In my 25 years of watching the AS/400 and its progeny, I have had my share–some might say more than my fair share–of crazy ideas about how to modify, grow, stimulate, and vitalize the market for OS/400 and IBM i systems. As I sit here and contemplate the rising market for integrated systems, I am busting my brain to try to figure out how to leverage this wave on the behalf of all of us. While bare-bones rack and tower servers still dominate shipments worldwide, integrated machines, often with pre-tuned and pre-configured software stacks, are finding their places in the

The initial entry Power8 systems were announced a month ago, and we have been analyzing the IBM i 7.1 Technology Refresh 8 and IBM i 7.2 releases of the operating system over the past few weeks because that software runs on lots of different hardware and the Power8 systems were not going to be available until June. We are getting close to the date when the machines will be available and so I figured I had better get the lead out and do some configuring and pricing.

IBM i customers are not going to be happy, I think. Once again,

Organizations are taking unnecessary risks by neglecting to properly secure their IBM i environments, according to PowerTech‘s 2014 State of IBM i Security report, which it released last week. While PowerTech spotted all kinds of security shortcomings–ranging from too many powerful profiles to using lax security levels–the most glaring problem may have to do with poor password management.

Bad password hygiene leaves IBM i shops open to external hackers and internal threats, PowerTech says. You are not going to find Heartbleed-level password problems, where billions of once-trusted passwords instantly became vulnerable overnight. But considering the level of fine-tuning that’s

Unless you have been in a protracted digital coma, you have probably noticed that the Internet is starting to look like a dead man walking. And if you have a high tolerance for duplicity, you may find it amusing to watch the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) go through public paroxysm deciding on the least offensive way to dress the body for viewing.

Officially, the FCC exists to “regulate interstate and international communications.” But like most regulatory agencies, unofficially it is an industry front group. Nonetheless, it is classified as an “independent U.S. government agency,” which sounds suspiciously oxymoronic. And that

With IBM in the process of selling its X86 server business, any internal anguish caused by trashing X86 servers is removed, so the Power Systems promoters are firing away. The introduction of Power8 servers launched the volleys and, as the Power8 lineup continues to be revealed, the comparison bombing will likely intensify. Alex Gogh, vice president of server solutions within the Systems & Technology Group, talked about the “Power First” mentality in an interview with IT Jungle.

“We have committed to a Power-first mentality in the IBM software stack,” Gogh says. “This means when we release software we will

When you think back about the Technology Refresh program IBM implemented with the introduction of IBM i 7.1, the incremental refreshes included enhancements that would have created fireworks if they were saved for the next major release of the operating system, which was just announced three weeks ago. Cloud computing, virtualization, and RPG features were all notable additions. Of all those, the free format RPG functionality arguably received the loudest cheers. Is anyone cheering 7.2?

Last week, I hope you saw the question and answer session with Alison Butterill and Steve Will that appeared in IT Jungle. If

In spite of doubt and being far short of knowing all the answers, innovators are motivated to seek improvements. They have the ability to move forward despite obstacles and figure out the unexpected things that threaten to derail ideas, plans, and implementations.

The spotlight doesn’t shine brightly on innovation in business computing. Good work, however, does get recognized. The annual Innovation Award co-sponsored by IBM and COMMON accomplishes this without a great deal of fanfare, but that does not diminish the importance.

The 2014 Innovation Award winner is International Copyright Enterprise, better known as ICE Services. The application development team,

What’s on your top 10 business and IT priorities list this year? Increasing growth, reducing costs, improving applications and infrastructure, improving efficiency, and implementing mobile computing with increased analytic capabilities are projects that a lot of IBM midrange shops are talking about.

Any and all of those priority projects comes with a lot of questions attached. Let’s start with where do you turn to for help getting these projects planned, coordinated, and completed? You can go outside the company to people who are marketed as experts in particular technologies and products. But those people know little or nothing about your

You might be thinking that all of the old iron and peripherals for earlier generations of Power Systems machinery were long since removed by IBM from the product catalog, but there are a lot of components that go into a product line. And last week, IBM cut a few more from the catalog.

In announcement letter 914-128, you will see that a bunch of features for Power Systems iron are going to be withdrawn from marketing effective July 31. There are a bunch of cables and power cords and such that don’t interest customers until they discover they need

I have been accused of a lot of things, and liking hardware is certainly one of them. And, as one avid reader of The Four Hundred points out, maybe this is not the only thing that people care about. I think we do a pretty good job providing balanced coverage of software and hardware as well as management and other issues, but everyone is entitled to their say here in the IBM i community.

So, let’s give Paul Harkins a chance to clear his chest in response to a few stories that have run recently.

To IT Jungle executive staff,