02
Sat, Nov
2 New Articles

In the Wheelhouse: V5R4 Goes on Life Support, and IBM Markets IBM i Social-Style

Analysis of News Events
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

This week, we'll cover V5R4 receiving a service extension, the 8th annual Top Concerns survey from COMMON Europe, IBM marketing the heck out of IBM i, and the IBM i Professionals group on LinkedIn.

 

V5R4 Gets a Service Extension

You probably knew that this was going to happen once the formal end of support for i5/OS V5R4 was announced for September 2013. IBM makes it official with announcement letter 613-004 stating that, because of significant demand, customers can continue to receive software support and maintenance for the next three years.

Key features of the service extension include the following:

  • "Usage support. IBM support is available during normal business hours for assistance with questions about using i5OS V5R4, problem determination, and assistance identifying and obtaining existing fixes for problems with i5OS V5R4."

This means that only severity 1 issues are valid for 24x7 support, while usage and defect support is available 8x5, which presumably means during regular business hours, Monday through Friday. That's not stated explicitly in the announcement letter, but I dug up this Service Extension and AS/400 Legacy document from IBM's website, which confirms that.

  • "New fixes. You get fixes for new problems. These fixes are delivered as interim fixes or service packs."

This does not mean you will be getting new PTF bundles as Cumulative, Group, or Group HIPERs. This does mean that if you discover a new OS defect and a PTF is available to fix it, you're entitled to that fix.

  • "Sub capacity pricing. On systems that utilize per processor pricing, the Service Extension is priced per core per server tier consistent with the i5OS pricing methodology. This will allow you to purchase support for only the number of processors that are running V5R4."

The price will be more expensive than regular software maintenance charges. This is actually great incentive to upgrade because systems on V5R4 are treading water from a technical perspective. Companies will not benefit by not upgrading to a modern release! I have an article coming out on May 8 that goes deeper into PTF management and why you need to be updating your systems on a regular basis, so the topic of software support is fresh in my mind. One of the main points I make in the article is that Information Technology is about evolution. We need to be fully utilizing our systems and squeezing as much value as we can out of them. Part of that comes from downloading and applying new features and functions to help our business processes work more effectively. You can do that with IBM i 7.1 and to a lesser extent 6.1, but definitely not with older versions that are effectively on death's door.

 

Top Concerns Survey Update

Each year, COMMON Europe hosts a Top Concerns survey for customers, consultants, and IBM Business Partners in the IBM i community. The 8th Top Concerns survey is now underway, so I encourage you to go to www.topconcerns.org and take the very brief survey.

As per the press release, the survey "is a strategic feature of COMMON Europe for revealing IBM i community priorities and sharing them with members, IBM and its channel partners to seek best of the breed IT infrastructure and solutions and to set the agenda for future conferences.

These results were deeply discussed and vastly appreciated twice by high level IBM Power marketing Executives and also presented in a round table during the Austin Annual meeting of COMMON North America.

This 8th survey relates to security, application development, infrastructure issues and mobile devices. There are demographic questions, an open space for writing a golden concern and questions on current economic and IBM i migration issues. It is a global survey addressing the whole Power i community in Europe, Americas, Australasia and Africa as well as the worldwide IBM i clients through the web.

Like last year, there are quality prizes for web voting from each region. Attendees of the annual European Power Summit, Annecy, France, www.EuropeanPowerSummit.org, will vote during the summit. The three value prizes for direct voting will be awarded during the Gala Dinner celebrating the 25 years of IBM i on June 20. The preliminary results will be announced during July 2013.

Here are the links to participate in the 2013 survey: http://www.TopConcerns.org or www.comeur.org."

For more information on the Top Concerns survey, please contact Ranga Deshpande, Top Concerns Project Leader of COMMON Europe.

Also, you can view my analysis of the 2012 results here.

 

Speaking of IBM i Marketing

Related to the Top Concerns survey, the most-often-mentioned concern in 2012 was to have IBM "aggressively market IBM i."

Well, are you aware of the IBMi25 campaign? I wrote a little about the launch back in April. IBM has been continuing to build on the momentum, regularly releasing videos celebrating the past history and touting the strengths of the modern IBM i platform.

Below are the videos published so far. This is fantastic content to show people who may not understand why you run your business on IBM i. Perhaps you need to justify the platform to a decision-maker, or maybe you just want to spread some great knowledge. Personally, I'm pointing people to these videos to show them how IBM is committed to marketing the platform in a very targeted manner. You won't see commercials during Family Guy or The Simpsons or even Shark Tank. It wouldn't make sense. With the advent of the PVR, many people no longer see commercials on television anyway. But what does make sense is that people like Steve Will, Dr. Frank Soltis, Alison Butterill, Ian Jarman, and Mark Anderson are taking the time to make these videos for consumer consumption and distribution. Online video is the fastest growing marketing channel in the world. Social online marketing is how people get their information, and IBM seems to have embraced it. They're marketing the IBM i platform the way advertising is done in 2013. That's good news. That's what we all wanted. Now it's your turn. Share these videos on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and any other social site you subscribe to.

New videos will be posted to the Power Systems YouTube channel.

 

Become Part of the IBM i Professionals LinkedIn Group!

LinkedIn has a number of groups for AS/400 and iSeries. If you're in one of those groups named after platforms that IBM doesn't even sell anymore, I'd like to inform you about the IBM i Professionals group. Right now, there are 4,632 professionals in this group who are sharing knowledge about the current platform.

It's an important resource for customers, IBM Business Partners, and ISVs. If you're on LinkedIn, I encourage you to join the IBM i Professionals group in order to tap into a wealth of information and share your expertise with the community. If you're not on LinkedIn and are an IBM i administrator, developer, IT manager or if you just have a fascination with the platform, then this is the reason to get an account.

Membership in IBM i Professionals will help find you the latest information about IBM i on Power Systems. The group helps push the platform forward with discussions about current topics related to the modern version of the IBM i operating system and Power Systems hardware.

Are you an AS/400 professional? An iSeries professional?

Or are you a modern IBM i professional?

 

Steve Pitcher
Steve Pitcher works with iTech Solutions, an IBM Premier Business Partner. He is a specialist in IBM i and IBM Power Systems solutions since 2001. Feel free to contact him directly This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: