Informing the IBM Community

Author: Staff Reporter

  • Our authors’ verdicts on latest IBM i announcements: new services, SQL capabilities and RAID features

    IBM made a slew of Power Systems announcements on Monday including new hardware, an updated version of AIX and two Technology Refreshes for IBM i. Big Blue also removed free-form RPG’s 80-column limit. IBM i OS version 7.1 got its eleventh Technology Refresh and the more up-to-date version 7.2 got its third. Both will be…

  • SoftLanding launches Columbus content manager

    SoftLanding Systems, the IBM i software division of Unicom Global, has launched Columbus, an enterprise content management solution for Power Systems. Columbus was developed by Macro 4, Unicom’s document management arm, and runs on IBM i, AIX or Linux. It takes output from existing apps, including spool and data files, transforms it into new digital…

  • NSPCC revamps IBM i-based supporter system

    Britain’s biggest children’s charity has completely revamped a crucial IBM i-based application that looked like it was up for the chop. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is one of the UK’s best-known third-sector organisations. Founded in 1884 and headquartered in London, it employs around 2,500 staff and 1,700 volunteers…

  • IBM i Marketplace Survey goes multilingual

    Once again, PowerWire is getting behind HelpSystem’s mission to find out what’s going on in the wonderful world of IBM i. Yup, it’s time to fill out the 2016 IBM i Marketplace Survey. The multifaceted midrange specialist’s annual questionnaire provides an intriguing snapshot of the global i ecosystem. What’s more, this year you can choose…

  • Opinion: An AIX guy finds his inner i

    In my experience, most IBM Power shops are either AIX or IBM i, but rarely both. As a predominantly AIX type, I have admired the enthusiasm of the IBM i people I’ve run across, but I’ve really had very little crossover in terms of common projects. Until pretty recently, that is. What brought this hardened…

  • IBM i Services session added to UK conference

    Organisers at next week’s International i-Power conference have made a last-minute addition to an already jam-packed agenda. American expert Scott Forstie will present a 45 minute session entitled Introducing IBM i Services. International i-Power 2015 is British midrange user group i-UG’s biggest event of the year. PowerWire is media sponsor. It will be held at…

  • AIX tech tip: Bye-bye loops – use the ‘apply’ command instead

    One of the best kept secrets of the AIX command line is the “apply” command. Never heard of it? Well, welcome to the club. Two colleagues and I had over 60 years’ combined experience on AIX and, between us, we had never once come across “apply”. So, what does it do and why should you…

  • Sauce-maker puts ordering online with STREAM

    The company behind some of the UK’s best-known culinary brands has used STREAM from Proximity to improve its order-taking. Leigh, Lancashire-based AB World Foods produces Patak’s, Blue Dragon and Levi Roots sauces and condiments. It runs Infor’s IBM i-based LX (née BPCS) ERP package on Power7 hardware to process orders from Britain’s big supermarket chains…

  • UK conference expands agenda

    i-UG is gearing up for its strongest-ever conference in terms of technical education with an expanded agenda of workshops. The UK IBM i user group hits Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire, for International i-Power 2015 on September 9 and 10. PowerWire Europe is media sponsor. The first day of the Common Europe-affiliated organisation’s event will feature six…

  • IBM i/Linux combo pays off for ERP player

    An Italian solution provider has doubled its ERP sales by betting on IBM i and Linux. Sanmarco Informatica, based near Vicenza, has consolidated on model S814 Power hardware. The company is also doing a brisk trade in what it calls “cloud-on-site” systems, whereby it installs S814 servers at customers’ premises and manages them remotely. Sanmarco’s…

  • Opinion: Why IBM Power Systems are like Lego

    I like Lego. Always have. We had a load of bricks when I was growing up and I built loads of robots, spaceships and other models. Now I have children of my own and I get to build Lego sets with them too. I built the Lego Millennium Falcon with my eldest, which took a…

  • Mobile IBM i apps redefine Caprabo’s operations

    A major Spanish supermarket chain is mobilising its IBM i-driven back office with the help of ASNA. If you’ve ever been to the Catalonia or Navarra regions, the chances are that you’ve shopped in a Caprabo store. Part of the even larger Eroski Group, the company operates 320 shops serving more than 220,000 customers a…