Management by Intimidation Is a Formula for Failure
July 16, 2019
Over the decades I’ve seen scores of management staff in action, some competent and motivating, others technology savvy yet people ignorant, some just the opposite, some political and back-stabbing, and some truly cost-obsessed. I spent 17 years with IBM and flourished under their management style, then founded an IT consulting firm. Instead of being managed […]
ArticlesDelivered IBM i RFEs
July 11, 2019
A look at a few RFEs that provide enhancements you may not be aware of.
ArticlesScheduler Resource Allocation Domains or What the Heck is SRAD?
July 2, 2019
Technical expert Mark J. Ray explores the Scheduler Resource Allocation Domain and how it relates to performance structures in Power Systems servers running AIX
ArticlesSLAs Simplify Support
June 17, 2019
Service-level agreements (SLAs) were nearly nonexistent when I started in IT. Those of us involved in online systems implementation were too focused on keeping terminal-based applications operational and tolerably responsive to worry about such things; furthermore, no one had heard of them. There wasn’t much pressure for an SLA either, because end users were infatuated […]
ArticlesApplication Performance and Tuning
May 14, 2019
As the original author of “CICS Performance Bulletin” published by IBM Dallas System Center, and co-author of the subsequent IBM “CICS TS Performance Guide” in conjunction with IBM Hursley CICS TS Development, performance and tuning has been a big part of my job. I’ve performed more CICS performance studies than I can count, and almost […]
Let the End User Be Your Guide
April 1, 2019
Although my career has been primarily in OSes, transaction processing, data management/database and network implementation—along with consulting later on—I’ve also participated in application development projects. In my early years, I and an IBM consulting system engineer designed and developed a field developed program called Trend Analysis for CICS/VS, one of the first graphic analysis tools […]
ArticlesImproved Error Handling Increases Usability
March 1, 2019
Errors can be managed, anticipated, controlled and sometimes resolved if an IT development unit is properly structured.
ArticlesIBM Infrastructure Plays a Critical Role in Cloud, AI and Security
February 1, 2019
Cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and security all have underpinnings in infrastructure—the servers, storage and software that power an organization. A purpose-built architecture is critical to achieving the performance needed for current and future business requirements. “Technology alone can’t transform a company, but it’s a very essential ingredient in business transformation,” says Tom Rosamilia, senior vice […]
ArticlesAI-Driven Technological Progress
January 1, 2019
The rate of change for how most tasks in the world are done is accelerating. Like many readers of this publication, I have enough history to contemplate how life was four or five decades ago compared to today. Technological advances have dramatically transformed many life experiences as well as business operations. It’s fair to conclude […]
ArticlesStress Tests Validate Systems and Strain Analysts
January 1, 2019
In conjunction with a client insurance company, I have the dubious distinction and privilege of being an early pioneer in the discipline of stress testing computer systems. Thanks to the wise experience of an IBM Consulting Systems Engineer named Don Lund who took me under his wing and passed his wisdom to me—and mostly kept […]