All Content
Latest
Optimize Memory to Enhance Speed of CICS Functions
December 1, 2017
This article focuses on CICS performance across all platforms. On the mainframe CICS is known as CICS Transaction Server (TS), but on other platforms it’s called TXSeries, with CICS Transaction Gateway providing standardized CICS interfaces and secure access. All products are developed and supported by CICS development, and interact with each other via facilities like […]
ArticlesThe Future for Enterprise Optimization is a Mainframe and Cloud Strategy
December 1, 2017
Mainframe workloads continue to grow in both magnitude and business value. As a matter of fact, the platform destined for extinction isn’t the mainframe, as predicted, but rather on-premises distributed infrastructure. That’s why the optimal future architecture for large enterprises includes only two platforms: the mainframe and the cloud. Those seeking to optimize the performance, […]
ArticlesIBM PowerAI Brings Together AI Solutions for Enterprises
December 1, 2017
When you’re big, it’s tough to be quick. The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has sent some startups soaring into the future, but it’s left some big enterprises planted in the past. “Every industry is being disrupted by AI startups—FinTech tools in the banking industry, self-driven cars in the auto industry—these new companies are using AI […]
ArticlesAge of Networks and Network Management
November 27, 2017
In this post, I explore the current state of network management, a powerfully mature discipline that emerged after going through many changes as networking evolved to its present state. Network management is still growing and evolving. That’s because network environments are still developing in sophistication, built-in support and changing device implementations like virtualized firewalls, switches […]
ArticlesHow Hobby and Career Intersect for a Global Chess Master
November 27, 2017
Wouldn’t it be nice to find one activity that would never become boring? Warren Harper, staff specialist product developer, BMC, has found his. Harper is an avid chess player and regularly competes in tournaments worldwide. By winning titles both in the U.S. and internationally, Harper has established himself as a global chess master. He holds […]
ArticlesComprehensive Systems Management
November 20, 2017
In this post, I explore systems management as a comprehensive discipline: What is it, how has it changed and what are the latest innovations to emerge. Systems management has developed into a mature and vibrant network of activities that are key to keeping systems available and useful. Let’s consider it as a model with categories […]
ArticlesIT Management Activities and Their Context
November 13, 2017
This is the first in a series about IT management. You might think of this as system, network, application and cloud management, but definitions and practices are changing and expanding. Or, you might think of this as IT Service management. That’s certainly part of it as well. IT service management creates context so it is […]
ArticlesDetermining the Electrical Grounding for Mission Critical Facilities’ Engine-Generators
November 13, 2017
The Uptime Institute LLC considers the engine-generators as a primary source of power for the mission critical facilities. Permanently installed generators for the facilities are separate power sources and are often installed as separately derived systems, which are defined in Article 100 of National Electrical Codes. This article discusses the ‘electrical grounding for the engine-generators […]
PodcastsDenise Kalm on Coaching and Consulting Mainframers
November 13, 2017
Reg Harbeck talks with Denise Kalm, coach and consultant, about how younger mainframers can make an impact on the platform and logical next steps for experienced mainframers. Listen to the interview via the orange play button or read the transcript below. Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm talking with Denise Kalm. […]
ArticlesA Cloud Managed Service Provider Can Help With Data Protection
November 13, 2017
Data security is a critical component of a comprehensive risk management strategy. Organizations must analyze their security risk, taking into account factors such as industry, types of data being stored, the value of the data and the threats most likely to impact the business. Then they need to decide how much risk they’re willing to […]
ArticlesMaking the Invisible Visible
November 13, 2017
What we see with our eyes represents only a tiny fraction of the information around us. If we had evolved to capture X-rays, we could use electromagnetic wavelengths to see the world. The same holds for ultraviolet or infrared waves. We’ve evolved to visually understand and react to our surroundings based on “visible light.” But […]
ArticlesDesign and Develop Large-Scale System Software
November 6, 2017
This is the sixth and final post in a series about things they never taught me in school. Over the years, I have taken many different computer classes in schools, through IT companies and by self-study, but nothing prepared me for the rigor of leading a team in the design and development of a large-scale […]
ArticlesStreamline Processes and Reduce Processor Overhead in CICS
November 1, 2017
This article focuses on CICS performance across all platforms. On the mainframe CICS is known as CICS Transaction Server, but on other platforms it’s called TXSeries, with CICS Transaction Gateway providing standardized CICS interfaces and secure access. All products are developed and supported by CICS development, and interact with each other via facilities like CICS […]
ArticlesNew IBM z14 Capabilities Make it Easy to Get Started in the Cloud
November 1, 2017
July’s IBM z14* announcement features technology to make cloud computing easier for IBM Z* organizations. With a strong focus on pervasive encryption—where organizations can encrypt data associated with an entire application, cloud service or database in flight or at rest (ibm.co/2fzkphp)—encrypted APIs, a new pricing model, blockchain services and more, clients can feel safer about […]
ArticlesIBM Z Offerings Help Clients Take Advantage of the Cloud
November 1, 2017
The cloud was once considered simply part of the computing stack—an extension of the data center that hosted non-critical applications and data sets seemingly in the air. Now for many organizations, however, it’s become an essential part of operations, allowing them to more quickly deploy new technologies and nimbly respond to changing market forces. As […]
ArticlesSteven Morales
November 1, 2017
Name: Steven Morales Title: RPGLE programmer Company Name: P.C. Richard and Son Company’s Function: Retail HQ: Farmingdale, New York Years in IT: 21 The biggest challenge our data center is facing today is modernization without losing legacy systems that have proven reliability. My favorite activity outside of work is kayaking. The next big thing […]
ArticlesEco-Friendly IT Infrastructure
November 1, 2017
We live and work in a changing world—one of technological marvels that just a few short years ago would have seemed akin to magic and one whose climate is being vastly altered by our use and abuse of the Earth’s resources. A heating planet has been a call to arms for those of us who […]
ArticlesHow to Create an IT Offering
October 23, 2017
This is the fourth post in a series about things they never taught me in school. Attending classes, I never learned how to create an IT offering. In fact, I never heard of an IT offering until I was 20 years into my IT career. At that time, elements like professional or support services were […]
ArticlesHow to Automate an Entire Software System
October 16, 2017
I studied to be a computer application developer. My interests were halfway between business and computers, so developing applications were a pretty good fit. Besides, I didn’t know anything about the system side of things—OSes, middleware software, job entry subsystems and system software installation—basically the tasks and concerns of the system programmers. After five years […]
ArticlesJim Michael Embraces Opportunities Throughout Career
October 16, 2017
Reg Harbeck: Hello. I'm here today, this is Reg Harbeck, with Jim Michael. I like to call him the best president SHARE never had because he was with SHARE as their vice-president and everybody expected to become the SHARE president, but then he had a change at his employer that meant that he was no […]
ArticlesOther Things They Didn’t Teach Me in School: Pseudo-Conversational Programming
October 9, 2017
I spent three months studying COBOL, wrote eight challenging batch programs, and then took my first assignment, which involved writing online transactions that I learned nothing about before taking the assignment. Since I had no training in real-time programming (i.e., online transaction processing (OLTP) applications, I needed some tutoring by the analyst assigned to be […]
ArticlesIBM Researchers Hope to Use Macroscopes to Answer Big Questions About the World
October 9, 2017
Microscopes have advanced so far since their inception, they may soon be able to see the small scale in almost infinite detail. But the large scale? It seems much easier to visualize—look up at the sky—but when big, complex data gets thrown into the mix, that may not be the case. The sky is blue, […]
ArticlesManfred Sielhorst
October 9, 2017
Name: Manfred Sielhorst Title: CEO Company Name: Sielhorst iT Beratung Company’s Function: Consulting on technology integration HQ: Darmstadt, Germany Years in IT: 28 If I weren’t in IT, I would not work. The trend affecting my work is math, real programming languages and standards such as Algol, Lisp, C, RPG, Java*, SQL, XML and LaTeX. […]
ArticlesThe Future of IT
October 5, 2017
My grandmother never learned to drive. She was born around the time Henry Ford invented the production line and began rolling out Model Ts in vast numbers. Those cars were shipped to every corner of the world and quite a few made it to our shores here in New Zealand. Ours were painted black, too. […]
ArticlesThings They Didn’t Teach Me in School: Polyglot
October 2, 2017
Over the years, you’ve probably spent a lot of time reading and studying computer topics. I have attended many classes and even taught a few and never came across the topics of polyglot persistence and programming. If somebody taught me about polyglot anything, I am sure that I would have remembered it. These are topics, […]