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LinkedIn Discussion: Getting a List of Power i/IBM i OS Hosting Vendors

In the IBM i Professionals group in LinkedIn Aaron Bartell has opened a discussion intended to create a list of vendors that offer IBM i OS partitions in the cloud. Or as Aaron puts it:

I was hoping we could start a list of vendors that offer IBM i OS in the cloud as a monthly lease service similar to how Amazon does its EC2 service, or how Hosting.com leases resources (i.e. hardware, OS, database, bandwidth, etc).

This is turning into a good discussion and a fair-sized list of vendors who host IBM i partitions. The discussion is now starting to turn to what happens when the thread ends and where can people go to get a compiled list of all the vendors. When I get information on the final list, I’ll try to let you know.

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BCD: New WebSmart 9.0 Client Side Update Now Available

BCD just announced that a new WebSmart 9.0 client side upgrade is available (Build r12383). Continue reading

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Partnerworld: IBM to Reward BPs and Distributors for Selling Hardware/Software Bundles

IBM announces two new programs at PartnerWorld aimed at rewarding Business Partners and Distrributors for selling bundled solutions: the Solutions Accelerator Initiative and the Solutions Accelerator Initiative for Distributors. Continue reading

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MC Press Online: 9 Tips to Implementing Advanced Barcodes

Tom Stockwell at MC Press Online has a nice article today on 9 Tips for Implementing Barcode and RF ID Systems.

Chances are good that a majority of IBM i shops have already implemented a solution for printing out standard bar code. However, just as many people also need to start thinking about advanced bar code technologies, such as Mobile Multi-Colour Composite Codes and coding for RF ID systems. This article is a good primer, if you’re just thinking about these applications.

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IT Jungle: Xerox Launches IAAS Cloud for Power Systems, Intel Servers

Per Alex Woodie at IT Jungle:

Unveiled last month, Xerox Cloud Services enables small and midsized businesses to run their IBM i, AIX, Windows, and Linux applications on servers owned and managed by Xerox and its IT services arm, formerly called ACS. The $21 billion IT services and printing giant is also allowing partners to white label the cloud offering to their own clients.

Good detail here, including Xerox’s belief that there’s a market place for more robust systems than just Intel in the cloud; other companies that provide IBM i cloud services; and why IBM itself hasn’t… Continue reading

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IT Jungle: How to Create IBM i Zip Files if You’re Not on i 7.1

In a recent column, Ted Holt of IT Jungle talked about the state of creating zip files on an IBM i machine.

First, Ted mentioned IBM’s new zip file APIs–QZipZip and QZipUnzip–that IBM added to i 7.1. While this is exciting news, many (most?) IBM i shops won’t be able to used these APIs because they aren’t on i 7.1.

So Ted did what any self-respecting IBM i programmer would do: he demonstrated a secondary way to work with zip files on IBM i 6.1 and i5/OS V5R4 systems…the Java Archive utility. Continue reading

Posted in IBM i Tech Info | 2 Comments

Steve Pitcher’s Lotus Activism Looks to Expand Collaboration Offerings on IBM i

Steve Pitcher is on a one-man campaign to bring all of IBM’s Collaborative Solutions to the IBM i platform. To that end, he’s asking as many people as possible to post the following plea on their Web sites and to register their support for bringing these products to IBM i.

Here’s Steve’s pitch. If you’re an IBM i enthusiast (and I think you know who are), read the following and go to Steve’s Web site if you agree with Steve’s pitch.

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Mochasoft Releases Mocha TN5250 Upgrade for WIndows 7.0

Mochasoft announced today that it is releasing version 2.0 of its Mocha TN5250 emulator for Windows 7.0. They twittered the announcement (@Mochasoft), but there’s no easily found press release on their Web site. The new release was also tweeted as a major bug fixing update.

This follows on the heels of the company releasing Mocha TN5250 for Mac OS X and Mocha TN5250 v1.9 for iPhone/iPad in January.

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IBM Releases Refreshed IBM i Presentations on the Web

Steve Will, the Chief Architect for IBM i, released some refreshed IBM i sales presentation slides that can be viewed (and downloaded) here. There are a lot of nice customer stories here as well as a lot of good informational … Continue reading

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IBM’s V5R4 End of Life Date…Too Long, Too Short, or Just Right?

After the exultation over IBM announcing end of life for V5R4 comes one dissenting voice:

In an article published today called IBM i V5R4 Deadline Still Too Soon, Mel Beckman of the System i Network argues that there are a fair number of customers who still can’t upgrade to V6R1 before September 30, 2013. When compared with these other long-lived products that are still supported, Mel says… Continue reading

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New IT Jungle Article on QFileSvr.400 Connection Issues

IT Jungle just published a new tip I wrote about using QFileSvr.400 to make a connection between two IBM i machines and how to troubleshoot that connection when you’re having problems.

If you’re not familiar, here’s my definition of QFileSvr.400 in 50 words or less:

“The QFileSvr.400 file system is a unique IBM i machine construct. It allows one IBM i machine (IBM Power i, System i, and iSeries hardware running the i, i5/OS, or OS/400 operating system) to access AS/400 IFS files on another IBM i machine…. Continue reading

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Bob Cancilla: Drop That IBM i and Move to the Cloud

Bob Cancilla, a familiar face in the IBM i world, has an interesting column (provocative for IBM i personnel) on his Web site, encouraging readers to drop their IBM i boxes and move to a cloud-based solution. Here’s one of his relevant points.

The total cost of cloud based operations is a fraction of what you will pay in terms of hardware, software, and people to maintain and support your own Power Systems IBM i based environment

There was a linkedin topic that reports that going rate for an IBM i system administrator is $90k per year plus in most parts of the United States. So figure about $120k total cost. That is a lot of money for any company, but especially smaller companies with small IBM i based machines! This is a totally unnecessary expense in a cloud based environment.

I’ll offer a guest blog post on joehertvik.com/ to anyone who wants to rebut Mr. Cancilla.

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Cool White Paper: Why IBM i for SAP

I’ve always wondered why IBM hasn’t pushed IBM i for SAP more. I’ve always heard its performance is increadible, they have the built-in database, they have partitioning technology that is second to none, and like most IBM i shops, you don’t need a big staff to administer a large setup.

Well somebody at IBM is thinking about SAP on IBM i. In November 2011, Walter Lang published a White Paper called Why IBM i for SAP – The Benefits of IBM i and IBM POWER Technology for SAP Business Solutions. It’s not an ultra-slick White Paper (for some reason known only to God, it’s submitted as a Word Doc, not a PDF)…. Continue reading

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IT Jungle: IBM Pulls the Plug on IBM i Discount Deal

Agan, from Tim Prickett Morgan at IT Jungle this morning: “Last week, in announcement letter 312-020, IBM pulled the plug on a pretty generous IBM i discount deal, and it is not clear how much the removal of this deal … Continue reading

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IT Jungle: Word on the Street – New Tech Refresh for IBM i 7.1 This Spring

From Timothy Prickett Morgan at IT Jungle:

Anyway, the word on the street is that Big Blue is crafting another Technology Refresh for IBM i 7.1 and is fixing to have it come to market sometime around April or May. Sources familiar with IBM’s plans were not any more specific than that, and this may be due to the fact that IBM itself may at this point not be sure of the schedule.

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