and IBM administration. Keynote presentations by Tim Rowe, IBM i business architect for application development and systems management, and Stefanie Chiras, vice president of Power Systems offering management, are agenda highlights. A full session agenda is available online. In addition to the all-day technical session on Tuesday, there is a one-day event highlighting the opportunities for women in IT. The tech conference includes a vendor expo and is hosted by the LakeLawn Resort.

March 21-23 — Orlando, Florida – The RPG & DB2 Summit, hosted by System i Developer partners Susan Gantner, Jon Paris and Paul Tuohy, features three days of training that modernizes and expands IBM i development skills features three days of training that modernizes and expands IBM i development skills. An optional fourth day of hands-on workshops on March 20, provides an intensive dive into a choice of SQL, RSE/RDi, Service Programs or PHP sessions. The conference focuses on helping IBM i developers achieve continuous skills improvement based on current tips and techniques that can be implemented immediately. An early registration rate of $1,295 is available through February 17.

April 10-12 — Framingham, Massachusetts – The Northeast IBM i User Group Conference features more than 70 educational sessions in six skills categories. It offers the opportunity to learn about new technologies, engage with vendors to discuss packaged software advancements, hear IBM i executives and lead developers discuss products and roadmaps for the platform, and gain knowledge that can benefit your company and your career. The user groups of the Northeast come from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

May 2 & 3 — Markham, Ontario, Canada – The Toronto User Group’s annual technical education conference, TEC 2017, features IBM i-centric subjects that include: RPG application development, Web and mobile development, application modernization, accessing and optimizing DB2 data, performance management, and system management. The conference will take place at the SAVOY Conference Centre (Monte Carlo Inn) located at 7255 Warden Avenue in Markham. Early registration discounts are available.

May 7-10 — Orlando, Florida – The 2017 COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition is the largest IBM i educational event of the year. It includes more than 300 sessions related to IBM i, as well as AIX and Linux. Open source, high availability, security, DB2, and application development are a few of the popular skill-building topics. The agenda includes all-day pre-conference workshops, open labs, and a wide variety of lecture-type sessions presented by subject matter experts. An early registration discount ($1,595 for members; $1,895 for non-members) is available through December 30.