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 half- or full-day sessions plus a couple of product-centric training courses from Maxava and Printronix. Its the biggest schedule of workshops i-UG has ever held.

Paul Tuohy will hold an introduction the SQL. His workshop will give those who want to understand the basics of SQL (and how to take advantage of them on IBM i) the opportunity to learn from one of the most entertaining presenters in the business. A programming background is not essential but Tuohy’s similar session last year was oversubscribed so the advice is to reserve a place early.

Another big name is Scott Forstie who is not only Big Blue’s DB2 for i business architect, he’s also responsible for the content on DeveloperWorks. The Rochester-based multi-tasker will present a full-day session on IBM i 7.2’s cool new security feature, Row Column Access Control.

One of the biggest bugbears of recent times, DDS to DDL conversion, will be addressed in a morning workshop by Richard Thomas, an IBM i solutions architect with Fresche Legacy. Attendees will learn how to move from DDS to DDL using X-DB Modernize and how to make data more easily available to users.

PowerWire’s writing team is well represented on both days of the conference. On the workshops front, Steve Bradshaw will hold a session on performance monitoring, Glenn Robinson will hold one on VIOS/SAN tips and tricks and Pete Samways will be teaching delegates how to deploy open source applications.

Jyoti Dodhia, Therese Eaton and John Taylor are amongst the speakers presenting 18 seminars in four streams on day two. Alison Butterill, the world-wide product manager for IBM i, will kick off proceedings with a keynote session on the platform’s latest features.

Recent PowerWire recruit David Spurway, IBM’s Power Systems product manager for the UK and Ireland, will talk about using the workload capacity on Power 7/8 hardware. Another name that will be more than familiar to our readers, Andy Youens, will teach attendees how to bring CL their programming up to date.

There will also be a case study from British children’s charity the NSPCC. This will describe the organisation’s experiences of moving its supporter care system from green screen to GUI from both a management and end-user perspective.

Prices for the workshops day on September 9 are £150 for i-UG members and £200 for non-members. Prices for the second day of general sessions are £50 for i-UG members and £100 for non-members. Prices to attend both days are £200 for i-UG members, £300 for non-members.

For more details, including the full conference agenda and registration, go to the International i-Power website.