• As I See It: The Other Eight Hours

  January 29, 2024 Victor Rozek

  In 1594, Philip II of Spain issued a royal edict establishing an 8-hour workday for construction workers in the Spanish colonies. As far as we know, there were no time restrictions on pillaging.

  It took another 223 years for the notion of an 8-hour workday to find a supportive voice in England, albeit not a royal one. Robert Owen was something of an oxymoron in his day. He was both a textile manufacturer and a social reformer. As early as 1810 he proposed and instituted a 10-hour workday in a Scottish cotton mill. But by 1817 he had revised his …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 4

  January 29, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  OK, here’s a weird one and one that we have helped several customers sort out in the past few days and heard about from other business partners. There is a defective PTF for IBM i 7.4 that when applied with other software patches can cause the QSYS file system at the heart of the IBM i platform to magically disappear.

  Ooooof! Kinda hits you right in the solar plexus when you think about it. . . .

  This one is number 50 on the defective PTF list for IBM i 7.4, which you can read about at this link and …

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• IBM Cloud Storage And BRMS Get Subscription Pricing

  January 22, 2024 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As you are well aware, Big Blue is in the middle of converting the IBM i software stack from perpetual software licensing and Software Maintenance pricing to straight-up subscription pricing. Now, subscription pricing has come to IBM Cloud Storage as well as to the venerable Backup, Recovery and Media Services for i (BRMS).

  The new pricing was revealed in announcement letter AD23-0531, and it appears to be an option, not a requirement. Remember, for IBM i 7.4 and IBM i 7.5 themselves, perpetual licensing based on IBM i software tiers will only be available through the end of March …

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• Futureproofing Your IT Infrastructure: Trends and Technologies to Watch in 2024

  January 22, 2024 Tom Horan

  As the digital landscape evolves at breakneck speed, organizations face the constant challenge of adapting or being left behind. In 2024, navigating this technological terrain requires a keen eye on emerging trends and technologies set to shape the IT landscape. From artificial intelligence and automation to hybrid cloud and the ever-evolving threat landscape, businesses need to be strategic in their approach to leverage these shifts for a competitive edge. For those navigating these changes, here are four key trends to watch and insights on how to leverage them for a competitive edge:

  1. Artificial Intelligence Leaps Forward

  AI is no longer …

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• Guru: Getting Started With The Code 4 i Extension Within VS Code

  January 22, 2024 Gregory Simmons

  The Code for IBM i extension is growing in popularity and has certainly become my favorite source code editor. This article is not an attempt to convince you to drop RDi and switch to VS Code. Rather, I aim to share with you a few of my favorite settings and features in VS Code.

  Join In The Discussion

  Can’t figure out how to do something? Have a suggestion for a new enhancement? I am continually impressed with the speed at which I get responses when I post something. The team of coders and contributors to the Code for IBM i …

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• 2024 IBM i Predictions, Part Deux

  January 22, 2024 Alex Woodie

  How will 2024 unfold? Nobody knows the answer to that. But that’s not stopping members of the IBM i community from taking some swings. It’s not only a good Bayesian exercise to think through the probabilities of what may occur, but it’s often a bit of fun, too.

  Our second batch of 2024 predictions starts with IBM distinguished engineer Steve Will, who, as the IBM i chief technology officer and IBM i chief architect, doesn’t need to guess where the platform is going, since he’s literally leading the creation of it. Instead, his prediction focuses on the community.

  “2024 will …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 3

  January 22, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  Earlier last week, we reported on HIPER and security patches for the relatively ancient IBM i 7.2, which has long since been off standard and now extended maintenance. Now there is another patch for IBM i 7.2, which we found out about this past weekend.

  To review, in Number 2 of the IBM i PTF Guide for 2024, there was an IBM i 7.2 Group HIPER, level 240, which is SF99719 and which you can find out more about here, and an IBM i 7.2 Group Security, level 128, which is SF99718 and which you can find out more …

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• IBM i Job Outlook for 2024 Not Great, But Not All Bad Either

  January 17, 2024 Bob Langieri

  First, the good news: Salaries for IBM i and RPG developers and programmers continue to go up. Average salaries of new hires of senior developers in 2023 have been getting $120,000 to $130,000. I predict this going up 6 to 10 percent in 2024, to $127,000 to $143,000. Some with specialized skills will get 10 to 20 percent more.

  This is why it’s important to add to your skills. IBM i salaries still pale compared to other more popular platforms and skills. Hiring is still very slow in the IBM RPG world as companies are doing more with less! Hot …

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• Modernizing On A Budget: Practical Strategies For IBM i

  January 17, 2024 Christine Brown

  For many businesses, the IBM i platform has served as the backbone of operations for decades. Its reliability, security, and scalability have made it a trusted workhorse, processing critical transactions, and storing vital data. Yet, as technology marches forward, even the most resilient systems eventually face the question of modernization. With budget constraints often a reality, the dilemma becomes how to extend the life of your aging IBM i infrastructure without breaking the bank.

  But don’t worry. Modernization while being cost-conscious is entirely achievable with strategic planning and a judicious mix of strategic upgrades, cloud integration, and the strategic use …

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• Top Priorities in 2024: Security and AI

  January 17, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Two sometimes opposing forces will be at play in 2024: the threat of cybersecurity breaches on the one hand and the promise of tech disruption thanks to AI on the other. Tech leaders, including IBM i professionals, who chart a course through these obstacles will be well-positioned to help their companies and their careers in the years to come.

  First, let’s cover security. It’s no secret that cybercriminals have been ramping up their game over the past few years. Since the Covid-19 pandemic gave online activity a turbo-boost four years ago, cybercriminals have been having a field day with people’s …

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