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January 14, 2010

When Haiti Hits Home

Nerves were frayed a bit this morning when we realized that one of our friends and IBM i tech editors, Bryan Meyers, was doing some work in Port-au-Prince, Haiti when the earthquake struck Tuesday. But after a few frantic emails another tech editor confirmed that he is okay.

He may not be returning to the states when he originally planned, but he is fine.

Join us in sending good thoughts to Bryan and the Haitian people as they recover from this natural disaster.

--Rita-Lyn Sanders, Senior Industry Editor

Posted by rsanders on January 14, 2010 at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2009

IBM i Vendors Win and Place in IBM's Beacon Awards

Earlier this month, IBM announced the winners of its annual IBM Beacon Awards competition, which recognizes IBM BPs for outstanding delivery of value to clients and innovative approaches to solving business issues. The awards cross most of IBM's solution portfolio, and a handful of IBM i-focused vendors faired well.

MSI Systems Integrators was named the winner of the Outstanding Power of i Business Solution category, while Datapro Computer Systems Co., Ltd. and Vision Solutions Inc. were finalists in the category.

In the Outstanding Enterprise Application Solution by an ISV, ERP heavyweight SAP edged out IBM i-focused VAI and LANSA, who were finalists.

For a full list of categories and winners, check out IBM's Beacon Awards site.

--Chris Maxcer, news editor

Posted by cmaxcer on June 24, 2009 at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2009

Spread a Little TLC--Volunteer at COMMON

If you're attending COMMON's annual conference in Reno next month, you might consider giving a little TLC to the organization.

TLC in this case doesn't stand for Tender Loving Care (as we learned it to mean back in grade school), but rather Tactical Liaisons to Curriculum. COMMON needs a few more people to volunteer for TLC positions at its annual meeting and exposition in Reno April 26-30. TLCs help speakers with sessions by coordinating and monitoring on-site issues. Total time commitment is about 16-18 hours, according to the COMMON website. TLCs must attend an orientation meeting on Sunday afternoon and then be available for half-day shifts Monday through Thursday. The rest of the time volunteers are free to attend educational sessions.

And perhaps the best part? COMMON will reimburse each TLC's conference registration cost at the member/conference hotel rate! No excuses for not going if your training budget has been cut in half!

Get more information about volunteering as a TLC at COMMON's website. The volunteer application also is online.

--Rita-Lyn Sanders, senior industry editor

Posted by rsanders on March 30, 2009 at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2009

Blogs - They're STILL ALIVE!

Contrary to what I was beginning to believe, there are several i-blogs still alive and well. Here are a few that were suggested by our LinkedIn group:

http://coursey.com/ - general musings on computer stuff, some i-related
http://www.kilnerblog.com/ - technical blog that focuses all around the i http://midmed.blogspot.com/ - ruminations on the midrange market
http://mowyourlawn.com/blog/ - mostly techie blog with lots of useful info
http://ibmsystemsmag.blogs.com/idevelop/ - a mix of technie and non-technie info about all things i
http://blogs.systeminetwork.com/isnblogs/maxedout/ - non-technie blog for the latest in i-news

If you have any more to add, feel free to comment below and I'll add them to the list!

--Erin Bradford, systems management & availability editor

Posted by ebradford on January 12, 2009 at 4:41 PM | Comments (2)

November 5, 2008

IBM Hopes to Seduce iFans with Irresistible Rewards

In a recent news release, IBM reveals that it's ready to pull out all the stops to gain customers to the Power brand. In the release, titled "IBM Quadruples Value Points to Entice Sun SPARC Customers to Move to Power Systems," the company lays out its plans to entice Sun and HP customers over to the Power side with enhanced reward program offerings. Sun recently announced end-of-life for all SPARC-IV products anyway, so it seems like a frugal move for those users to hop on the iTrain.

Enhancements to the IBM Power Rewards migration program will include a 4X increase in reward points for customers moving workloads from Sun SPARC, UltraSPARC, or SPARC64 processor-based servers, from either Sun or Fujitsu, to IBM Power Systems.

The IBM Power Rewards program offers reward points similar to frequent-flyer points for moving to a Power System. Customers can redeem points toward no-charge migration services to move from HP-UX or Sun Solaris to AIX or Linux operating environments.

To increase interest in migrating, IBM has increased the rewards points for customers moving from Sun or Fujitsu servers based on SPARC, UltraSPARC, or SPARC64 processors, so those new customers can get 4,000 points per move, making each core of a SPARC processor redeemable for up to $4,000 worth of migration services.

With Power Rewards, customers can turn in multiple servers (with multiple cores) to build up unlimited points. For example, a customer who replaces a 256-core Sun M9000 server could earn up to 1,024,000 points, worth more than $1 million in free services.

To sink HP's ship and grab some survivors, IBM is also giving HP PA-RISC-based Superdome customers quadruple rewards points for PA-RISC-based system migrations.

--Erin Bradford, systems management & availability editor

Posted by ebradford on November 5, 2008 at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2008

IBM Gives i-folk Some Christmas Cash

From now until the end of 2008, you can receive a rebate for each eligible new Capacity Upgrade on Demand (CUoD) processor activation you acquire for a qualifying installed IBM System i 550, 570, and/or 595 server. Rebate amounts range from $750 to $8,000, depending on the CUoD processor activation feature(s) acquired.

With CUoD for System i, companies and organizations can install more processors and memory than are initially required (if they can get manager approval, that is....), and then bring that additional capacity online quickly when demand increases and the heat is on.

In order to qualify for a rebate, IBM records must show the qualifying System i5 550, 570, and/or 595 server as being installed in a customer location before September 16, 2008.

See the full release with eligible systems and upgrades here.

To read more about CUoD, check out this article from our archives.

--Erin Bradford, systems management & availability editor

Posted by ebradford on October 30, 2008 at 2:57 PM | Comments (1)

October 2, 2008

Vision Gets Down at Birthday Bash

Vision Solutions is throwing a special System i shindig to honor its 20th anniverary. Vision Solutions will host a seminar and hospitality day during the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) in Dubai on October 21, 2008. Representatives from both IBM and ERI Bancaire, a developer of banking and asset management software, will be there to celebrate.

“Twenty years of innovation is indeed an achievement and we’re proud of our relationship with IBM as we continue to sustain excellence through the hard work, dedication and the cooperation of many talented people,” says Regional Sales Director for Vision Solutions, Alexander Trekin. “Vision Solutions has worked with IBM practically since the groundbreaking beginnings of the AS/400 and the RS/6000 —we’ve all come a long way since that first release and we look forward to another 20 years of innovative technologies.”

IT professionals from the Middle East, North Africa, and Russia are will be at the Dubai event to learn about leading business solutions and service providers throughout the region. Vision Solutions and ERI will be showcasing their respective solutions at the event, and notably, both companies offer products that directly serve the Middle East banking community.

“We are happy to celebrate the 20th anniversary of IBM Power Systems with Vision Solutions,” says Wael Abdoush, IBM Manager of Systems & Technology Group, Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan. “We value our relationship with partners and Vision Solutions continues to provide excellent technologies to support our System i and System p customers.”

During the one-day seminar, Vision Solutions will present research on security, DR, and HA, and discuss the benefits of decreasing downtime during mainntenance and upgrades.

For more information about the event or to register to attend, click here.

Posted by ebradford on October 2, 2008 at 3:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2008

I Truly Want an i

I want an i! I do. I want it right here in my office so that I can use it every day. So what if I’m a person and not a shop. So what if I'm an editor and not a programmer/analyst. If I’m going to edit and write articles about the i, I want one.

I’ve seen i boxes on stage at COMMON, but I’ve never touched one. I long to fiddle with RDi-SOA tools, to analyze web applications developed with J2EE/RPG, to become one with PHP, to code SQL statements, and to explore database security options.

My i scrapbook features pictures of the i as a System/32, S/34, S/36, S/38, and AS/400. I drool at the sleekness of the latest boxes, stacks, and racks shown in the IBM website photo gallery. I’d like to order the entire model 570, 520/525, 595 (with I/O tower), 550 (with minitower), and 515 package. Do you think IBM would send Frank Soltis, too, to sort it all out and plug everything in?

Aficionados say the i stands for indestructible, innovative, incredible, and imaginative--the qualities of a perfect office mate.

But wait! I just discovered a cardboard stand-up of an IBM System i5 in a storage room. I’m dragging it through the hall right now. I’m setting it up right next to my desk. I’m staring at it, I’m touching it. I’ve got an i! Neener, neener! Now, how does it work?

--Vicki Hamende, application development & database editor

Posted by vhamende on July 22, 2008 at 3:41 PM | Comments (3)

July 1, 2008

Snapshots From the 20th Anniversary Celebration

Remember the 20th anniversary celebration of the AS/400 in Rochester, Minnesota June 23? We managed to acquire a few photos from the event. Check 'em out:

Bill Zeitler, Senior VP & Group Executive of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, receives a congratulatory hand-shake from Dan Kimmell, Treasurer of COMMON, on the AS/400 20th anniversary.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the AS/400 are (left to right): Ross Mauri, IBM's GM Power System, Tom Holtsbery, COMMON member, Dan Kimmell, Treasurer of COMMON, Bill Zeitler, Senior VP & Group Executive of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, Alex Beltran, COMMON member and Randy Dufault, President of COMMON.

On June 23, 2008, COMMON members Alex Beltran and Tom Holtsbery are standing next to the AS/400 at the 20th Anniversary celebration of the system.

Posted by cmaxcer on July 1, 2008 at 10:57 AM | Comments (1)

June 30, 2008

Introducing Industry Bits!

Welcome to our new Industry Bits blog!

This blog is group effort that will feature System iNEWS editors' perspectives on issues and events that affect the midrange market and are of interest to the professionals who keep it all running.

Personally, I'll still be posting on Maxed Out, and our editors will continue posting product-related news on Product Lines. Industry Bits is designed to give voices to more ideas, news, and editors. As always, don't hesitate to post your comments and insights!

--Chris Maxcer, News Editor

Posted by cmaxcer on June 30, 2008 at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)