System iNetwork

August 8, 2008

New IBM i Sandbox Lets You "Tinker, Test, and Try" Application Modernization

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled on an IBM website, IBM Enterprise Modernization Sandbox, which has an area for IBM i, the Sandbox for IBM i. It even sports a funny little graphic of a sandbox sprouting servers. On the main page, IBM notes:

"Today millions of lines of RPG application code are running critical business functions on AS/400, iSeries, and System i servers. Although this code works perfectly well and is a source of competitive advantage, it also hinders innovation. Outdated and incomplete documentation, inefficient tools, and skills gaps limit your ability to support new capabilities that users have come to expect.

One of the important decisions you face is when and how to modernize your i5/OS applications to provide improved user interfaces and integration with new technologies, such as web and service-oriented architectures (SOA)."

Hmm. Obviously something interesting is going on here at IBM. I contacted someone at IBM media relations who put me in touch via an email Q&A with Saleem Padani, who handles IBM's Enterprise Modernization Marketing for IBM Rational Software (we both were traveling at the time and couldn't connect via the phone). In any event, here's the Q&A:

CM: Can you give a brief history and describe the purpose of the Sandbox?



SP: The IBM i Sandbox lets you evaluate the IBM Rational Enterprise Modernization Solutions for IBM i through practical hands-on experience. These solutions focus on five key modernization areas: Assets, Architectures, Skills, Processes, and Investment. Each solution is based upon real customer experiences and offers a proven path to get you started with your modernization projects.

The IBM i Sandbox is comprised of best practices and hands-on software trials to help bridge from understanding to adoption. The best practices were defined based on many proof-of-concepts and proof-of-technology engagements by IBM’s leading architects and consultants working with our customers to identify and document the most straightforward challenges that customers are addressing using IBM’s enterprise modernization portfolio. The best practices are available in the new developerWorks Sandbox portal with easy access to all of the Sandbox materials. 

Each entry point is divided into four categories, Learn, Try, Buy and Support. "Learn" provides an overview of the entry points and the products that are included in the sandbox. "Try" provides instructions for online and downloadable trials and detailed steps for the hands-on entry point exercises. "Buy" and "Support" cover the information you need to begin adopting the reuse entry point in your own environment. The hosted sandbox for IBM i provides instant hands-on experience through a "ready to go" Sandbox and tutorials. Developers can use the hosted Sandbox to gain instant hands-on experience by either following the online tutorials in HTML or as printable PDF documents. These tutorials are created based on common scenarios and best practices. Each tutorial would normally take less than an hour to complete. The Sandbox environment is free and available around the clock from any machine with an Internet access.   


CM: What's IBM hoping the Sandbox will do for IBM and for customers? 


SP: IBM is trying to simplify and speed adoption of our latest Rational tooling for the IBM i platform and get this technology into the hands of practitioners. The IBM i Sandbox makes it easy and fun to quickly try our latest product capabilities without downloading or installing these products on their local machine. Online trials help accelerate customer buying decisions and reduce the investment of time and resources they need to apply during evaluation of key technologies they intend to adopt for their modernization efforts.   
  


CM: Some of the features are not yet ready for IBM i . . . any hints on a possible timeline?

SP: Today the IBM i Sandbox hosts scenarios involving Rational Developer for System i, Rational Developer for System i for SOA Construction, and Rational Host Access Transformation Services. We are currently working to add new scenarios that would also showcase offerings such as X-Analysis, which provides comprehensive support for discovery and understanding of RPG applications. We will also add scenarios for IBM Rational Team Concert for IBM i which will be available later this year. Also later this year, IBM will add new scenarios to help our customers evaluate the new Rich User Interface capabilities with IBM Rational Business Developer. 
  


CM: How has the reception been so far? 

SP: The IBM i Sandbox has been live for two months. We have received good response from both our customers and business partners. We will continue to enhance this offering by adding more cross-brand products and provide a complete end-to-end solution for IBM i customers who are looking to modernize, optimize, or consolidate their core business applications written in RPG, COBOL, EGL, or Java for the IBM i platform. 


Posted by cmaxcer at August 8, 2008 10:35 PM