These POWERUp Sessions Are About the Recent IBM i Announcement
May 15, 2019 Alex Woodie
Disneyland didn’t complete construction of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in time for next week’s POWERUp conference. But luckily for you, IBM did finalize its IBM i announcement soon enough for COMMON’s annual extravaganza, making next week’s show in Anaheim, California, a great chance for you to learn about the new releases of the operating system, including IBM i 7.4 and 7.3 TR6.
According to COMMON’s online session guide, there are at least 16 sessions at POWERUp 19 having to do with IBM i 7.4, IBM i 7.3 Technology Refresh 6 (TR6), or the new software that will arrive with these operating systems, such as Db2 Mirror, the enhancements to the Authority Collection, ACS, Db2 Web Query, the RPG compilers, Domino 10, and more.
Here are the POWERUp 2019 sessions that have to do with IBM’s April 23 announcement, in chronological order.
Sunday, May 19
The fun kicks off 10:15 a.m. PT with session 13BM, titled “IBM i 7.4 Overview.” This session will feature none other than IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will, who will walk you through an IBM i 7.4 overview. Expect to get a 30,000-foot view of the extensive changes that came with IBM i 7.4 (and probably some 7.3 TR6 stuff, too).
Db2 Mirror will be on full display Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in session 14BP, titled “Db2 Mirror Revealed.” In this session, Kris Whitney, IBM’s senior software engineer and the lead developer of Db2 Mirror, will dive into the latest technology and discuss what continuous availability means on IBM i.
RPG enthusiasts should be sure to make a note in their calendars for 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. That’s when session 14BO, What’s New for RPG, will be presented by none other than IBM’s Barbara Morris, who heads development of RPG compilers. If you have questions about the big announcement in 7.4 — varying-dimension arrays – you won’t want to miss the chance to talk to the person who architected it.
At 2:45 p.m. PT in session 16BP, “What’s new in Db2 for i for 7.4.”, Scott Forstie digs into the latest database enhancements in IBM i 7.4. You can expect Forstie, who is a senior technical staff member within IBM i development and also the Db2 for i Business Architect, to cover database-related changes since the advent of IBM i 7.3 in 2016.
Plan to get your security reconfigured at 4 p.m. PT on Sunday, with session 17CF, “What’s new in 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 Security”, featuring former IBM i security architect Jeff Uehling (who is now employed by Syncsort), who will dive into the major new security features added in IBM i 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4, including the new object-based capabilities added to Authority Collection with 7.4.
It’s Domino version 10 time at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday. That’s when Domino diva Kim Greene delivers session 18DB, “What’s New in Domino 10.” The release of Domino 10 was a long time in coming, and the release of Domino 10 roughly coincided with the delivery of IBM i 7.4. The good news is 7.4 features day-one support for Domino 10. Count on Greene to have all the gory details.
Monday, May 20
Db2 Mirror is likely to be among those HA solutions discussed at 8 a.m. in session 21DA, titled “IBM HA/DR solutions for IBM i.” Longtime IBM product man Steve Finnes will go over the available options, which the session guide describes as PowerHA, VM Recovery Manager, full system replication, cloud storage solutions for IBM i and “something new” (which is Db2 Mirror).
If you’re looking for business intelligence and reporting tools on IBM i, then at 8 a.m. you may want to check out session 21AL “The latest enhancements to Db2 Web Query.” This session is presented by Doug Mack, a consultant in IBM Lab Services.
Those considering an upgrade to IBM i 7.4 or 7.3 should check out the 9:15 a.m. session 22BN, “How to Successfully Upgrade to IBM i 7.4 & 7.3.” Presented by iTech Solutions CEO and former COMMON president Pete Massiello, the session will provide practical advice for planning the upgrade, including dealing with compatibility issues between releases.
If you crave a deep dive and a demo of Db2 Mirror, then at 9:15 a.m. on Monday you’ll want to be at 22CG, appropriately named “Db2 Mirror Deep Dive & Demos,” where IBMers Kris Whitney, IBM Senior Software Engineer, and Tim Rowe, the business architect for application development and systems management tools, lead the audience through the inner-workings of Db2 Mirror.
IBM’s Steve Will is back at the podium at 10:30 a.m. for session 23DD, “IBM i Strategy & Features Overview,” which will cover the recent history of IBM i releases, as well as some of the new features in the most recent releases.
We jump back to security at 2:45 p.m. on Monday with session 26CF, “Authority Collection Utility in 7.4 – Locking Down Security for Your Sensitive Data Files and Objects.” IBM developer Thom Haze, who specializes in security and encryption topics, will delve into the changes to Authority Collection that IBM made with IBM i 7.4.
Also at 2:45 is session 26DC, “VM Recovery Manager for Power Systems.” VM Recovery Manager is the latest addition to the HA/DR family of products for Power Systems, including IBM i. IBM’s Finnes guides users through the changes.
Lost in the IBM i 7.4 announcement shuffle were enhancements to PowerHA. You can get up to speed on Monday at 4 p.m. with session 27DC, “What’s New in PowerHA,” which is presented by HelpSystems software architect Brian Nordland (IBM’s Finnes will also discuss PowerHA announcements in his 8 a.m. session). HelpSystems has taken over development of PowerHA, similar to how IBM has handed off other products to other software vendors.
IBM included a bunch of open source enhancements in 7.4, and Monday at 4 p.m. you can find out what’s new in Node.js on IBM i with session 27AH, titled “Node.js: What’s Next?” Presented by Michael Dawson, IBM’s Node.js Community Lead, the session should answer all your questions about what’s new on Node.js.
Tuesday, May 21
The last bit of IBM i 7.4 content appears to be the 1:30 p.m. keynote on Tuesday, session 35AJ, titled “i = innovative, insightful, integral = interview.” Alison Butterill, the product offering manager for IBM i, will be joined by fellow IBMers Tim Rowe and Scott Forstie to discuss the latest release and Db2 Mirror.
There is a lot to choose from at the POWERUp show next week. If we missed any IBM i 7.4- or 7.3 TR6-related sessions, let us know.
