Four Hundred Monitor, November 1

November 1, 2017 Dan Burger

Most IBM i shops are comfortable being one or two releases behind the latest IBM i operating system. But for those on i 7.1, it’s time to plan your next move. If you are on something older than 7.1, you should be drinking stronger coffee. You may have your reasons for staying where you are, but in this issue of Monitor we’re pointing you to some reasons to upgrade.

We also have an article that will get under the skin of relational database advocates, plus some Watson integration with IBM i insights, and a link to an IBM i video that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Top Stories From Outside The Jungle

(iTech Solutions) If you are comfortable sitting on IBM i 7.1, why upgrade now? There are a few things to consider when answering that question. Mull these over and decide if you’re still feeling comfortable. You’ll need to scroll down on this page to find the headline: “It’s old and time to go!”

(InformationWeek) Relational database management systems come under fire in this study released by big data visual tools developer Zoomdata. Only 30 percent of data analytics is still performed against traditional relational database management systems, the study notes. And RDBMS’s greatest strength — data integrity — has now become its biggest weakness. Disinformation? It’s not out of the question.

(You and i) IBM and COMMON are planning a second conference featuring IBM i, Watson and Bluemix. Guest blogger Charles Guarino describes his experiences at the first conference and explains how the Watson-i integration works and the benefits that come from it. The next conference is scheduled for November 28 & 29 in Rochester.

(YouTube) The Singing Gurus (Ted Holt and Alan Seiden) made their stage debut at the RPG & DB2 Summit two weeks ago. See and hear them sing their soon to be hit song “I Get by With a Little Help From My i.” They’ve yet to go viral, but they are infectious. (At this time, they have yet to sign with any recording company, but it’s only a matter of time.)

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other Resources

(Fresche) There’s a problem when technology isn’t meeting the needs of business. It often comes from a backlog of IT requirements for fixes, enhancements and new development, which cause delays and frustration. If you are struggling to develop an IT strategy that addresses your backlogged projects and evolves your investment, here’s some useful advice.

(IBM) Navigator for i provides a range of system management and performance analysis features for IBM i. Compare it to the old System i Navigator and see what there is to gain.

(IBM) An overview of IBM i 7.3 TR3 includes enhanced analytics, new security capabilities, and other new functions in IBM i and associated licensed programs.

(IBM) An overview of IBM i 7.2 TR7 includes enhanced analytics, new security capabilities, and other new functions in IBM i and associated licensed programs.

(IBM) This document provides a basic understanding of IBM i on Power Systems performance concepts, workloads and benchmarks. It includes system sizing and capacity planning, performance tools, and Power8 and virtualization performance.

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

November 8 – Webinar – This session is focused on producing meaningful reports from your production database. Many business analysts are challenged by reformatting dates, calculating costs, applying unique business rules, if-then statements, a variety of table joins, challenging aggregation requests and multiple output formats. Simplifying the process is the main topic of discussion. This presentation begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

November 9 – Webinar – The Mid-Atlantic Group of IBM i Collaborators user group will host two educational sessions. The first dives into the technology that connects IBM i data to Watson and is presented by IBM i Business Architect of Open Source Technologies Jesse Gronzinski. The second session explains several practical applications involving Watson and IBM i. Clark Everetts, a professional services consultant at Rogue Wave Software, will make that presentation. Both sessions will be conducted remotely via GoToMeeting. RSVP to attend.

November 9 — Nashville, Tennessee – This meeting of the Tennessee IBM Mid-Range User Group will feature a presentation by Richard Marko on the topic of architecting security and compliance solutions. Marko is director of technical services, security products for Vision Solutions. The meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will be held at the Shoney’s restaurant located at 2645 McGavock Pike.

November 14 — Webinar – File transfers can be time consuming to write and maintain. This presentation will help solve connection issues with trading partners and ensure data is protected every step of the way. It also emphasizes the importance of keeping detailed logs of file transfer activity to meet today’s strict compliance requirements like PCI DSS and HIPAA. Topics for discussion include secure protocols, encryption, and moving files between IBM i and other servers. The session begins at 10 a.m. Central Time.

November 28 & 29 — Rochester, Minnesota – IBM & COMMON are teaming up for a second conference on IBM i and Watson. The “IBM i Driveway to Watson” sessions highlight the integration of cognitive and cloud platforms to solve real problems and drive business value with applications, infrastructure and services. IBMers Tim Rowe and Jesse Gorzinski will be making presentations and several hands-on labs are on the agenda. The conference takes place at the IBM Executive Briefing Center. The $349/person registration fee includes breakfast and lunch both days.

November 29 — Mississauga, Ontario, Canada – The Toronto User Group meeting will feature educational sessions on security and Rational Developer for IBM i. The 5 p.m. session examines best practices to protect mission-critical information from data loss or a security breach presented by Jim Kandrac, president of UCG Technologies. The 7 p.m. session covers the enhancements in the coming release of RDi, presented by RDi developer Eric Simpson from IBM’s Toronto Labs. In between the two sessions is time for dinner and networking.