Integration and IBM i at 25

The party starts today. I’m in Austin, Texas, at the COMMON Conference where Colin Parris, the General Manager of Power Systems will kick off a celebration of the 25^th birthday of the integrated platform that started as AS/400 in 1988 and has evolved into IBM i running on Power Systems.

As part of the celebration, we’ll be unveiling a story in 25 chapters featuring technology, community and business aspects that contributed to the success of IBM i. The venue for these 25 stories will be on the IBMi25 facebook page and you can follow the celebration on Twitter, too (@IBMi25). You’ll want to check out the Facebook page, because there will be an interesting, fun take in each story as it rolls out. Just bookmark the link (bit.ly/ibmi25), or better yet “Like” the page on Facebook. We are putting our story on Facebook specifically to make it easy for you to participate, by adding your comments, photos and insights. Tell us about your experiences with IBM i and upload a photo of your team with their system.

Our first topic is “Integration.” Naturally. The initial concept of the platform was the integration of technology, and in more than one sense. Integration meant bringing the S/36 and S/38 together, integrating them, combining their customer communities, and allowing applications from both heritages to move to an advanced, powerful system. For us at IBM, integration also meant bringing together separate organizations to have cohesive teams for development, test, sales, support and so on.

At its core, though, integration was about providing an application environment that would contain all of the technology a business application would need. Integration meant that application would not have to be dependent on separate software products in addition to the operating system. I talked about the difference between other operating systems and the “operating environment” provided by IBM i in a previous blog, but without repeating that blog, it’s been critical to maintain that level of integrated technology as the platform has evolved.

At COMMON this week, I’ll be delivering a new presentation called The Business Value of Integration, which describes what “integration” means and how the heritage of integrated platforms became reality. It didn’t just happen, though. There was a strong architecture, implemented using advanced processes, by people who understood the power of integration. These factors combined to bring customers and application providers a stable environment that would increase stability and decrease the cost of running a business. There have been doubters through the years – people and companies who were unable to believe that IBM would be able to add new technology to the OS in an integrated way. We started with high-value integrated features such as DB2, disk/storage management, security and virtualization. Then, throughout the years we’ve added things like user directories, new programming languages, a hierarchical file system and Web support without losing the inherent integrated nature of the platform. IBM i has been able to adopt Solid State Drives, converge on the same Power Systems servers that run AIX and Linux, and deliver major new capabilities in cloud computing. All while maintaining a reputation for world-class reliability, security and total cost of ownership.

It’s this core attribute – integration – that carries IBM i into the future. As you follow the 25^th anniversary story, you will notice many of the other attributes will refer back to this one. It is at the heart of the business value of the platform since the beginning, and it remains the foundation for that value in years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

IBM i at 25: the Celebration Starts Soon

The annual COMMON Conference starts on Sunday, April 7 in Austin, Texas. As usual, this will be one of the busiest and most enjoyable times of the year. This year, though, promises to be even busier and more exciting for me because of the events that will kick off at the conference.

I will be delivering sessions in front of audiences nine times (at least) during the conference. I’ll also be speaking to, and with, the members of the COMMON Americas Advisory Council the two days before the conference begins. At the Conference, I’ll be giving updated versions of my typical presentations:

• Why IBM i? – a version of which I will also share with the IT Executive Conference
• IBM i Today, Tomorrow & Beyond – the trends and directions for IBM i
• IBM i Latest & Greatest – which describes the capabilities added in 7.1 and with the Technology Refreshes that have come out since then
• IBM i Technology Refresh Overview – which describes what a TR is, how it works, and discusses best practices for using them

Then I’ll be up front with the panel of IBMers at the IBM i Q&A, I’ll join the Young i Professionals (YiPs) for their session, and I’ll deliver a brand new session called

Business Value of Integration (if I ever get it written!)

If you’re counting, that’s eight.

The final session is one I will be delivering with Ian Jarman called IBM i at 25. It’s one piece of a fun set of events we’re rolling out to celebrate the birthday of the platform.

Yes, 2013 marks 25 years since the introduction of the AS/400. IBM i on Power Systems is proud of that heritage, we’re proud of the stability and investment protection it demonstrates, and we’re proud of the commitment it represents to our customers. We were not about to let this birthday pass without celebration, so it all begins at COMMON. Colin Parris, General Manager of Power Systems will do the official kick-off in his keynote on Sunday, April 7, and there will be many events at the conference itself. But the celebration will last months, and you will want to pay attention to our social media outlets to keep up with everything.

Speaking of social media for the birthday, the starting point for each new part of the celebration will be on Facebook. We have created the ibmi25 Facebook page (bit.ly/ibmi25) and starting on Sunday we’ll have a steady stream of celebration messages appearing there. We’ll also be using blogs and Twitter to get the party started. So stay tuned!

I hope to see you at the conference!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Future of IBM i – CAAC Buzz

Recently, the COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) was in Rochester to see what IBM has planned for IBM i, Power Systems and related products. During my presentation to them, I showed a couple of charts that caused a significant amount of excitement – and quite a few people commented on Twitter. Here’s one of those tweets:

Now, you might wonder if these CAAC members broke some rule by letting out some confidential information. But, in fact, they did not. These people are very professional and treat IBM’s information carefully.

We’ve been using a couple of charts to describe the IBM i strategy as it relates to new function and as it relates to the length of support for releases. We typically only use them in face-to-face meetings, though. Why? Because taken on their own, without the words we’re saying face-to-face, people can misinterpret them. But, because these charts have been presented at several events, the charts are out in the public domain. I figured I’d show them to you today, and I’ll write the key messages we typically deliver verbally.

You promise to read the words, right? The words are important. You’ll read the words? OK, with that promise, here’s the first chart.

IBM i 7.1 added the capability to update key parts of the operating system with Technology Refreshes (TRs), and so far, we’ve delivered five of them. Before TRs, we delivered a new major release every two years. (They used to be even more frequent than that.) With TRs, IBM i has been able to deliver key features such as Live Partition Mobility without a major release. In fact, we have delivered enough function since 7.1 that a full release would have been required to deliver it. Because TRs are more granular, more self-contained, these updates have been delivered without making changes in the surrounding operating system.

However, there will be more major releases. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, there are some enhancements that are simply too large and too pervasive for Technology Refreshes. In fact, our IBM i development team is working on two major releases after 7.1 already.

This was the message that got the members of CAAC excited first, and they wanted to know if it was public knowledge. Indeed it is. In fact, a version of the chart is included in the Strategy Paper released by Colin Parris, the Power Systems General Manager. If you’d like to see that, go to the “Power of i” website and download the latest version at http://bit.ly/Powerofi. Now, to be fair, the paper does not specifically mention the future releases that are under development, but the chart is there, and the “i next” and “i next + 1” releases are on the chart.

The second chart – and the one that started the activity on Twitter – points out that the V5R4 release will reach “End of Service” on September 30, 2013. But another point that jumped out at the CAAC members is the time span covered by the chart. Take a look at it, but then please read the words I have after it.

So, there it is: a chart that shows IBM i out past 2025. That’s certainly worth tweeting about. As I’ve said quite a bit recently, though, “it’s just math.” Because the first chart showed two releases under development, clearly they are going to be delivered at some point, and they will have a period of support. Given how frequently IBM i major releases are produced, and how long they are likely to be supported, it’s pretty easy to build a timeline that carries those releases out into the middle of the next decade.

The point I like to make right away is that any line on the chart that has an arrowhead on it represents a rough timeframe. For example, IBM is not announcing an “End of Service” date for 6.1 or 7.1. The chart’s 6.1 and 7.1 arrows merely mean “if these releases have a life cycle as long as V5R4 did, their EoS date will be out to about here.” V5R4 is the longest-lived release ever for this platform. Customers keep asking us to keep releases in market longer, so there’s no reason to believe we’d support 6.1 and 7.1 any less time than we did V5R4, but we have not made any announcements.

Similarly the arrowheads for the “i Next” and “i Next + 1” releases do not indicate dates when we will announce those releases, when they will be available or when we will stop supporting them. However, because we do plan to have new releases, and we’ve told our customers that very clearly, this chart lays out what that would mean, on a calendar.

Many of the messages I give to clients are designed to give them a view of the commitment IBM has for the platform. When the CAAC saw these charts, they thought that the combined message of the two is very powerful. What do you think? Feel free to respond in the comments section.

 

 

 

 

Mobilizing IBM i

When I last wrote, I was at the COMMON Annual Conference. I came away with a long list of topics to discuss so it’s about time I get started. Today’s theme: Mobilizing IBM i. No, not “partition mobility” – that was last time. This time, I’m talking about using mobile devices – such as smartphones and tablets – as the interface device into applications running on IBM i.

If you will pardon the pun, a common theme running through the conference was the use of such devices, and how to make good use of them with IBM i. You could walk around the exposition area and see many vendors showing their capabilities on iPhones, Androids and the like. Particularly exciting were those companies who were making a point of showing how to make RPG applications use such devices. In fact, companies that specialize in helping others improve software assets had great demos and material to show IBM i applications on mobile devices.

This has been a growing trend in the i community over the past couple of years. Most businesses are at least examining the use of mobile devices, and some are mandating that a connected workforce use them. In response, IT shops are figuring out how to use the function IBM i provides, plus additional capabilities of partners and the open-source community, to create interfaces their businesses can use. This is what I call “mobilizing” their applications. (My attempt to use “mobilize” as technical jargon may not catch on, but in my mind, this particular topic deserves its own word, because it is one of the biggest “modernization” trends.)

To drive the mobilizing trend home, consider the following: A fun new session was added to the conference that allowed people to stand up and tell a success story in 5-10 minutes. No prepared presentation was needed – just tell the story. Two of those stories were about adding mobile interfaces to existing RPG applications. In once case, it took a few weeks; in another, a few days. Yes, that’s all!

Using the capabilities of the operating system and the language – and in both instances, building with the Rational tool set – the mobilization took far less time than many people in the community would expect. Yes, the programmers had to learn a few new things, but this was not a multiyear project. To be sure, they did not mobilize every RPG application and interface they have, but they addressed the ones that mattered most to their businesses, and along the way they learned the techniques they can apply elsewhere as the business need arises.

There are some added benefits of this mobilization. First is the smile on IBM i users’ faces when they see their favorite system being used in such a useful, modern way. Another is the thrill IBM i developers get from learning something new that can be applied to make their work applicable, important and cool – all at the same time.

Some mobilizing techniques are only applicable to RPG – for example those that use Rational Open Access: RPG Edition. But others are not. There are often multiple ways to satisfy a requirement, and that’s certainly the case here. It’s one of the reasons people have taken to PHP on IBM i, for example. But since most of the software that has been written for this platform over the years has been written in RPG, it is an important demonstration of the capability and vitality of IBM i as an application platform.

 

Twitter: #ibmi, #commonug #IBMRational @Steve_Will_IBMi

 

PureSystems, Mobility, Friends and Disney

You could pick much worse places to be than Anaheim, California this week.

The COMMON Annual Conference is taking place at the Disneyland Resort. As one would expect from Disney, the location is clean, the employees are friendly and helpful, and the food is very tasty.

But that’s not the reason we’re here, right? OK, right, but it makes a week of technical meetings and presentations that much easier to power through. And that’s what we’ve been doing.

One of the highlights of the conference from my point of view is getting to present new material to the IBM i customer set. I’ve already participated in the IBM i Q&A, and shortly will be giving my “Why IBM i?” presentation for the first of two times this week. Tomorrow, I get to participate in an RPG Open Access session describing the Open Standard for DDS which has been driven by the community. I also have the chance to try out a newly written presentation about IBM i Technology Refreshes, and I will sit down for a chat with the Young i Professionals. Finally, Wednesday I have my biggest day of presenting at the conference, with a repeat of “Why i?” along with “IBM i – Today, Tomorrow & Beyond” which has been extensively reworked this year, and the “IBM i Latest & Greatest” talk which wraps up the conference.

Two of the three technical topics I’ve been discussing most are PureSystems and Live Partition Mobility (LPM) – the topics of my two most recent blogs. I haven’t taken a photo of LPM (though it is being demo-ed) but I do have a couple of pictures of a PureApplication system, which is down in the Expo area.

Here’s the back, with a look at all the pre-cabled components.

And here is a nice photo of the front of the machine.

That’s Patty Clancy with me by the machine. She has been very involved in making all of the magic happen to get the PureFlex server ready for delivery.

The third topic that is coming up most in my discussions is Technology Refreshes. I am happy that I had the opportunity to discuss it with the COMMON Americas Advisory Council before the conference started, so I could make my presentation on TRs better than it would have been. And every time I get asked about TRs, I go back to the charts to make sure I have addressed the question when I give the presentation.

After so many years of participating in this conference, you might think I would know everyone who is here, but I keep meeting new people. The conference is big, and new people come each year. Yes, I have many friends at COMMON now, but I am meeting more people every day. It’s one of the rewarding aspects of face-to-face meetings like this. I am happy to be able to give webcasts, and to write blogs and tweet, but there is something special about developing a relationship with a person over a meal, around an Expo booth, or walking in the warm California sunshine that cannot be replicated online.

I had better stop writing now and prepare for my next session. Whether you are here with me, or reading this from somewhere else in the world, I hope you have a chance to learn something new about IBM i today. And I hope you also have a chance to spend some time with friends. Both pursuits are well worth your time.

 

Twitter: #ibmi, #commonug #PureSystems @Steve_Will_IBMi