Mainframe Strategy: Identifying and Solving Common IBM Z Issues
January 19, 2022
One of my recent clients was a Fortune 100 company utilizing many mainframes and all of the complexities that go with it. My client had robust availability, resiliency everywhere, and redundancy exactly where you expect it. They had a multitude of highly skilled individuals keeping their infrastructure and applications running smoothly. They also had an […]
ArticlesPaving a Path Forward on IBM i and AIX
January 10, 2022
As organizations accelerate their digital transformations, IBM i and AIX partners and customers are re-evaluating their approach and planning their path forward. While the pandemic added new challenges, many organizations are facing the same or similar challenges that were present before COVID-19 and now are just at a heightened level of importance. Modernizing RPG Applications […]
ArticlesAre Containers on Mainframes Safe?
December 20, 2021
Let’s just start with some basics: What is a container? A container is a standard unit of software that packages up code and all of its dependencies, so the application runs quickly and reliably in different computing environments. In effect, this container can be taken from one computing platform to another, and it will still […]
ArticlesPerformance and Management Tools for AIX and Power Systems: Features and Use Cases
December 7, 2021
While monitoring and management solutions perform somewhat similar tasks, they’ve traditionally served different enough functions to keep them from being optimally paired as a collaborative unit. Management tools ensure that your system is available, configured properly or optimized and its components are connected correctly and as expected, whereas monitoring tools look for overall system, communication, […]
ArticlesLeveraging IBM Z for Digital Transformation
December 6, 2021
Some observers might doubt whether the mainframe can make any meaningful contribution to digital transformation. They might even view the mainframe as part of the problem, rather than the solution: an overly complex platform running decades-old applications. But that is a gross oversimplification. While it’s true that many of the applications running on the mainframe […]
‘Being in a Minority of One Did Not Make You Mad:’ The Only Mainframer in the Room
November 29, 2021
How often have you been in a meeting where you explain the power and capabilities of the mainframe to a room full of intelligent people, who just don’t get what you are saying? And in your mind, you recall a similar meeting, perhaps three years previously, where a different group of people ignored your recommendation […]
VideoIBM Champion Rob McNelly on the New AIX 7.3 Announcement
October 29, 2021
As I finished running 13.1 miles at the Lake Powell half marathon, I realized that I had not told you about the AIX 7.3 announcement from IBM. The announcement letters are easy enough to find on the IBM website. 7.3 was officially announced on October 19, and although there is more than just the AIX announcement, […]
ArticlesAIX 7.3 Leverages Power10 Processor to Support Customers’ Hybrid Multicloud and AI Endeavors
October 19, 2021
The new AIX 7.3 release brings customers new ways to integrate their mission critical infrastructure with new and enhanced capabilities. IBM designed AIX 7.3 in response to feedback from customers, particularly around extracting business value from data and supporting their hybrid multicloud strategies. Its new features take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Power10 […]
ArticlesA New AIX Video Series and the Latest on AIX Open Beta and Power10
October 14, 2021
A quick professional note: I’ve launched a video series for TechChannel. I’ve recorded three so far, including my latest on the Technical Support Appliance (TSA). Take a moment to check them out—the videos all clock in at around four minutes—and then send me suggestions for topics you’d like to see covered going forward. Being new […]
ArticlesBringing Choice, Consistency and Protection to Hybrid Cloud Strategies
October 13, 2021
Hybrid cloud has quickly grown in popularity, but with this extensive growth it’s more important than ever for organizations to develop strategies that address cost control, IT complexity, cybersecurity threats and data corruption. When developing a hybrid cloud strategy, notes Scott Baker, VP, Storage Product Marketing for IBM, it’s important for organizations to define what […]