Pillars to Developing A New Generation of Smarter Cities
June 12, 2017
Smart Cities Phase 1 The first phase of smart cities initiatives, aka Smart Cities 1.0, focused on cities working with their technology partners to develop pilot programs to test solutions that address specific problems and understand a solution’s benefits. The purpose was to develop a deeper understanding of technology trends and the concept of an […]
ArticlesChanging Development and Operating Ideas in IT
June 5, 2017
This week, I’ll finish up this three-part series by exploring application software development and groups that run the software within a company. This area of IT has undergone a significant amount of growth and change over the years due to the enormous success of computer use in business. The Way It Was Not long ago, […]
ArticlesDavid Cutaia
June 5, 2017
Name: David Cutaia Title: Domino and IBM i system adminstrator, RPG programmer Company Name: Brown & Bigelow Inc. Company’s Function: Promotional material distributor HQ: St. Paul, Minnesota Years in IT: 27 The biggest challenge our data center is facing today is keeping up with the never-ending changes to technology and infrastructure. The next big […]
ArticlesThe Future Becomes Reality
June 2, 2017
Imagine being able to look at a car’s engine—almost as if you had X-ray vision—without lifting the hood. Or asking a handheld device how you can fix an oil leak even if you have no idea what you’re doing. Now extrapolate that to jet engines or oilrigs, the complexities of which can be mind-boggling to […]
ArticlesUnintended Emissions
June 2, 2017
Natural gas is considered by many to be a cleaner energy source. The downside to natural gas is the methane that is a primary component. If it leaks into the air—estimates suggest approximately 1-2 percent leakage is common at production sites—it absorbs the sun’s heat and warms the Earth’s atmosphere. Methane is estimated to be […]
ArticlesIBM Lab Services Helps Clients Stay Vigilant Against Data Hackers
June 1, 2017
In July 2015, an operator noticed some heavy UNIX* System Service (USS) activity that seemed highly suspicious. Some scripts were sending spam messages all over the world from the client’s mainframe. The client called IBM Systems Lab Services for z Systems* and LinuxONE*, and the Lab Services team sprang into action. The team of highly […]
ArticlesCICS TS Performance and Tuning: A Rich Tradition
June 1, 2017
It may sound geeky, but one of my favorite discussion topics—usually limited to a client’s system programmers and sometimes manager—is CICS Transaction Server (TS) performance and tuning. Sysprog is a group I’m very comfortable with, because there aren’t a lot of times I can share an acronym-laden conversation with a bunch of enthusiastic groupies passionate […]
ArticlesFrom Military to Mainframe
June 1, 2017
Working as a z/OS* systems programmer on an infrastructure team is not quite the role Torrie McLaughlin once envisioned for her career. But both the job and the journey that led her to it are rewarding. “I get a big kick out of knowing that the system I work on every day is the backbone […]
ArticlesModernize Environment and Applications to Stay Competitive
June 1, 2017
It’s official: The online customer experience is driving revenue significantly in both directions. Businesses and consumers are becoming merciless as they demand clear, clean, seamless transactions in real time. This trend is measurable. A leading search engine calculates average loading time for a mobile site at 19 seconds—and says reducing that time to five seconds […]
ArticlesWhy AIX Fits Well With Hybrid Cloud Strategies
June 1, 2017
In the last two years, we have seen a dramatic upswing in the number of IBM clients that are investing in full-scale projects to modernize their critical IT infrastructure. Some are looking to optimize their software licenses by consolidating workloads onto smaller footprints and moving nonessential capacity to offsite clouds. Others are developing new applications […]
ArticlesIBM i Strategy: The Cooperative Game
May 30, 2017
In cooperative strategy, players communicate about the actions they will each take. Consequently, we IBMers in the IBM i community have been increasingly talking with, and listening to, our community.
ArticlesEvolving Ideas in IT
May 29, 2017
Last week, I wrote about David M. Kroenke’s list of components in a business computer system—computer equipment or hardware, programs, data, procedures and personnel. It’s a simple but enduring model, and you can use it in various situations to help discover useful information about new systems or applications. This week, I’ll discuss some constructs and […]
ArticlesGraph History—Stacked Charts
May 22, 2017
With the 7.3 release, IBM introduced historical performance data collection and the ability to view your historical data graphically with Graph History.
ArticlesSimple and Lasting Ideas on Managing Information Systems
May 22, 2017
Years ago, when I was a student I was assigned a textbook. It was an introduction to Business Computer Systems. The author’s—David M. Kroenke—books were (and still are) used in undergraduate computer information systems and master’s level business courses in management information systems. This post is about something that I learned from that author that […]
ArticlesIBM i Thoughts: COMMON Conference
May 20, 2017
Steve Will reflects on the 2017 COMMON conference.
ArticlesSlicing Time: Curing the Context Switch in AIX
May 17, 2017
Now that we’ve laid a solid groundwork for performance analysis, I’ll show you how to tune your systems based on information you’ve gleaned from your diagnostic data.
ArticlesNatural Alignments of Styles and Methods
May 15, 2017
This is the last post in a brief series on how applications are developed, with a focus on development methods and architectural styles. There’s a natural alignment between certain methods and styles—an alignment that can be found between waterfall and monolithic applications, along with agile and microservices. These are just two examples. I explore these […]
ArticlesHolden O’Neal on How Jiujitsu Affected His Life as a Mainframer
May 15, 2017
Reg Harbeck talks with Holden O’Neal about what made his journey to the mainframe, his employer and SHARE so successful, focusing specifically on Jiujitsu and the life skills it taught him. Listen to the interview via the orange play button or read the transcript below. Reg: Hi, I'm Reg Harbeck and I'm here today with […]
ArticlesBenefit From Non-Disruptive Modernization With IBM API Connect
May 15, 2017
This is the third article in a series about modernization of enterprise applications. The first article, Modernize Legacy Systems to Enable Full Potential, gives an overview of legacy systems, modernization tactics, benefits, strategies, risk and cost as well as challenges and areas of focus like updating the user interface and data modernization. The second article, […]
ArticlesRPG Fundamentals: Arrays
May 9, 2017
RPG has changed so much over the years that, increasingly, we find our students are unaware of many of the basic tools available to them. One is array processing.
ArticlesCOMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) and RFEs
May 3, 2017
Dawn May highlights several IBM i client advisory councils.
ArticlesDevelopment Methods and Architectural Styles
May 1, 2017
This is the first in a series on how applications are developed, with a focus on development methods and architectural styles that are gaining in significance. Methods aren’t the same as styles and some pairings work well together. This discussion starts with a bit of history. Development Methods or Philosophies Computer applications have been developed […]
ArticlesTokenized Encryption: The Project Nexus
May 1, 2017
The project generating this article largely involves implementation of a mainframe-based cryptographic interface oriented primarily to CICS Transaction Server, COBOL and MVS. However, these principles and concepts apply to all IT platforms. In fact, the project plan includes tasks and activities involved in converting the client’s websites using different programming languages and software to enable […]
ArticlesBlockchain Is Set to Streamline Markets and Transform Industries
May 1, 2017
Business is built on trust. The seller needs to trust the buyer to pay for goods. The buyer needs to trust that the seller will deliver those goods, and that they have the right to sell them to begin with. Financial institutions must trust one another to settle transactions. Other examples abound. To create an […]
ArticlesBlockchain Works With Systems of Record to Integrate Data
May 1, 2017
Distributed ledger technology blockchain links with existing systems of record (SOR) application servers and data managers. They share information and assets securely and immutably between external parties. It can be used to track the lifecycle of a car, a financial transaction or sources of food ingredients. (Learn more about how various industries are using the […]