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CICS Tools Identify Performance Issues
August 1, 2017
This article focuses on CICS performance. On the mainframe CICS is known as CICS Transaction Server (TS), but on other platforms the product is named TXSeries, and for special functions, CICS Transaction Gateway. All products are developed and supported by CICS development, and are designed to interact with each other via facilities such as CICS […]
ArticlesArchivist Assists ‘Hidden Figures’ Movie Production with IBM Artifacts
August 1, 2017
It’s easy to stow old belongings in an attic or on a shelf, leave them to collect dust and forget about them. But thanks to Jamie Martin, IBM Corporate Archives manager in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., this doesn’t happen. She and her team track IBM’s history and heritage through the countless paper records, photographs and items the […]
ArticlesIT Operational Analytics Tools Can Provide a View of Management Data
August 1, 2017
IT and business management are increasingly concerned with the rising costs associated with their highly complex and ever-growing mainframe and distributed systems data centers. They are also concerned about controlling outages and mitigating the lack of transparency they have—including in their outsourced environments. Wide View Needed CIOs, IT managers and line-of-business managers don’t have unhindered […]
ArticlesKelly Mason
August 1, 2017
Name: Kelly Mason Title: Software engineer Company Name: Smalley Steel Ring Company’s Function: Manufacturing HQ: Lake Zurich, Illinois Years in IT: 2 The biggest challenge our data center is facing today is finding young talented RPG programmers. The next big thing for our business will be the integration of cognitive thinking. My favorite […]
ArticlesWords in Action
August 1, 2017
Imagine being able to predict the onset of a mental health condition before it hits. Or receive a diagnosis at home instead of a psychiatrist’s office. Or being able to adjust your medications based on patterns in your speech when you casually talk with family and friends. Within the next five years, you may not […]
ArticlesNew Technology: B2B Innovations
July 31, 2017
This is the second post in this series where I write about the drive for new technology. Is need driving innovation or is innovation driving demand? In this post, I explore an area of innovation focused on business-to-business (B2B) innovation through collaboration involving sales and information sharing. According to B2B Marketing, “It is expected that […]
ArticlesRoute FTP and SMTP Workloads to Their Own Subsystem
July 24, 2017
If you’re doing file transfers or SMTP email on your IBM i partition, you may want to take advantage of subsystem configuration to isolate those workloads from other work in the QSYSWRK subsystem.
ArticlesRoots of New Technology
July 24, 2017
In this post, I am writing about the drive for new technology. Is need driving innovation or is innovation driving demand? I plan to explore this perspective in the coming weeks. This first post in the series introduces the two main ideas. Need Driving Innovation People that focus on innovation tell would-be innovators that marketplace […]
ArticlesJava on z Systems Delivers Portability, Security and Other Benefits
July 24, 2017
As people expect quick, secure transactions available any time, anywhere, modernization and innovation on the mainframe are necessary to meet these needs. Java* is at the heart of such transformation. An IDC study, “The Business Value of the Connected Mainframe for Digital Transformation” (ibm.co/2pf8asQ), places Java at the center of both modernization and innovation on […]
ArticlesAIO: The Fast Path to Great Performance
July 19, 2017
Asynchronous input and output (AIO) is an essential performance feature of AIX. Without it, our world would be a much slower place.
ArticlesIBM Z Pervasive Encryption Marks a Paradigm Shift for Security
July 17, 2017
Trust is the currency that drives the new economy. It’s the foundation of digital relationships and demands security, transparency and greater value in every interaction and transaction. That’s among the reasons IBM equipped the new z14 system with pervasive encryption. Transitioning away from selective encryption to end-to-end protection helps organizations secure all of their enterprise […]
Articles9th Annual Enterprise Computing Community Conference: Day 2
July 17, 2017
In June, I attended the 9th annual Enterprise Computing Community (ECC) conference hosted by Marist College with collaboration and support from academic and industry partners and sponsors. This year’s conference was June 11 to 13, 2017. I gave an overview of the conference in a previous post and I covered in detail the sessions from […]
ArticlesMary Anne Matyaz Defies Systems Programming Stereotypes
July 17, 2017
Reg Harbeck talks with Mary Anne Matyaz about her unique journey as an extroverted systems programmer. Listen to the interview via the orange play button or read the transcript below. Reg Harbeck: Hi, I'm Reg Harbeck and I'm here today with Mary Anne Matyaz, a well-known SHARE volunteer and a systems programmer who has worked […]
Articles5 Points to Consider When Preparing for Backup and Recovery
July 17, 2017
Planning for IT outages, whether instigated by Mother Nature, human error, system issues or a sly hacker, is no small feat for businesses. While the causes of unplanned outages vary, a strategy to manage outages can be standardized. Harry Batten, executive IT architect, IBM, lists five common points companies should consider while crafting a backup […]
ArticlesLynell Cabilangan Constantine
July 17, 2017
Name: Lynell Cabilangan Constantine Title: Applications developer Company Name: Credentials Solutions Company’s Function: Higher education transcript processing and degree verification HQ: Northfield, Illinois Years in IT: Three The biggest challenge our data center is facing today is migrating to a newer and more powerful server and moving from IBM i 7.1 to 7.3 because our […]
ArticlesAn RPGer’s First Steps With JSON
July 11, 2017
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is becoming an essential technology in modern IBM i shops. A look at syntax basics and more. Part 1 of 2.
Articles9th Annual Enterprise Computing Community Conference: Day 1
July 10, 2017
In June, I attended the 9th annual Enterprise Computing Community (ECC) conference hosted by Marist College with collaboration and support from academic and industry partners and sponsors. This year’s conference was June 11 to 13, 2017. I gave an overview of the conference in my previous post. In this post, I focus primarily on the […]
ArticlesMaking Sense of APIs and the API Economy
July 10, 2017
This article introduces APIs, both old and new, with a particular focus on microservices that have become a key part of the API economy. So, what are APIs and how are they classified? Classifying APIs by Type Here’s a simple method of classification for APIs. First, there are the “older” types of APIs, which refers […]
ArticlesThe Brilliance of Resilience in a Cognitive World
July 10, 2017
Recent headlines from the halls of Washington, D.C. to our major airports have served to remind us of the increasing complexity and importance of having complete layers of resilience that protect our business systems. These interlocking layers include combinations of high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR), security and managed service solutions that completely envelop and […]
ArticlesLevel Up With PTF Group Level 4!
July 7, 2017
The IBM development team recently released a new PTF group level for open source PTFs.
ArticlesIBM Machine Learning for z/OS Gives Clients the Tools to Make Better, Faster Decisions
July 5, 2017
A customer seeks a home-improvement loan to accommodate her growing home-based business. The bank’s loan officer looks at her credit score. It’s not bad, but it also suggests there’s a high probability she won’t be able to pay back the loan. The loan officer says as much to his manager. Not long thereafter, his boss […]
ArticlesKeeping IBM Machine Learning on z/OS Next to the Data Enhances Analytics
July 5, 2017
Machine learning isn’t some sort of sci-fi-y attempt to make mechanical overlords. Rather, it’s a method by which users can train computers to recognize and even predict patterns in data and, based on machine-learning models, help them make better decisions based on historical, recent and up-to-the-minute information—no matter the format. Machine learning represents an acute […]
ArticlesGet Started With CICS Performance and Tuning
July 5, 2017
This article begins with focus on mainframe CICS but as it progresses, the focus shifts to CICS on all platforms, a progression that matches the product’s development. While techniques discussed are initially mainframe-based and oriented to CICS Transaction Server (TS), most principles and concepts apply to all processing platforms; syntax, parameters and implementation specifics may […]
ArticlesBankwest Modernizes Its Mainframe Integration Environment
July 5, 2017
UP CLOSE Customer: Bankwest Headquarters: Perth, Australia Business: Retail and business banking services Challenge: Reducing complexity between front- and back-end banking platforms Solution: Taking advantage of Java on the mainframe to reduce reliance on traditional middleware Hardware: An IBM z Systems zEnterprise BC12 Software: IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty, Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi) applications, […]
ArticlesHAL 9000. Samantha. KITT. Alexa. Siri. Bixby. Watson.
July 5, 2017
Movies, TV and companies have made artificial intelligence (AI) humanistic with catchy names, appealing voices and unique personalities. You have probably experienced AI via a virtual assistant, seen a Google self-driving car on the road or even implemented an IBM Watson* project in your organization. You’ve probably also heard the terms machine learning, deep learning […]