Change Management Is for All Developers

This PowerUp blog entry was written by Bruce Guetzkow. He has been an IT professional for more than 25 years, mostly with Power Systems servers running IBM i and its predecessors. He is currently Webmaster for the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association, an advisor for the Programmer/Analyst Track and Adjunct Instructor at Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wis., and an independent consultant for GmanTech Consulting in Delavan, Wis.

Proper management of source and objects is crucial to delivering quality applications. Having mismatched source and objects mean never being sure that the changes you’re making will work as planned. Even the most carefully planned manual process can be prone to errors.

Change management is an application designed to ensure a consistent, reliable process to maintain business environments. This is important whether you are part of a large team or the sole developer in an organization.

All developers should know that objects need to be created in a well-defined sequence: physical files, then logical files, printer and display files, etc. The sequence does not change with each update unless new objects are added to the mix, as happened when the Integrated Language Environment (ILE) introduced modules and service programs to IBM i. The sequence is logical and not difficult to understand, it is just tedious to deal with when installing application changes. These rules, which can be defined within change management tools, will be followed for each application update. They can also be modified should a future need arise.

When IBM first launched the AS/400 server, its applications were typically very simple. Companies could easily build their own tools to manage source and objects. Today's applications involve complex designs, incorporating components that may not even reside on a Power Systems box. Even those that exist solely within the IBM i framework may include parts stored on the Integrated File System (IFS), which may require special handling. While companies may still be able to build their own tools, as new technologies continue to emerge and be adopted, these tools must also be adapted to meet those challenges.

Without endorsing any specific vendor, several excellent change-management products are available that not only manage traditional source and objects but also newer Web-related ones. In addition, many of these tools also make it easy to keep various working environments in-sync, such as production, development and multiple test environments. If your development or test environment is different from your production environment, are you sure you know what you’re developing or testing?

Change management is not a function of the size of a development team. Some people believe that change management is not necessary for a small development team as everyone knows what the others are doing and contention for source and objects can be resolved simply by shouting over the cubicle walls. Even as a one-man development team, I felt that having change management tools was a necessity to keep environments viable. In addition, I could always be assured that source and objects were installed in a consistent manner. If a particular object had special requirements, such as an override or temporary creation of a dependent object, the change-management solution, once instructed, would always remember those requirements for subsequent changes.

If you aren’t using any change-management process (homegrown or vendor-developed) to manage your development process, consider how much time you spend with each application update. I believe that the return on investment will be quickly recovered with the time savings and certainty of knowing that your process has properly updated all environments.

Good, Better, Best–a Review of an Award Winning Case Study a Decade Later

This PowerUp blog entry was written by Nigel Fortlage. An IBM Champion for Power, Fortlage is CIO and VP of IT for GHY International.

In 2002 my company, GHY, approached the end of lease of its existing IBM midrange server. This was not a new occurrence as we had started with the platform in 1989 on our original AS/400 B35. We thought our 2002 experience would be like the other times when we did an equipment roll over. Little did we know that was the start of a journey over the last decade that won awards, solved problems, enabled service improvements and powered innovation. As you will come to learn, this is not the journey at its conclusion, but rather a review of an ongoing story that focuses on business needs, user satisfaction and always chasing the vision of making IT simple.

In the blog entry, I will be reviewing the details behind the story, helping others understand not only the technological gains and rationale, but the business case created and approved that allowed this story to unfold.

The Story of GHY

In 2002 we upgraded our eServer 720 to an iSeries 270 and 820 that went into service in 2003. That brought into play the first virtualization and server consolidation activity at GHY. At this time, we left most of the Intel workloads on stand-alone boxes. It also set the bar for the gains we recognized and continue to benchmark against in order to preserve the level of simplicity that it introduced to our operations. Of most significance was the shift from spending time being reactive to being proactive, and focusing on the business and user needs.

Eighteen months later we were given the opportunity to begin planning for POWER5 technology, which went live in 2005. Of most significance with this platform, like the new PureFlex system, could run all four operating systems (OS/400–now i, AIX, Linux and Windows) in virtual machines simultaneously. The OS/400, AIX and Linux environments were IBM POWER technology-based LPARs, while the Windows server instances ran natively on cards (blades) that were installed in the I/O chassis of the machine.  One key difference between the current design of the new PureFlex systems and that design was that PureFlex uses a hypervisor that is independent of the operating system. With the POWER5 environment, on the other hand, OS/400 managed the whole solution and treated AIX and Linux as guest operating systems under OS/400 management.  This was our first exposure to hyper reliable Windows servers that didn’t require regular rebooting because of the OS/400 oversight and memory management of the Windows servers.

The key business deliverable in this initiative was maintaining the many hard and soft gains we had from the first step in our journey, but also providing environment choice for the business to select applications that suited their needs rather than applications that fit what we had. It was during this phase that we replaced all of our core business systems as we had no technology constraints holding us back.

With the economic downturn that began in 2008, like many businesses we had to maintain status quo as growth was tempered. It was at this time, as we held our own, that I added an element of business development to my corporate role along with my VP IT role. As the business became hyper focused on delivering new added value and growth-oriented strategies, we were able to start planning in 2009 for growth as the world economy started to come out of the depths of the downturn. That planning resulted in delivery of what I have been told is the world’s first commercially sold POWER7 server to our data center in January 2010.

POWER7 technology represents a fundamental shift from POWER5 technology. This has enabled steady growth using this platform without additional investment from the business. We also were able to use some of the industry “best practices” by adding our first SAN from IBM using multitiered storage to support storage virtualization, adding VMware to virtualize Intel workloads and adding fibre switching to connect everything. This added new layers to manage but virtualized our data center. 

The business outcomes with this solution were both hard and soft. We first wanted to maintain the gains we had from our 2003 and 2005 initiatives, and we added new capabilities for growth enablement such as running Intel technology-based Linux workloads on IBM Power, which extended the value proposition of the Power server. The technology was much “greener” with regard to power and cooling—our data center is running at least 4 degrees cooler with that hardware and our UPS battery power has longer run times when supporting this new platform. That green message is very powerful when taken to market. I learned this when new marketing responsibilities was added to my existing IT leadership position.

What's Next?

So now in front of us is a decision to consider our end-of-lease actions in 2014. Do we hold our own as we have no capacity reasons to help drive these discussions as the introduction of POWER7 addressed that exceptionally.  The pureFlex System offers many benefits that we see as worth talking about but here is the list of factors as we see them today:

• The economy will be a large driver
• Reducing complexity in IT will be a key driver
• Simplifying management under one pane of glass is critical
• Preserving all of our gains through this last decade is key
• Allowing for growth without constantly going back year after year to ask for more funds is critical

Each point has its own business (not IT) story. I will share that during the session at the IBM Power Technical University in Las Vegas on Oct. 29 to Nov. 2. If you’re planning to attend, come on out to one of the sessions: Tuesday, Oct 30, 11:45 a.m. and Wednesday, Oct 31 4:15 p.m.

About GHY International

Founded in Winnipeg in 1901 by George Henry Young, GHY International is one of Canada’s oldest customs brokerage companies, and is family owned and managed by the fourth-generation great grandson of Mr. Young, Richard Riess. In February 2012, GHY International was recognized as the only Gold Standard Level certified provider of exclusive customs brokerage services in North America by Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies. This is the fourth year in a row of qualification for the firm.

 Over the years, the company has grown to become national and international in scope, with more than 100 employees providing Canadian and U.S. importers and exporters with a full range of international trade services leveraged around our core competency of Customs Brokerage, International Trade Compliance and International Trade Risk Management.

About Nigel Fortlage

  I am a passionate leader who happens to oversee technology. I believe that technology is best leveraged as an enabler. I see possibilities and solutions, not roadblocks and barriers. I lead an award winning team of professionals who fuel my desire to push the boundaries in all things we do. I enjoy a wide diverse portfolio of responsibility. I oversee all aspects of social media as part of our overall business development strategy. I actively participate in business development opportunities including client visits and sales calls. I share my passion, knowledge, and insights through written articles, interviews, public speaking venues nationally and internationally, and in person. I started my working life on the vendor side. I strive to develop partnerships in all aspects of delivering customer care. I have a Certificate in Applied Management: Information Technology Specialization through the University of Manitoba. Accepted the IBM Innovation Award for the iSeries server on behalf of GHY International in Chicago in 2005.

 

 

Rebuilding the IBM i Empire

This PowerUp blog post was written by Brian Lannoye, a programmer at Masters Gallery Foods Inc., in Plymouth, Wis. He’s been working there as a programmer on the IBM i platform since June 2010.

I recently had a conversation with my former ILE instructor, Jim Buck, and somewhere between subprocedures and sailboats we got onto the subject of schools (or lack thereof) teaching for the IBM i.  Currently, 96 schools worldwide teach at least one course related to the IBM i platform, and of those only 44 are in the U.S., according to Peter Glass, program manager for Power Systems Academic Initiative.

In addition, many new ILE developers are not in their 20s. They are 35 to 45. They lose their job or change careers in their mid 30s, like me for instance, and are re-trained for the IBM platform. Some believe that our platform is on a slow decline to extinction.  Let’s assume that’s true. What can the ILE developer do about it?

Everyone on this platform has a responsibility—a duty—to keep it alive and strong. To grow, not just maintain. To maintain something is just another way of saying you are delaying its inevitable demise. We have a unique platform that performs faster, is more reliable and easier to maintain than others. But like anybody, sometimes we can be slow to embrace change.

Build on IBM i’s Strong Heritage

Trevor Perry, an independent consultant who spoke at the iBelieve NY event last month, was quoted by IT Jungle as saying, "We (the IBM i community) have a very strong heritage, and sometimes people get our heritage confused with our future." In that same article Timothy Prickett-Morgan goes on to say, “We all need to learn new things that are part of the IBM i platform and make sure they actually get used solving real business problems. It is difficult, and frustrating. But it needs to be done.” 
Is he right? 

You bet he’s right! How many of you reading this refuse to use a microwave because the stovetop is good enough? How many of you are still driving the 1988 car of the year, the Pontiac Grand Prix, because those new cars have way too much technology?  So why should we shut our minds to the latest and greatest IBM has to offer? 

RPGLE has been around for nearly a decade. Why is it when I search for a solution on the Web, all I get is punch card RPG examples? I guarantee no 20-plus year old is going to be inspired by that. When they see a service program, the i equivalent of a .dll being used by four different programs, they will be more likely to see what we’re all about. 

The same goes for the user interface. Who’s developing apps with a modern front end?  Even on the green screen, where can we as developers improve the user experience? Programs shouldn’t be rigid and difficult to figure out. They should be intuitive. They should be designed for the novice and expert alike. If I have to read a manual every time I want to perform a task on an application, chances are I’m not going to use that app. On the other hand, once I understand the basics, I want to move on and start learning the shortcuts. The Windows world has been doing this for years, and there is no reason we can’t as well.

Bottom line is, even if you are a 64-year-old ILE developer who plans to retire next year, don’t ever give up. Make it a point to experiment. Try something new every day. What’s the saying? Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone? Coding in fixed? Try converting some of it to /free. Using SEU? Try Rational Developer for Power once a week. Building a work file? Try some SQL instead. Rational offers a great free SQL editor and database explorer called Data Studio. I’ve been using it since I started at Masters Gallery. 

Still using subroutines? Try converting one to a local procedure. Add parameters to it, or have it return a value. Then convert it into a separate module, and bind it with the program. Get on the blogs and discussion boards and ask questions. Share your thoughts about what works for you and what doesn’t. By doing these things, you may help or inspire a new ILE developer.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Rome would have never happened if a whole lot of people didn’t take the steps necessary to grow.

My Redbooks Writing Experience

This PowerUp blog entry was written by Rick Flagler, a consultant and educator with 30-plus years' experience on IBM i and various ERP systems. He teaches IBM i classes at Keene State College and specializes in DB2/SQL and RPG.

Are you passionate about some aspect of IBM i systems? Did you ever want to write a book? If these two things intersect for you, then maybe doing a residency at IBM is for you.

I did this during the summer of 2012, spending June as part of a team working on a Redbooks publication in Rochester, Minn. In case you are unfamiliar with the term, a Redbooks publication is developed with the guidance of IBM's International Technical Support Organization (ITSO) and focuses on a technical topic of interest.

Redbooks publications are how-to books describing hardware or software products and capabilities. They also typically contain a wealth of information for the readers, enabling them to use the described product(s) more effectively. Residency participants are selected from ranks of IBM employees, customers and business partners. The subject of our residency was DB2 Web Query, an implementation guide that spans installation, setup, capabilities and tips. The team was a multicultural and multinational group with members from Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Indonesia, Nicaragua and the U.S.

My interest in this project stemmed from a long-time desire to do a Redbooks publication, my DB2 expertise over 30 years working on IBM i and its predecessors, and a deep interest in business-intelligence (BI) tools and metrics. I'd been Involved in projects to build or renovate DB2 databases originally built on DDS. Because I teach DB2/SQL at Keene State College, I need to stay abreast of advancements in SQL and query technology. I've enjoyed working  with DB2 for i and DB2 Web Query is a great addition to the IBM i arsenal. The opportunity to go to the source and work with the new release of DB2 Web Query before it hit the streets was one that I didn't want to pass up. It was sort of like attending COMMON but staying for a month! 

IBM publishes a list of open residencies on the Redbooks website, click on the Residencies link. Getting accepted isn't difficult but it helps to have complementary experience on the residency’s topic and sufficient enthusiasm to go the distance.  Many times it’s more about timing and whether you can set aside other activities for between four and six weeks. Not everybody can do that but if the justification is what's bothering you, think what benefits accrue from a chance to immerse yourself in the technology, meet the experts and play with the software or hardware for several weeks. The benefits last long after the project is complete. 

The Residency Experience

I was lucky that the timing was right for me. After some planning, I loaded up a big suitcase and headed to Rochester for the month. I had been there before about a decade earlier, but the instructions “watch for the Big Blue building on your left, you can't miss it," still gave me a sense of anticipation as I drove up Highway 52 through Rochester toward the facility. 

After checking in and meeting the rest of the team, we landed in a well-equipped conference room that would be our daily home for the next four weeks. Outside was the "lab", an area housing more racks of Power Systems than most people ever see. Officially titled as IBM Lab Systems and Storage and Technology Group, the folks manning these systems do benchmarks and testing and proof-of-concept activities. They'd carved out a couple LPARs on which we could do our work. A sign on the wall said "Welcome to Rochester where the winters are cold but the systems are Hot!" 

The first couple days were spent familiarizing ourselves with Version 2.1 of Web Query. The product has been frequently updated since it debuted but this was a bigger update. For example, In V2.1 the Web-based Info Assist development tool becomes the primary user interface for report, chart and document development, replacing Report Assistant, Graph Assistant and Power Painter, which were present in the previous version. 

To help us get up to speed, we heard presentations from experts and were able to pose questions to a number of support people and developers from the Rochester team. Next we had time to play with the software and because the product was still in beta, a few bugs required work-arounds at first, as might be expected. Part of our mission was to shake out the software by doing things that typical clients, consultants and developers might do. In most cases features worked pretty much as we expected them to and the transition from the old version to the new version was less painful than we thought it would be.

The version 2 guide, like its version 1 predecessor, contains several tutorials and examples. We revised these and added new chapters for topics such as Mobile Favorites, dealing with viewing BI presentations on tablets and phones. Our mission to rewrite this book and bring it up to speed including any screenshots or examples for the existing and new functionality of Web Query.  By the time we were done, the draft of the book was some 900 pages in length. You'll be able to download this publication sometime this fall from the Redbooks site. The prior version was one of the most frequently downloaded books and this one probably will be too.

It wasn't all work and no play. Downtown Rochester hosts an event called Thursday 1st and 3rd. This is held weekly at the junction of 1st and 3rd streets downtown, on Thursday nights of course. Varieties of live music, artists, crafts-people and food are served. Our predominately non-U.S. team enjoyed experiencing every aspect of this offering, trying new foods and buying some souvenirs. One Thursday evening we unexpectedly got trapped in a Mayo Clinic lobby waiting out a fierce storm and accompanying downpour. On a weekend day we took a road trip to local caves where we ended up some 200 feet beneath the Minnesota farm country, in caverns spanning miles underground. We visited the National Eagle Center where bald eagles live near the Mississippi River.

We also got a tour of the IBM Rochester facility and saw where Power Systems servers are born,  including the very interesting Custom Solutions Center, where IBM can basically create whatever a client wants and then support it. 

Productive and Fun

The four weeks I spent in Rochester will go down as some of the most productive AND fun times I’ve had with a group of technology colleagues. We came, we wrote, and we met new people and made new friends. I recommend Rochester for the city’s hospitality and IBM Rochester and the IBM ITSO group for providing interesting learning opportunities (and hot systems). 

i Colleagues Learn New Skills Through Hands-On LUG Activity

This PowerUp blog post was written by Laura Ubelhor, who owns and operates Consultech Services, Inc., a Rochester, Mich.-based consulting company established in 1992. Laura has extensive hands-on experience specializing in IBM i application technologies and working with a long list of clients in a variety of businesses.

When pondering how to encourage and help local i colleagues enhance and broaden skills and how to enthuse local i colleagues to participate in user group activities, the thought came to mind to use a hands-on activity to provide LUG members an opportunity to learn new and current skills. It was an idea that I knew would require time commitment and funding to put into action. I was pleased to see a grant offered by the Maxava iFoundation and filled out the application. My local user group, SEMIUG, received the grant and the plan was put into action.

The objectives included providing a means for LUG members to learn new skills through a hands-on experience, working on a live project, to encourage LUG organizations to use new technology and to drum up enthusiasm to participate within LUG activities. The starting point was aligning a box to complete the hands-on activity. Fortunately Larry Bolhuis (iDevcloud) was kind enough to provide a reduced rate. I decided to use a PHP project–knowing it is a current and hot technology, the cost would be minimal and it’s a skill that I am comfortable with.

The plan was to use a LUG member organization project for the learning experience and to enlist local user group members as participants. Once the concept of having a project coded for free was understood it was not difficult to find organizations willing to provide a project for the activity. The only requirement for an organization or individual to participate was they had to be a current LUG member.

It was easy to round up a group of 20 participants with varying degrees of skills and exposure to Web development. We split into teams, not to compete but to allow all participants an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and actively work on the project. The chosen project was quite robust including add, change, delete, inquiry, internal user application, external user application, email notification with attachments, creation of PDF and excel documents, call to an RPG program, and security requirements. Detail specifications were provided for the project.

The first meeting kicked off with an overview of PHP and a review of the project plan. Participants were given homework to start the learning process. It was interesting to see how each team took a different approach to creating applications, how quickly teams were able to begin coding and also to see how the teams bonded during the learning process. Participants had varying skills and did a great job working with and helping each throughout the activity. The meetings/sessions were completed with participants joining in remotely using GoToMeeting. We had on-site interaction before and after regularly scheduled user group meetings. Most participants were from SEMIUG and a couple from WMSUG. The activity was completed over a three-month period. We used Zend studio for coding and everyone was set up with the capability to sign on to the box remotely. Part of the project requirement was to code and test the applications and also to create user documentation.

At the end of the set timeline we scheduled a big reveal. The activity was a fun gathering held as a regularly scheduled user group meeting. Zend's Mike Pavlak was onsite for the big reveal of the completed projects. Each team showed its completed applications followed by a panel critique of the finished projects. Zend provided support throughout the project and also furnished prizes for meeting attendees and project participants including t-shirts, pins and copies of Kevin Schroeder’s book “You Want to do What with PHP?” After the finished applications were reviewed closely, a project was chosen and feedback was provided. Based on the system users’ feedback, all participants pitched in and did a final round of enhancements on the chosen application.

The outcome of the activity was beyond what we set out to accomplish. Forming teams and completing a project from start to finish also included developing and using project management and team interaction skills. Participants walked away with new skills. Several participants have already put their new skills into action, a member organization has a PHP application running in production (a new technology for their environment), and user group attendance and enthusiasm took a boost.

It was exciting to see how much effort participants put into the activity encouraged by their desire to learn new skills. I would like to see the hands-on LUG activity grow to include other user groups and provide an opportunity for more LUG members to learn/expand skills. Discussion and plans are already in motion to expand the activity to include other user groups. We are hoping to have another activity later this year. The first round proved the idea works with participants joining in remotely. The long-term success of the activity is dependent upon resource and funding. By including other user groups it is more likely the hands-on LUG activity will continue and will reach more i colleagues. We likely will do more PHP activities, but it is also a great fit for the development of other skills, such as RPG Free, ILE, SQL, WebQuery, iSeries Access for Web, RDp, RPG Open Access, mobile applications, etc. What are your thoughts on hands-on LUG activity?

PHP and SSL Work Together on IBM i

The following blog entry was written by Larry Nies, president of NSC, Inc. He has been working with PHP on the IBM i since 2005, when he installed his first open-source PHP stack. The following year, he switched to the Zend Technologies PHP application server for IBM i.

While working with a customer recently on a PHP application that we had developed to manage the customer’s server user IDs and passwords, it became apparent that the application was going to need stronger security and encryption to protect the stored data. The Password Vault application, as we call it, runs on the IBM i using the Zend Technologies Zend Server. It allows a user to collectively store user IDs and passwords for websites, PCs, servers, etc, and provides the ability to manage them individually or by vault category.

The original scope of the project dictated that we needed a method to document the access to various servers and websites, and to have that documented information located in a secured area for access by the IT staff. Like everything else in life, we all have a tendency to misplace or forget our passwords/user IDs especially on those servers or websites we don’t access often.

Writing the PHP application was the least of our issues as it involved some PHP, CSS, jQuery and AJAX. Then, voila, we were ready. As we wanted to assure that we had protected our precious data, some critical thinking to bring it all together was necessary. We discovered the Zend Server system includes built-in OpenSSL extension.

We began to look into using our PHP application with the Zend Server in conjunction with an IBM i Apache server instance to secure the data. From there we began adding to the Apache instance the ability to listen on Port 443 (the default port for SSL). When we made the changes to this HTTP instance, we also generated an application ID that we could use in the IBM Digital Certificate Manager. Now we could attach a local-generated certificate to that application ID. To verify our digital certificate credentials, we used the SSL Shopper website, which runs an SSL checker to determine if everything is lined up properly in your certificate. Once this was completed, we ran our PHP application using the HTTPS protocol, providing the protection we were looking for.

In the end, we used the Zend Server PHP application server, IBM’s Apache instance running the Zend Server and listening on Port 443 for our SSL, and last but not least IBM’s Digital Certificate Manager--all of this running on our IBM i. Just goes to show with a little bit of thought and planning you can get more out of your IBM i.

LUGs Thrive in the i Community

This PowerUp blog post was written by Laura Ubelhor, who owns and operates Consultech Services, Inc., a Rochester, Mich.-based consulting company established in 1992. Laura has extensive hands-on experience specializing in IBM i application technologies and working with a long list of clients in a variety of businesses.

Some years ago when I began my journey into a career as an IBM midrange system professional, I purposely sought out others locally with the same interests. I realized early on as an IT professional there would always be change--something new to learn, new tools, new technology, new methodologies, new ways to improve and enhance solutions.

Exploring how to meet the need to keep current I sought training, education and also interaction with like colleagues. With some research I found several local user groups meeting on a regular basis with the guiding purpose of IBM midrange systems education. After visiting each group I settled in and haven’t waivered as a dedicated member of SEMIUG. 

LUGs (local user groups), an important component of the framework within local i communities, shouldn’t be overlooked as a source of learning and interaction with other i colleagues. LUGs across the country differ greatly. Some are more formal than others. Some groups are larger and have more volunteer resources to meet the local community education needs. Meeting times vary from group to group. Some have chosen morning or afternoon gatherings while others meet in the evenings. Some LUG meetings are held at local IBM sites, i community organization sites, restaurants, conference facilities, libraries, community centers or a combination of sites. All have a website for i community members to visit to find out about upcoming and past events and activities.

Volunteers are the driving force behind running a LUG. User groups have strived to provide a comfortable environment for i colleagues to get together, interact and learn. Some hold webinars, monthly meetings, one- or two-day conference events, hands-on learning activities and a variety of other activities focused on providing the local i community with education opportunities. Some areas/regions have more than one group. Often groups within regions coordinate activities including conference events or having a speaker visit multiple groups in a whirlwind tour. One thing is constant, however; activities are organized by volunteers. So you may find some sites that aren’t as elaborate as others or some may not have the latest name or logos included on group sites or communications. All are nonprofit volunteer-run organizations. LUGs are dependent on membership dues, which vary, but all are reasonably priced. Dues fund the LUG activities and provide a means of bringing education to your local area.

Don’t overlook the power of the LUG. Although, our numbers may not be as big as they were at one time, we’re still out there thriving, and recently seem to be experiencing some growth. COMMON is the super LUG that reaches many people throughout the world. Not everyone can attend a COMMON conference or COMMON activities because of cost or logistics. No fear or need to be left out, likely a group in your area is just waiting for you to participate. LUGs provide current topics presented by world-class experts and provide a great opportunity to meet and greet fellow i colleagues.

I fondly recall many user group activities. Even when it might not have been a presentation or education event focused on something that I was using or had used, I’ve always appreciated the impact of being able to learn something new and interact with other i colleagues. I’ve never been let down through any user group activity that I have attended. I always walk away learning something new. The interaction, learning and insight are invaluable. 

So where do you find contact information on a LUG in your area. Here and here are a couple of websites that list most of the LUGs. If you don’t readily find one in your area don’t hesitate to contact and reach out to a LUG within your region or to COMMON. LUG members are a friendly bunch and will go out of there way to help i colleagues find answers and learn. What does it take on your behalf? Not much. Seek, participate and you shall be rewarded.

Are you a LUG member? If not–why? If you are a LUG member, what are some of your favorite experiences?
 

Involvement in Local User Groups is Worth the Effort

The following PowerUp blog entry was written by Bruce Guetzkow, who has been an IT professional for more than 25 years, mostly with Power Systems servers running IBM i and its predecessors. His published articles cover utility programs and commands he created over the years. Bruce is currently Webmaster for the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (WMCPA), an advisor for the Programmer/Analyst Track at Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wis., and an independent consultant for GmanTech Consulting in Delavan, Wis.

I've been a volunteer with the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (WMCPA)  for several years. On March 20-22, 2012, WMCPA will be holding its 27th-annual Spring Technical Conference at the beautiful Grand Geneva Resort and Spa in Lake Geneva, Wis. The location makes for a reasonable drive for people from all over Wisconsin and Illinois and as far away as Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota.

If you've ever done any event planning you know many aspects must be coordinated: the venue, food, speakers, topics, lodging, audio-visual needs, entertainment and registration, to name a few. No one person could adequately deal with all of that.

Fortunately WMCPA has a five-person Board of Directors, elected annually, and four Conference Committee members (including myself) appointed by the Board that share in the work. Sharing the load makes these manageable tasks. I have learned a great deal over time about the people on our Board and Committee. Everyone has unique talents that they bring to the table to enhance the process. Whether it be effectively communicating with potential speakers, negotiating with the different venues and sponsors, creating banners, composing documents or just putting a few links on a web page, everyone contributes in his/her own fashion. We also get help from IT students at conference time thanks to our special relationship with Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wis., and their IBM i-based Programmer/Analyst program.

Recently a few of us got together to work on “the grid," which is the document that lays out specific days, times, speakers and topics for our two-day conference based on topics submitted by potential speakers. As of this writing it is about 95-percent complete. There will certainly be a few changes, rearranging times, adding or removing particular topics as needed, but there should be enough information for IT professionals to make up their minds as to which sessions are of utmost importance to them. If it isn't available on our website, it will be shortly.

For the last few years we have also been offering a bonus day (Tuesday) for anyone that registers for the two normal conference days (Wednesday and Thursday). That's when we host the Tuesday night roundtable discussion where several of the conference speakers discuss a topic of interest. The Wednesday Casino night entertainment allows attendees to play games with fellow attendees and speakers in a relaxed atmosphere.

When first approached to volunteer for WMCPA I must admit that I was a bit reluctant. After all, did I really have time to do all of that work? Well, it's true that there is work to be done, but I quickly realized that I am only one of many, and many hands make light work. I have also developeed friendships over the years with the Board and Committee members, and many of the WMCPA members-at-large that make me want to volunteer year after year.

Plenty of free webinars and other online events are available, but when you want to really learn about a topic there is nothing quite like a technical conference where you can talk directly with industry experts. If you're planning on being anywhere in the Midwest we hope you'll consider joining us at our 27th-annual Spring Technical Conference. If not, check out a local user group in your area for their monthly or conference offerings. And, while you're at it, consider volunteering--it's time well spent.

Recent Experiences Teaching i Students; the Importance of User Groups

This PowerUp blog entry was written by Rick Flagler, who teaches as an Adjunct in the Computer Science department at Keene State College (KSC) in Keene, N.H. Rick has 30-plus years in IT in various development and management roles in manufacturing, working at his day job Timken Super Precision. Rick started the IBM midrange program at KSC more than 10 years ago and has since taught DB2/SQL and RPG classes.

I’ve written about grooming new IBM i talent before and I see others writing about it frequently, so it continues to be a topic of interest. I have a larger than usual class for DB2/SQL this semester. Some students show promise already as they make tables with DDS and SQL, join data from here to there and begin to think about taking requirements from specifications to objects. While nearly all prefer GUI to green screen, every once in a while someone gets how cool commands are, utilizing F9 and F4 like old veterans. One student has Telnet on his iPad–this is an interesting combination but wouldn’t it be great to have an app that lets us run Rational Developer for Power Systems running IBM i  and IBM Access Navigator natively on the Apple iPad2? If you know how to do this, please write about it in Comments.

I don’t get to user groups as often as I once did. I always feel guilty about this. But, I don’t think I’m alone in this. User groups in some areas have lessened their number of meetings, are seeing reduced numbers of members or seeing less sharing of ideas. Why is this? Has the connectedness of the Internet killed the “community” in the world of IT? Maybe a little bit. And, what about the idea that you can “Google” anything to see how to do it? This is a quantity vs. quality situation many times.

We recently wanted to learn a little about Microsoft C# and how it could benefit us for applications and migrations of data to/from IBM i. So, we powered up the browser to look for threads about how to connect from C# to DB2. Many hits, some with dubious answers but eventually an excellent IBM Redbooks publication was located that provided a tutorial about this topic. Gotta love those Redbooks! This was great, but in the search process, I found websites where users apparently vie to be the best poster, the most frequent poster and, dare I speculate, the most “paid” poster? Do I have this right? A programmer, or someone pretending to be one, can author an article or tip about something and get paid a royalty for the tip? On IBM i, or any other platform, some of these tips appear, when read by a knowledgeable person, to be totally inaccurate; like the person writing them has never even been near the machine before. This is a trend I find disturbing. Caveat Emptor for sure! That’s where the user group meeting or website can be of real service. Some pre-screened topics by people you KNOW are competent.

I suggest the lack of the human interaction we found so popular in our earlier days of System/38 and AS/400 is something to be missed. The excitement of the sharing of great new technique, code snippets and ideas kept us coming to user group meetings each month. Sure, the Internet has great information, but the user groups provided a place to network face-to-face, exchange information, and hear about announcements and trends from interesting people.

One of my strategies has been to take a student to a user group meeting. Our local group will admit a student for free, a nod to growing the ranks of young IBM i professionals (YiPS). When I am teaching, every so often I see a student that suddenly “gets” the IBM i platform and its unique value. If so, I ask that student to attend a user group meeting. I hope this gives a sense of the ecosystem and maybe a job opportunity arises from the visit. At the very least, maybe the fledgling developer gets a vision of what these other IBM i programmers are considering important in their day jobs and what we’re all excited about.

I notice some of the frequent contributors to this magazine/website and others are getting younger. Hopefully this trend will continue. Long live the user group and IBM i!   

Socializing IBM i on Twitter

The following PowerUp blog entry was written by Bruce Guetzkow who has been an IT professional for more than 25 years, mostly with Power Systems on IBM i and its predecessors. He is the current webmaster for the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (WMCPA), an adviser for the Programmer/Analyst Track at Gateway Technical College in Kenosha,Wis., and an independent consultant for GmanTech Consulting in Delavan, Wis.

As a member of a local user group (Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association or WMCPA) I can attest that we are always looking for new ways to promote our organization and events. We are always trying to reach new people, new companies, new organizations. We mail postcards to members and non-members that we know of. We send email blasts to many of those same people, companies and organizations. We've even placed the odd phone call now and then.

Last fall I decided to try something different, for me, at least. I've used email for a long time and participated in several forums. I had not gotten into social media, however. Oh, I have a Facebook page where I share some photos with family and close friends. I also have an account with LinkedIn. But I had not tried the most direct, pervasive social media--Twitter.

I created an account (@gmantechi) and started looking for people to follow. I began searching Twitter for IBMi (and IBM i, iSeries, AS400, etc.). It didn't take long before I began finding some familiar names. Many of the same people whose articles we read in magazines and online, whose sessions we attend at local user group meetings and conferences and at COMMON are also active on Twitter!

What's more, they share lots of exciting information with me (and countless others). I can't count the number of webinars and articles that I've discovered via Twitter that I would not have known about by waiting for an email that would never appear. I even have a few things to say on occasion.

I now follow a few dozen IBM i-related people. You wouldn't believe the number of IBMers with Twitter accounts. But what about people I don't know who also have information that might be of value to me? That's where hashtags come into play.

When people send a tweet they can include a hashtag (or keyword) to identify tweets on a given subject (e.g, the tag #IBMi). The pound-sign (#) identifies the character string that follows as a hashtag. There is no list; you can make them up as you go. Of course, using tags that others are also using means you can get more content related to a given subject. #IBMi is our very own tag.

I also use #WMCPA for obvious reasons and using #IN makes your tweets visible on LinkedIn if you've linked your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Many ISVs are making use of Twitter to get the word out on upgrades to their software and special events that they're hosting. Even IBM Systems Magazine uses Twitter on a very regular basis (@ibmimag and @aixmag).

Twitter is not just about hearing that your favorite actor is eating sushi at 9 p.m. at a certain restaurant. For IBM i it's about connecting with peers, vendors, customers and anyone who might be willing to share information. Create an account and do what we've always done on forums: lurk! Search Twitter for a few people that you know in our industry and follow them to see what they say. You'll be surprised how much valuable information there is. You might even make a few new (professional) friends--I have.