Dan Burger
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We Can Just Barely See RPG In i 7.3
April 18, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreJust another day in RPG paradise. No place we’d rather be. Kicked the old fixed-format habit and have gone free. Embedded SQL and integrated XML. Got RDi wired. You’re totally modern, so what’s next? Well . . . if you’re looking for RPG fun in i 7.3, you’ll be mostly disappointed. The IBM shopping cart isn’t empty, but that loaf of bread and a package of baloney isn’t the rib-eye steak we were hoping for.
In case you missed it, the steak was delivered with the IBM i 7.2 TR 1 release in the fall of 2014, which was also
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WOW Makes a Good Database Story
April 13, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreThose who do more with less get rewarded. Sometimes the incentive is a raise or a bonus. Sometimes it’s just being able to keep your job. Either way, you could be surprised what can be accomplished in terms of business intelligence, graphical presentations, and modernization with a relatively unknown product called WOW, which is the name of the Web application development tool from PlanetJ.
WOW, an abbreviation for Web Object Wizard, was designed to extract data in real time from relational databases, including DB2 for i and all the other enterprise databases of note, while generating the kinds of
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IBM i 7.3 Arrives April 15; 7.2 TR4 Follows in May
April 12, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreIt’s here. Today is IBM‘s announcement day for i 7.3, which becomes available Friday, April 15. The Technology Refresh, TR4 for i 7.2, arrives May 20. A new OS release is a glimpse of the future. For some of you, the future is now. You’re the early adopters–the people who put the bug in IBM’s ear several years ago about expanding analytical capabilities and help getting a handle on the security problem that is crying for attention.
This release fits into the long-term strategy of Chief Architect Steve Will by providing more options for those who want to develop
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Testing For Security Inadequacies
April 12, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreOrganizations are often reluctant to admit that they have inadequate system security. Quite possibly they may not even realize it. That’s not uncommon, particularly in the IBM midrange community, where we know there’s a false sense of security deeply rooted in the conviction that IBM i is inherently secure. Nothing could be further from the truth, although thinking any system is inherently secure is an equally foolish mistake. It’s all a matter of understanding how to manage security on a system.
Preconceived notions that the IBM i platform is some sort of superhero in a box is one of the
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IBM i Shops Behind The Customized ERP Eight Ball
April 4, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreWe are not sheep. What we do with our ERP software is our own business and our widget business is not going to be run like all other widget businesses. And we don’t all jump when the ERP software vendor says jump. Most IBM midrange shops are running packaged ERP software and quite a few have customized them to get what they really want. Until it’s time to upgrade, that is.
Software upgrades, even when the software is not customized, can be a pain in the patootie. Whether that’s a dull pain or a sharp pain is often related to
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IBM Keeps Low Profile While Reaction To ‘Resource Action’ Boils
April 4, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreThe boiling pot that is IBM‘s workforce reduction plan continues to spill over and let off steam. After a report was released last month from the financial analyst firm Bernstein estimated 14,000 IBM workers would be losing their jobs, the reaction was explosive. Last week, on the Watching IBM website, survey results from a fraction of IBM workers added some context to what’s happening.
“The survey results show what people have been saying for quite a few years. That there is age discrimination going on in the job cuts and the IBM employee evaluation system is seriously flawed. It
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Observing i: An IBM Power Systems Champion Perspective
March 28, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read morePete Massiello is an IBM i advocate, a past president of COMMON the world’s largest IBM i user group, and owner and CEO of a consultancy that specializes in system upgrades, performance tuning, and hosted services. The IBM midrange is his bread and butter. Massiello recently wrote a report he calls IBM i State of the Union, a perspective on the landscape based on what he has seen and what he expects to see.
If Massiello was limited to five words to describe his report, they would be: Do not dismiss this platform. He acknowledges that companies are migrating
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Healthcare Tech Trends Shape Industry And IBM i
March 28, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreThe future of IBM i won’t be found in any crystal balls. And references to omens always seem so ominous, mostly because they are connected to end of the world scenarios. Predictions, in my opinion, have a greater chance of coming true when based on real world observations. What’s happening in the IBM midrange is the best indicator, but what’s happening includes all kinds of things–some good and some bad. Here’s an example.
MEDHOST provides enterprise and departmental healthcare-related software to more than 1,000 hospitals. Along with traditional licensed software, it offers software as a service (SaaS), managed services for
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Maxava Introduces Subscription-Based, Multi-Platform Systems Monitoring
March 16, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreWhen does system monitoring become a big enough concern to an IBM i shop that specialized software would be considered? Often it’s when one person has the responsibility for monitoring multiple systems. It doesn’t really matter if the systems run on the same OS or if multiple platforms are involved. Multiple systems ratchet up the complexity. To take on the task, Maxava has stepped up its product development.
Available now is Maxava Monitor Mi8, a cloud-based, subscription-priced, system-monitoring software for IBM i. And within two to three months, it will add the capability to monitor Windows and Linux systems as
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Problem Solved, Carry On: The IBM Must Gather Tool
March 14, 2016 Dan Burger
… Read moreThe IBM i version of roadside assistance, thank your lucky stars, is better than a set of booster cables, a screwdriver, and a bungee cord. You have some remote tech support, some problem solving, some trouble shooting, and, best of all, you have something called the MustGather Data Capture tool. IBM Support created the tool, which is capable of automatically collecting debug data and fixing problems. It’s not Watson, but it’s pretty darn good.
The IBM MustGather tool provides an automated option for sending/uploading MustGather data/files to IBM i Support from your IBM i Server. When executed, the tool will